English language teaching for health sciences: a scoping review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17058/signo.v50i99.20504Keywords:
English for Academic Purposes, English for Specific Purposes, Health SciencesAbstract
English Language teaching in the context of Health Sciences has been approached from different epistemological and methodological perspectives. This article presents a scoping review aimed at mapping recent scientific production on the teaching and learning of English for academic and professional purposes in the training of university students in the health field. A systematic search methodology was designed and utilized in six databases (SCIELO, ERIC, Web of Science, PUBMED, SCOPUS and TAYLOR), resulting in the selection of 36 articles published between 2015 and 2024. The data was organized and analyzed based on quantitative and qualitative criteria. The results revealed a predominance of publications from semi-peripheral countries, with a concentration on medical courses and a strong use of English as the language of publication. The recurring themes involved the use of digital technologies, academic writing strategies, the production of teaching materials and pedagogical innovations such as the flipped classroom and problem-based learning. The conclusion is that the field has an epistemological, methodological and terminological diversity, but lacks more diversified research beyond the area of medicine, as well as more literature synthesis work focusing on its description and systematization.
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