At the outset, I had intended a course fairly evenly balanced between
spoken and written discourse. However these various practical constraints
led to a concentration on written texts with some work on listening comprehension:
the less than native competence of the students; the need to
start from and develop the traditional text-based methods already used by
the students; the lack of books and the need to exploit available texts to the
maximum effect; the difficulty of using native models of spoken language;
and the fact that many of the students were explictly teaching extensive or
intensive reading for EST or EAP. Given the general isolation of the
students (and their students) from native English speakers, there was in any
case no direct motivation for attempting to develop their competence in spoken English. Teaching communicative skills in spoken English w~
therefore not a direct aim, although during the course they heard a lot of
spoken English in lectures, seminars and more informal conversation.