Republic of the Philippines

MARINDUQUE STATE COLLEGE

GRADUATE SCHOOL
Tanza, Boac, Marinduque

MASTER OF ARTS IN EDUCATION major in LANGUAGE TEACHING

(Accreditation Level II) by the Accrediting Agency for Chartered Colleges Universities in the Philippines (AACCUP), Inc.

NAME: Mary Grace S. Du MAEd: Language Teaching

(Major )
EDL 222: ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES 1 Semester: SY.2022- 2023
st

Theory, Methods and Material

INTRODUCTION TO ESP
(Theoretical Considerations)
REFLECTION NO. 1

English for specific purposes (ESP), is a subset of English as a

second or foreign language. It usually refers to teaching the English
language to university students or people already in employment, with
reference to the particular vocabulary and skills they need. As with
any language taught for specific purposes, this course will focus on one
occupation or profession, such as Technical English, Scientific English, English
for medical professionals, English for waiters, English for tourism, etc. Despite
the seemingly limited focus, a course of ESP can have a wide-ranging impact,
as is the case with Environmental English.

After reading different references about introduction to English for specific

purposes (ESP), I found out that there are also absolute characteristics of ESP
that is really a need to know by each of us especially those who are in the field
of teaching like me. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, ESP is defined to
meet psychological needs of the learners and how they will respond to
temptations. Another is that ESP makes use of underlying methodology and
activities of the discipline it serves. And lastly, ESP is centered on the
language appropriate to different activities in terms of grammar, lexis, register,
study skills, discourse and genre.

According to Strevens' (1908), ESP may be, but is not necessarily:

(a)restricted as to the language skills to be learned (e.g. reading only); and (b)
not taught according to any pre-ordained methodology. While Dudley-Evans &
St John (1998), defines ESP such as; (a) ESP may be related to or designed for
School Goal: The Graduate School prepares competent professional leaders who commit themselves to effect
positive changes to the community and responsive in providing efficient and excellent leadership in
private and public sectors.
 Republic of the Philippines
MARINDUQUE STATE COLLEGE
GRADUATE SCHOOL
Tanza, Boac, Marinduque

MASTER OF ARTS IN EDUCATION major in LANGUAGE TEACHING

(Accreditation Level II) by the Accrediting Agency for Chartered Colleges Universities in the Philippines (AACCUP), Inc.

specific disciplines like Dabong, 2019 have said, (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, however, be for learners
at secondary school level; (d) ESP is generally designed for intermediate or
advanced students; and (e) Most ESP courses assume some basic knowledge of
the language system, but it can be used with beginners. When it comes to
teaching, ESP is taught in many universities of the world. ESP teaching has
much in common with English as a Foreign or Second Language and English
for Academic Purposes (EAP). ESP is different from standard English teaching
in the fact that the one doing the teaching not only has to be proficient in
standard English, but they also must be knowledgeable in a technical field.

History and Development of ESP were also given emphasis wherein

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?”

School Goal: The Graduate School prepares competent professional leaders who commit themselves to effect
positive changes to the community and responsive in providing efficient and excellent leadership in
private and public sectors.
 Republic of the Philippines
MARINDUQUE STATE COLLEGE
GRADUATE SCHOOL
Tanza, Boac, Marinduque

MASTER OF ARTS IN EDUCATION major in LANGUAGE TEACHING

(Accreditation Level II) by the Accrediting Agency for Chartered Colleges Universities in the Philippines (AACCUP), Inc.

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.

There are also different types of ESP in which it 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.

After reading different information about ESP, I have learned that it

helps individual to have a faster acquisition of the required English language
terms: as the content is context-based, it allows students to learn in an
accelerated manner. Another is to have an optimum use of their learning
resources, all of which are pre-identified according to the goals and needs of
the learner. Also, the effectiveness of the content application helps the learners
to use the appropriate language terminology on the job soon after the
completion of the course. And ESP is also a big help to have a rapid increase in
job productivity and efficiency as employees are better prepared to
communicate with their clientele and colleagues.

School Goal: The Graduate School prepares competent professional leaders who commit themselves to effect
positive changes to the community and responsive in providing efficient and excellent leadership in
private and public sectors.
 Republic of the Philippines
MARINDUQUE STATE COLLEGE
GRADUATE SCHOOL
Tanza, Boac, Marinduque

MASTER OF ARTS IN EDUCATION major in LANGUAGE TEACHING

(Accreditation Level II) by the Accrediting Agency for Chartered Colleges Universities in the Philippines (AACCUP), Inc.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_for_specific_purposes#:~:text=English
%20for%20specific%20purposes%20(ESP,vocabulary%20and%20skills%20they
%20need.

https://www.elcomblus.com/history-and-types-of-english-for-specific-
purposes-esp/

https://www.etoninstitute.com/blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-
english-for-specific-purposes

Date Submitted: October 15, 2022

School Goal: The Graduate School prepares competent professional leaders who commit themselves to effect
positive changes to the community and responsive in providing efficient and excellent leadership in
private and public sectors.