An Alternative Approach to Survival English
Toyo University, Japan
ABSTRACT
This paper charts the attempt to develop a survival English course that focuses more on the ‘survival’ than on the English – this course is called “Survive…” It briefly outlines the established field of survival English before departing into a qualitative account of developing, refining, and evaluating the alternative course developed. It will focus primarily on the final year of the research which featured both field testing of the course with classes of students, and regular attempts to secure publication options. Some discussion about the nature of compulsory education will feature. Among the findings are that the students were largely receptive to the subject matter, but the publishers were not. It concludes that disasters are not optional, so studying them should be compulsory.
KEYWORDS
Survival English, ESL, compulsory education, publishing