Definition

English for Specific Purposes may be defined as a particular trend in English Language Teaching
(ELT) whose rise parallels the emergence of English as the language for international
interaction.

Absolute characteristics Variable characteristics

 Defined to meet specific needs of the
learner.
 Use of the underlying methodology
and activities of the discipline it
serves;
 Centred on the language (grammar,
lexis, and register), skills, discourse
and genres appropriate to these
activities.
 May be related to or designed for specific
disciplines.
 May use, in specific teaching situations, a
different methodology than that of general
English.
 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.
 Generally designed for intermediate or advanced
students but it also can be used for beginners.

The learner‟s needs, the field-oriented methodology and the treatment of language as
functional to the previous categories are the three fundamental aspects.

It is a label to single out the English language when it is merely instrumental to academic,
professional or scientific endeavors. The special issue in ESP is not the language but rather the
needs of those who seek instruction. It is better depicted in contrast with English for General
Purposes (EGP), since the latter implies the building of a comprehensive communicative
competence that would enable the learner to operate in a wide range of situations in the target
language. ESP, on the other hand, stems from the very social need for which behaving linguistically
well in English is a must.

Domains
All decisions taken in ELT are
determined by the purpose that
triggers such teaching, and
each situation calls for different
approaches and methods.

The most common applications

of ESP are:

EST (English for Science and

Technology),

EBE (English for Business and

Economics) and

ESS (English for the Social

Sciences).

EAP (English for Academic

Purposes) is usually
considered within ESS.
English language teaching basic branches are two -English for specific purposes (ESP) and
English for General purposes (EGP), which are really different from each other. The main
difference between ESP and EGP lies on students' needs and motivation. The latter aspect
mentioned is naturally developed by students in ESP courses whereas EGP has to create artificial
needs to ensure it. Having said this, it is logical to assume that achieveving intrinsic interests in a
course differ from having extrinsic ones.

What is a paragraph?

It is a group of sentences that developes ONE main idea: its topic. The topic is the subject of
the paragraph, what the paragraph is about.
By reading the topic sentence, the
reader should be able to tell what is
going to be developed afterwards. A
good topic sentence also serves to
state an idea or attitude towards the
topic, which is called the
CONTROLLING IDEA. For example, in
the paragraph given as an example, the
topic is “smoking”, and the controlling idea
is “expensive”. With the same topic,
there could have been other
controlling ideas, for example, that of
smoking being unhealthy.

The supporting sentences make up the body of your text, develop the topic sentence and explain
it by giving reasons, examples, facts, statistics and quotations.

The concluding sentence signals the end of the paragraph summarizes the main points /provides
a reflection on the topic, leaves the reader with important points to remember and it can
paraphrase the topic sentence.

The unity means that you discuss only one main idea in a paragraph and the coherence makes
your paragraph easy to read and understand since its logical order and proper use of connectors.

Many people all over the world use English today in their academic endeavors. There are many
areas worthy of attention within EAP. The main involve reading comprehension skills and skills for
more creative uses of the language, such as enrolling for a seminar, submitting a paper and
engaging in academic discussions.

Texts for research and other academic activities

The research paper The article

Research papers are the most complex It is used as synonym of paper.

formats for written academic and scientific It may refer to a kind of text which is easier to
discussions. follow, since its format does not differ much
* Title from the regular texts we find in books and
*Author’s name + Institution magazines.
*Contact information *Title
*Abstract *Heading
*Introduction *Introduction
*Materials & Methods *Development
* Findings *Closure
*Discussion
 The textbook The essay

* Chapters As Buckley (1995) says, the essay is an

attempt to discuss certain ideas, the
outcome of a process of reflection and
creativity which claims to provide insight on
the aspect or topic considered.
*Introduction
*Supporting section
*Conclusion

The argumentative essay The research essay

*Introduction that catches the reader. The intention of the text is to trigger
* Arguments in favour. bibliographical exploration on the basis of a
* Opponent’s view. thesis which needs confirmation.
* Conclusion * The introduction.
*The body of the essay.
* The conclusion

When drawing on other people’s ideas we must give credit to these people. Referencing is
acknowledging others’ contributions to your work.

Referencing is an essential part of academic writing because it makes someone’s work reliable
and trustworthy, and it provides the reader with background information and clues for
further reading.

In- text referencing

According to Everard and Morris (1996:3), ‘it would appear that our instinct for managing
others may be less reliable than we think.’

If quotation marks are used, the page number may be inserted after the publication date and
preceded by a colon. Nothing in the original source can be modified, and if we wish to highlight or
single out a word in the original text, we must use italics and make this change explicit:

Everard and Morris (1996) remind us of the fact that ‘[c]ompetence is developed by repeatedly
going round an experiential learning cycle’. The italics are ours.

Parentheses are also used when parts of the text have been purposefully omitted:

Everard and Morris (1996:4-5) discuss the integration of resources and they conclude that
[t]hroughout the educational process, success tends to depend on demonstrating and exploiting one’s
own ideas and talents. (…) As a manager, on the other hand, success depends on using the ideas and
talents of a team.

Some common phrases for quoting other people’s works are:

 As stated by /in …,  According to  In the view of …,

 As … says /states /claims / points out / argues / …,
discusses / develops in his/her work /
 shows/ describes / predicts / acknowledges / warns /
Paraphrasing is the other common way of referencing.

In chapter 3, Everard and Morris (1996) discuss several theories that try to account for motivation.

Referencing in the bibliography

In all cases, the authors mentioned in the text must be acknowledged in the bibliography.

Corder, K.(2006a).The ideal manager. Hans Publishing Company.

Smith, J. (2001) Human resources and the challenges of a new world. Retrieved October 10,
2002 from http://www.bytc.edu.al/cpa/management/0043YO.

Albanian Multicultural Center (n.d.) Human resources and the challenges of a new world. Retrieved
October 10, 2002 from http://www.bytc.edu.al/cpa/management/0043YO

In this case, (n.d.) means ‘no date’ and is used when the date is not available in the site.

How to write a thesis statement

An effective thesis statement states the purpose of the paper and therefore functions to control,
assert, and structure your entire argument. It serves as a road map by telling the reader the
direction of your argument or analysis and how you will interpret the importance of the subject.

The thesis is usually stated at the end of the first paragraph.

Think of your thesis as a case a lawyer has to defend. A thesis statement should explain to your
readers the case you wish to make and how you will accomplish that. You can also think of your
thesis as a contract.

Writing academic texts

Outline for an argumentative essay

THESIS STATEMENT: (Write a thesis statement that is debatable) Example:

Although some parents and educators oppose same-sex classes, there is some evidence that
separating boys and girls in middle school brings about positive results

OPPOSING ARGUMENT 1: Opponents of single-sex education claim that test scores show that
there is no advantage to all-girl or all-boy classes.

REBUTTAL TO ARGUMENT 1: 1- research is inconclusive – show opposite results

OPPOSING ARGUMENT 2: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

REBUTTAL TO ARGUMENT 2: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

CONCLUSION: re-statement of your thesis statement.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Here write two sources you found to support your topic sentences, that is to say,
sources you can quote in the text. Write just two sources, no more.
Outline for a cause-effect essay

THESIS STATEMENT: Recycling paper has positive effects on the environment, such as slowing
down the process of deforestation and reducing pollution.

BODY

FIRST PARAGRAPH- TOPIC SENTENCE: One of the benefits of recycling paper is the decrease
on the process of deforestation.

 Consequences of indiscriminate cutting of trees

 People are using less paper- fewer trees are needed

SECOND PARAGRAPH- TOPIC SENTENCE: Another positive effect of recycling is the reduction
of pollution.

 Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

CONCLUSION: Re-statement of the thesis statement.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Transitional phrases

To exemplify To support or discuss an argument

 There are examples of …  Although …, ….
 For instance,  Even though …,
 In fact,  Despite, …
 To illustrate my point,  In spite of …
 Take, for example, this topic.  However, …
 One example of … is …  Nevertheless, …
 That is …  On the one hand, … / On the other hand, …
 We could consider …  Even so, …
 Other examples include…  And yet, …
 … also illustrates …
 … such as ….
 Take, for example,

To compare and contrast ideas To classify

 On the contrary, …  The first/ second/ last category refers

 Likewise, … to/includes/details …
 In the same way, …  There are many groups/ aspects/issues …
 Conversely, ….  The types are classified according to …
 In contrast to…, ….  Comparative and superlative phrases: the
 Similarly, …. nicest, the least
 Like…  organized, less reliable than, …
 However, …

To summarize To add new information /arguments

To sum up, …  In addition, …
In conclusion, …  Furthermore, …
In brief, …  Moreover, …
In short, …  What is more, …
Finally, …  Also, …
To round up, …  Besides, …
To summarize, …
To include someone else’s view

Experts /researchers / scientists / writers / etc., say, argue, state, recognize, believe, suggest,
point out, emphasize, refer to, support.

Phrases For Balanced Arguments

INTRODUCTION THESIS / ANTITHESIS

It is often said that...
It is undeniable that...
It is a well-known fact that...
For the great majority of people...
We live in a world in which...
A number of key issues arise from the
statement. For one…
One of the most striking features of this
problem is...
First of all, let us try to understand...
The public in general tend to believe that...
The first thing that needs to be said is...
One argument in support of...
We must distinguish carefully between...
The second reason for...
An important aspect of the problem is...
It is worth stating at this point that...
On the other hand, we can observe that...
The other side of the coin is, however, that...
Another way of looking at this question is to...

SYNTHESIS CONCLUSION

The fact of the matter is surely that...
The truth of the matter is simply that...
On balance, we can safely say that...
On reflection, it seems more accurate to
say that...
If one weighs the pros and the cons of the
case, one soon realises that...
In the final analysis...
What conclusions can be drawn from all this?
The most satisfactory conclusion that we can
come to is...
To sum up... we are convinced that.../ ...we
believe that.../ ...we have to accept that...

Argumentative

 Introduction - thesis statement

 Body paragraph 1 - opposing argument y rebuttal to argument
 Body paragraph 2 - opposing argument y rebuttal to argument
 Conclusion
 Bibliography

Cause-effect

 Introduction - thesis statement

 Body paragraph 1 - topic sentence
 Body paragraph 2 - topic sentence
 Conclusion
 Bibliography

Benefits and drawbacks

 Introduction - thesis statement

 Body paragraph 1 - topic sentence (advantages)
 Body paragraph 2 - topic sentence (disadvantages)
 Conclusion
 Bibliography