Notes in BSEE111: English for Specific Purposes
IV. Language Issues in ESP
B. Vocabulary in ESP
Swales (1983) emphasizes the importance of the teaching of vocabulary in ESP. Researchers in ESP identify three
(3) levels of vocabulary:
1. Technical/Specialist Vocabulary
In general, ESP practitioners believe that it is not the responsibility of ESP teachers to teach technical
vocabulary. In certain specific purposes, it may be a duty of the ESP teachers to check that learners have
understood technical vocabulary appearing as carrier content for an exercise. It may also be necessary to
ensure that learners have understood technical language presented by a subject specialist or assumed to
be known by a subject specialist. It is important that both the teacher and the learners appreciate that this
vocabulary is acting as carrier content for an experience, and it is not the real content of the experience.
2. Semi-Technical and Core Business Vocabulary
Baker (1988) lists six categories of vocabulary, all which relate to EAP. They are:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Items which express notions general to all disciplines
General language items that have a specialized meaning in one or more disciplines.
Specialized items that have different meanings in different disciplines.
General language items that have restricted meanings in different disciplines.
General language that are used to describe or comment on technical process or functions in preference
to other items with the same meaning, for example occur rather than happen.
Items used to signal the writer’s intention or evaluation of material presented.
3. General and Non- Academic
Most ESP practitioners agree that it is the second level which should be taught on an ESP course.
C. Discourse and Genre Analysis
Dudley-Evans et.al. (as cited in Robinson, 1991) suggest that ESP needs a system of linguistic analysis that
demonstrate differences between texts and text types. They emphasized that genre analysis may be used as a
classificatory system; revealing the essential differences between both the genre studied and other genres analysis
within ESP is prescriptive, whereas register analysis is descriptive.
V. Practical Concerns in ESP
A. Needs Analysis
First, what do we mean by “needs”? There are various views regarding the meaning of needs as espoused
by various language teachers, researchers, and course designers. The following are some of them:
•
•
•
Needs may refer to students’ study or job requirements, i.e. what they should be able to do at the end pf
the course. Thus, the first definition of “needs” is synonymous to “objectives” (Berwick, 1989).
Needs may also be synonymous to “necessary” or those which the user-institution or society view as
desirable to be learnt from a programme of language instruction” (Mountford).
Needs may be regarded as “what the learner needs to do” to actually acquire the language”.
•
•
This is more of the needs in terms of the “process” of learning (Widdowson).
Needs may also be synonymous to personal aims of the learners. (Berwick, 1989).
Needs may also be synonymous to “lacks” or what students do not know or cannot do in English (Robinson,
1991).
These different views in the meaning of needs are necessary in understanding the meaning and
importance of needs analysis. According to Iwai et.al. (1999), the term needs analysis generally refers to the
activities that are involved in the collection of information that will serve as the basis for developing a
curriculum that will meet the needs of a particular group of students.
As a result of the different views on “needs” various forms (or types) related to needs analysis have been introduced.
The following are the most common:
1. Target Situation Needs Analysis – focuses on the needs of the students’ at the end of the language
program, thus the analysis focuses on the expectation, i.e. what that students should be like.
2. Present Situation Analysis - – focuses on the level of the students’ languages skills at the start of the
language program, i.e. looking into their strengths and weaknesses.
3. Pedagogic Needs analysis – proposed by West (1998); this type of this type of needs analysis it's an
umbrella firm that covers three elements namely: (a) Deficiency analysis, which looks into the lacks of the
learners; (b) Strategy Analysis or Learning Needs analysis, which looks into the strategies that learners
employ in order to learn a language (establishes the “how” the learners wish to learn): and (c) Means
Analysis, ich looks into the cultural differences among groups of students (what works well in or a situation
may not work in another).
In more specific level, the needs of the student in learning a language may be summarized into two:
1. Register analysis - analyzes how English is used in particular disciplines or specializations; this level of
analysis looks into the lexicon, grammar, and syntax of English as used in a particular field. Results of
these studies spell out the lessons, activities and materials that will be used in a particular language
program. (e.g. Barber’s (1962) study on the nature of scientific English)
2. Discourse Analysis- expands the concept of register by going beyond the sentence level. Some
examples of studies looked into the rhetorical acts (definition, cause-effect, etc.), non-prose/ non-verbal
texts and cohesion.
B. Syllabus/ Course Design
First, what do we mean by syllabus and curriculum (which in turn relates to course design)? In the British sense,
syllabus refers to “plan of work” to be taught in a particular course (Robinson, 1991) Mackay and Bosquet (1981)
clarifies that syllabus “requires that the target objectives ang language that the learner will be expected to master be
broken down into an optionally sequenced series of teaching and learning points. On the other hand, the term
curriculum in the American perspective is synonymous to the Brits’ view of syllabus. However, recent publications
written by North American writers are beginning to adopt the British definition of curriculum which involves policymaking, planning and complete educational environment.
Types of ESP Syllabus
1. Content-based syllabuses – “Content” has different meaning in syllabus design. It may mean language
form, language notion, language function, situation or even topic. One of the most famous innovations on
the 1970s was the development of the notional function syllabus, in which the basic units are notions or
concepts (time, space) or functions (greeting, asking etc.)
2. Skill-based syllabuses – “Language skills” in these types of syllabuses would usually focus on a particular
macro and micro skill. Examples would be a course in writing business letters or a course in presenting
business reports.
3. Method-based syllabuses – there are two sub-categories of “method” namely:
a. Learning process which focuses on the students’ preferences on language learning (i.e what happens
in the classroom is a negotiation between the teacher and the students) and
b. Task or procedure, which focuses on the class activities that students should do; in this type, students
understand the task and they do not act mechanically. This means that each task is relevant and
subject- specific. Moreover, tasks are appropriate and meaningful (e.g. If students have to write a letter
of application in class, they know that the writing is required in the process of application and not just a
language practice activity).
A single type of syllabus may not be appropriate and syllabus design should be eclectic- a combination of
different types and approaches- as much as possible.
An Overview of Course Design Process
Similar to the processes involved in any language program, course designing in ESP also follows the
following stages:
1. Needs Assessment and Analysis – According to Graves (1996) “needs assessment” is the process of
“obtaining data” while “needs analysis” is the process of “assigning values to those data”. This first
stage focuses on identifying students’ needs and looking for ways to address their effectivity.
One of the most influential models in needs assessment is “Munby’s Communicative Needs Processor
(1978) which looks into the variables that affect communication needs. These variables are considered
as parameters in in determining the profile of the students and later on their needs. Munby’s CNP
comprises of the following parameters/ variables:
a. Participants – these variables look into the identity and language of the students such as age, sex,
nationality and place of residence.
b. Purposive Domain – looks into the reason for taking up the language program i.e for EAP or for
EOP.
c. Setting - This parameter bills with physical setting (which includes the spatial and temporal
environment such as the place of work or the place of study/school) and psychosocial setting
(which involves different quotation “environment” such as culturally different, demanding, noisy
etc.).
d. Interaction - this variable identifies the people to whom the student will be communicating, and is/
her relationship with them (e.g professor, boss, supervisor, customers, classmates etc)
2. Determining goals and objectives - after knowing what the students needs, the next important step is to
identify the objectives of the language program, because these objectives you almost should be
aligned with what the students needs. moreover, the objectives will become the basis for planning the
topics , activities and materials which will be used in class. Graves ( ( 1996 ) defines goals as the
general statement of the overall long terms purposes of the courses. On the other hand, objectives are
the specific ways in which the goals will be achieve. the goldecomes back aroundn
3. content conceptualization and organization - had his shoulders after identifying the goals and
objectives of the program, the next important step is to know what the program will contain, I. What
lessons and topics should beat included in the program. Furthermore, these lessons should be
carefully plotted within the program so as to identify what to teach and when (and why?). It should be
noted that the content should have a clear relationship with the needs of the students since this is an
ESP class.
4. Selection and development of materials - most often when not humble PSP courses develop specified
materials i.e. materials that are tailor-fit to the needs of the students. Hello
5. assessment and evaluation this last stage of course designing it's very important since it's this will
determine the extent of learning and or improvement on the part of the learner. Aside from that,
assessment and evaluation also provide the course designer with necessary input on the areas that
should be retained, or even removed.
C. Role of materials
in ESP, and in any language program, materials play a very important role. So important our materials that they
should be carefully selected or designed and designated because materials in ESP are not just for activity purpose.
They are used as a sort of simulation over what will be expected in the target environment, I fear you'd be.
Workplace or academic setting feel one important characteristic of ESP materials is its authenticity. In EGP, authentic
is defined as materials originally produced for a purpose other than language teaching. ESP authentic materials are
those that are normally used in the students’ workplace or environment.
In terms of types, ESP materials may be the divided into two, namely content-based materials and competencybased materials. In relation to previous discussions on syllabus design, content based ESP materials are those that
focus on language form, language notion, language function, situation, or even topic. Thus, content based is more
appropriate in EAP. On the other hand, competency based materials focus on the language skills (of skills based
syllabus); thus, this is more appropriately applied in EOP.
An overview of the process of materials preparation
Similar to syllabus design, materials also go through a process. however, since there is a separate review material
the thoroughly discusses this procedure. This section would only present an overview of the processes presented in
Sinha & Sadorna (1991).
1. needs analysis - as discussed above, every language program, including materials preparation, would
always start with an analysis of the students’ needs. from this analysis, the writer will have an idea of what
to include in the material hear you (e.g. A needs assessment wasp ducted to students who will be taking up
and “English for medicine course”. It is found out that students need to improve their reading
comprehension skills, e.g. getting the main idea, drawing inferences, etc.)
2. establishing specific objectives - after identifying the needs, it is necessary to establish objectives which will
become the basis for the lessons, activities, and supplementary texts that will be included in the ESP
material. (e.g. in line with the above need we objective maybe: To help students cope with the reading of
medical prose, such as documents, journal articles medical cases, etc. )
3. using a model to organize materials. this is fundamental since we arrangement of activities, texts, etc. in the
material should be based on particular learning theory or framework.
Sample Model
Opener
(Used to activate schema)
Input
(e.g. reading passage)
Comprehension Check
Vocabulary (to familiarize with
jargons/ terms)
Language Practice
Tasks
(outputs)
D. Testing and evaluation
first, what is a test (and testing) and what is evaluation? It should be noted that is dest is an instrument or tool that is
used to gather a quantitative description of an observed phenomenon. in relation to this, testing is the process
through which this tool is used. On the other hand, evaluation is the bigger umbrella from which test and testing is
included. Evaluation involves a qualitative judgment of how well a student has performed.
ESP testing
there are various types of tests, but this portion would only present the most useful (and practical) test in ESP, which
is performance- based testing. Testing in ESP focuses on the question “has the student reached the level that he’s/
she’s Supposed to reach? There will be no better way to know this but through “simulated” Guests that compels
students to perform. In relation to this ESP tests are criterion referenced because the students should reach a
particular level to pass the course. (This is contrary to EGP tests, which are often norm referenced).
two of the most widely used ESP tests are the IELTS (international English language testing system post word
entasis and the TEEP ( test in English for educational purposes) which provide items that shows possible academic
scenarios that students will encounter when they join the academic environment.
Scoring
How good is good? How can we say with a particular performance or output is acceptable?
One very important issue to discuss in ESP test is on how performance is judged. Unlike objective types of tests such
as grammar tests, performance- based tests such as the ones mentioned above both a lot of problems. One of these
is the tendency of raters to be biased and subjective. This concern led to the development of standardized scoring
bands or rubrics.
There are two types of scoring that are widely used, namely:
a. holistic scoring - which evaluates the overall performance of a student
b. analytic scoring which looks into each criterion closely.
Sample Holistic Scoring Band (IELTS scoring Band)
Band 9
Band 8
Band 7
Band 6
Band 5
Band 4
Band 3
Band 2
Band 1
Band 0
Expert user. Has fully operational command of the language: appropriate, accurate and fluent with
complete understanding
Very Good user. Has fully operational command of the language with only occasional unsystemic
inaccuracies and inappropriateness. Misunderstandings may occur in an unfamiliar situation.
Good user. Has operational command of the language, though with occasional inaccuracies,
inappropriateness, and misunderstandings in some situations. Generally, handles complex language
well and understands detail the reasoning.
Competent user. has generally effective command of the language despite some inaccuracies
inappropriateness and misunderstanding. Can use and understand fairly complex language particularly
in familiar situations.
Modest user. Has partial command of the language, coping with overall meaning in most situations,
though is likely to make many mistakes. Should be able to handle basic communication.
Limited user. Basic competence is limited to familiar situations. Has frequent problems in
understanding and expression. Is not able to use complex language.
Extremely limited user. Conveys and understands only general meaning in very familiar situations.
Frequent breakdowns in communication error.
Intermittent user. No real communication is possible except for the most basic information using
isolated words or short formulae in familiar situations and to meet immediate needs. Has great difficulty
understanding spoken and written English.
Non user. Essentially has no ability to use the language beyond possibly a few isolated words here
you
Did not attempt that test no assessable information
Sample Analytic Rubric in Evaluating a Written Output
CLASSROOM PRACTICE
Opposing Views: ESP versus EGP
Because of ESP's popularity, a lot of language teachers and course designers began questioning its importance and
efficiency. In Master’s book “R responses to ESP” he mentioned Ron Eckard’s article “What’s wrong in ESP?”
Eckard criticizes the set of philosophical and pedagogical implications on which ESP is based because it leads not to
the learning of language but to the more immediate goal of getting a job, getting a promotion, or getting ahead. Says
Eckard, “When one teaches or learns English for a specific purpose only, one automatically and callously disregards
the multiplicity of uses end purposes that language itself has” (Masters, 1998).
Indeed, Various questions were asked. Should language be learned just because of a specific purpose? supporters
of ESP would answer, “yes” so this simply because there are people with limited reasons to learn a language. On the
other hand, the anti ESP would say “no” so this and stress that language should be learned in totality.
Is there a particular technique adopted by English language teachers in the ESP classroom? This question was
raised by Sinha and Sadorra (1991), And their answer is no. Indeed, this question has haunted language teachers, in
particular, ESP teachers. Although communicative language teaching (CLT) is the most prevalent methodology, ESP
courses are limited to this.
Under the CLT umbrella, one of the most widely used approaches is the task based approach. Here, Phillips as cited
in Robinson 1991 suggests four key methodological principles namely:
a. reality control, which relates to the manner in which tasks are rendered accessible to students;
b. non triviality, i.e. the tasks must be meaningfully generated by the students’ special purpose
c. authenticity, i.e. the language must be naturally generated by the student special purpose; and
d. tolerance of error, i.e. errors which do not impede successful communication must be tolerated
Below is the least of some commonly used activities in an ESP program:
1. Role play and simulation - here, students assume a different role. For example, 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.
2. case studies- this activity is common in business, medicine, and law. It involves studying the facts of a real
life case, discussing the issues involved, and coming up with a decision or plan.
3. project work - here students work on particular project which may include out of the class activities. Then,
students are expected to construct manuals, which explain how it works and/or discuss how their project
was made. This may be applicable to engineering students specifically to those who are in the field of
robotics and other innovative gadgets.
4. oral presentations - relevant to the activities above, students may present or even defend a particular
product or issue. Here, students are exposed to possible academic or work environment that they may face
in the future.
Other pertinent principles and issues in ESP methodology involved:
1. knowledge for content - one difficult reality in terms of ESP is the teachers lack of knowledge about the
content of a particular discipline or field of study. Naturally, if a teacher does not even know the terms used
and how sentences are supposed to be constructed, that teacher will not be very effective. In other
universities, teachers team teach with a person who know the content of the subject matter.
2. Teacher talk - since ESP courses are communicative in nature, teachers are inspected to be facilitators
rather than classroom authorities.
3. Learners cognitive and emotional involvement- tasks 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. Thus, they should develop a positive outlook on the program because this
will in turn affect their cognitive development.
Reminders:
These notes may be your bases for your class discussion. However, you are encouraged to consult other references
as well to further enhance your understanding and sharing.
God bless you on your activity.