ABSTRACT
Students pursuing ESP courses have previously learned Syllabus Design (SD) and Developing ELT Material (DEM) which focus on general English taught at schools. In ESP courses, they learned to design syllabi and develop learning material in different contexts, mainly English for Occupational Purposes (EOP). It was presumed that the students would have no difficulty completing the tasks in the ESP courses because, in SD and DEM, they had acquired knowledge and skills that were deemed helpful in completing ESP course tasks. This study investigated whether the presumption is confirmed and explained how students Adapted, Imitated, and Modified (AIM) what knowledge and skills they learned in SD and DEM. Considering this study, 54 university students filled a semi-structured questionnaire and 15 joined a focused group discussion. It was found that among AIM, the most applied skill is adaptation. A modification was done when ESP course tasks required them to define, select, explore, and exploit ESP materials extensively and to the maximum extent possible. Thus, the students understand the concept of AIM properlyand can implement their learnings in SD and DEM courses. More importantly, they were also able to make necessary adjustments to fulfill the tasks of ESP courses.
