Using tasks as evaluation criteria for ESP courses

Resumen

Our main purpose here is to present a creative task carried out in two Cinema and Television ESP Courses at Antonio de Nebrija University. English for cinema and television purposes has gained more relevance in Universities as a response to student’s needs. This challenging area, aimed at those who desire to work in the film industry, needs professionals capable of using English in their professional life. From a methodological point of view, this task offers advantages for ESP students such as: 1) it places the student at the core of the learning process, 2) it is highly motivating as students not only participate as English learners but also as professionals in the field of cinema 3) it enables students to use their previous knowledge and skills in the cinema area to carry out a task in English similar to the ones they will have to do in their professional life, thus focusing on real communication, 4) it involves making decisions at different stages and team work. In this paper we will explain the students’ reaction to the idea of substituting a midterm exam for a task, the methodological approach used, the target language and functions learned, the background knowledge required and the final product of the tasks. In order to have a more objective opinion about the usefulness of the task and draw our final conclusions, students were asked to fill in a final questionnaire where they had to asses their work, evaluate the task, their degree of motivation, the experience of team work, etc. Students were finally asked if they would repeat the experience and substitute again a midterm exam for a task and an 85% of them said yes.