One of the approaches to English language teaching and learning is English for Specific Purposes (ESP)as opposed to what others call “Teaching English for No Obvious Reason” (TENOR). Kennedy and Bolitho (1984) in their book “English for Specific Purposes” explain that ESP has two divisions: English for Academic Purposes (EAP), which equips the students with the skills needed to pursue their academic work successfully, and English for Occupational Purposes (EOP), which focuses on the development of skills that various occupations require.
Hutchinson and Waters (1987), authors of English for Specific Purposes:A Learning-centered Approach, further explain that with ESP, all decisions on content and method are based on the learners’ language needs, which according to Johnson (1989), refer to the language components that a group of learners from a certain discipline should know and the language skills they should be equipped with to function effectively in that discipline. If we don’t take the step of determining these language needs as the starting point of the teaching-learning process, Candlin (1978, cited in Schmidt, 1981) says, we take the risk of offering a course for a population who doesn’t exist, or if it did, would not need the course being offered.
How do we assess students’ language needs apart from using placement exams? Schmidt (1981) presents various methods of language needs assessment. These methods range from conducting direct research on a given population using questionnaires to relying on past research, conducting interviews, and/or using case studies. Hutchinson and Waters (1987) also provide a framework for analyzing students’ language needs, and this framework requires gathering data as to why students are taking the course, how the students learn, what resources are available, who the learners are, where and when the English course will take place. Ethnographic Needs Analysis (Aglaua, 1991; Johns, 1988; Ramani et al, 1988), is also another way of determining students’ language needs. Compared to the other methods, it can provide more extensive data because it examines language difficulties or problems using different ethnographic tools such as class observation, interview, and text analysis.
In the Spring 2004 issue of Viewpoints, Jay Howard wrote an article titled, Reading Apprenticeships: Re-awakening Reading Awareness,” in which he discussed the outcome of a project in which teachers read and commented on texts within and outside their disciplines. He described how some participants felt when they read a book outside their discipline: “… descriptors such as ‘uncomfortable’ and ‘insecure’ were used by the readers as apprentices. These feelings were at times linked to unknown vocabulary and a lack of background knowledge” (p.7). Jay also wrote what the teacher-participants thought would be helpful input for the reading teacher who wants students to successfully read the texts used in the project: “Unfamiliar vocabulary could be taught, technical terms explained, and background information provided” (p.8). In addition, during the final meeting of the participants, some teachers who teach nursing and biology said that for students to be able to read the texts in these courses, they need the skills of reading non-prose texts such as graphs, tables, and illustrations. Jay’s project, which enabled content and English teachers to identify the reading skills needed to successfully read their respective texts/books, presented a method for analyzing students’ reading needs.
At present, there are similar ESP-related undertakings in the English Department and the Office of Developmental Education. Some CAP teachers who teach B- or C-level courses linked to psychology or music, for example, collaborate closely with the content teachers. The reading and writing tasks asked of the students in the content courses are being addressed in the reading/writing class, making the latter purposeful and an indispensable component of students’ success in the content courses.
In her article, “Key Issues in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Curriculum Development,” Kirsten Gatehouse discusses materials development as one of the major issues in an ESP curriculum. She says that while there are a few textbooks on the market claiming to be ESP textbooks, Johns (1990) argues that these materials are not truly ESP in nature. Gatehouse also says that another issue that Johns notes is that ESP teachers are often expected to come up with a course that exactly matches students’ needs but are given very little time to do so. Still another issue, she says, is that ESP practitioners are generally not given enough time to do needs analysis.
Pursuing ESP can indeed be challenging because of the issues Gatehouse points out. However, if we continue to be concerned about developing the reading and writing skills necessary for our students to do well in their content courses and eventually in their field of work, then ESP is an excellent option.
References
Howard, Jay. (2004). Reading apprenticeships: Re-awakening reading awareness.” Viewpoints. Community College of Philadelphia.
Johnson , Keith. (1989). ed. The Second Language Curriculum. Cambridge University Press.
Kennedy, Cris and Bolitho, Rod. (1984). English for Specific Purposes. London: Macmillan Publishers.
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Maintained by Jay Howard,Apr 2005