Target Situation as a Key Element for ESP (Law Enforcement) Syllabus Design

Adaptation to the Bologna Process involved an in-depth curriculum reform in the Training Centre for the Spanish National Police Corps. The subject “English” underwent a profound paradigm shift from general English to ESP. Needs analysis revealed the professional contexts in which trainee police officers would be required to use English. Target situations were identified and became centre stage in syllabus and materials design. Traffic interventions, suspect interviewing, detentions, citizens’ requests, critical incidents and international borders, were the thematic blocks in the new learner-oriented syllabus.