Integrating Authentic Materials and Language Skills in English for Pharmacy Instruction

Abstract

Recent global trends indicate that in the field of pharmaceutical care a good knowledge of the English language is a necessity. From a survey conducted at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Calabria, it is clearly evident that reading comprehension skills are a top priority and communication skills are of equal importance. English is therefore a fundamental prerequisite for pharmacy students in Italian Universities both for academic purposes and for future employment. This paper illustrates a tailor-made approach consisting of three stages which combine different authentic materials for the same topic and the for language skills. Learners are not only asked to call upon their previous world knowledge in order to assimilate the new, but through a variety of strategies and tasks they become aware of discourse analysis, thus preparing them to deal with more complex scientific material. By relating the science and the language students will see the connection between expression and content thereby persuading them of the relevance of learning English to their own specialist field. This methodological proposal is an attempt to lead the students towards autonomy in communicative competence and reading competence in the target language.