Introducing a Micro-Skills Approach to Intercultural Learning to an English for Specific Purposes Course for Students of Sociology

Abstract

This article is concerned with the design of an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course, “Exploring English for Sociology”, at a German university. It focuses on that aspect of the course that involves the development of intercultural content aimed at facilitating intercultural competence. The first part of the article puts forward a rationale for introducing an intercultural dimension to the syllabus. In the second part I develop a case for combining “skills-based intercultural learning” with language learning and then outline in the third part how this will be implemented. Finally I reflect on potential problems with implementation and ideas for further developments.