Developing Materials for ESP Courses in Engineering and Natural Sciences at Selected Slovak Universities

This chapter focuses on developing materials for English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses at two selected Slovak workplaces: the Slovak University of Technology and the University of Saints (Ss.) Cyril and Methodius. The ESP courses at the aforementioned universities, prepared on the basis of thorough needs analyses, were designed in consultation with the British Council representatives and continuously upgraded so they reflected both the local policies and the current requirements of the job market. However, recent challenges, for example, post-pandemic teaching has required reanalyzing the roots of the ESP course design and its transfer to the online environment. Additionally, the new accreditation, mainly in terms of Industry 4.0 requirements and the need for transferrable skills development, has also necessitated innovative approaches. Since high-quality materials with sufficient space for customized activities and tasks are rare in the market, ESP teachers must develop such materials on their own, which is a challenging undertaking. To support teachers, this chapter shares ideas about ESP materials development with a specific focus on presentation skills training in terms of business and academic requirements in the Slovak context. It also shows practitioners how to bring creative teaching and sustainable learning into materials design.