Technology And ESP

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students are expected to

learn:
1. Define the use of Technology in Teaching ESP
2. Identify the technology tool for language learning. and;
3. Practice the ethical use of technology for teachers and learners.

INTRODUCTION

Technology has long played a major role in the teaching of English for specific purposes
(ESP) in two distinct ways. The use of technology can be applicable across all types of ESP
classrooms. The use of English as a lingua franca remains a primary focus for this discussion of
technology and ESP. The choice of a technology, either as a tool or a communicative space, is never a
neutral decision: it can both affect the learning process and be affected by how it is adapted in the
classroom. The use of technology in ESP has raised a variety of legal and ethical issues for teachers.
One of them is the use and distribution of intellectual property and the related changes in attitudes
towards plagiarism.

The use of Technology in

ESP classes

 Technology use in ESP also provides students with the strategies to learn languages for
specific purposes, task-based and collaborative learning activities, content-based authentic
materials, and tailored learning environments to students’ own needs (Dashtestani &
Stojković, 2015).
 Technologies have also been used in a variety of ESP classes to create contexts for
communicating with oral, literate, and visual modes of discourse.
  Synchronous forms of discourse\ such as chat, where the participants interact
in the same time frame.
 Asynchronous forms, such as email, listservs, Twitter, or blogging, or newer
forms of technologies, such as Facebook where the reader/writer can interact
using any of these modes of discourse.
 ESP teachers have long relied on needs assessment for selecting the goals of their
curricula. Hyland (2002) has argued that an ESP curriculum begins with a needs
assessment of the learner.
 Dudley - Evans and St John (1998) describe different types of needs analysis.
 Objective needs
 Subjective needs
 analysis of the current situation
 With the newer technologies, direct teaching has become even more important. Newer
technologies have tended to integrate different forms of environments. Many environments
allow video, audio, and textual communication to occur at the same time.
 Understanding the role of technology in these various and sometimes interlocking contexts has
become extremely important.
 The experiences with these technologies that students bring from both inside and outside the
classroom may be invaluable in their future careers.
 As technology becomes more a factor in ESP education as a tool for language learning, as a
site for varied and authentic materials, and as a place for publishing and sharing work, the
impact of technology has become more complicated and often more controversial as well.

Technology as Tool for Language

Learning

 As Belcher (2004) points out, technology has often been used in ESP teaching as a tool for bringing
language experiences from outside the classroom that are relevant for the teaching of English for a
variety of purposes.
 Concordancing has been particularly favored by ESP teachers since these sites can
provide lexical and syntactic examples from authentic texts in specific areas of discourse.
 Concordancing is an older technology that was primarily accessible to a few researchers
in the field of linguistics.
  Websites and application Video- hosting sites like YouTube and Hulu, Wiki and Wikipedia.
 Podcast
 Email
 Cloud sites, such as Google Docs
 Blog

Technology as a Communicative
Space

 Global Telecommunications Systems

 Web
 World wide web
 Data
 Radio waves

The Ethical controversies over the

Use of technology

The use of technology in ESP has raised a variety of legal and ethical issues for teachers.
One of the most contentious ethical issues has been over the use and distribution of intellectual property and the
related changes in attitudes towards plagiarism.
Plagiarism, too, can be seen in such complex ways that are equally subject to much debate. Rightly or wrongly,
the internet is frequently blamed for the so - called “ plagiarism epidemic ” that is frustrating teachers all over
the world.

Conclusion

The introduction of these new technologies, not unpredictably, has produced a backlash concerning the
types of relationships they are promoting. Many of the criticisms, such as the problem with searching
or with multitasking, has created a need for more direct teaching of how these technologies can be
most effectively used. The use of the internet has created additional factors that need to be included in
 any checklist for evaluating materials. Teachers can be overwhelmed by both the number of resources
and the need to draw upon resources from as many places as possible for help in implementing the
most appropriate tools. Formerly popular technologies like email and blogging are slowly being
usurped by Twitter and Facebook. Every discussion of the use of technology in a globalized fi eld such
as ESP has to acknowledge the limits to the distribution of these technologies due to both economic
and political issues

References

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9781118339855.ch20

https://study.com/blog/ethical-issues-with-using-technology-in-the-classroom.html

https://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/benefits-of-space/communication.html

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/space-communications-7-things-you-need-to-know

https://www.elearn2grow.com/2021/07/14/technology-and-foreign-language-learning/#:~:text=Tools
%20such%20as%20Facebook%2C%20Classting,in%20collaborative%20activities%20as%20well.

Assessment:

Identify whether the statement is True or False. Write T if the statement is TRUE and right F if it is
false then change the word with the right answer to make the statement correct.

___________________1.Plagiarism has been particularly favored by ESP teachers since these sites
can provide lexical and syntactic examples from authentic texts in specific areas of discourse

___________________2. Technology has long played a major role in the teaching of English for
specific purposes (ESP) in two distinct ways.

___________________3. • Concordancing is an older technology that was primarily accessible to a

few researchers in the field of linguistics.

___________________4. Internet have also been used in a variety of ESP classes to create contexts
for communicating with oral, literate, and visual modes of discourse
 ___________________5. Rightly or wrongly, the internet is frequently blamed for the so - called “
plagiarism epidemic ” that is frustrating teachers all over the world.

Essay

Explain briefly and comprehensively.

1. What is the importance of using technology in ESP classes ?

2. As a future educator how can you avoid the plagiarism to your student? What are your ways to
avoid it?