This paper analyzes the nature and structure of an English course with vocational purposes in the framework of a research project carried out at the University of Costa Rica, Guanacaste campus. The project is an attempt to both identify and satisfy the Ecological Tourism majors’ career demands. It also proposes a model to redesign the course TE-0300 English conversation grounded on basic principles of curriculum design on English for specific purposes (ESP). The results of the study can also be applied to other UCR extensions where the Ecological Tourism major is also being implemented.

curriculum design; ecological tourism; English for specific purposes; English for vocational purposes; needs analysis; second language learning; task-based learning