16. English for Specific Purposes 9 Print2

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English for Specific Purpose

ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES
I. What does ESP mean? In the advent of content-based language instruction and skills-based syllabus, more and more teachers have realized the effectiveness and practicality of teaching what the students NEED and not what the syllabus or the curriculum dictates. ence, the birth of English for !pecific "urposes. utchinson and #aters $%&'() use E!" as an approach rather than a product, by which they mean that E!" does not involve a particular kind of language, teaching material or methodology. *hey suggest that +the foundation of E!" is the simple ,uestion- “Why does this learner need to learn a foreign language?” *he answer to this ,uestion relates to the learners, the language re,uired and the learning conte.t, and thus establishes the primacy of NEED in E!". II. What are the Bas c Features o! ESP? %. E!" is goal oriented- /ecause students study English for a specific purpose, i.e. to survive in an academic setting or in a workplace, topics and activities are specified on the goal of the student. ence, the program should not be geared towards a general approach to teaching the English language. 0. E!" is based on needs analysis - 1elevant to the first criteria, the topics and activities embedded within an E!" course is based on the analysis of students2 needs, i.e. initial needs, learning needs, and target or end-of-course re,uirements. 3. E!" is time-bound- /ecause students study English for a specific purpose, they do not intend to spend too much time engaging to indirect learning activities and e.ercises. Each session aims to contribute to the end goal, which should be met at a specified time or duration. 4. E!" is for adults- 5lthough there may be some people taking up E!" courses, most often the students are adults, simply because they are the ones who are opting to learn English as a preparation for higher learning or for the workplace. 6. E!" is discipline specific- 7ost often than not, E!" courses are written to fit a particular group of students who belong to the same field of study. If you2re a nurse, you would not enroll in an English for Engineers course, would you8 III. What are the t"pes o! ESP? E!" is basically divided into two types- E9" $English for 9ccupational "urposes) and E5" $English for 5cademic "urposes). :rom the names themselves, learners who are enrolled in E9" and E5" have specific ob;ectives, that is to develop English in preparation for work or ;ob $E9") and improve language proficiency to survive and function better in a higher academic setting $E5"). *he table below shows the different types of E!".

ESP

EAP

EOP

English for Science & Technolo gy

English for Medical Purposes

English for Legal Purposes

English for Manage en t! "inance! & Econo ics

English for Professio nal Purposes

English for Vocation al Purposes

English for Medical Purposes

English for Business Purposes

English for PreVocation al English

English for Vocation al English

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I#. H stor" and $e%e&opment *he development of E!" may be summarized into five stages as suggested by utchinson and #aters $%&'(), namely%. *he concept of special language $register analysis)- /efore E!", language teaching uses language samples and inputs that are most often than not, alien to the students. During the first phases of E!"2s development, language teachers began to see that there is a +special language< in certain fields. *hus, from the usual +*his is a book< sample sentence, teachers began to introduce more discipline-specific terms such as +*his is an Erlenmeyer flask.< 0. /eyond the sentence- :rom words or terms, E!" teachers began to e.plore more about the +special language< by engaging in rhetorical or discourse analysis 3. *arget situation analysis- =ater on, E!" teachers began to analyze the +end goal< of a particular language class, i.e. +#hat should the learners be able to do after taking up the E!" course8< 4. !kills and strategies- *he focus of teaching has turned to the skills that learners should develop and the strategies on how these would be achieved. 6. =earning-centered approach- 7ost recently, E!" gave emphasis on how learning will be attained and how learners will learn. I#. Lan'ua'e Issues n ESP 5 common area of criticism in E!" is on how language is treated in classes because E!" is geared towards developing certain specific language skills necessary for carrying out learner goals as opposed to English for general purposes, which forward learning all the language skills. *he following are some of the language areas that were ,uestioned.

A. >rammar in E!"- *here are many misconceptions about the role of grammar in E!" teaching. It is often
said that E!" teaching is not concerned with grammar. E!" practitioners claim that it is incorrect to consider grammar teaching as outside the remit of E!". ow much priority is paid to grammatical weakness depends on the learners2 level in English and whether priority needs to be given to grammatical accuracy or to fluency in using the language. (e" Grammat ca& Forms • ?erbs and tense • ?oice • 7odals • 5rticles • Nominalisation • =ogical connectors

B. ?ocabulary in E!"- !ince E!" is founded on the belief that there is a +specialized language< it follows
that there are also +specialized vocabulary< that, most often than not, are e.clusive to a particular discipline or area. *hus, !wales $%&'3) emphasizes the importance of the teaching of vocabulary in E!". 1esearchers in E!" identify three $3) levels of vocabulary%. *echnical@!pecialist vocabulary- technical vocabulary consists of words or terminologies that are e.clusive to a particular discipline or field. *hese should be highly considered in E!" classes because students would e.perience difficulties in understanding te.ts if they don2t understand certain terms 0. !emi-*echnical and Aore /usiness ?ocabulary- !ome terms that are present in a particular discipline would tend to have a different definition in a different field. *hese are categorized as

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!emi-technical. 3. >eneral and non-academic- Despite being discipline-specific, E!" should still give ample time in discussing general or +layman2s terms< because these play an important role in their understanding and learning

C. Discourse and >enre 5nalysis- Dudley-Evans et.al. $%&&' as cited in 1obinson, %&&%) suggest that E!"
needs a system of linguistic analysis that demonstrates differences between te.ts and te.t types. *hey emphasize that genre analysis may be used as a classificatory systemB revealing the essential differences between both the genre studied and other genres and also between the various sub-genres. *hey further point out that genre analysis within E!" is prescriptive, whereas register analysis is descriptive. *he aim of discourse analysis, particularly the system of analysis of clause relations in written te.t is to describe relations that are found in all te.ts. It is concerned with similarities between te.ts. #. Pract ca& concerns n ESP 5. Needs 5nalysis- 5s mentioned above, one basic key feature of E!" is that it is +based on needs analysis< which means that E!" lessons are not ;ust dictated by the school but a result of careful study on what the students need. /ut what is +needs<8 Needs may refer to• • • • • !tudy or ;ob re,uirements Necessary #hat the learner needs to do "ersonal aims +=acks< $or what they don2t have)

*here are three basic types of analysis that E!" course developer usually do• *arget situation analysis- focuses on the needs of the learners at the end of the language program • • "resent situation analysis- focuses on the level of the students2 language skills at the start of the language program "edagogic needs analysis- focuses on the educational needs of the students such as +#hat they lack<B + ow they learn<B +#hat cultural differences do they have<

/. !yllabus- !yllabus design plays a very important role in E!". Aourse designers should carefully in plan the content to ensure that it includes what the learner needs and e.cludes what learners don2t need. !imilar to English for general purposes, there are also a number of different syllabus designs, such as the following. %. Aontent-based syllabuses- +Aontent< has different meaning in syllabus design. It may mean language form, language notion, language function, situation, or even topic. 9ne of the most famous innovations in the %&(Cs was the development of the notional-functional syllabus, in which the basic units are notions or concepts $time, space) or functions $greeting, asking, clarifying, etc.) 0. !kill-based syllabuses- +=anguage skills< in these types of syllabuses would usually focus on a particular macro and micro-skill. E.amples would be a course in writing business letters or a course in presenting business reports. 3. 7ethod-based syllabuses- *here are two sub-categories of +method< namely$a) learning process, which focuses on the students2 preferences on language learning $i.e. what

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happens in the classroom is a negotiation between the teacher and the student) and $b) task or procedure, which focuses on the class activities that students should doB in this type, students understand the task and they do not act mechanically. *his means that each task is relevant and sub;ect-specific. 7oreover, tasks are appropriate and meaningful $e.g. If students have to write a letter of application in class, they know that writing is re,uired in the process of application, and not ;ust a language practice activity.) A. 7aterials- In E!", as it is in any language program, materials play a very vital role. *hey should be carefully selected and designed to suit the needs of the learners. 9ne important characteristic of E!" materials is its +authenticity<. In E>", +authentic< is defined as materials originally produced for a purpose other than language teaching. In E!" +authentic< materials are those that are normally used in the students2 workplace or academic environment. In terms of +types< E!" materials may be divided into two, namely- content-based materials and competencybased materials. In relation to previous discussions on syllabus design, content-based E!" materials are those that focus on language form, language notion, language function, situation, or even topic. *hus, content-based is more appropriate in E5". 9n the other hand, competency-based materials focus on the language skills $cf. skillsbased syllabus)B thus, this is more appropriately applied in E9". D. Evaluation- !imilar with materials, evaluation processes are important to E!" too. Evaluation provides necessary information regarding the e.tent to which the learner learnt. In E!", testing is mostly performance-based, as opposed to the usual paper-and-pencil test. !ince testing in E!" focuses on the ,uestion +has the student reached the level that he2s@she2s supposed to reach8< there will be no better way to know this but through +simulated< tests that compel students to perform. In relation to this, E!" tests are criterion-referenced because a student should reach a particular level in order to pass the course. $*his is contrary to E>" tests, which are often norm-referenced.) E. Alassroom "ractice- In terms of classroom practices or methodologies, a popular ,uestion raised against E!" is +Is there a particular techni,ue adopted by English language teachers in the E!" classroom8< *his ,uestion was raised by !inha D !adorra $%&&%), and their answer is +no<. Indeed, this ,uestion has haunted language teachers, in particular, E!" teachers. 5lthough communicative language teaching $A=*) is the most prevalent methodology, E!" courses are not limited to this. "hilipps as cited in 1obinson $%&&%) suggests four key methodological principles, namely$a) $b) $c) $d) reality control, which relates to the manner in which tasks are rendered accessible to studentsB non-triviality, i.e. the tasks must be meaningfully generated by the students2 special purposeB authenticity, i.e. the language must e naturally generated by the students2 special purposeB and tolerance of error, i.e. errors which do not impede successful communication must be tolerated.

/elow is a list of some commonly used activities in an E!" program%. 1ole play and !imulation- !tudents assume a different role or a role that is present in their future work area. :or e.ample, a student pilot may assume the role of the captain and give orders to his crew or report coordinates to the air traffic control tower. 0. Aase studies- *his activity is common in business, medicine, and law. It involves studying the facts of a reallife case, discussing the issues involved, and coming up with a decision or plan. 3. "ro;ect work- ere students work on a particular +pro;ect< which may include out of the class activities. *hen, students are e.pected to construct manuals, which e.plain how it works and@or discuss how their pro;ect was made. *his may be applicable to engineering students specifically to those who are in the field of robotics and other innovative gadgets. 4. 9ral presentations- 1elevant to the activities above, students may present or even defend a particular product or issue. ere, students are e.posed to possible academic or work environment that they may face in the future.

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9ther pertinent principles and issues in E!" methodology involve%. Enowledge for content- 9ne problem in E!" is the language teacher2s mastery over content. !ince the teacher is a language ma;or, it would be difficult for him or her to have mastery of the content. 5 usual approach to address this issue is to team teach with a sub;ect-matter e.pert 0. *eacher talk- !ince E!" courses are communicative in nature, teachers are e.pected to be facilitators rather than classroom authorities. !tudents should have more talk time instead of the teacher. 3. =earners2 cognitive and emotional involvement- *asks and activities should make the students feel +successful< at the end of the program. It should be noted that these students took the course to achieve a certain degree of language proficiency. *hus, they should develop a positive outlook on the program, because this will in turn affect their cognitive development.

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