Week 1 : Why ESP

Assoc. Prof Dr. Mahendran Maniam

English Language & Literature Department
Faculty of Languages & Communication
Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris
Why ESP?

• More learners of EFL as compared to other

language.
• Many have no specific objectives in learning the
language.
• Then, why one studies English?
• Learners study English because it is an important
world language.
• Learners need language as they require later in
their studies or career for purposes as yet
unknown.
• Some study English because they have no choice!
• English is a compulsory foreign language in many
school and university curricula.
There are some specific reasons for learning English:
-English may be the medium of instruction in higher
education in their countries or at least the language
of their textbooks.
-For professionals, it may be their working language,
for example, hospital doctors all over the world.
• For scientists, English may be the language of the
professional journals they read to keep up to date
with their specialism and for which they write if
they wish to make their research known to the rest
of the world.
• Some of the reasons for learning English:
-it is the main language of books, newspapers,
airports and air-traffic control, international business
and academic conferences, science, technology,
medicine, diplomacy, sports, international
competitions, pop music and advertising.
• Over two thirds of the world’s scientists write in
English.
• Three-quarters of the world’s mail is written in
English.
• Of all the information in the world’s electronic
retrieval systems, 80% is stored in English.
Task 1

What do you think are the advantages of an ESP

course for the learner and for the sponsor of the
course?

Note briefly your views.

Expect to spend about 20 minutes on this task.
What is ESP?

What is specific about English for Specific Purposes?

-ESP is often defined by contrasting it with EGP.
-Discussion of what makes ESP distinct from EGP has
focused on the learners and their needs, the role of
the ESP teacher, the choice of text and the design of
materials, aspects of language and appropriate
methodology.
*Learners and their needs

What sort of needs do ESP learners have?

How and when these needs to be assessed?
Who should participate in the needs assessment?
How is the analysis of needs to be translated into
course design?
These are some of the kinds of practical and
theoretical issues which arise in relation to needs
analysis in ESP.
*The role of the ESP teacher

How does the role of ESP teacher differ from that of

the EGP teacher?
What traditional roles may she be asked to play and
are there skills other than pedagogic in which the ESP
teacher should be proficient?
In what sense, if any, is the role of ESP teacher more
demanding than of the EGP teacher?
These questions relate to the status of the ESP
professional as well as the training that ESP teachers
require.
*The choice of text and the design of materials
Are ESP materials distinctively different from General
English materials?
This is a controversial question.
ESP materials are obviously different in their choice
of topic and language content, especially vocabulary.
However, they may share the same principles of
format, staging, and activity types.
*Aspects of language
Do the language needs of ESP learners differ from
those on General English courses?
While there is some overlap, most ESP learners need
a vocabulary not normally found in General English
course books and the vocabulary they need will vary
according to specialism.
Some ESP learners may need development of one
language skill more than others.
ESP learners may also need to be familiar with
particular types of text, such as business letters or
laboratory reports.
Appropriate Methodology

Does ESP have a distinct methodology?

Although at one time ESP could claim to be more
communicative in its approach than EGP on the grounds
that it was based more firmly on student needs, this
difference has become less salient with the adoption of
communicative approaches in most teaching of EGP.
There is now considerable overlap between EGP and
ESP teaching in terms of classroom activities.
It is in the way that ESP teaching relates to the
specialism and takes into account the specialist
knowledge the learner brings to the classroom that
distinct differences emerge.
Task 2
a) Complete Column 1 of the following note-taking
frame with reference to Robinson (pp.2-5).
b) In column 2 enter the characteristics of a course
with which you are familiar. How far does this
course match Robinson’s characteristics?
c) Compare Robinson’s characteristics with those of
Strevens. (See John, A. M. and Dudely-Evans, p. 298)
1. ESP Course 2. Your course
Orientation
Based on
Duration
Age of students
Level of students
Content of course
Natura of activities
What are the main branches of ESP?
Task 3:
1. Study the list of abbreviations for some of the
different branches of ESP. What do they mean?
What other types of ESP are familiar to you?
EAP, EOP, EST, EVP, EPP, EMP.
2. Can you think of ways in which ESP courses can be
classified? Try to express your answer in a diagram.
3. Compare your answer with the diagrams shown in
Robinson(pp. 2-5) and Hutchinson and Waters (ch 3).
Expect to spend about 1 hour on this task.