1.
What is ESP ?
Robinson’s (1991: 3) definition of ESP is based on two criteria:
1) ESP is normally ‘goal-directed’, and 2) ESP courses develop from a needs
analysis which aim to specify what exactly it is that students have to do
through the medium of English, and a number of
characteristics which explain
that ESP courses are generally constrained by a limited time period in
which their objectives have to be achieved and are taught to adults in homogenous
classes in terms of the work or specialist studies that the students are
involved in. Each of these definitions have validity but also weaknesses.
Considering Hutchinson and Water’s definition, Anthony (1997) noted that it is
not clear where ESP courses end and General English courses begin because
numerous non-specialist ESP instructors use ESP approach in that their syllabi
are based on analysis of learner needs and their own specialist personal
knowledge of English for real communication. Strevens’ definition, by referring
to content in the second absolute characteristic, may confirm the impression
held by many teachers that ESP is always and necessarily related to subject
content.
Robinson’s mention of homogenous classes as a characteristic of
ESP may lead to the same conclusion. However, much of ESP work is based on the
idea of a common-core of language and skills belonging to all academic
disciplines or cutting across the whole activity of business. ESP teaching
should always reflect the underlying concepts and activities of the discipline.
Having all these on mind, Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) modified Strevens’
definition of ESP
1. Absolute characteristics:
a.
ESP is designed to meet
specific needs of the learner
b.
ESP makes use of the
underlying methodology and activities of the disciplines it serves.
c.
ESP is centred on the language (grammar,
lexis, register), skills, discourse and genres appropriate to these activities.
2.
Variable characteristics:
a.
ESP may be related 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 a professional
work situation; it could be used for learners at secondary school level
d.
ESP is generally designed for
intermediate or advanced learners; and
e.
Most ESP courses assume basic
knowledge of the language system, but it can be used with beginners.
2. 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/inservice and post-experience courses.
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 inservice or in-study courses.
3.
FEATURES
OF ESP COURSES
Considering the characteristics of ESP courses, Carver (1983)
states that there are three characteristics common to ESP courses:
1.
Authentic materials – the use
of authentic learning materials is possible if we accept the claim that ESP
courses should be offered at an intermediate or advanced level. The use of such
materials, modified by teachers or unmodified, is common in ESP, especially in
selfdirected studies or research tasks. The students are usually encouraged to
conduct research using a variety of different resources including the Internet.
2.
Purpose-related orientation –
refers to the simulation of communicative tasks required by the target
situation. The teacher can give students different tasks - to simulate the
conference preparation, involving the preparation of papers, reading,
note-taking and writing. At Faculty of Agronomy in Cacak, English course for
Agribusiness Management involves students in the tasks of presenting a particular
agricultural product, logo creation, negotiating with the clients (suppliers
and buyers), telephone conversation. They also practice listening skills,
though the application is restricted because they employ newly acquired skills
during their ESP classes with their colleagues and teacher.
3.
Self-direction – means that
ESP is concerned with turning learners into users. For self – direction, it is
necessary that teacher encourage students to have a certain degree of autonomy
– freedom to decide when, what, and how they will study. For high-ability
learners it is essential to learn how to access information in a new culture.
Since ESP courses are of various types, depending on specific
scientific field or profession, and have specific features, teachers teaching
such courses need to play different roles and acquire certain knowledge.
4. ROLES OF ESP TEACHERS
As ESP teaching is extremely varied some authors (Dudley-Evans and
St John, 1998) use the term “practitioner” rather than “teacher” to emphasize that
ESP work involves much more than teaching. ESP practitioner can have several
roles.
a.
The ESP practitioner as a
teacher ESP is a practical discipline with the
most important objective of helping students to learn. However, the teacher is
not the primary knower of the carrier content of the material. The students,
especially where the course is specifically oriented towards the subject
content or work the students are engaged in, may know more about the content
than the teacher. The teacher has the opportunity to draw on students’
knowledge of the content in order to generate communication in the classroom.
When the teaching is a specific course on, for example, how to write a business
report, it is vital that the teacher adopts the position of the consultant who
has the knowledge of communication practices but needs to “negotiate” with the
students on how best to explore these practices to meet the objective they
have. The relationship is much more of a partnership. In some situations the
role of ESP teacher extends to giving one-to-one advice to students (e.g., in
non-English speaking countries students will have to publish in international
journals and need advice in both language and discourse issues). ESP teachers
need to have considerable flexibility, be willing to listen to learners, take
interest in the disciplines or professional activities the students are
involved in, and to take some risks in their teaching.
b.
The ESP practitioner as
course designer and material provider Since it is
rarely possible to use a particular textbook without the need for supplementary
material – sometimes no really suitable published material exists for
identified needs - ESP practitioners often have to provide the material for the
course. This involves selection of published material, adapting material if it
is not suitable, or writing it. ESP teachers also need to assess the
effectiveness of the teaching material used whether it is published or
self-produced. However, since the teachers are encouraged by their employees to
write new material there is a danger of constant re-invention of the wheel;
advantages of published materials are ignored even when they are suitable for a
given situation.
c.
The ESP practitioner as
researcher Research has been particularly
strong in the area of EAP (genre analysis). Regarding the research into English
for Business Purposes, there is a growing interest in investigating the genres,
the language and the skills involved in business communication. ESP teachers
need to be in touch with the research. Teachers carrying out a needs analysis,
designing a course, or writing teaching materials need to be capable of
incorporating the findings of the research, and those working in specific ESP
situations need to be confident that they know what is involved in skills such
as written communication.
d.
The ESP practitioner as
collaborator It is believed that
subject-specific work is often best approached through collaboration with
subject specialist. This may involve cooperation in which ESP teacher finds out
about the subject syllabus in an academic context or the tasks that students
have to carry out in a work or business situation. Or it may involve specific
collaboration so that there is some integration between specialist studies or
activities and the language. It might involve the language teacher specifically
preparing learners for the language of subject lectures or business
presentations. Another possibility is that a specialist checks and comments on
the content of teaching materials that the ESP teacher has prepared. The
fullest collaboration is where a subject expert and a language teacher team-teach
classes; in EAP such lessons might help with the understanding of subject
lectures or the writing of examination answers, essays or theses, while in EOP
they might involve the language teacher and a business trainer working together
to teach both the skills and the language related to business communication.
e.
The ESP practitioner as
evaluator The ESP practitioner is often involved in
various types of evaluation - testing of students, evaluation of courses and
teaching materials. Tests are conducted 1) to assess whether students have the
necessary language and skills to undertake a particular academic course or
career which is important in countries such as the UK, USA, Australia where
large numbers of international students do postgraduate course or research and
need internationally required tests, e.g. International English Language Test
Service (IELTS), Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), and 2) to asses
the level of their achievement – how much learners have gained from a course.
Evaluation of course design and teaching materials should be done while the
course is being taught, at the end of the course and after the course has
finished, in order to assess whether the learners have been able to make use of
what they learned and to find out what they were not prepared for. Evaluation
through discussion and on-going needs analysis can be used to adapt the
syllabus.
5. TRAINING OF ESP TEACHERS
Most teacher training courses
contain four basic elements:
1.
Selection, initial and terminal, is necessary because not every human being
would become an adequate language teacher. Each teacher has continuing
responsibility throughout a career which can last for thirty years or longer.
This responsibility makes it essential that potentially ineffective individuals
should be discouraged from entering the profession by adequate pre-training or
post-training selection procedures.
2.
Continuing personal
education. Teachers should be
well-educated people. Minimum standards accepted for teachers vary from country
to country. There are variations in how the trainee’s personal education is
improved – either simultaneously with his/her professional training; or
consecutively where first two or three years of study with no elements of
training as a teacher are followed by the fourth year containing methodology of
foreign language teaching or one year post-graduate course of teacher training;
or, as in many countries, by in-service courses. Either way, the assumption is
that graduates’ level of education is to be regarded as insufficient.
3.
General professional
training as an educator and teacher. This element
involves what all teachers need to know regardless of which subject they
teach – the components are as follows:
a.
educational psychology,
the study of child development, social psychology, and the principles of
educational thought – the component intended to lead the trainee to
understanding of the nature of education.
b.
an outline of the
organization of education in a particular country – the teacher should be aware
of the different kinds of schools, of normal and unusual pathways through
educational network, of responsibility, control and finance, of sources of
reform and change, of the main features of history of education in the country
where he will teach.
c.
an awareness of the moral
and rhetorical function of the teacher: the building of standards, character,
enthusiasm
d.
knowledge of, and skill
in, class management, discipline and handling of various groups of students
e.
knowledge of, and skill
in, basic instructional techniques, and understanding teacher-learner
interaction
f.
Acceptance of the
fundamental need for the preparation of lessons
g.
understanding the role of
curriculum, syllabus and teaching materials
h.
a teacher should be
committed to keeping in touch with the teaching profession.
4.
Special training as a
teacher of a foreign or second language. The
complexity of this training which constitutes the core of most teacher training
courses can be made simpler if the distinction is to be made between three
aspects of it. They are:
4.1 The skills component which includes three different skills
required by the teacher:
a.
command of the language the teacher is teaching – this component must ensure that
teacher’s command of foreign language is at least adequate for class purposes.
b.
teaching techniques and
classroom activities – the major part of teacher training is to assimilate a
great body of effective techniques
c.
the management of learning
– it is a crucial part of teacher’s classroom skills to learn how to assess
from moment to moment the progress of each individual in the class and how to
manage the classroom activities so that most able learners are not frustrated
by being held back, while the slowest are not depressed by being left behind.
The skills component requires practical training in
performing the skills themselves. There is a great range of activities which
can be summarized as follows:
a.
the observation of
specially-devised demonstrations of specific techniques and of complete
lessons.
b.
the observation of actual
class
c.
practice in the preparation of
lesson plans
d.
micro-teaching – the teaching
(by the trainee) of several items or techniques with the possible use of camera
recordings
e.
peer group teaching (i.e.
teaching fellow-trainees) as a form of exercise
f.
being a teacher’s assistant in
real class.
g.
teaching real classes under
supervision
h.
discussion of the trainee’s
teaching
i.
post-training, in-service
courses of various kind (ESP courses for teaching EMP or EBP).
4.2 The information component – the needed body of information
can be divided into three parts:
a.
information about
education – about different approaches to
the task of teaching language;
b.
information about the
syllabus and materials he will be using – the
syllabus, the prescribed textbooks, other teaching materials (readers,
workbooks, etc.) and aids (flashcards, wallcharts as well as tape recorders and
language labs) make up the tools of the teacher’s profession;
c.
information about language – when the teacher enters his course of training,
his understanding of the nature of language is likely to be scanty; this
information refers to knowledge of normal stages in the infant’s acquisition of
his mother tongue, the existence of common speech defects and whose job is to
treat them, relation between speech and writing, literacy and education,
notions of the ‘correctness’ and social judgments on language, language variety
including dialects and accents, language in contact, artificial language,
language and thought, and many more. The information content can be
learned from reading or lectures.
4.3 The theory component – the language teaching profession
makes connection with theoretical studies in several disciplines such as
linguistics, psychology, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, social theory,
education.
The theoretical studies are likely to find
a place when the trainee has attained a sufficient level of personal education
and when he is preparing to teach high-level learners. Alternatively, they can
be included in postgraduate teacher training as the interdisciplinary approach
of applied linguistics which integrates appropriate parts of the disciplines
most relevant to language teaching.
The theory component can be
assimilated from discussion, practice in solving problems, tutorial
explanations and time to absorb new ways of thinking. Currently, in Serbia ESP
teacher training courses are run as in-service courses; as high-education level
courses they are for the first time included in new curriculum as an optional
subject in fundamental academic studies (the fourth year of study) at the
institutions dealing with educating language teachers, Faculty of Philology in
Belgrade in particular (Faculty of Philology, 2006).
