1. DEFINITION OF ESP
Differences exist
in how people interpret the meaning of ESP. Hutchinson and Waters (1987) defined ESP as "an
approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method
are based on
the learner's reason
for learning" (p.
19). Strevens (1988) described it as English language teaching which is designed
to meet specified needs of
the learner. In the view
of Chen (1993),
ESP is “a
major specialization within the discipline of English
language teaching” (p. 80). Still, others specified ESP as the teaching
of English for
academic studies, or
for vocational or
professional purposes, as
opposed to EGP, English
for general knowledge
and skills (Brunton,
2009; Carver, 1983; Hyland, 2006). Hence, we have such acronyms as EAP
(English for academic purposes), EOP
(English for occupational purposes), EMP (English for medical purposes), EBP
(English for business
purposes), and EST
(English for science and technology). All of these are part of the ELT (English
Language Teaching) repertoire. Whatever
name it assumes, ESP is now a term connoting promise for more effective and
more useful English
language instruction (Tsou,
2009; Yogman & Kaylani,
1996).
Definition of ESP
(Dudley-Evans, 1997) Absolute Characteristics
a.
ESP is defined to meet specific needs of the learners
b.
ESP makes use of underlying methodology and activities of
the discipline it serves
c.
ESP is centered on the language appropriate to these
activities in terms of grammar, lexis, register, study skills, discourse and
genre
2. Variable
Characteristics
a. ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines
b. ESP may use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology from that of General English
c. ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at a tertiary level institution or in professional work situation. It could, however, be for learners at secondary school level
d. ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students.
e. Most ESP courses assume some basic knowledge of the language systems
The definition
Dudley-Evans offers is clearly influenced by that of Strevens (1988), although
he has improved it substantially by removing the absolute characteristic that
ESP is "in contrast with 'General English'" (Johns et al., 1991:
298), and has revised and increased the number of variable characteristics. The
division of ESP into absolute and variable characteristics, in particular, is
very helpful in resolving arguments about what is and is not ESP. From the
definition, we can see that ESP can but is not necessarily concerned with a
specific discipline, nor does it have to be aimed at a certain age group or
ability range. ESP should be seen simple as an 'approach' to teaching, or what Dudley-Evans
describes as an 'attitude of mind'. Such a view echoes that of Hutchinson et
al. (1987:19) who state, "ESP is an approach to language teaching in which
all decisions as to content and method are based on the learner's reason for
learning".
3.
TYPES OF ESP
ESP is
traditionally been divided into two main areas according to when they take
place: 1) English for Academic Purposes (EAP) involving pre-experience,
simultaneous/in-service and post-experience courses, and 2) English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) for
study in a specific discipline (pre-study,
in-study, and post-study) or as a
school subject (independent or integrated). Pre-experience or pre-study course
will omit any specific work related to the actual discipline or work as
students will not yet have the needed familiarity with the content; the
opportunity for specific or integrated work will be provided during in-service
or in-study courses.
Another division of
ESP divides EAP and EOP according to discipline or professional area in the
following way: 1) EAP involves English for (Academic) Science and Technology
(EST), English for (Academic) Medical Purposes (EMP), English for (Academic)
Legal Purposes (ELP), and English for Management, Finance and Economics; 2) EOP
includes English for Professional Purposes (English for Medical Purposes, English for Business
Purposes – EBP) and English for Vocational Purposes (Pre-vocational English and
Vocational English); in EAP, EST has been the main area, but EMP and ELP have
always had their place. Recently the academic study of business, finance,
banking, economics has become increasingly important especially Masters in
Business Administration (MBA) courses; and 2) EOP refers to English for
professional purposes in administration, medicine, law and business, and
vocational purposes for non-professionals in work (language of training for
specific trades or occupations) or pre-work
situations (concerned with
finding a job and interview skills).
The classification
of ESP courses creates numerous problems by failing to capture fluid nature of
the various types of ESP teaching and
the degree of overlap between “common-core” EAP and EBP and General English -
e.g. Business English can be seen as mediating language between the
technicalities of particular business and the language of the general public
(Picket, 1989), which puts it in a position between English for General Purposes
(EGP) and specialist English. Therefore, some authors suggest (Dudley-Evans and
St John, 1998) the presentation of the whole of ELT should be on a continuum
that runs from General English courses to very specific ESP courses
4.
The ESP
Practitioner
If we agree with
the above definition, we begin to see how broad ESP really is. In fact, one may
ask 'What is the difference between the ESP and 'General English' approach?'
Hutchinson et al. (1987:53) answer this quite simply, "in theory nothing,
in practise a great deal". In 1987, of course, the last statement was
quite true. At the time, teachers of 'General English' courses, while acknowledging
that students had a specific purpose for studying English, would rarely conduct
a needs analysis to find out what was necessary to actually achieve it.
Teachers nowadays, however, are much more aware of the importance of needs
analysis, and published textbooks have improved dramatically allowing the teacher
to select materials which closely match the goals of the learner. Perhaps this
demonstrates the influence that the ESP approach has had on English teaching in
general. Nevertheless, the line between where 'General English' courses stop
and ESP courses start has become very vague indeed.
Ironically,
although many 'General English' teachers can be described as using an ESP
approach, basing their syllabi on a learner needs analysis and their own
specialist knowledge of using English for real communication, many so-called
ESP teachers are using an approach furthest from that described above. Coming
from a background unrelated to the discipline in which they are asked to teach,
ESP teachers are usually unable to rely on personal experiences when evaluating
materials and considering course goals. At the university level in particular,
they are also unable to rely on the views of the learners, who tend not to know
what English abilities are required by the profession they hope to enter. The
result is that many ESP teachers become slaves to the published textbooks
available, and worse, when there are no textbooks available for a particular
discipline, resolve to teaching from textbooks which may be quite unsuitable.
Dudley Evans
describes the true ESP teacher or ESP Practitioner (Swales, 1988) as needing to
perform five different roles. These are 1) Teacher, 2) Collaborator, 3) Course
designer and materials provider, 4) Researcher and 5) Evaluator. The first role
as 'teacher' is synonymous with that of the 'General English' teacher. It is in
the performing of the other four roles that differences between the two emerge.
In order to meet the specific needs of the learners and adopt the methodology
and activities of the target discipline, the ESP Practitioner must first work
closely with field specialists. One example of the important results that can
emerge from such a collaboration is reported by Orr (1995). This collaboration,
however, does not have to end at the development stage and can extend as far as
teach teaching, a possibility discussed by Johns et al. (1988). When team
teaching is not possibility, the ESP
Practitioner must collaborate more closely with the learners, who will
generally be more familiar with the specialized content of materials than the teacher
him or herself.
Both 'General
English' teachers and ESP practitioners are often required to design courses
and provide materials. One of the main controversies in the field of ESP is how
specific those materials should be. Hutchinson et al. (1987:165) support
materials that cover a wide range of fields, arguing that the grammatical
structures, functions, discourse structures, skills, and strategies of
different disciplines are identical. More recent research, however, has shown
this not to be the case. Hansen (1988), for example, describes clear
differences between anthropology and
sociology texts, and Anthony (1998) shows unique features of writing in the
field of engineering. Unfortunately, with the exception of textbooks designed
for major fields such as computer science and business studies, most tend to
use topics from multiple disciplines, making much of the material redundant and
perhaps even confusing the learner as to what is appropriate in the target
field. Many ESP practitioners are therefore left with no alternative than to
develop original materials. It is here that the ESP practitioner's role as
'researcher' is especially important, with results leading directly to appropriate
materials for the classroom.
The final role as
'evaluator' is perhaps the role that ESP practitioners have neglected most to
date. As Johns et al. (1991) describe, there have been few empirical studies
that test the effectiveness of ESP courses. For example, the only evaluation of
the non compulsory course reported by Hall et al. (1986:158) is that despite
carrying no credits, "students continue to attend despite rival pressures
of a heavy programme of credit courses". On the other hand, recent work
such as that of Jenkins et al. (1993) suggests an increasing interest in this
area of research.
5.
Various fields
of ESP
There are
several materials that
explain various fields
covered by ESP.
Here, I'll cite
two examples which
I think show
the width of ESP
coverage.
One is
Longman Dictionary of
Business English which
gives the following 25
fields: Accounts, Advertising,
Agriculture , Banking, Commerce,
Com- modity exchange,
Computers , Economics, Economic
history, Economic theory, Finance ,
Industry, Industrial relations,
Indus- trial safety,
Insurance, Law, Management ,
Marine insurance, Public finance,
Quality control , Shipping, Stock
exchange, Taxa- tion,
Tourism, and Transport.
The other
is the Macmillan Career
English Series which
includes 12 kinds of
textbooks, i.e., Agriculture (3),
Aviation (3), Business—Banking, General
Busi- ness, International
Trade, Computers (3),
Engineering (2), Hotel Personnel, Medicine
(2), Restaurant Employees ,
Secretaries, and Tourism.
I am
a former banker
and teach Banking
and Business English
at a Japanese university
for the last
three years . In
my seminar my students
are collecting technical
terms from Longman
Dictionary of Business English
for their graduation
theses .
Students are
allowed to select
three to five
fields from the 25
fields of the dictionary.
They make cards,
give headings to
the cards , and add
explanations in Japanese,
which will become
their Japanese-English glossary
for a certain
profession. I think
that such an individually made
collection of technical
terms will become
valuable assets for the
students' future careers
in business , no
matter what profession they
may actually take
up.
From my
experience teaching Business
English to company employees, I feel
strongly that experts
in various fields
should participate in
teaching ESP at university
6.
Financial English
as ESP
Now, I'd
like to deal
with the subject
of Financial English.
I do not distinguish banking
from finance very
strictly. Finance is
a broad term including
banking, but we
usually use the
expression "banking and finance"
to show a
wide spectrum of
such business activities.
There are
many textbooks about
Financial English which
have been published in
England and the
U.S.A. These include: Materials for
Language Practice-----Bank on
Your English, Pergamon Press,
1984 World at Work----Banking, Longman,
1982 Business-----Banking,
Macmillan Career English,
1984 Instrumental English-----English for
Banking and Finance, McGraw-Hill,
1983 Berlitz -----English for
Banking, Accounting &
Finance, 1979 BBC English-----Financial English,
The Economist, 1986 English
for Careers-----The Language
of International Finance in
English : Money
and Banking, Regents
Publishing, 1976 English for
International Banking and
Finance, Cambridge
University Press, 1990 I think,
however, that these
textbooks are not
always compiled on the
basis of English
Language Teaching (ELT)
and ESP theories.
In either
case, learning Financial
English will go
a long way
toward promoting understanding between
native and non-native
speakers of English, especially
in the area
of international business.
I, therefore, encourage my
students to have
a greater knowledge
of English on as
many specific fields
of business as
possible.
7.
Teaching Business
Studies Students
As a result of this
transformation many EFL teachers are being asked to teach English for Academic
Purposes (EAP). As you can probably imagine, the market is already at such a
size that many teachers are also required to teach English for Specific Academic
Purposes (ESAP). Fortunately, TEFL teachers are by and large an adaptable
species. Changing countries, shifting from teaching children to adults, or
moving from General English to Business English are all common scenarios we face, but just what are the specific challenges faced when teaching Business Studies students?
Teaching Business
Studies students is much the same as teaching business people in the sense that
it is often about striking a balance between giving students transferable
language whilst at the same time meeting each individual’s demands from the
needs analysis. Just as eight people who work for the same company will not
have the same needs, neither will studying the same field mean that students’
needs are identical. In the UK alone there are nearly 2000 Business Studies
courses, not including related degrees such as Economics or Management, so how
do we pin down a useful transferable set of skills for such a vast array of
students?
As with other
realms of ESP, one of the benefits for teachers when devising a syllabus is
that the specificity limits us in what is useful and applicable to teach. Take
grammar for example. Ninety percent of all academic texts are written in either
the past simple or present simple tense (biber et al, 1999). This means that we
can happily leave behind a number of tense forms that have challenged and
frustrated both students and teachers in equal measure. If certain elements of
grammar can be left behind then evidently vocabulary must come to the fore.
From the perspective of individual lexical items, corpora play a big role in
determining lexical sets. In 2000 Averil Coxhead developed a list of nearly 600
words that are the most common lexical items in academic texts regardless of
discipline. More recently Paqout (2010) developed a Key Academic word list
totaling some 970 words, again across a range of disciplines. Moving beyond
individual words, collocations play a key role in academic writing. If verb
phrases diminish in importance then almost inevitably noun phrases increase in
importance, so teaching these lexical chunks becomes key to enabling our
students to understand academic texts.
In terms of the
traditional four skills, a greater emphasis is placed on reading and writing
rather than speaking and listening. This shift in role and the dynamics created
within the classroom presents its own unique challenges. Clearly, no matter
what the but what we do with the text and the purpose for reading varies greatly. In General
English, texts are used largely for discussion purposes or to present a
specific language point that needs to be taught. However, most university
students, whatever their discipline, will read to inform their knowledge so
that they can perform an assessable task. This brings in a whole new skill set
that the student needs to learn: paraphrasing, summarizing, referencing and
writing a bibliography. Furthermore, the extended nature of the texts and sheer
volume of reading also means that students need to learn new reading skills, or
at the very least transfer a set of reading skills they have in their own language to the second
language setting.
As with any other
TEFL setting, teaching business studies students is not without challenge, but
it is fortunately an area in which much research is being done to inform both
the development of teaching practices and of materials.Louis Rogers genre, comprehending
a text is essential.
REFERENCES
Brunton, M. (2009). An account of
ESP – with possible future directions. English forSpecific Purposes
Issue, 3(24), Vol. 8
Strevens, P. (1988). ESP after
twenty years: A re-appraisal. In M. Tickoo (Ed.), ESP:State of the art (pp.
1-13). SEAMEO Regional Language Centre.
Chen, H. C. (1994). Team-teaching
English for special purposes: A new perspective.Selected papers
from the second
international symposium on English
teaching
Hyland, K.
(2006). English for academic
purposes: An advanced
resource book.London: Routledge.
Tsou, W.
(2009). ESP (English
for Specific Purposes)
makes college EFL learningeffective. Paper
presented at TESOL
2009 Annual Conference.
March 26-28,2009. Denver,
Colorado, USA.
Yogman, J.
& Kaylani, C. T. (1996).
ESP program design
for mixed level
students.English for Specific Purposes, 15(4), 311-324
Dudley-Evans, T. & St. John, M.
(1998). Developments in ESP: A multi-disciplinaryapproach. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Johns, A. M. & Dudley-Evans, T.
(1991). English for Specific Purposes: International in Scope,Specific in
Purpose. TESOL Quarterly 25:2, 297-314
Hutchinson, T. & Waters, A.
(1987). English for Specific Purposes: A learner-centered approach.Cambridge
University Press.
Mitsunori 1994 ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC
PURPOSES (ESP) OF FINANCIAL ENGLISH
Tsou, W.
(2009). ESP (English
for Specific Purposes)
makes college EFL
learningeffective. Paper presented
at TESOL 2009
Annual Conference. March
26-28,2009. Denver, Colorado, USA.
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