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English For Specific Purposes (ESP)

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) focuses on teaching English tailored to the specific needs of learners in academic or professional contexts. It emerged due to the global demand for English in various fields, a revolution in linguistics, and a learner-centered approach to education. ESP courses are designed to meet the unique goals of learners, utilizing authentic materials and flexible methodologies to enhance communication skills in targeted situations.

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5 views26 pages

English For Specific Purposes (ESP)

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) focuses on teaching English tailored to the specific needs of learners in academic or professional contexts. It emerged due to the global demand for English in various fields, a revolution in linguistics, and a learner-centered approach to education. ESP courses are designed to meet the unique goals of learners, utilizing authentic materials and flexible methodologies to enhance communication skills in targeted situations.

Uploaded by

7dektem
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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English for Specific

Purposes (ESP)
English for Specific Purposes
• Why English?
• English: internationally accepted language of nearly all fields of
knowledge.

• It is recognized and understood by people almost everywhere in world.

• With more than 350 million people around the world speaking English
as a first language and more than 430 million speaking it as a second
language, there are English speakers in most countries around the
world.
• In some cases, people with inadequate proficiency in English need to
be taught to handle specific jobs.

• To fulfil the needs of these learners, specific courses were designed


and introduced, ESP is one of them.
Definition
• The teaching of English used in academic studies or the teaching of English
for vocational or professional purposes?

• The fundamental function of ESP is: “Why does this learner need to learn a
foreign language

• The rationale of learning English, thus, became the decisive issue of ESP.
• ESP: the teaching of English to learners who have specific goals and
purposes.

• These goals might be professional, academic, scientific etc

• 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.
• ESP may use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology from
that of general English;
• ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at a tertiary
(university) level or in a professional work situation.
• It could, however, be for learners at secondary school level; ESP is
generally designed for intermediate or advanced students;
• Most ESP courses assume some basic knowledge of the language system,
but it can be used with beginners.
• Its main objective is to meet specific needs of the learners.

• This indicates that there is no fixed methodology of ESP that can be


applicable in all situations, but rather each situation and particular
needs of learners belonging to a particular domain impose a certain
methodology of teaching.
The history of ESP
• Three key reasons are common to the emergence of all ESP:
• The demands of a Brave New World
• A revolution in linguistics, and
• A focus on the learner.
• 1. The end of the Second World War declared an era of expansion in
scientific, technical and economic activity world-wide.

• The role of international language fell obviously to English because of


the economic expansion of the United States in the post-war world.
• The Oil Crisis of the early 1970s resulted in Western money and
knowledge flowing into the oil-rich countries. The language of this
knowledge became English.

• This led consequently to exerting pressure on the language teaching


profession, which boosted in this part of the world, to deliver the
required goods. English now became subject to the wishes, needs, and
demands of people other than language teachers.
• 2. A revolution in linguistics.
• Most of the work of linguists in the 60s and 70s of the past century focused
on the ways in which language is used in real communication contrary to
the works of traditional linguists who set out to describe the features of
language.

• If language in different situations varies, then tailoring language instruction


to meet the needs of learners in specific contexts is also possible. Hence, in
the late 1960s and the early 1970s there were many attempts to describe
English for Science and Technology (EST).
• 3. More focus on the learner:
• More attention was given in the 70s of the past century to the means
through which a learner acquires a language and ways in which it is learnt.

• There was a shift of focus from methods of language learning to the


different learning strategies, different skills, different learning schemata and
different motivating needs and interests that are employed by different
learners.

• This consequently led to a focus on learners' need and designing specific


courses to better meet individual needs. The result of this was a natural
extension of "learner-centered" or "learning-centered" perspectives on ESP.
I. Absolute Characteristics:
• ESP consists of English language teaching which is:

• designed to meet specified needs of the learner;

• related in content (i.e. in its themes and topics) to particular


disciplines, occupations and activities;

• centered on the language appropriate to those activities in syntax,


lexis, discourse, semantics, etc., and analysis of this discourse;

• in contrast with General English.


II. Variable characteristics:

• ESP may be, but is not necessarily:

• restricted as to the language skills to be learned.

• taught according to any pre-ordained methodology.


• TYPES OF ESP
• David Carter (1983) identifies three types of ESP:
• English as a restricted language
• English for Academic and Occupational Purposes
• English with specific topics.
English as a Restricted Language
• Only used for specific contexts.

• It may not help in communication outside that particular context.

• For example: of a pilot or of a waiter.

• This kind of ESP teaching restricts itself to "limited number of phrases


and expressions and these learners remain unable to use English in any
setting other than the one they have been trained for.
• English for academic and occupational purposes
• E.g. For medical or business studies.
• English with specific topics
• It is uniquely concerned with anticipated future English
needs.
• For example; scientist requiring English for post graduate
studies or attending conferences.
• Characteristics of ESP courses
• a) Authentic material.

• b) Purpose-related orientation - orientation lessons must be according


to needs and wants of students.

• c) Self-direction - freedom should be given to learners, to decide what


to learn and how to learn
ESP course design

• Course design refers to the planning and structuring of a course to


achieve the needed goals.

• The aim of the ESP courses is to prepare the learners in accordance


with specific skills and vocabulary needed in their own field in order
to be able to communicate effectively in the target situation.
• To achieve these aims, a number of parameters have to be taken into
consideration namely:

• The Identification of Needs.

• Syllabus Design.

• Materials Production.

• Evaluation and Assessment.


Role of ESP teacher:

• An ESP teacher should:


• Set goals and objectives
• Organize courses
• Prepare materials
• Evaluate students.
• An ESP teacher should not follow a book rigidly.

• He/She should organize the material based on grammar, functional and


situational point of view.

• The material must fit the students’ needs and the goals set by the
teacher.
Designing an ESP course

1) Course title: ESP for bankers


2) Size of class: 10
3) Time frame: 60 minutes Introduction and explanation= 35min Class
discussion= 10 min Activity= 15 min
4) Learning outcomes and goal: By the end of course, participants will
be able to use English accurately in target situation i.e. Banks.
5) Syllabus: Emphasis on four basic skills, tips/exercises to answer the
phone call, how to give presentation effectively, types of business
letters, how to write formal letters, E-mail guideline and etc
6) Activities and strategies: PPT presentations, brain storming, discussions etc

7) Evaluation criteria:

attendance = 10 marks

class participation= 20 marks

speaking test = 40 marks assignments = 10 marks

role play = 10 marks

Presentations = 10 marks
• Conclusion:
• English for Specific Purposes has emerged as a significant field in
Applied Linguistics. It is mostly concerned with the learners’ needs for
a specific field of academics or occupation.

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