To Teach or not to Teach? English for Specific Purposes in a vocational upper secondary school in Norway.

Abstract

Vocational orientation of English in schools in Norway is a topic which creates many opinions among teachers and educators, as well as being one of the Ministry of Education's areas of focus. It is something worth focusing on in the classrooms? In a small-scale study using mixed-methodology, seven teachers were approached about how they vocationally orientate their lessons, and how they perceive their students working with vocational topics. The results, as far as one can deduce from such a small-scale study, are that most teachers find vocational English both worthwhile and challenging to work with, and that it seems to motivate students to work with topics related to their education programmes and future occupations. All in all, it seems that vocational English is a topic which is viewed as worthwhile to focus on by students, teachers and the Ministry of Education, alike.