ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES

Introduction

The prevalent use of the English language as an international means of communication is

in constant expansion. This fact is reflected in different fields and in various domains
where English is considered as a working tool. In order to reach specific objectives,
world countries, including Algeria, introduced English courses at all the levels of the
educational system especially at the university through ESP. The latter is the common
and well established teaching methodology that the language teachers actually use to
achieve the specific learners‟ needs, and meet the social requirement.

English for Specific Purposes

Since the 1960‟s ESP has become one of the most active branches of Applied Linguistics
in general, and of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) in particular. Among
the factors that could explain its vitality and its expansion is, as previously mentioned, the
emergence of English as a world language, for this reason the necessity to cope with the
different teaching situations and needs that such a position brings about. Such necessity
implies an understanding of its development, types and the different teaching concepts of
ESP. However, it is of great importance to start with the main definitions stated by the
linguists concerning ESP.

Apparent variations in the interpretation of ESP definitions can be observed;

Some people described ESP as simply being the teaching of English for any purpose that
could be specified. Others, however, were more precise describing it as the teaching of
English used in academic studies or the teaching of English for vocational or professional
purposes Anthony (1997: 9-10).

“ESP is generally used to refer to the teaching of English for a clearly utilitarian
purpose.” Mackay and Mountford (1978: 2). That is to say that English should be taught
to achieve specific language skills using real situations, in a manner that allows them to
use English in their future profession, or to comprehend English discourse related to their
area of speciality.

Generally the Students study English “not because they are interested in the English
Language or English culture as such, but because they need English for study or work
purposes” (Robinson, 1991: 2). In ESP, “language is learnt not for its own sake or for the
sake of gaining a general education, but to smooth the path to entry or greater linguistic
efficiency in academic, professional or workplace environments” Basturkmen (2006: 18).
This denotes that, the role of ESP is to help language learners to build up the needed
abilities in order to use them in a specific field of inquiry, occupation, or workplace.
These definitions were stated according to ESP evolution through time, this latter is
viewed in more details in the following section.

ESP Genesis

The origins of teaching Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) can be traced as far back
as the Greek and Roman empires (Dudley-Evans and ST Johns, 1998:1). In the same
vein, Strevens (1977) stated that the history of LSP goes back to “at least half a century”.
For Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 6) “ESP was not a planned and coherent movement,
but rather a phenomenon that grew out of a number of converging trends”. The latter
have functioned and operated in diverse ways around the world, “but we can identify
three main reasons common to the emergence of all ESP.”(Ibid, 1987: 6): the demands of
a brave new world, a revolution in linguistics and a new focus on the learner.

After 1945, the New World knew an age of massive and unprecedented growth in all the
activities especially the economic, technical and scientific ones dominated by two
divergent forces, inexorably it engenders a demand for an international language, this
responsibility was accredited to English for various reasons. Consequently“..., it created a
new generation of learners who knew specifically why they were learning a
language...”(Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 6)aiming at fulfilling the daily needs which
consisted in the comprehension of the simplest brochure or manuals to most complicated
genres of discourses as law texts and scientific articles .

Some linguists, being aware of the world changes, began to focus their studies on the
ways in which language is used in real situations. Traditional approach in language study
centred the attention on the grammatical rules governing the language usage, though it
was found that the discourses varies according to the contexts, it was necessary to
reorganise the teaching and learning methodologies and make the specific features of
each situation the basis of learner‟s courses. The English used by doctors, linguists or
officers is not based on the same terminological terms consequently, the teaching and
learning process was directed on the basis of the use of specific corpora for each field.

In the same period learner‟s motivation towards acquiring a foreign language was the
subject study of the educational psychologists, who noticed the use of different learning
strategies by learners; they have different attitudes, needs and interests. The idea was
based on the statement of tell me what you need English for and I will tell you the
English you need. It was a natural expansion of this philosophy to plan special courses
for each range of specific learners. Strevens (1977:152) notes: “...the existence of a major
„tide‟ in the educational thought, in all counties and affecting all subjects. The movement
referred to is the global trend towards „learner-centered education”.

Like the world, language study and concepts of education fundamentally changed, the
English language teaching changed with it, and knew the birth of teaching English for
Specific Purposes which is considered as the direct result of the world evolution.
However, ESP is seen differently by the scholars in terms of its characteristics and
functionality.

ESP Characteristics

ESP is a recognizable activity of English Language Teaching (ELT) with some specific
characteristics. Dudley-Evans and St. Johns‟ tried (1998) to apply a series of
characteristics, some absolute and some variable, to outline the major features of ESP.

Absolute Characteristics:

1. ESP is defined to meet specific needs of the learners;

2. ESP makes use of underlying methodology and activities of the discipline it serves; 3.
ESP is centred on the language (grammar, lexis, register), skills, discourse and genre
appropriate to these activities.

Variable Characteristics:
1. ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines;
2. ESP may use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology from that of
General English;
3. ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at a tertiary level institution or in
a professional work situation. It could, however, be for learners at secondary school level;
4. ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students. Most ESP courses
assume some basic knowledge of the language systems, but it can be used with beginners.

(Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998:4)

It is obvious that the absolute characteristics are specific to ESP because learners‟ needs
are of central importance when designing language activities. Concerning the variable
features, ESP courses can be designed for a specific group using definite teaching
methodology, nevertheless, all learners‟ categories and disciplines can be concerned with
ESP. For that reason ESP should be seen simply as an 'approach' to teaching, or what
Dudley-Evans and St. John illustrate as an 'attitude of mind'. Similarly, Hutchinson and
waters‟ (1987:19) stated that, "ESP should properly be seen not as any particular
language product but as an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to
content and method are based on the learner's reason for learning".

In the course of the statements suggested below great similitude is noticed between ESP
and General English Purposes (EGP) as teaching approaches knowing that each
methodology is set up to fulfil specific social requirements, So in what terms are they
different?
The Difference between ESP and EGP

Hutchinson and Waters (1987) stated that there is no difference between the two in
theory; however, there is a great deal of difference in practice. ESP, like any other
language teaching activity, stands on facts about language nature, learning, and teaching;
it is, however, often contrasted with General English.

ESP teaching approach is known to be learner-centred where learners‟ needs and goals
are of supreme value, whereas General English approach is language-centred, and
focuses on learning language from a broad perception covering all the language skills and
the cultural aspects of the English speaking community.

Robinson (1980: 6) stated that “the general with which we are contrasting the specific is
that of General education for life, culture and literature oriented language course in which
the language itself is the subject matter and the purpose of the course”. However, In ESP
after the identification and the analysis of specific learning needs, students learn “English
en route to the acquisition of some quite different body of knowledge and set of skills”
(ibid 1980: 6).

Further distinction between General English courses and ESP is that, learners of the latter
are mainly adult with a certain degree of awareness concerning their language needs
(Hutchinson & Waters 1987). Whereas, General English courses are provided to pupils as
compulsory module at schools, their unique purpose is to succeed in the examinations.

Basturkmen (2006) maintains that General English Language teaching tends to set out
from a definite point to an indeterminate one, whereas ESP aims to speed learners and
direct them through to a known destination in order to reach specific objectives. “The
emphasis in ESP on going from A to B in the most time- and energy-efficient manner can
lead to the view that ESP is an essentially practical endeavour” (Basturkmen, 2006: 9)

It is observed from the above distinctions that ESP and General English are different in
the aims and objectives of the courses, the nature of the learners and the themes. The
latter is also a point of disagreement between the linguists concerning ESP branches or
the categorisation of its subjects of practice.

Types of ESP

The maturity of ESP through time knew multiple views concerning its subdivision.
Different types are proposed by the linguists; the present study relies on Hutchinson and
Waters‟ subdivision. In 1987, they rooted one of the most well known and useful theories
regarding English language teaching branches with the „Tree of ELT‟ (see Appendix 6),
in which they divided ESP into three types:
a) English for Science and Technology (EST),
b) English for Business and Economics (EBE), and
c) English for Social Studies (ESS).

Each type is concerned with specific field of scientific knowledge as technology,

business and economy or the social fields in general; with its various and large amount of
human sciences studies. Additionally, each of these is divided into further sub-branches:
English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Occupational Purposes (EOP). An
example of EOP for the ESS branch is 'English for Psychology' whereas an example of
EAP for the ESS branch is 'English for Teaching'. Yet Hutchinson and Water‟s
classification of EAP and EOP is rather unclear; that is why further clarification is needed
in order to distinguish between them.

EAP versus EOP

Hutchinson and Waters admitted that there is not a precise distinction between EAP and
EOP:

People can work and study simultaneously; it is also likely that in many cases the
language learnt for immediate use in a study environment will be used later when the
student takes up, or returns to a job. (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987: 16).

However, the distinction can be made in the sphere of convenience. Courses in English
for Occupational Purposes (EOP) train individuals to perform on the job, using English to
communicate. This type of course would be useful for the training of lawyers for instance
and administrative chiefs aiming at reaching a proficiency level.

On the other hand, English for Academic Purposes (EAP) is applied for common core
elements also known as „study skills‟. They basically consist of writing academic texts,
taking notes and observations, listening to formal academic discourses and making
presentations.

Through this clarification it is noticed that both the academic and occupational domains
are concerned with teaching ESP, but the main question that should be answered is:
where does ELP stand?

Objectives in Teaching ESP

The main aims of the teaching and learning process is to enable the learners to acquire
information in its general sense. Concerning ESP Basturkmen (2006: 133) states the
existence of five broad objectives, which are also applied to ELP, on which specific
teaching process is based and should be reached:
-To reveal subject-specific language use.
-To develop target performance competencies. -To teach underlying knowledge.

-To develop strategic competence

-To foster critical awareness.
The researcher shall examine these objectives one after the other.

a. Reveal subject-specific language use: this objective aims to demonstrate to the learners
how the language is used in the target setting.

b. Develop target performance competencies: this objective is concerned with what

learners do with language and the needed skills to be competent. “This orientation can be
categorized as a proficiency objective, according to Stern‟s classification (1992)”
(Basturkmen, 2006: 135).

c. Teach underlying knowledge: the aim is to focus on developing students‟ knowledge

of fields of study or work in addition to their language skills. “The objective of teaching
underlying knowledge can be classified as a cultural knowledge objective, according to
Stern‟s categorization (1992)” (Basturkmen, 2006: 137).

d. Develop strategic competence. “Strategic competence is the link between context of

situation and language knowledge” (Basturkmen, 2006: 139) and enables successful and
efficient communication.

e. Foster critical awareness: “This objective can be linked to the cultural knowledge and
affective objectives in Stern‟s (1992) classification” (Basturkmen, 2006: 143) and aims at
making students conscious and culturally aware of the target situation.

It is evident that great similarity exists between the objectives established by Stern (1992)
for language education and the ones stated by Basturkmen for ESP context. The
teaching /learning process associated to appropriate methodology may result in mastery
of language by correctly using it in the context.

ESP Teaching and Learning Processes

The methodologies of ESP teaching conform to the same model of the language teaching
process as does any other form of language teaching. That is to say, the basic teaching
activities are these; Shaping the input; Encouraging the learners‟ intention to learn;
Managing the learning strategies and Promoting practice and use (Strevens, 1988: 44)

In ESP teaching, some basic elements have to be taken into consideration, the most
important of which are the learner needs, goals and motivation. Furthermore learners‟
attitudes towards learning and learning strategies are emphasized and seen as
fundamental to the ESP process.

The ESP teacher in the classroom is“...a knowledge provider and a facilitator of students‟
learning and no more as a resourceful authority.”(Kashani et al 2007: 85).However,
he/she is more concerned with designing suitable syllabi and courses for different
learners with various needs and fields. “Thus, whereas course design plays a relatively
minor part in the life of General English teacher, courses here usually being determined
either by tradition, choice of textbook or ministerial decree, for the ESP teacher, course
design is often a substantial and important part of the workload” (Hutchinson & Waters,
1987: 21).

As the students are sited in the core of the learning process they have to be dynamic
contributors in their learning either in the classroom or out of it. Students use the
adequate and favourite learning strategies and put a rapid and durable learning rhythm to
achieve the stated objectives. They are more intrinsically than extrinsically oriented.
“Learning is more individualized than standardized and students are more open to new
ideas. They take responsibility for their own actions and accept related consequences”.
(Kashani et al 2007: 87).

ESP teaching/ learning processes necessarily go through different stages.

Stages in the ESP Teaching Process

Dudley-Evans and Johns (1998:121) maintain that “The key stages in ESP are needs
analysis, course (and syllabus) design, materials selection (and production), teaching and
learning, and evaluation.” ESP course design is the product of a dynamic interaction
between these elements which“... are not separated, linearly-related activities, rather, they
represent phases which overlap and are interdependent”.

Dudley-Evans and St. Johns illustrate the theory and the reality of the stages in ESP
process through these cyclical representations:
It is well demonstrated that the basic elements in the ESP teaching process are
interconnected and there is no differentiation between theory and reality “the simplicity
and clarity of figure 1 is in reality more like figure 2” (Dudley-Evans and St. Johns, 1998:
121). Therefore, the achievement of ESP courses are: those where the syllabus and the
material are determined by the prior analysis of the communication needs of the learner
(Mumby, 1978: 2),and those in which the aims and the context are determined principally
or wholly not by criteria of general education but by functional and practical English
language requirements of the learner (Strevens 1977 :90).

However, designing effective ESP course is governed by further parameters that have to
be examined first. According to Miliani (1994), after his exploration of the Algerian
context, stated that four essential points have to be studied and analysed as a pre-design
process, which consist of:

a. Situation analysis: it envelop the general requirements of both learners and

institutions, their profiles and attitudes, also the existing materials.

b. Setting Aims and Objectives: the results of learners needs identification and analysis
(NIA) lead to setting up general statements and what would be achieved at the end of the
courses.

c. Generating Syllabus Content: organising the syllabus content “through the sequencing
of materials whose layout and presentation should form a continuum”. (Benyelles,
2009:58).

d. Assessment: gathering data regarding syllabus before or during the course

implementation let to readjust the content of the syllabus.

From the quoted descriptions of ESP teaching process it is viewed that in the first
instance, learners‟ needs have to be identified and analysed. Therefore, the development
of an ESP course should be in line with learners‟ requests and wants. Thus, needs
outcomes will operate as a guide for the teacher in designing a suitable syllabus,
producing course materials as well as teaching and testing methods.

A detailed description of each step follows:

Needs Identification and Analysis (NIA)

“As in all ESP teaching situations, we must start by considering the needs of the learners
and what they have to do in the target situation”(Flook 1993 qtd in Benyelles 2009 :21) .
In general, the term „needs‟ is defined as the differences between the actual state
regarding the group or situation in relation to a specific question and the desired state.
They reflect the existence of a certain problem that requires an intervention and must be
dealt with.

A needs assessment attempts to identify such problems, to analyse their nature and causes
and to establish priorities for future actions. It is a systematic approach to identifying
social problems, determining their extent, and accurately defining the target population to
be served and the nature of their service needs (Rossi, P. H., Freeman, H. E., & Lipsey,
Mark, W. L., 1998).

An NIA answers the questions who, what, when, and where but not how, that is, the
target audience (who needs to be trained), the task or content (what needs to be taught)
and the context or training environment (where and when the training needs to be
conducted) (Clark, 1998).

Rationale for NIA in Pedagogy

Pedagogically, needs are always defined as the learners‟ requests in order to

communicate efficiently in specific situations. “The idea of analysing the language needs
of the learner as a basis for course development has become almost synonymous with
ESP”. (Mc.Donough 1984: 29). Hence, ESP has its foundation on the exploration and
analysis of learners‟ purposes and the set of communicative requirements arising from
these purposes.

The analysis of the specific needs serves as the introduction to an ESP course design,
“...any course should be based on an analysis of learner need” (Hutchinson & Waters
1987: 53), because it determine the reasons and procedures that should be used to achieve
satisfactory communicative results. “The rationale for needs analysis is that by
identifying elements of students' target English situations and using them as the basis of
EAP/ ESP instruction, teachers will be able to provide students with the specific language
they need to succeed in their courses and future careers”. (Johns, 1991: 67).

In sum, the reasons for performing NIA, according to Long (2005) are to determine the
relevance of the material to the learners situation, to justify the accountability of the
material to all the constituents implicated in the situation, to describe and explain
learners‟ differences in terms of needs and style and, finally to produce efficient
materials that will fulfil learners‟ requirements and needs as wholly as possible.

Types of Needs

ESP specialists (Hutchinson & Waters 1987, Robinson 1980, 1991, West 1993), agree on
the fact that the term needs is the learners‟ requirements aiming at communicating
effectively in the target situation. “An ESP course will not only involve these
requirements, but will also consider the different levels of language knowledge of the
learners in order to specify the conditions of their learning situation” (Benyelles
2001:26).

Accordingly, this entails that NIA taxonomy may be viewed differently, however two
(02) types, i.e. „Target Needs‟ and „Learning Needs‟, are the main concepts used by the
scholars in ESP literature and practices.

Target Needs

Needs analysis is a complex process which has to take into account what Hutchinson and
Waters (1987:54) define as “target needs”, what learners need to do in the target

situation. In other words, what are the linguistic elements needed to achieve specific
communicative purposes.

Robinson presents aspects of the target situation and students' educational backgrounds:
"study or job requirements," "what the user-institution or society at large regards as
necessary," "what the learner needs to do to actually acquire the language," "what the
students themselves would like to gain from the language course," "what the students do
not know or cannot do in English" (Robinson 1991pp. 7-8).

In this respect, Hutchinson and Waters propose further subdivisions of target needs which
are: Necessities, Lacks, and Wants.

Necessities

Are the academic or occupational requirements of the target situation, that is, what the
learner has to know in order to function effectively in the target situation. Accordingly,
needs “are perhaps more appropriately described as objectives” (Robinson, 1991: 7) to be
achieved.

Lacks

Are what the learners are deficient in, i.e what they ignore or cannot perform in English.
Subsequently, lacks are the gaps between the initial or actual situation of the learners in
terms of language proficiency or aptitudes, and the one which is required after the
accomplishment of the language training.

Wants

Are the learners‟ personal expectations and hopes towards acquiring English, i.e. what
they would like to gain from the language course.

In order to design the syllabus content, the ESP practitioners have to take into
consideration the learners aims; however, in almost all cases, these contrast with the lacks
identified by the teacher or the necessities of the target situation. This divergence leads
West (1993) to add „constraints‟ as fourth type of target needs. “ It involves the non-
pedagogic limits that control a course planning process such as the role of the national
policy, and financial restrictions, which the analysts need to be aware of once they start
the process of NIA”(Benyelles 2001:31).

Learning Needs

According to Hutchinson and Waters a relevant needs analysis of the target situation can
divulge and reveal “What the learners need to learn”; however, it is not sufficient, in ESP
context the question “How will the learners learn” in order to learn, is of central
importance to determine the content of the course.

Hutchinson and Waters (1987:54) define learning needs as “what learners need to do in
order to learn”. In the same vein, Robinson (1991: 7) states that learning needs are
“...what the learner needs to do to actually acquire the language.”. In this sense, learning
needs look for data in relation to the learning situation which take into consideration
learners‟ type, cultural awareness and proficiency level in English, the available
materials, the existing resources and all the information that can help the teacher to
provide the learners with the appropriate knowledge.

All Wright (1982, qtd in West, 1994) states that “the investigation of learners‟ preferred
learning styles and strategies gives us a picture of the learners‟ conception of learning”.

The findings of the gathered data will provide an overview regarding learners‟ feelings
and positions to learn a foreign language in specific contexts. For language audit, it is
generally used to establish the role assumed by this foreign language in business,
industrial or public enterprise, accordingly ESP researchers have to:

 -  Determine the language skills needed to carry out specific jobs or studies (West:
1993).
 -  Evaluate the actual proficiency level of the target population in order to compare
the different levels of achievement at the end of the course.
 -  Find out the necessary time volume needed for language instruction.

In sum and regardless of the various approaches recommended to identify

students‟ needs, almost all the scholars mentioned above (West, Hutchinson and
Waters, Robinson, All Wright) have the same opinion on the collection of the
same type of information during the needs analysis stage. The information
concerns:

a- The target situation: the role of ESP practitioner is to take into consideration the
needs of the target situation through the enquiry of the variety, the language forms
and the necessary level of performance required in the target language.

b- Learners: the researcher has to determine learners‟ language lacks, investigate

their wants, and attitudes concerning language course, taking into consideration
their current language ability.

c- The learning situation: it broadly reveals significant information regarding the

learning environment and specifically the teaching situation, the nature of the
setting, the available materials and the time volume.

After the identification and analysis of learners‟ needs the ESP teacher can go
through the next phase which is syllabus design.

Syllabus Design

It is not easy to separate the issues concerning syllabus design set up for specific
purposes programmes from general language teaching. Designing a syllabus to a specific
group in a particular situation is not a simple task for the designers aiming at achieving
learners requirements, since the existence of various concepts and basis dealing with
syllabus. Thus, it seems of great importance to define „syllabus‟ in order to have a better
understanding of what it actually meant by the term in education.

Hutchinson & Waters (1987: 80) define “Syllabus” as “... a document which says what
will (or at least what should) be learnt”. In the same vein, Robinson (1991: 34) states that
syllabus is “a plan of work and is, thus, essential for the teacher, as a guideline and
context of class content.” The above assertions point out that the syllabus first concerns
the teacher, and that it helps him/her plan courses.

Basturkmen (2006:20) argues that “in order to specify what language will be taught,
items are typically listed and referred to as the syllabus”. She exemplifies the definition
by giving a standard view of the syllabus through the figure below.

A syllabus:

1. 1-  Consists of a comprehensive list of

- content items ( words, structures, topics)
- process items ( tasks, methods)

2. 2-  Is ordered (easier, more essential items first)

3. 3-  Has explicit document
4. 4-  Is a public document
5. 5-  May indicate a time schedule
6. 6-  May indicate preferred methodology or approach
7. 7-  May recommend materials

Figure1.3: Characteristics of a syllabus

(Course in Language Teaching, CUP, 1996:177 qtd in Basturkmen 2006:21)

Another issue in defining „syllabus‟ is that it is “an instrument by which the teacher,...,
can achieve a certain coincidence between the needs and the aims of the learners, and the
activities that will take place in the classroom” (Yalden 1987:86) that is to say that the
syllabus is “a teaching device to facilitate learning” (Nunan 1988:6) which organises
classroom activities according to learners aims and requirements after the process of
needs identification and analysis.

The syllabus is perceived differently in the goals and functions by the literature in the
filed, because of the existence of different educational approaches, accordingly, various
types of syllabi are suggested by the scholars each one being systematically planned
according to specific language components.

Types of Syllabi

According to Basturkmen (2006:21) syllabuses can be „synthetic‟ in which the “language

is segmented into discrete linguistic items for presentation one at a time”, or „analytic‟
wherein “language is presented whole chunks at a time without linguistic control”.

Long & Crookes, (1993) give a classification of the different syllabi which compose the
synthetic and analytic programmes.
The figure shows that the „Synthetic‟ syllabus includes the classical approaches to
syllabuses as the grammatical, the lexical, the functional- notional, the situational and
topical ones. However, the „Analytic‟ one consists of the task-based, the learner centred
and content- based syllabi which are considered as modern approaches in language
teaching methodologies.

Each one of them is based on a specific conceptual teaching ideology and not all of them
received popular status, accordingly the researcher will deal only with the most known
and largely used.

a-Synthetic syllabi

The synthetic syllabi “...rely on learners (assumed) ability to learn a language in parts
independently of one another, and also to integrate, or synthesise the pieces when the
time comes to use them for communicative purposes” ( Long & Crookes, 1993:12). That
is

to say that the teaching/ learning process is based on providing the different language
forms and structures separately.

b-Analytic Syllabi

The analytic syllabi “... rely on the learners‟ ability to induce and infer language rules, as
well as on innate knowledge of linguistic universals” (Long & Crookes, 1993:11). So,
analytic syllabi are based on learners‟ personal capacities and aptitudes to produce the
different grammatical structures and forms. The syllabus plan is “organised in terms of
the purposes for which people are learning language and the kinds of language
performance that are necessary to meet those purposes” (Wilkins,1976:13).
In reality, the different kinds and forms of syllabi previously referred to and even other
types, not mentioned in this work, are relatively in almost all the times pooled when
using them. Furthermore the syllabi elements are combined by the practitioners so as to
find the correct and suitable teaching plan. It is important to admit that “no syllabus can
bring positive results on its own because of the variety of students‟ needs.” (Benyelles,
2009:55). For this reason it is essential to expose learners to the various elements of the
target language knowledge in a systematic way in order to help the students to produce
correct language forms and to use English appropriately.

In line with the fact that it is difficult to achieve satisfactory outcomes by using a single
syllabus, Harmer (2001) suggests that instead of courses founded on a specific types, “the
syllabus may show a combination of items from grammar, lexis, language functions,
situations, topics, tasks and different language skill tasks or pronunciation issues”
(Benyelles, 2009:55), this view is labelled „multi-syllabus syllabus‟ or “eclectic
syllabus” in which all the elements are matched and synchronized.

Conditions to Syllabus Design

Harmer (2001) establishes some rules that should be taken into consideration when
designing a syllabus, and states that “every syllabus needs to be developed on the basis of
certain criteria” (Harmer, 2001:295), which consist of:

a-  Learnability: the content should be organised in a gradual manner in order to be

more efficient, i.e. from the easier themes to the more complex ones.

b-  Frequency: integration of the most frequent items used in target language.

c-  Coverage: incorporate the terminology and structures that have wider coverage
in the use of the language.

d-  Usefulness: set up language forms and skills that are socially useful for the
learners.

These criteria are greatly influenced by some environmental factors surrounding the
teaching learning situation as the existence of a number of social restrictions that have a
great impact on its effectiveness. Benyelles (2009) selected the main constraints as
follows:

-The language setting which concerns the role of the language in the community. -The
areas of language use in society (how and where it is used).
-The role of the language in the political life taking into account the countries economy
and technology (Ashworth, 1985 a).
-The attitudes of groups and individuals towards the language. This is determined by the
degree of their awareness of the language (Van Leir, 1995).

(Benyelles, 2009: 58-59) To summarise, the designer will have to take into consideration
the various parameters that can influence the technical and pedagogical criteria in
designing appropriate and practical syllabus.

ESP Syllabus

Designing an ESP syllabus is not an easy task to perform because of its significant and
complex role. However, it obviously satisfies a lot of needs since it has a multi-
functional purpose. Thus, syllabus designers need to be aware of the different functions
the syllabus fulfils so that it can be designed and used most appropriately.

For that reason, Munby (1978) introduced Communicative Needs Processor (CNP) as an
approach to investigate specific communication needs of a particular group, according to
socio-cultural and stylistic variables which act together to find out a profile of such
needs. That is to say that the target needs and target level performance are established by
investigating the target situation. In the CNP, descriptions are taken from “the variables
that affect communication needs by organizing them as parameters in a dynamic
relationship to each other” (Munby, 1978: 32). This process will engender the nature of
the content that will be selected and set up for ESP learners‟ programme.

In ESP, the nature of the content is extracted from real life situations in which the
syllabus designers have to select the most relevant language discourses that will supply
for learners target requirements. However, “it is necessary to introduce what is known as
common-core language (Miliani, 1994) selected according to students own needs”
(Benyelles, 2009:64) in order to provide basics of language knowledge. Accordingly,
“one might begin with grammar and pronunciation only, as one does in a structural
approach, but introduce work in the language functions, and in discourse skills fairly
early, and in time increase the component of the course” (Yalden,1987:94).

ESP rejects „synthetic‟ approaches to course design (Basturkmen 2006:103); so, it is

important to present the language using an eclectic method by combining the required
features of the language systematically and gradually according to the target objectives.

The syllabus is also an essential document in the teaching/learning process since it

provides a set of principles for materials production, teaching, and testing; this is why, it
should be flexible, open-ended, and subject to regular adjustment.

Material Production

Do ESP textbooks really exist? This is a fundamental question Johns (1990) addresses.
One of the core problems he presents is that "ESP teachers find themselves in a situation
where they are expected to produce a course that exactly matches the needs of a group of
learners, but are expected to do so with no, or very limited, preparation time" (Johns,
1990, p. 91).

“In the real world, ESP developers are not provided with sufficient time for needs
analysis, materials research and materials development” (Kristen Gatehouse, 1999). The
notion of time in the teaching process is of paramount importance especially in ESP,
because the analysis of the target situation and the research of the appropriate materials
need adequate time.

Suitable materials in ESP are not generally easy to get “It is likely that a course tailored
to the needs of specific group of learners will not be available,” (Hutchinson & Waters
1987: 106). For that reason, the ESP teacher has to develop materials which present as
clearly as possible useful area of the language so that learners can perceive the relation
between the content of the course and their requirements.

The production of such materials and suitable activities is not a simple task because the
ESP teacher is neither a materials designer nor a subject specialist; besides, “few teachers
have had any training in the skills and techniques of materials writing”. (Hutchinson &
Waters‟, 1987: 106).

In order to assist and guide ESP teachers in producing adequate materials, Hutchinson &
Waters (1987:106-108) identify some defining principles that should be stated as
purposeful objectives in designing pedagogical materials:

a- good materials give a stimulus to learning; in other words, they do not teach but,
encourage learners to learn, they will, therefore, contain:

-Interesting texts;
-Enjoyable activities which stimulate the learners‟ thinking capacities; -Opportunities for
learners to use their existing knowledge and skills; -A content which both learner and
teacher can cope with.

b- Adequate materials provide a comprehensible and rational unit structure which will
conduct both the teacher and the learner through a range of activities in such a way as to
maximise the chances of learning. Accordingly, “a materials model must be clear and
systematic, but flexible enough to allow for creativity and variety”. (Ibid, 1987:107).

c-Materials should represent a vision of the nature of language and learning, and reflect
the teacher considerations and feelings about the learning process.

d-Materials should reveal the nature of learning tasks and should “create a balance
outlook which both reflects the complexity of the task, yet makes it appear manageable.”
(Ibid, 1987:108).

e-Materials should introduce the teachers to the use of new and updated teaching
techniques.

f-Materials should supply appropriate and correct representation of language use.

In ESP, the analysis of the target situation provides the basic data that leads the material
designer to establish the process through which the course will be presented. By the
combination of the different outcomes related to the learners needs, the learning
environment and the pedagogical approach, it will be possible to produce the needed ESP
course with an appropriate content.

Hutchinson and Waters( 1987) designed a model for materials production aiming at
providing a “coherent framework for the integration of the various aspects of learning,
while at the same time, allowing enough room for creativity and variety to flourish”
(Hutchinson and Waters, 1987: 108) .This model consists of four elements according to
the figure:

The model established by Hutchinson and Waters aims to build a support to language use
and shows that from, NIA process, the required input can be selected to achieve
communicative tasks performance, using and combining the content needed by the target
situation and the students‟ language knowledge.

The ESP learners aim to handle the communicative acts related to their field of interests
and to acquire the linguistic repertoire associated to that matter. For that reason, they
make use of authentic materials which is, generally, seen as indispensable in an ESP
teaching situation, as maintained by Robinson (1991: 54) : ” A key concept ...felt to be
particularly relevant for ESP, is that of authenticity.”

“It has been traditionally supposed that the language presented to learners should be
simplified in some way for easy access and acquisition. Nowadays, there are
recommendations that the language presented should be authentic.” (Widdowson
1990:67).
“Materials writing is one of the most characteristic features of ESP in practice”
(Hutchinson & Waters 1987: 106).In reality script materials are the major tool mainly
used by almost all ESP teachers; however, with the availability of technological supports
in

academic settings “a great number of teachers, nowadays, use many types of language
learning videos accompanied by course books or workbooks solely for instructional
purposes” (Baleghizadeh &Oladrostam, 2010) targeting at providing authentic simulated
situations, interesting and pleasant activities to the learners.

Therefore, and if videos are considered as technological materials it is recommended, “as

one of the main types of authentic materials, be constantly used in order to contextualize
language for students” (Baleghizadeh &Oladrostam, 2010). According to Harmer (2001,
2007), there are a number of reasons why videos should be used:

• Seeing language-in-use;
• Cross-cultural awareness;
• The power of creation;
• Motivation.
Moreover, video production can lead to creative and communicative uses of language

to the extent that students may remember those exciting moments for relatively extended
period of time. Also Brown (2007) argued, that the “students who are right brain
dominant rely on images to remember and think, by which one of the sources he surely
meant were videos”.

In a sum the role of ESP teachers is to produce and present the language content and the
course activities in a various ways to help and motivate the students to learn the target
language needed to update their academic or occupational knowledge.

Teaching

The final aim of designing materials is the performance of the task; hence, with the help
of the teacher, the students need to be given activities to achieve this aim. In an ESP
situation, the roles of the teacher would be “instructor, facilitator, role-advisor, monitor,
co- communicator, classroom manager and consultant”. (Benyelles, 2009:42).

However, in almost all cases, the ESP teachers are in front of various problems of
different nature. The main one occurs from the fact that they are called upon to carry out
new assignment and perhaps with no specific training. In this respect, Strevens (1988: 41)
describes the ESP teacher as “...a teacher of General English who has, unexpectedly,
found him/herself required to teach students with special needs.” Explicitly, the ESP
teachers have to adapt and adjust themselves in order to deal with a new situation and
environment for which they are not generally well trained and equipped.

Hutchinson & Waters (1987: 157) states that the ESP teacher‟s role is one of many parts.
“Swales (1985) prefers... to use the term „ESP practitioner‟ ... It is likely that in addition
to the normal functions of a classroom teacher, the ESP teacher will have to deal with
needs analysis, syllabus design, materials writing or adaptation and evaluation.” That is
to say that the ESP teachers are involved in designing, setting up and administering the
ESP course, and teaching.

A further difficulty is facing ESP teachers when dealing with specific situations; it is that
of knowledge specialist. In this respect, Hutchinson & Waters (1987: 163) state that “ESP
teachers do not need to learn specialist knowledge. They require three things only: a
positive attitude towards the ESP content; knowledge of fundamental principles of the
subject area; an awareness of how much they probably already know.” In other words,
the teachers should have the “ability to ask intelligent questions”.

Accordingly, Robinson (1991) states that flexibility is a key value needed by the ESP
teacher, in order to change from being a general language teacher to being a specific
purpose teacher, to cope with different groups of learners, and to perform different tasks.

The principle of flexibility implies an eclectic approach to the teaching methods. In this
vein, Miliani (1994) stated that “...eclecticism ...leaves the door open for any stratagem or
technique which could fit in a given situation. It all depends on the teachers‟ know-how
and his approach to language teaching”.

As a conclusion the ESP teachers should implement different teaching methods,

techniques and materials in order to reach the learners required competence.

Assessment /Evaluation

Assessment and course evaluation are two important stages in ESP teaching process.
Hypothetically, an ESP course is supposed to be successful; it is set up to fulfil particular
learners‟ needs and enable them perform specific things with language.

Normally, ESP course has specified objectives, which have to be assessed and measured
in terms of how well these objectives have been provided and served. Targeting at
helping the ESP practitioners and achieving these stages Hutchinson & Waters (1987)
propose a complementary procedure based on two levels:

Learner Assessment:

This procedure main task is to measure the learners‟ performance and level of
proficiency, in other words what they actually know in terms of language knowledge at
this level of the course achievement. Assessment, also elicits learners‟ linguistic
problems and difficulties, and sets other views for pedagogical solutions in the next
courses.

Course Evaluation:

ESP course itself needs to be evaluated, whether the sets of objectives designed were
achieved or not, to reach the course aims.

Both learner assessment and course evaluation facilitate and help providing the teacher
with feedback on the efficiency of the course, the teaching methods and materials, and
the improvement of the necessary revisions in the ESP course design.

Birth of ESP

1. The Demands of a Brave New World

progress in technology and commerce demanded for an international language
2. A revolution in linguistics
‘Tell me what you need English for, and I will tell you the English that you need’
3. Focus on the learner
English’s relevance to the learners

The development of ESP

1. The concept of special language: register analysis

register - term – credited to Halliday, McIntosh, and Strevens in their book The Linguistic
Sciences and Lang- Teaching (1964)
- "a variety of language distinguished according to use"
- three parameters
 *field
 refers to language activities
 E.G. politics, linguistics, music

- mode

 refer to medium of communication

 E.G. speech, writing

- tenor

 refers to interpersonal relationships between people

 E.G. teacher/student, parents/children, boss/employees

Register analysis

• a necessary first step in an analysis of the linguistic needs of students in ESP Courses

• can guide teachers in the selection and preparation of materials that should by their content
validity motivate students to learn

• helps ensure appropriateness of content

• focused on SENTENCE GRAMMAR

2. Discourse analysis
  analysis of language 'beyond the sentence‘
 consider the discourse to understand how it affects the meaning of the sentence
 understanding how sentences are described in discourse to produce meaning

3. Target situation analysis

 suggests that
 first
 IDENTIFY THE TARGET SITUATION
 then
 CARRY OUT RIGOROUS ANALYSIS OF THE LINGUISTIC FEATURES OF THAT SITUATION
 marked ‘coming of age’
 WHY?
 this approach is more systematized &
 learner need was placed at the center of the course design process

4. Skills and strategies

 look below the surface
 consider not the language itself but the thinking process
 focus – underlying interpretive reading and listening strategies
 5. LEARNING-CENTERED APPROACH

What is ESP?
• It is an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are
based.

• It aims to meet the needs of particular learners.

Language Description

• refers to ways of analyzing and describing a language

• structural

• functional

• notional

Learning Theories

• behaviorist

• cognitive

• affective
Learning Theories

1. Behaviorism

• learning is a mechanical process of habit formation

• means – frequent reinforcement of stimulus-response

2. Mentalism

• Thinking as a rule-governed activity

• Learning consists NOT of forming habits but acquiring rules

• mind does not just respond to a stimulus

• it uses the individual stimuli to find the underlying pattern

3. Cognitive code

• Learners as thinking beings

• tenet

• Learning and using a rule requires learners to think

• To come up with generative rules from mass data presented

• Learning – process where LEARNERS – ACTIVELY tries to MAKE SENSE OF DATA

4. The affective factor

• Learners as emotional beings

• MOTIVATION – vital importance in language learning experience

• INSTRUMENTAL & INTEGRATIVE motivation

5. Learning and acquisition

• Stephen Krashen

• Learning – conscious process

• Acquisitions – proceeds unconsciously

Approaches to Course Design

1. Language-centered course design

• aims to draw direct connection between

• target of the situation and content of the ESP course

2. Skill-centered course design

 • aims to get away from the surface performance data

• look at the competence that underlies the performance

• present its learning objectives in terms of both

• performance and competency

3. Learning-centered course design

• Why not learner-centered?

• based on the principle that learning is totally determined by the learner

• whereas

• LEARNING – a process wherein learners USE what knowledge/skill they know to make sense of
new information

• LEARNING – dependent

• KNOWLEDGE THEY HAVE

• ABILITY TO USE IT
Syllabus

1. Language-centered approach

• syllabus is the determiner of the entire course

• production of texts & exercises – based on the proficiency of what will be evaluated
2. Skill-centered approach

• syllabus is not the prime generator

• there is a degree of negotiation between texts and skills

3. Learning-centered approach

• content is not only important

• but also

• activity through which is learnt

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. Hence, the birth of English for
Specific Purposes. Hutchinson and Waters (1987) use ESP as an approach rather than a
product, by which they mean that ESP does not involve a particular kind of language,
teaching material or methodology. They suggest that “the foundation of ESP is the simple
question: “Why does this learner need to learn a foreign language?” The answer to
this question relates to the learners, the language required and the learning context, and
thus establishes the primacy of NEED in ESP.

II. What are the Basic Features of ESP?

1. ESP is goal oriented- Because 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. Hence, the program should not be geared towards a
general approach to teaching the English language.
2. ESP is based on needs analysis - Relevant to the first criteria, the topics and activities
embedded within an ESP course is based on the analysis of students’ needs, i.e.
initial needs, learning needs, and target or end-of-course requirements.
3. ESP is time-bound- Because students study English for a specific purpose, they do
not intend to spend too much time engaging to indirect learning activities and
exercises. Each session aims to contribute to the end goal, which should be met at a
specified time or duration.
4. ESP is for adults- Although there may be some people taking up ESP 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.
5. ESP is discipline specific- Most often than not, ESP courses are written to fit a
particular group of students who belong to the same field of study. If you’re a nurse,
you would not enroll in an English for Engineers course, would you?

III. What are the types of ESP?

ESP is basically divided into two types: EOP (English for Occupational Purposes) and EAP
(English for Academic Purposes). From the names themselves, learners who are enrolled in
EOP and EAP have specific objectives, that is to develop English in preparation for work or
job (EOP) and improve language proficiency to survive and function better in a higher
academic setting (EAP). The table below shows the different types of ESP.
 ESP

EAP EOP

English English English English English English

for
for for for for for
Manage
Scienc Medic Legal ment, Profes Vocati
e& al Purpos Finance, sional onal
Techn Purpos es & Purpos Purpos
Economi
ology es es es
cs

English English English English

for for for for
Medic Busine Pre- Vocati
al ss Vocati onal
Purpos Purpos onal English
es es English

IV. History and Development

The development of ESP may be summarized into five stages as suggested by Hutchinson
and Waters (1987), namely:

1. The concept of special language (register analysis)- Before ESP, language teaching
uses language samples and inputs that are most often than not, alien to the
students. During the first phases of ESP’s development, language teachers began
to see that there is a “special language” in certain fields. Thus, from the usual “This
is a book” sample sentence, teachers began to introduce more discipline-specific
terms such as “This is an Erlenmeyer flask.”
2. Beyond the sentence- From words or terms, ESP teachers began to explore more
about the “special language” by engaging in rhetorical or discourse analysis
3. Target situation analysis- Later on, ESP teachers began to analyze the “end goal”
of a particular language class, i.e. “What should the learners be able to do after
taking up the ESP course?”
4. Skills and strategies- The focus of teaching has turned to the skills
that learners should develop and the strategies on how these would be achieved.
5. Learning-centered approach- Most recently, ESP gave emphasis on
how learning will be attained and how learners will learn.

IV. Language Issues in ESP

A common area of criticism in ESP is on how language is treated in classes because ESP 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. The following are some of the language areas that were questioned.
 A. Grammar in ESP- There are many misconceptions about the role of grammar
in ESP teaching. It is often said that ESP teaching is not concerned with
grammar. ESP practitioners claim that it is incorrect to consider grammar
teaching as outside the remit of ESP. How much priority is paid to
grammatical weakness depends on the learners’ level in English and whether
priority needs to be given to grammatical accuracy or to fluency in using the
language.
Key Grammatical Forms
 Verbs and tense
 Voice
 Modals
 Articles
 Nominalisation
 Logical connectors
B. Vocabulary in ESP- Since ESP 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 exclusive to a particular discipline or area.
Thus, 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- technical vocabulary consists of
words or terminologies that are exclusive to a particular discipline or
field. These should be highly considered in ESP classes because
students would experience difficulties in understanding texts if they
don’t understand certain terms
2. Semi-Technical and Core Business Vocabulary- Some terms that are
present in a particular discipline would tend to have a different
definition in a different field. These are categorized as Semi-
technical.
3. General and non-academic- Despite being discipline-specific, ESP
should still give ample time in discussing general or “layman’s terms”
because these play an important role in their understanding and
learning
C. Discourse and Genre Analysis- Dudley-Evans et.al. (1998 as cited in
Robinson, 1991) suggest that ESP needs a system of linguistic analysis that
demonstrates differences between texts and text types. They emphasize that
genre analysis may be used as a classificatory system; revealing the essential
differences between both the genre studied and other genres and also
between the various sub-genres. They further point out that genre analysis
within ESP is prescriptive, whereas register analysis is descriptive.
The aim of discourse analysis, particularly the system of analysis of clause
relations in written text is to describe relations that are found in all texts. It is
concerned with similarities between texts.

V. Practical concerns in ESP

A. Needs Analysis- As mentioned above, one basic key feature of ESP is that it is “based
on needs analysis” which means that ESP lessons are not just dictated by the school
but a result of careful study on what the students need. But what is “needs”? Needs
may refer to:
 Study or job requirements
 Necessary
 What the learner needs to do
 Personal aims
  “Lacks” (or what they don’t have)
There are three basic types of analysis that ESP course developer usually do:
 Target situation analysis- focuses on the needs of the learners at the end
of the language program
 Present situation analysis- focuses on the level of the students’ language
skills at the start of the language program
 Pedagogic needs analysis- focuses on the educational needs of the
students such as “What they lack”; “How they learn”; “What cultural
differences do they have”
B. Syllabus- Syllabus design plays a very important role in ESP. Course designers
should carefully in plan the content to ensure that it includes what the learner needs
and excludes what learners don’t need. Similar to English for general purposes, there
are also a number of different syllabus designs, such as the following.
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 in the 1970s 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.)
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 student) 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 writing is required in
the process of application, and not just a language practice activity.)
C. Materials- In ESP, as it is in any language program, materials play a very vital role.
They should be carefully selected and designed to suit the needs of the learners. 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.
In ESP “authentic” materials are those that are normally used in the students’
workplace or academic environment.

In terms of “types” ESP materials may be divided into two, namely: content-based
materials and competency-based 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 (cf. skills-based syllabus); thus, this is more appropriately applied
in EOP.
D. Evaluation- Similar with materials, evaluation processes are important to ESP too.
Evaluation provides necessary information regarding the extent to which the learner
learnt. In ESP, testing is mostly performance-based, as opposed to the usual paper-
and-pencil test. Since 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” tests that compel students to perform. In relation
to this, ESP tests are criterion-referenced because a student should reach a
particular level in order to pass the course. (This is contrary to EGP tests, which are
often norm-referenced.)
E. Classroom Practice- In terms of classroom practices or methodologies, a popular
question raised against ESP is “Is there a particular technique adopted by English
language teachers in the ESP classroom?” This question was raised by Sinha &
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 not limited to
this.
Philipps 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 e naturally generated by the students’
special purpose; and
(d) tolerance of error, i.e. errors which do not impede successful communication
must be tolerated.

Below is a list of some commonly used activities in an ESP program:

1. Role play and Simulation- Students assume a different role or a role that is
present in their future work area. 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 a 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 involve:

1. Knowledge for content- One problem in ESP is the language teacher’s mastery
over content. Since the teacher is a language major, it would be difficult for him
or her to have mastery of the content. A usual approach to address this issue is
to team teach with a subject-matter expert

2. Teacher talk- Since ESP courses are communicative in nature, teachers are
expected to be facilitators rather than classroom authorities. Students should
 have more talk time instead of the teacher.

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.