ABOUT ME
Hi! I’m James!
I’m the creator of ESP Exchange
I’m a veteran applied linguist, instructional designer & specialist EAP/ESP professional, with 15+ years bridging the gaps between technical language, highly specific disciplines, and academic/professional discourse communities.
Applied Linguist · Instructional Designer · EAP/ESP Specialist · Executive Communication Coach
I design/develop/deliver specialist English courses and materials for universities, corporate clients, professionals, and publishers, and I share many others for free here on ESP Exchange.
Why work with me?
Highly Experienced
15+ years in higher education, corporate & healthcare contexts across Spain, the UK and China.
Highly Specialised
Extensive experience in end-to-end course design and delivery in English for business, law, health & life sciences, engineering, renewables and academia, each designed around real target situations.
Interdisciplinary Expertise
Linguistics, law and applied research in one profile, so I know what specialists actually do.
A Bridge-Builder
I scaffold and bridge gaps between technical disciplines and language, covering aspects others may miss.
My Story So Far
I have spent the last 15 years designing and teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP), English for Specific Academic Purposes (ESAP), English for Specific Purposes (ESP), and Business English provision at leading universities, multinationals, football clubs and hospitals in Spain, the UK, and more recently, China.
My own interdisciplinary academic path through linguistics, social sciences, and human rights law, means I know exactly what it feels like to be an outsider on the edges of specialist communities of practice, lacking the necessary expert practices, and having to struggle to become part of them. That is the experience I design for. General English is rarely enough to get a lawyer through a case, a doctor through a clinical trial presentation or an engineer through a viability study, so I identify the specific things people have to do, and work backwards to build my provision from there.
I also write and publish ESP materials. I co-authored two English for Health & Life Sciences coursebooks, published by Berlitz for the Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo, used by more than 5,000 university students across Spain, as well as building scalable, digital courses and interactive material banks for both corporate and university clients.
How I work
Process
I take a systematic approach to my course and materials design:
- Identifytarget demands
- Understandlearner profiles
- Diagnoseneeds
- Backwards Designtargeted provision
- Evaluatelearner performance
- Adaptprovision
Principles
I also follow five key principles in my work:
Evidence before Assumption
I start with what people actually need to do, not with what myself, others, or a coursebook assume.
Target the Real Demands
I analyse the specific tasks learners must perform in their discipline or workplace, then work backwards towards them.
Expert Practice with Language Literacy
English proficiency alone does not equip anyone for highly specific contexts. Expert practices need teaching too.
Support that Fades
I make expert processes visible, model and scaffold them, and gradually withdraw support step by step until learners can do it for themselves.
Interdisciplinary Empathy
I have been an outsider to several specific communities myself. This experience helps me understand and guide others in their journey to becoming insiders.
Where I’ve worked
English for Academic Purposes in Higher Education
My HE experience includes:
- University of Edinburgh: English for Academic Legal Purposes & EAP Short Courses Tutor
- De Montfort University: Online Pre-sessional EAP
- Xi’an Polytechnic University: ESAP & Academic Lead on a TNE Partnership
- Universidad Pública de Navarra: EAP Lead & Course Designer
- ESADE Business & Law School: EAP Tutor & Course Designer
- Universidad Internacional Menéndez Pelayo: EAP & ESAP Tutor & Course Author
Over 4,000 hours of EAP, EALP and ESAP provision.
Corporate-Facing English for Specific Purposes
Major corporate clients include:
- Siemens Gamesa: ESP instructor & executive coach for HR teams
- Siemens Energy: ESP instructor & executive coach for HR teams
- Naturgy: C-Suite ESP instructor & coach for Nedgia CEO
- ArcelorMittal: ESP instructor & course designer for engineering & professional training teams
- Acciona Energía: ESP instructor & course designer for renewable energy & engineering teams
- Nordex/Acciona Windpower: ESP instructor & course designer for senior managers
- Roca: Online Business English instructor & ecourse designer for multiple teams
- Allianz: Business English instructor & course designer for global teams
- AXA: 1-to-1 Business English instructor & course designer for senior managers
- PwC: 1-to-1 Business English instructor & course designer for senior managers
- CaixaBank: 1-to-1 Business English instructor & course designer for finance teams & senior managers
- Vodafone: Business English instructor & course designer for sales & technical teams
Over 7,000 hours of corporate-facing ESP.
Health Sector English for Specific Purposes
Major organisational clients include:
- Hospital Sant Joan de Déu: ESP instructor & course designer for paediatrician teams
- Quirónsalud: ESP instructor & course designer for ear, nose, and throat teams
- AstraZeneca: ESP instructor, course designer & high-stakes presentation coach for global patient safety teams
- Parc de Salut Mar: ESP course designer & high-stakes presentation coach for radiology & oncology teams
- Olympus: ESP instructor & course designer for Med-Tech teams
- FC Barcelona: ESP instructor for medical, physio, & elite coaching teams
- Eugin: ESP instructor & course designer for fertility lab directors
- Ferrer: ESP instructor & course designer for pharma professionals
Over 4,000 hours of healthcare-facing ESP.
Qualifications
Professional Diploma in Digital Learning with AI for Learning Professional Certificate, Digital Learning InstituteIn progress
MA Applied Linguistics, University of Birmingham (2025)Dissertation: AI vs Skills Building in Academic Legal Reading
Cambridge DELTA, University of Cambridge (2019)Final Project: Course Design for Medical English- Cambridge CELTA, University of Cambridge (2012)
MA Human Rights Law, University of Manchester (2011)- BA Linguistics & Social Anthropology, University of Manchester (2010)
Research
Case Reading: Explicit Instruction in Academic Legal Reading for International LL.M. Students in the Age of AI
A mixed-methods study of how international LL.M. students read primary legal texts, comparing traditional casebook reading, scaffolded instruction and AI-assisted reading. It found that explicit, scaffolded teaching of whole-text and intertextual navigation clearly improved understanding and lessened reliance on AI.
Non-Latinate Lay-Language in Medical English for Spanish Medical Professionals
A 20-hour one-to-one Medical English course for senior oncologists. Diagnostic testing showed that the main barrier was a thin non-Latinate, everyday vocabulary, not technical terms, and the course was built around that gap.
I’m interested in collaborating on research into discipline-specific academic literacies, ESP needs analysis and the role of AI in specialist language learning. Get in touch if you’d like to work together.
Let’s work together
Whether you need a bespoke course, new materials, a digital build or a specialist for your programme, tell me what your learners need to do.