The Benefits Of Knowing English For Professional Purpose

(EPP) as an English Student

Paper
By:

Ismi Chintya F. 170210401054

Vivi Amanda R. 170210401059
Ervin Candra H.A. 170210401062
Mitasari 170210401068
Jessica Twin C. 170210401070
Isnan Mahendra 170210401077
Adilah Kalong 170210401118

English Education Study Program

Faculty of Teacher Training and Education
University of Jember
2019
 I. INTRODUCTION (VIVI, JESSICA)
English for professional purposes (EPP) is a branch of English for
occupational purposes (EOP) in which both of them are under the umbrella of
English for specific purposes (ESP) (Dudley, p.6-7). English for professional
purposes refers to the use of English for particular occupation or profession
related reasons. Teaching English for both specific and professional purposes
requires the teachers to fulfill students’ need and purposes based on their
specific discipline and specialization area and teach them to communicate in
English effectively in spoken and written form by taking register, formality, and
culture into consideration.
Since the use of English is getting increasingly wide internationally,
mastering it is important to secure future job, as we will be inevitably required to
have sufficient capability to communicate effectively and appropriately with
others. Therefore, knowing English for professional purposes (EPP) as English
students is beneficial. Hence, the aim of this paper is to address the benefits of
English for professional purposes (EPP).

II. DISCUSSION( ERVIN, ISNAN, MITA)

Learning plays a very important role in knowledge accumulating
process. This applies to practically every subject including English for
Professional Purposes. There are many things we can learn from English for
Professional Purposes that cannot be found in general English. The aim of
English for Professional Purposes is to develop second language learner’s
professional English competence in particular field to ensure smooth
communication process.
According to Luka (2012), the main objective of the ESP course is to
develop professional English language competence that allows students to
creatively use the target language both written and oral communication and to
engage in professional activities by taking into consideration of different cultural
traditions, to demonstrate comprehensive general knowledge and professional
competences and to employ the language as a mean for studying the content of
other courses. Since English for Professional Purposes is a part of ESP, the
objectives of this course are almost similar. The following are the benefits of
learning English for Professional Purposes which support to build effective
communication in professional context.
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1. Knowing registers from various fields.
Perhaps, register is the most prominent benefit students can reap by
learning English for Professional Purposes. Register is a linguistic feature
commonly associated with a configuration of situational features (Halliday and
Hasan, 1976 as cited by Beshaj, Lediana 2015). Basically, it is a variety of
vocabularies used for a particular purpose in a particular communicative
situation.
Today, English is on top of any other existing language, it is like a queen
ruling peacefully for a long time and making everyone so satisfied that she will
never cease from being appraised by her people due to the chances,
opportunities, facilities provided all the time (Beshaj, Lediana 2015). As English
is getting more and more widely used, knowing and mastering it is crucial not
only to enrich and expand our knowledge but also to secure potential job
position. International job exchanges increase the need of people who know not
only general English, but also have an extensive English vocabulary on various
specific fields. That is why learning registers can be very important.
Registers are taught in English for Professional Purposes (and English
for Specific Purposes to an extent) as a mean to help second language learners to
develop professional English language competence. Regardless of the job
position, there will always be some specific terms that we have to know to
ensure smooth communications. Knowledge of registers will surely reduce the
possibility of potentially disastrous miscommunications.
The scope of knowledge for those who do not learn English for
Professional Purposes is generally limited to general English. They usually deal
with a wide array of topics at a superficial level. Meanwhile, English for
Professional Purposes (like English for Specific Purposes) learners usually deal
with narrower topic based on their need with more intensity, Thus they will have
the advantage over general English learners in specific field although all them
practically study the same subject (i.e English). Mark Warschauer stated that
“English has become the second language of everybody”. It should be noted
however, that what most people learned is general English, so by knowing
registers through English for Professional Purposes, you can be one step ahead
of them.

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2. Developing Intercultural communication competence and Cross-cultural
understanding.
Another important aspect in smooth communications at work is
intercultural communication competence. Gudykunst (1987) defined
Intercultural communication as “involving interpersonal communication
between people from different socio-cultural systems and/or communication
between members of different subsystems (e.g. ethnic or racial group) within the
same socio-cultural system”. In other words, intercultural communication can be
seen as communication that takes place among people with different cultural
background. Since the teaching of EPP is intended to prepare the students to
engage in global area where requires them to communicate with people from
diverse cultural background, cultural awareness and intercultural competence
have been integrated on teaching learning process. By learning English for
Professional Purposes, the learners will obtain essential knowledge and practices
regarding of such competences and trying to develop this kind of competence in
order to compete with other people in globalized workplace.
In recent years, the growing need for communication in global scale has
also escalated marked by ever-increasing flow of information and cooperation
between countries in the fields of economics, culture and education
(Babamova, Grosman, Licari & Pervan 2004: 59). In dealing with this matter,
English learners must be prepared with sufficient capability to communicate
smoothly and meaningfully. Building a meaningful and smooth
communications, especially in global scope requires English learners to not only
know the register of their own field, but also the communication pattern of their
interlocutors which is surely influenced by their cultural background.
Furthermore, specialists had recognized that factor closely linked to lack of
cross-cultural awareness had been the most prominent one which lead to poor
communication in occupational context (CiLT, 2005).
To reduce the possibility of misconception caused by such factor,
English learners will need a certain level of intercultural communication
competence through the process of EPP teaching. They need to be completely
engage in culturally diverse professional workplace which requires them to
employ intercultural communication competence that deals with someone’s
ability to adapt and to be flexible with different cultural context. Thus, it can be
said that cross-cultural understanding is needed to support such kind of
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 flexibility and adaptability in multicultural communication context and its
integration on EPP teaching has overcome such challenges.

3. Knowing the appropriate use of formal and informal writing

Smooth communications occurred at work place can be both in spoken
and written form. Both forms are similar in a sense that they require extensive
knowledge on registers and intercultural competence to be done properly. In
learning English for Professional Purposes, the learners must learn how to
employ those kinds of communication appropriately and effectively depend on
the context. However, the most prominent demand and focus for EPP students is
how to deal with written communication. Written communication is important
because it is used extensively in higher education and workplace (Walsh, 2010).
Particularly in higher education, the need for constructing academic writing is
demanded since their level has become higher and more academic.
When conducting a written communication especially for academic
writing, the most important aspect that should be taken into consideration is
formality. Formality can be defined as our understanding on how utilizing a
proper register of academic writing, colloquialisms, overly idiomatic language,
slang or argot, ellipsis or contractions (Samigullina, 2018). In other words, the
selection of registers and other lexis components must be suited with the formal
context. This is crucial for the English students in order to be aware of and to
understand which type of registers or expression that should be employed
depending on the formal or informal context they encounter.
In the workplace area, practically each profession also requires good
writing skill, for instance, doctors are required to write detailed notes for
patients. In this case, there are some special writing instructions involved by the
doctor in writing the note itself. Actually, nearly everybody in every field are
required to communicate to either co-workers or manager using written
communication in formal setting. In professional context, there is a term
“professional writing” which is a kind of specialized writing of certain domain
whose intent is to communicate the information accurately and effectively
(Ranaut, 2018). High level of proficiency of professional writing is very
demanded for a professional to ensure that his message is clear for the adressed
reader. Therefore, a professional cannot ignore understanding of writing
standard within his professional domain.
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 By learning English for Professional Purposes, the notion of formality
and professional writing can be comprehended and developed as well by the
students because those are the common and prominent features taught by the
EPP teachers in teaching writing. The students need to emphasize their academic
and professional writing by considering the formality in their professional
context. In addition, this course also provides the English learners to be able to
employ those features in their specific field appropriately and accurately.

III. CONCLUSION (ISMI, ADILAH)

The aim of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is to develop
second/foreign language learners’ professional competence and to ensure the
communication occurs in a specific professional context is going smoothly.
English for Professional Purposes (EPP) and English for Specific Purposes
(ESP) share similar objective, to encourage students to engage in professional
activities (Luka, 2012).
The many benefits of learning EPP help students in establishing effective
communication in professional contexts. The first of said benefits is, knowing
registers from various fields. Knowing and mastering registers will help students
to enrich their vocabulary mastery in various specific fields. Extensive
knowledge on various registers will surely diminish the possibility of
miscommunications in workplace. Another benefit is developing intercultural
communication competence and cross-cultural understanding. Intercultural
communication competence prepares students to engage ‘globally’ as they will
be required to communicate with people from diverse cultural background. To
maintain a meaningful and smooth communication in global scope, students
need to know the communication pattern of their interlocutors which is
influenced by their cultural backgrounds. The last benefit students can gain from
learning EPP is, knowing the appropriate use of formal and informal writing.
Communication in work place can be both in spoken and written form. High
level of proficiency of professional writing is required for professionals to
ensure that their message is clear and understandable.
By learning EPP, students also can obtain many benefits that can expand
their knowledge of English not only in general, but also in more specific context.
Furthermore, EPP is a course to prepare and guide students who are planning to
apply professional job occupancy.
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