ESP Project Leader Profile: Charles Hall

Hello, ESPers worldwide!

In this second TESOL Blog post on the professional communication of ESP project leaders, you will read the profile of Charles Hall.

In my previous blog post, I shared the following:

It is my belief that we can and should leverage our ESP connections and knowledge for solving global problems. For example, how can we produce “a blog designed to consistently produce expert analysis of problems” related to ESP worldwide?  (Read more.)

In his profile, Charles provides an outstanding example of how ESP practitioners and researchers can act to address global problems.

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Charles Hall, Ph.D., dr.h.c.
Associate Professor, Al Faisal University
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Charles.enroute@gmail.com

How would you define leadership?

A friend once mentioned to me that she was always amused that there are no “followership programs.” She made me think about the seemingly universal desire to promote leaders. Well, for me, being a good leader is knowing when not to lead but to follow, to step out of the way when necessary, to drag or push when necessary, and eventually in most ESP projects to “lead” oneself out of a job! Success is when a team no longer needs me because it works together in its own appropriate way.

Tell me an ESP project success story. Focus on your communication as a leader in the project. How did you communicate with stakeholders to make that project successful?

Choosing one success is very difficult because even failures (and I’ve had those for sure) become successes in that they help us understand, improve, and remain grounded.

That said, I am especially glad to have been part of a program funded by the U.S. Department of State through the RELO Office in Peru to help the poorest of the poor.

English for Social Progress

Helping artisans, guides, taxi drivers, home-stay hosts, and tourism police in Peru improve their lives with ESP for tourism

Background

We are all aware that English as a Lingua Franca [ELF] has become the dominant language of international tourism. With ELF, all can share their culture with tourists and bring both financial and social benefits to their families and communities. Unfortunately, in many countries similar to Peru, the poorest of the poor are often illiterate or limited in their abilities even in the local language of power (such as Spanish or French), let alone English.

As a result, they are excluded from meaningful interactions in the tourist industry and are often exploited by both locals and internationals. The handmade souvenir you buy in the lobby of the 4-star hotel for US$30 was bought from its creator for pennies on the dollar.

Project

1. Conduct needs analysis to determine which aspects of the tourism industry involve the poorest of the poor and how they can be helped to gain “just enough” ELF to begin social progress.
2. Involve local teachers at binational centers in creating and delivering curricula and materials to the participants.
3. Repeat.

Deliverables

• The teachers produced very beautiful and appropriate texts that they wrote, designed, and taught. More importantly, they learned that they were powerful, creative, innovative, and part of the solution. They became active stakeholders rather than passive employees.
• The artisans learned just enough ELF to carry out simple interactions with tourists. They also experienced the joy of holding a conversation, not just reciting a memorized dialogue with the tourists who expressed awe at the beauty of the products that the “poor” had made.
• The tourism police learned more appropriate forms to help distressed tourists with their problems. Crucially, they helped their teachers develop the very materials they were learning and realized they themselves were essential to their own education.
• I learned more than I “taught.”

Key to Project Success

Observation, reflection, willingness to discard established beliefs and truths

Communication With Stakeholders

Ask more, tell less

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Do you have questions or comments for Charles? Please post those in the Leave a Reply space below!

How do you think ESPers should act to help others and to do good in the world? What is our role? Let us all know your opinion!

All the best,
Kevin

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