English for Specific Purposes, Vol. 18, No. 1, pp. 63–80, 1999 © 1998 The American University. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd  Pergamon All rights reserved. Printed in Great Britain 0889-4906/98 $19.00+0.00 PII: S0889-4906(97)00049-5 Discourse in MBA Seminars: Towards a Description for Pedagogical Purposes Helen Basturkmen Abstract —The subject of this paper is a data-driven description of student- led discussion in seminars on a MBA course. Qualitative description of the language of discussion is needed on which to base realistic pedagogical materials for EAP. Using evidence from a small corpus of academic seminars, data is presented to illustrate some language features in student-led talk. These features are then considered in relation to syllabus content. The fruit- fulness of a discourse-based approach to both the description of formal spoken language genres and to classroom methodology is discussed. © 1998 The American University. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved 1. Introduction Two major modes of instruction in Higher Education are lectures and seminar/discussion type classes. These modes of instruction are practised widely in universities both in English-speaking countries and in many developing countries which use English as the medium of instruction and base instructional practice on Western models. Although lectures often predominate at the lower levels of instruction, as students progress, classes often become smaller and discussion in them more widespread. In education generally, the view of students as receivers of knowledge from instructors has been replaced by a view of learners needing to be actively involved in the learning process (Wilson, 1989: 49). This perception is reflected in a range of modes of instruction requiring students to take on a more active and interactive role (see Curzon (1990) on various modes of instruction). Lectures themselves often involve or are followed by question and answer periods similar to discussion in seminars, if shorter in length. The ability to participate in and follow academic discussions can be critical for students. However, such participation can appear particularly daunting to non-native speakers. Mauranen (1994) finds that Finnish exchange students in the UK consider their greatest difficulty to be participation in seminar discussions. — –––––––––––––––––––– Address correspondence to: Helen Basturkmen, The University of Auckland, Inst. of Language Teaching & Learning, The Faculty of Arts, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand. 63