I need documents about theoretical perspectives on teaching/learning ESP? critical reading strategies and the integration of critical reading activities in the ESP classroom (engineering students).
As you know, critical reading differs from other types of reading in that it require slow reader to decide, evaluate and infer things in the text. In ESP, as the material becomes more specialized, the reader can use it with reports , texts and other types of specialized material.
You can check this reference that it may help you.
Essentially, critical reading strategies are a prerequisite for those who want to monitor and evaluate their own reading practices by developing particular critical reading skills which can help them to identify the purpose behind the text they are reading. These strategies and their explicit instruction play a pivotal role in ESP where learners' needs and specificity of purpose are crucial parameters. In point of fact, exploitation of strategic activities which can help ESP learners to enhance their understanding of the the text by identifying and synthesizing the information presented by the text author based on critical evaluation of what they are reading is a top priority on the teaching agenda. For the related documents and theoretical perspectives on the issue, I refer you to the following links.
Part of the answer to this question lies in the level of those that you teach. If it is a mixed ability class, then a workable approach would be to ask the library to make books of different levels available to the students. You need to set the students an assignment where they have to read (a book if they are short - e.g. graded readers) a week or a chapter a week it it is a novel. They then need to give a book report each week. You need not mark the reports in detail, rather sign them and return them after making a note that it was done. If students fail to hand in their reports, this can be noted too, and they can be taken to task for not doing their assignments. I have found that the above approach works in that students can work at a level most suitable to them. Trying prescribe a set work is very difficult unless it is part of the course curriculum, in a mixed ability situation, and there is the issue of who benefits - the class as a whole? or the few who can read to that level? Such a set work would challenge a few be too easy for some and too difficult for others. In the approach outlined, the students can work at a pace and level most suitable for them.