AUTHOR: Carlos Alberto Cabezas Guerrero.

TOPIC:

EFL TEACHER OR SPECIALIST?

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to
him in his own language, that goes to his heart.

Nelson Mandela

Over the years, communication has grown into a huge composition of elements, which
allows us to evolve as a society and as human beings. The importance of improving the
way we communicate with one another, has increased and this is the reason why weve
learnt that we have to be able to adapt our language to a specific environment in order to
express in the best way what we want to say, and be understood.

With the development of the society, professionals have seen the importance of grow a
specific language for their own needs, and here is where teachers arrive. As learners and
teachers in practice, we know how important its to provide the right tools for the students,
in order to make them enjoy the learning process. To take into account their needs is the
first step, so they can feel part of the process, but who is the right person to be in charge
of the class: a professional in the area or an EFL teacher.

Both of them are able to give the students what they need, but each one in their own way.
On one hand we have an EFL teacher, who has worked with students before and knows
how to address to them, working with the proper foundation of competences and the
development of their skills; while on the other hand we have a professional, who has
expertise in the terminology and is able to address questions or doubts directly, but maybe
is not able to transfer correctly all the knowledge to the learners.

A teacher is aware that a class is more than just go to the blackboard, write words and
make the students learn them, and worse if the students are people who want to learn
something because they need to. An ESP teacher must work correctly during the process
in order to obtain the best results, not just for their satisfaction, but to make the students
feel satisfied and committed to the process.

In a ESP class, its clear that the teacher, whoever may be, must have the aptitude and the
attitude to be a teacher, a course designer, a collaborator, a researcher and an evaluator;
and whomever it is able to be and complete all these tasks correctly, is capable to be a
teacher in an ESP class.