MARINDUQUE STATE COLLEGE

SCHOOL OF GRADUATE EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL STUDIES

Boac, Marinduque

Marieneth L. Malubag MAEd – Language Teaching

EDL 222: ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES (ESP) Second Semester: A.Y. 2019-2020
Theory, Methods and Materials

Learn to practice: ESP as a Language Teaching Approach

Reflection No. 1

A controversial statement from Majid Al-Humaidi’s article about ESP which says “ESP

has been frequently being underestimated due to the condescending and reluctant attitude of

some teachers” has caught my attention. Personally, the I-know-better-than-you kind of

behaviour is quite prevalent nowadays. Like, anyone could actually encounter such person with

such attitude in any kind of setting (may it be professional or not) they are in. And, also, having

such behaviour is always a matter of choice that can be avoided to possess. Since that it is hard to

study to attain such profession, why not embrace its nature of work rather than showing

unwillingness and arrogance? For me, this occurrence may be due to the fact that such (English)

language teachers just do not have enough knowledge and/or awareness to the nature, essence,

and significance of ESP. Such teachers who do not understand and appreciate what it means to

be an ESP teacher, and what it takes to be successful in this teaching approach must seriously

insist themselves to reach a better understanding of it—at least, for the sake of the learners and

their (future) career.

Here, in the Philippines, considering that English is the second language, the demand of

English language teaching has been escalating both in private sectors (e.g. online English

tutoring companies) and in formal situations such as those of SUCs and other academic

institutions. Gladly, it can be observed that ESP approach has been commonly applied in the
 MARINDUQUE STATE COLLEGE
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL STUDIES
Boac, Marinduque

context of English teaching in both secondary and tertiary school levels, most especially when

the new curriculum was implemented in the country. This is in accordance with the government

policy on education that emphasizes the goal of teaching English at tertiary level—particularly

for non-English department, which is to improve the students’ ability to use English for

academic and professional purposes. That is why I am pleased that the English teacher

community here in the Philippines can see the essence of applying the ESP approach in teaching.

To meet the specific needs of the learners, the ESP teachers relates the content of the course

subject to the particular discipline. Also, they usually promote the cultural awareness and

delivers intermediate and advanced level of language practice to the learners inside the

classroom. With that, the macro skills, namely speaking, reading, writing, listening, and viewing,

are being incorporated to attain in the English instruction. Learners were also sometimes exposed

to the certain field’s workplace to practice the real-world communication. Therefore, teaching

ESP in the Philippines is a good preparation for the students/learners to have a certain English

proficiency level for a situation where the language is going to be used (in their future career).

However, I can also observe, and cannot deny, that there are some English teachers in

certain non-English departments that can be considered to be unprepared in this practice. Since, I

do not have an experience yet in teaching, I asked some English teachers regarding their view in

this. There was one who happened to deny an offer to her/him to be assigned to teach English for

Engineering course because of his/her perceived difficulties with its technical language and

content. With that, it can be perceived that the lack of specialized knowledge of content in a

specific field/discipline is the main hindrance to teach ESP effectively. Honestly speaking, this is

also what I fear of if I start my teaching career. A period of self-doubt will surely occur once in a

moment when, for example, I cannot answer all the learners’ question and, also, absence of
 MARINDUQUE STATE COLLEGE
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL STUDIES
Boac, Marinduque

creativity might happen because of not having a well enough ground in the specialized subject

matter. However, it is so just comforting to know that such degree in science or engineering is

not required of ESP teachers, based from the statement of Strevens (1988), “ESP teacher become

an educated layman who becomes familiar with the language of a subject though without

pretending or seeking to become a specialist in the discipline itself”. Still, the extent of the gap in

the ESP teachers’ background should and has to be filled before handling certain disciplines

because, as how we always state the goal of ESP, ESP teachers must respond to the learners’

language needs.

I therefore conclude that with the help of ESP, the language becomes the means of

teaching profession and appears to be significant in the context of the academic and professional

world. Also, giving a definition of ESP is more than a necessity—to avoid underestimation and

establish an opportune context about how it can be seen. If ESP grow and flourish more in the

future, it is vital for the language teaching community, as a whole, to understand what ESP

actually represents and signify in ELT, and especially its contribution to the (future) life career of

each learners.

References:

 ESP after twenty years are appraisal in ESP State of the Art (1988)
P. Strevens
 English for Specific Purposes: Review of Literature (no date)
Majid M. Al-Humaidi

Date Submitted: April 15, 2020

 MARINDUQUE STATE COLLEGE
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE EDUCATION AND PROFESSIONAL STUDIES
Boac, Marinduque