Pixel International Conferences

Learning materials are central for studying a language, as they allow students to follow courses and review contents after class. In many professional fields and tertiary academic disciplines, language specialists face a dearth of published instructional books, so that they need to produce their own teaching and learning materials. This is particularly the case in English for specific purposes (ESP) and English for academic purposes (EAP) contexts, where groups, courses, and learning goals are so specific that only tailored classroom materials can meet the demands of such teaching situations. This contribution presents an overview of features to design engaging ESP and EAP learning materials which are supposed to arouse students’ interest, grab their attention, and keep them involved during course time as well as facilitate their self-study process at home. The author thus draws on his own experience of creating ESP and EAP materials for aeronautical engineering students at a university of applied sciences. It is hoped that English language instructors at other institutions will find inspiration for creating engaging materials for their own courses.