ESP

English for Specific Purposes may be defined as a particular trend in English Language
Teaching. English has naturally become the best choice for communication since the
United States was the leading nation during 1945, an era of dynamism, economic
globalization, and technology and science growth. The three fundamental aspects of ESP
are: learner’s needs, the field-oriented methodology and the treatment of language as
functional to the previous categories.

DUDLEY-EVAN AND ST. JOHN’S DEFINITION (1988)

Absolute characteristics of ESP:

 Is defined to meet specific needs of the learner.

 Makes use of the underlying methodology and activities of the discipline it serves.

 Is centered on the language (grammar, lexis), skills, discourse and genres

appropriate for these activities.

Variable characteristics of ESP:

 May be related to or designed for specific disciplines.

 May use a different methodology than that of General English.

 Designed for adult learners, tertiary institution, and professional work situation.
Also for secondary school learners.

 Generally designed for intermediate or advanced students.

 Most courses assume some basic knowledge, but it can be used with beginners.

“Learner’s needs are the driving force and the organizing principle for everything
done in a class”

Evolution of English ESP and EGP – current challenges:

Political, cultural and ideological changes are modifying the settings and conditions for the
use of English that surrounded the development of ELT field and the original scenario for
ESP. This implies a necessary reformulation of the disciplinary corpus and poses
challenges for the professional activity:
  Exponential growth: the actual fragmentation of knowledge implies the
diversification of both language and needs. Most research fort teaching and
translating must rely on a wide variety of sources and multiplicity of registers and
uses. Specializing in one field seems ambitious nowadays.

 Time constrains: the new becomes old in a question of days. Materials are obsolete
the minute they are published and the content of any ESP activity must be defined
and redefined.

 Redefinition of the profession: the role of the teacher may sometimes appear
inadequate, due to his/her insufficient training in the teaching of ESP, and because
of the unconscious reluctance some teachers may experience when invited to plan
the teaching proposal with others (students are experts so teaching is much more
collaborative and the power is more distributed). In the case of translators, most
have been trained in an “encyclopedic” fashion; they often dealt with content areas
with the intention of developing a certain mastery of the terminology in each field.
This is becoming less frequent nowadays since training on strategies and traditions
in translation is becoming increasingly popular.

TOPIC: ESP AFFECTS/ DOS NOT AFFECT THE USE OF ENGLISH IN THE TEACHING
PROFESSION

Although the status of lingua franca can easily be claimed by English nowadays, there are
always plenty of challenges involved in the process of teaching a foreign language. The
simple mastering of the four skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking) and the
acquisition of general grammar and vocabulary may not be enough in some circumstances.
ESP focuses on the specific needs of the learners, concentrating more on language in
context and on the students‟ need to acquire a set of professional skills and particular job-
related functions.

The current challenges that teachers and students may encounter in the process of
teaching and learning English for Specific Purposes.

1. Some general considerations on ESP as any other kind of language teaching, English for
Specific Purposes is first and foremost based on the process of learning, a process which
nevertheless addresses the needs of certain communities of learners, namely individuals
interested in acquiring some professional skills and performing job related practices. Due
to its oriented focus, ESP exhibits some characteristics that differentiate it from ESL
(English as a Second Language) or EGP (English for General Purposes). First, it is language
in context, this fact requiring real life learning situations, scenarios that tent to replicate
the specific working or professional settings the ESP students might be related to or
interested in. Instead of focusing on general grammar, vocabulary and language structures,
this teaching – learning intercourse stresses the importance of practicing the necessary
skills one would mostly employ in their future fields of activity. In comparison with the ESL
learning contexts, the ESP students’ motivational levels should thus be enhanced by their
knowledge of the subject matter, their interest in the field fuelling their active
participation in English classes. As Lorenzo Fiorito states, ESP “assesses needs and
integrates motivation, subject matter and content for the teaching of relevant skills”.

Current challenges in teaching ESP

Due to the fact that the ESP students have their objectives well-defined from the very
beginning, these being directly related to their practical, job-related or professionally
oriented needs, the choices the teachers have to make in order to design a course should
not, theoretically, be so complicated. The reality, however, is different. According to David
Carver [7], [8], an ESP course should be based on three elements; first, it has to offer
authentic materials, then it requires a purpose-related orientation, which means that a
reasonable simulacrum of reality in which practitioners have the possibility to get involved
into communicative tasks that replicate real situations is mandatory, and last but not least,
it should be defined by self direction, i.e. learners are to become active users.

Conclusions: In comparison with teaching EGP, teaching ESP usually poses a lot more
challenges. Focusing on the specific needs of the learners, concentrating more on
language in context and on the students’ need to acquire a set of professional skills and
particular job-related functions, ESP remains a major testing experience for every teacher
in charge of it. Although it is said to be a learning-centered approach, this fact requiring
the joint effort of both, teachers and learners, as a practitioner, one needs “an open mind,
curiosity, and a degree of scepticism”. The emphasis on learners’ wants and interests, and
learning autonomy does not diminish the role of the teachers; on the contrary they need
to subject themselves to a continuous process of adaptation and evaluation in order to
meet the requirements imposed by the subject they are teaching. They need to design
courses keeping in mind the nature of the particular target and learning situations they are
to deal with, at the same time juggling professionally with the requirements imposed by
working with large heterogeneous classes.
SOURCE: Lorenzo F 2005 Teaching English for Specific Purposes,
https://www.usingenglish.com/articles /teaching-english-for-specific-purposes-esp.html

Topic: GOVERNMENT SHOULD OPEN BILINGUAL SCHOOLS

This generation of students is growing up in a society that is increasingly bilingual. While

foreign language requirements have long been a core requirement for high school
graduation—second language classes at an earlier age would improve overall fluency for
most students. It’s time to introduce second-language concepts to the youngest students,
and here are just a few of the reasons why:

1. Bilingual Children have an Academic Advantage. Studies in language development

show that when young children have more exposure to all languages at an early age, it
actually gives them a distinct academic advantage throughout life. There is often an
argument that students should first master their mother tongue before branching out to
others – but why can’t both be taught simultaneously? Bilingual children are able to focus
more intently on the topics at hand and avoid distractions from academic pursuits. They
are also able to demonstrate higher levels of cognitive flexibility, or the ability to change
responses based on environment and circumstances.

2. Bilingualism Improves Life-Long Learning Skills. For children to truly see the full
potential multi-lingualism has on learning, exposure to non-native languages should
actually begin long before Kindergarten. However, even children who learn their first
English words at the age of 5 can benefit from dual language curriculum. The more that
children can take advantage of new concepts, the more in tune their brains will be to all
learning throughout life. Some studies have also found that the aging of the brain is slower
and the employment rate is higher in adults with bilingual capabilities.

3. It Helps to Remove International Language Barriers. There are also the cultural
benefits to children learning two languages together. The children who come from
Spanish-speaking homes can lend their language expertise to friends from English-
speaking homes, and vice versa. Contemporary communication technology has eliminated
many global barriers when it comes to socialization and even doing business. It makes
sense that language boundaries should also come down and with help from our education
system, which is possible.

4. It Leads to Collaborative Learning. Dual language programs show students a broader

world-view, whatever the native language of the student, and lead to greater
opportunities for collaborative learning. We should not limit what children learn based on
outdated principles masked in patriotism.
By implementing bilingual options even younger, students stand to benefit long-term –
both academically and in life. There really should be no reason why these students are not
introduced to a second language as early as Kindergarten.

Source: Lynch, M. (2016) Bilingual Education: 5 reasons it should be required. The

Advocate https://www.theedadvocate.org/bilingual-education-5-reasons-it-should-be-
required/

1. TOPIC: Any expert of English as an international medium for global interaction

nowadays should/ shouldn`t be aware of the impact of ESP on international
cultural affairs

There appears to be a fast-moving worldwide shift, in non-anglophone countries, from

English being taught as a foreign language (EFL) to English being the medium of
instruction (EMI) for academic subjects such as science, mathematics, geography and
medicine. In this report a working definition of EMI is: The use of the English language to
teach academic subjects in countries or jurisdictions where the first language (L1) of the
majority of the population is not English.

EMI is increasingly being used in universities, secondary schools and even primary schools.
This phenomenon has very important implications for the education of young people. Yet
little empirical research has been conducted into why and when EMI is being introduced
and how it is delivered. We do not know enough with regard to the consequences of using
English rather than the first language (L1) on teaching, learning, assessing, and teacher
professional development.

Dudley Evans and St. John (1998) identify five key roles for the ESP practitioner:

 teacher
 course designer and materials provider
 collaborator
 researcher
 evaluator.
It is the role of ESP practitioner as course designer and materials provider that this paper
addresses. The premise of this paper is based on David Nunan's observations about the
teacher as a curriculum developer.
  Certainly, a great deal about the origins of ESP could be written. Notably, there are
three reasons common to the emergence of all ESP: the demands of a Brave New
World, a revolution in linguistics, and focus on the learner (Hutchinson & Waters,
1987).

Hutchinson and Waters (1987) note that two key historical periods breathed life into ESP.
First, the end of the Second World War brought with it an " ... age of enormous and
unprecedented expansion in scientific, technical and economic activity on an international
scale · for various reasons, most notably the economic power of the United States in the
post-war world, the role of international language fell to English" . Second, the Oil Crisis of
the early 1970s resulted in Western money and knowledge flowing into the oil-rich
countries. The language of this knowledge became English.

The general effect of all this development was to exert pressure on the language teaching
profession to deliver the required goods. Whereas English had previously decided its own
destiny, it now became subject to the wishes, needs and demands of people other than
language teachers (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987, p.7).

The second key reason cited as having a tremendous impact on the emergence of ESP was
a revolution in linguistics. Whereas traditional linguists set out to describe the features of
language, revolutionary pioneers in linguistics began to focus on the ways in which
language is used in real communication. Hutchinson and Waters (1987) point out that one
significant discovery was in the ways that spoken and written English vary. In other words,
given the particular context in which English is used, the variant of English will change. This
idea was taken one step farther. If language in different situations varies, then tailoring
language instruction to meet the needs of learners in specific contexts is also possible.
Hence, in the late 1960s and the early 1970s there were many attempts to describe English
for Science and Technology (EST). Hutchinson and Waters (1987) identify Ewer and Latorre,
Swales, Selinker and Trimble as a few of the prominent descriptive EST pioneers.

The final reason Hutchinson and Waters (1987) cite as having influenced the emergence of
ESP has less to do with linguistics and everything to do psychology. Rather than simply
focus on the method of language delivery, more attention was given to the ways in which
learners acquire language and the differences in the ways language is acquired. Learners
were seen to employ different learning strategies, use different skills, enter with different
learning schemata, and be motivated by different needs and interests. Therefore, focus on
the learners' needs became equally paramount as the methods employed to disseminate
linguistic knowledge. Designing specific courses to better meet these individual needs was
a natural extension of this thinking. To this day, the catchword in ESL circles is learner-
centered or learning-centered.
TOPIC: ESP courses involve authentic material, purpose-related orientation and self-direction.

It is argued that an ESP course should be characterized by the use of authentic materials, an
orientation to purposeful activities on the part of the learners, and self-access organization of the
learning. Three approaches to appropriate methodology are discussed—the approach through
register, through discourse, and through study skills.

Some propositions about ESP. Available from:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/223679314_Some_propositions_about_ESP [accessed
Aug 10 2018].

ESP derives from the need to use language as a tool in facilitating success in professional life. For this reason,
ESP plays a significant role at the tertiary level of education, where students need to use their English for
furthering their academic studies. Furthermore, ESP provides opportunities for the learners to acquire English
naturally. ... "ESP assumes that the problems are unique to specific learners in specific contexts and thus
must be carefully delineated and addressed with tailored-tofit instruction"

All the reforms in the educational system should be focused on the formation of a new
generation of experts with high professional and general culture distinguished for their
creative and social activity. The world community integration requires the awareness of
one of the international languages by the specialists. This idea has supporters not only in
the University sphere but also in business circles and in the research as well as in
production spheres. Necessity of communication and cooperation with foreign
colleagues, specialists and experts makes awareness of foreign language an integral part
of university education. In terms of increasing integration of the world community, the
foreign language becomes a means of communication for professionals in many areas of
life, because it opens access to sources of information, gives the opportunity to get
acquainted with achievements of world science, to be informed of progress, suggesting
the presence of a formed language competence not only of students-philologists, but also
among technical students in accordance with the state educational standard of higher
professional education to the preparation of qualified specialists of our republic.
Hutchinson & Waters discussed the emergence of ESP and its importance; the role of the
ESP teacher; course design; syllabuses; materials; teaching methods, and evaluation
procedures in their book «English for Specific Purposes». According to the research,
focusing on how language is used in real communication means learning English in a
specific context pertinent to learners’ needs. Specialized linguistic description of different
subjects are studied and integrated into the ESP language teaching. English for Specific
Purposes should focus on the method of language delivery, which is how learners learn
language and the different methods of acquisition of a language. Consequently, ESP has
been developed and become one of the most significant teaching approaches in the field
of EFL across the world community. Thus, there is the question: What is the real
knowledge of foreign language, i.e., the quality of knowledge of foreign language speech
of the majority students of nonlinguistic specialties? The first vital factor in acquisition of
knowledge both in learning languages and knowledge on specialty is computer literacy.
The use of information technology in education involves access to a wide range of up-to-
date information with the purpose of the development of students’ professional
competencies. The use of computer tools, information sources, the Internet promotes the
development of information competence and outlook on the modern life, the formation of
professional thinking in a foreign language, increases the motivation to learn a foreign
language, as well as the successful formation of the personality. The second important
factor in ESP environment is possession of general language knowledge. Although the
majority of ESP teachers are not engineers and technical employees as their students or
professionals are, in the field of knowledge they can design training so that to provide
quality and serious methodological base. Taking into account the fact that ESP is derived
from General English, the ESP teacher can use the universal aspects of the latter at their
best. They will include in their discourse some of the more complex tools that enable the
professional knowledge of specialists or students acquiring knowledge of the English
language in their respective disciplines.

The third important thing in ESP is cooperation and teamwork with content teachers. This
cooperation contributes to the enhancement of foreign language learning environment
and acquisition of knowledge by students. Besides ESP has some features such as using of
authentic materials, purpose-related orientation and self-direction. ESP courses in non-
English-speaking countries like Argentina come across with some obstacles, as student’s
level is not high enough for integrated learning. Therefore, authentic materials are used
at an intermediate or advanced level.

1. The teacher gives students different tasks — to simulate the conference

participation, involving the preparation of papers, reading, taking notes and writing.
Some courses involve students in the tasks of presenting a presentation on their
specialty, blog creation, negotiating with foreign colleagues and experts on their
specialty, telephone conversation. They also practice listening, though the use of
language materials is restricted because they employ newly acquired knowledge
during their ESP classes with their peers and teacher; 3) in self-direction learners are
turned into users. For self — direction, it is necessary that teacher gives full
autonomy — freedom to students to decide when, what, and how they will study. It
is very essential phenomenon in organization of student’s self-study, as it
provokes the development of critical and creative thinking, inspires to build
self-confidence, positive mindset and contributes to the effectiveness of
learning. B. Milevica describes the role of ESP teachers and uses the term
«practitioner» rather than «teacher» to emphasize that ESP involves much more
than teaching. According to B. Milevica the ESP practitioner is an ESP teacher and
consultant, Course designer and material provider, researcher, collaborator and
evaluator. As an ESP teacher and consultant practitioner has the opportunity to draw
on students’ knowledge of the content in order to generate communication in the
classroom as students can know more about the content than the teacher and
becomes a consultant if students have to publish in international journals and need
advice in both language and discourse issues. As an ESP teacher practitioner should
take some risks in teaching content. As there are more than hundreds of directions
and specialties in educational establishments, it is rarely possible to use a particular
textbook. As course, designer and material provider ESP practitioners often have to
design the material in accordance with their students’ needs and also to assess the
effectiveness of the teaching material. ESP practitioners should to be in touch with
the research as ESP is considered to be an academic level. The ESP practitioner as
collaborator means the cooperation of language and content teachers and conducting
team classes. The evaluator is responsible for testing of students, evaluation of
courses and teaching materials. Evaluation can be used to adapt the syllabus, taking
into account students progress and weakness. Challenging nature of ESP teaching
requires ESP teachers to update their knowledge by remaining constantly in touch
with the research in the different fields of ESP [1. P. 25]. Applying skills as a
framework of ESP, ESP teachers own the necessary knowledge and tools to deal
with their own students’ specializations. It should be taken into account that ESP
teachers are not specialists in the field, but in teaching English, they teach English
for the profession but not the profession in English. He/she simply brings the
necessary tools, patterns, and principles of course design to apply them to new
material. The content material should be design in cooperation by the professors or
experts in the subject and ESP teacher. Thus, the following can be regarded as
essential points in ESP: − learning should be learner oriented and based on CLT
 (Communicative Language Teaching); − all four language skills should be
integrated; − language approach should be holistically; − extensive use of authentic,
up-to-date, relevant for the students’ specializations texts. − Content is the
organizing unit of course design.

TOPIC: Students of ESP courses should / shouldn`t have a linguistic

background in the English language.

The most important difference lies in the learners and their purposes for learning
English. ESP students are usually adults who already have some acquaintance with
English and are learning the language in order to communicate a set of professional
skills and to perform particular job-related functions. An ESP program is therefore built
on an assessment of purposes and needs and the functions for which English is
required.

ESP concentrates more on language in context than on teaching grammar and language
structures. It covers subjects varying from accounting or computer science to tourism and
business management. The ESP focal point is that English is not taught as a subject separated
from the students' real world (or wishes); instead, it is integrated into a subject matter area
important to the learners.

However, ESL and ESP diverge not only in the nature of the learner, but also in the aim of
instruction. In fact, as a general rule, while in ESL all four language skills; listening, reading,
speaking, and writing, are stressed equally, in ESP it is a needs analysis that determines which
language skills are most needed by the students, and the syllabus is designed accordingly. An
ESP program, might, for example, emphasize the development of reading skills in students who
are preparing for graduate work in business administration; or it might promote the
development of spoken skills in students who are studying English in order to become tourist
guides.

As a matter of fact, ESP combines subject matter and English language teaching. Such a
combination is highly motivating because students are able to apply what they learn in their
English classes to their main field of study, whether it be accounting, business management,
economics, computer science or tourism. Being able to use the vocabulary and structures that
they learn in a meaningful context reinforces what is taught and increases their motivation.

The students' abilities in their subject-matter fields, in turn, improve their ability to acquire
English. Subject-matter knowledge gives them the context they need to understand the English
of the classroom. In the ESP class, students are shown how the subject-matter content is
expressed in English. The teacher can make the most of the students' knowledge of the subject
matter, thus helping them learn English faster.

The term "specific" in ESP refers to the specific purpose for learning English. Students approach
the study of English through a field that is already known and relevant to them. This means that
they are able to use what they learn in the ESP classroom right away in their work and studies.
The ESP approach enhances the relevance of what the students are learning and enables them
to use the English they know to learn even more English, since their interest in their field will
motivate them to interact with speakers and texts.

ESP assesses needs and integrates motivation, subject matter and content for the teaching of
relevant skills.

The responsibility of the student

What is the role of the learner and what is the task he/she faces? The learners come to the ESP
class with a specific interest for learning, subject matter knowledge, and well-built adult
learning strategies. They are in charge of developing English language skills to reflect their
native-language knowledge and skills.

Source: Lorenzo Fiorito. https://www.usingenglish.com/articles/teaching-english-

for-specific-purposes-esp.html

ESP is a learner-centered approach (DudleyEvans and St. John, 1998) and specific learners,
their specific linguistic and non-linguistic needs are the nucleus of all ESP activities: needs
analysis, material development, teaching process etc. ESP learners are the “students to
whom English is a foreign language” and they “find their academic subject difficult, even
though in all other respects they have the background and intellectual ability to do the
work” (Hajjaj, 1989 c.f. Lackstorm, et al., 1972, p. 251). ESP courses (both academic and
occupational) are designed for the learners who want English for their occupation in post-
academic setting or for the ones who want it for academic purposes in pre-occupational
setting. Talking about the required proficiency level of ESP learners, Adams-Smith (1989,
p. 65) has declared that an ESP course prepares a “good ESP learner” who “is not
necessarily the one who comes top in the English class, but rather the one who performs.
Topic: ESP affects/ does not affect the use of English in translating courses.

The underlying significance of making the ESP learners acknowledged with the appropriate
usage of specialized terms for reading disciplinary-based texts in general, and enhancing
their communicative competence in particular. To achieve this required objective, a careful
understanding of the role of the ESP practitioner in devising an innovative framework
based primarily on the new-fangled prospect and tactics for instructing terminology through
the use of translation from the source to target language. However, this calls for an urgent
need for a systematic analysis of the target and the learning situations.

these accelerated developments have been accompanied by the appearance of a large

number of new concepts and new ways of communications that did not previously exist,
these latter entail the needs for maintaining a cross-country plethora of interaction,
information and intercultural understanding between members of different discourse
communities. It is therefore of great discernible to noticeably meet the new challenge and
the demand of the world by adapting or adopting a new-fangled framework based on
specialized English courses. Taking into consideration that teaching English for Specific
Purposes requires a fundamental objective that includes helping learners engaging in
specialized communication, whatever their fields of study, ESP learners are supposed to be
active participants in their discourse communities, possessing specialized terminology and
being aware of their different usage.

Preparing ESP learners for more specialized communication should be subjected to a

planned and strategic instruction so that to be able to fit the challenges of our global world,
and at the same time, attaining a better professionalization.

Source: Choudary, z. (2015).English for specific purposes: role of learners, teachers,

and teaching methodologies. European Scientific Journal July 2015 edition vol.11,
No.20

The state-of-the-art teaching of languages is based on the communicative method which

emphasizes teaching English through English (Willis 1981). However, the idea of
abandoning the native tongue is too stressful to many learners, who need a sense of security
in the experience of learning a foreign language. In the past, the prevalence of grammar-
translation method led to an extraordinary phenomenon: students were unable to speak
fluently after having studied the language for a long time. For this reason, translation has
been defined as “uncommunicative, boring, pointless, difficult, and irrelevant” (Duff,
1994). Recently there has been a revival of interest to translation due to the shift of its
emphasis – to using a mother tongue as a resource for the promotion of language learning.
Translation method develops three qualities essential to any language learning: accuracy,
clarity, and flexibility (Duff 1994). Therefore, translation can serve as a tool for improving
language skills.

The need for some translation in language learning is usually supported by non-native
teachers. Native teachers of English argue that foreign language learning needs as much
exposure to L2 as possible during the precious classroom time, and any usage of L1 or
translation is a waste of time

In the past, most methods in L2 language pedagogy dictated that L1 should be prohibited in
the classroom. Communicative approaches to language learning in the 1970s and 1980s
considered the use of L1 as undesirable. However, recently the attitude to mother tongue
and translation in language classes has undergone a positive change.

L1 use in the Chinese classrooms offers evidence that L1 is a valuable tool for socio-
cognitive processes in language learning. Another reason for L1 use in the classroom relates
to the fostering of a positive affective environment. Encourages teachers to insert the native
language into lessons to influence the classroom dynamic, provide a sense of security and
validate the learners’ experiences. If students are aware of the differences, language
interference (transfer) and intervention from their own language are likely to be reduced.

Native language use in the classroom can cause students to think that words and structures
in English have an L1 correspondence, which may not exist. Therefore, raising students’
consciousness of the non-parallel nature of language allows learners to think comparatively.
The important question is how to reach a balance of L1 in the learning process. It is
suggested that four factors should be considered, namely, the students’ previous experience,
the students’ level, the stage of the course, and the stage of the individual lesson.
There is a phenomenon that English for Specific Purposes (ESP) teaching is becoming
more and more popular in English language teaching around the world, and it becomes
more effective than other types of English language teaching. Because the design of ESP
curriculum not only emphases language development, but also takes professional skills into
consideration, which means that the combination of language skills and specific
information is the goal of ESP curriculum design.

ESP is the main instrument for teaching a foreign language. In contrast to general English,
ESP starts from the assessment of those functions and purposes for which English is
required, as well as of the skills the learner might need most. At the same time, although
most college or university students start to learn English when they are at primary school,
they still lack sufficient English language skills, which make it hard for them to adapt the
ESP courses at the beginning. Therefore, the requirements for ESP teaching are that
teachers should combine professional knowledge in addition to a good command of English
skills. As English teachers are usually only experts in English, it is a great challenge for
them. In addition, the content should be continuously improved and enriched on the
grounds of feedback from users.

A definition of ESP: The basic concern regarding ESP is why the learner needs to learn a
foreign language. Thus, the purpose of learning English became the basis upon which the
pedagogy was designed.

Strevens’ (1988) definition of ESP makes a distinction between absolute and two variable
characteristics. In absolute characteristics, language teaching is designed to meet specified
needs of the learner. The content is therefore related to particular disciplines, occupations
and activities and is centered on the language appropriate to those activities in syntax, text,
discourse, and semantics. Moreover, an analysis of the discourse is designed in contrast
with general English. Alternately, with two-variable characteristics, ESP may be restricted
to the language skills being learned, such as reading, and are not taught according to any
pre-ordained methodology.

TOPIC: ESP courses can be used for beginners

SOURCE:https://revistas.unal.edu.co/

Arias Rodriguez, G. “Reading Through ESP in an Undergraduate Law Program”,

2013.

Because of rapid globalization, students and professionals feel a need to learn English in
order to be competitive in their studies or in their careers. In addition, we are living the age
of specializations. People are experts in different fields of knowledge; the best way to
obtain such knowledge is through being familiar with different languages, especially
English because it is one of the most commonly used languages around the world. About
this issue, Butler-Pascoe (2009), says:
Today with the emergence of English as the prominent language in our increasingly
technological and global society, the study of ESP has assumed a sense of urgency,
especially in countries that are attempting to restructure the manner in which students
learn and perform English. (p. 1)
The previous statement encourages teachers to think about the possibility of including
English for Specific Purposes (ESP) as a tool for students who want to delve deeper into
specific fields of knowledge and who want to improve their abilities in the foreign language.
Implementing ESP under the parameters of the communicative approach allowed students
to practice reading as the primary activity that motivated them to find more information of
interest to them. At the same, they had the opportunity to develop other skills, such as
listening to their partners, talking about common topics, discussing and arguing according
to their own thinking, and writing their own summaries and opinions from the readings.
It has been shown that the process of learning English has been changing according to the
students’ needs. ESP has been an important component of that change, teachers are
much more aware of the importance of needs analysis in order to select materials that are
closely related to the learner’s goals. Thus, we can infer that advanced and adult learners
feel the need to acquire knowledge of their own fields of study.
Since students in ESP classes have the same specialized focus as ther classmates, it can
be easier to get them to collaborate and work on projects together even though they are
beginners, with the use of English with their own technical jargon. Their motivation to learn
is usually much greater also, since they can see immediate benefit to improving their
English. Motivated students want to learn and are a real joy to teach.

TOPIC: ESP is not likely to be designed for high school learners.

Demographic characteristics and demands of learning English for specific purposes of
students: according to Suzini et al. (2011), the students’ demand for ESP is not met
adequately, as follows: (1) students are not ready for ESP courses; (2) ESP classes are often
too large; (3) sometimes ESP classes are delayed or canceled for no obvious reason; (4) in
some universities, the learners’ motivation decreases because ESP courses are usually taken
place in the summer; (5) students find that ESP is too different from general English; (6)
ESP teaching methods are still passive; (7) ESP teachers’ qualification is inadequate.
Besides, most students are used to the traditional teaching and learning methods. This
results in the fact that students are timid and passive when they take ESP courses; and do
not find ESP important for their future job. This situation has a significant impact on
learning motivation of individual students in particular and learning environment of class in
general. English proficiency: difference in students’ proficiency in the same university and
among different universities has a negative impact on teaching ESP. For example, students
in foreign language universities or foreign language departments of universities have higher
proficiency in comparison with that of technical departments (electronics, construction),
social departments (philosophy, sociology) or other universities. Besides, residential area
also has a significant impact on students’ English proficiency. Usually, students from small
towns have lower foreign language proficiency than those from big cities because teaching
English at secondary school level in many Argentine areas remains weak and inadequate.
This creates the difficulty in using common ESP textbooks, especially for the students of
departments not related much to English or at remote areas.

Lack of vocabulary- dependence on dictionary and lack of skills in using dictionaries-

lack of vocabulary, especially ESP terms, makes many students depend on dictionary and
get stuck whenever they encounter a new word (Maruyama, 1996). Specifically, when they
see an entirely new word, they can not guess its meaning and nor can they ignore it to
understand the text. That’s because students have no knowledge of English etymology, so
they can not understand meaning of a sentence when they do not know meaning of a word
or a few words in it. As a result, this dependence limits the flexibility and imagination of
learners. Lack of skills in using dictionary is also a worrying problem. When using
dictionary, many students only pay attention to the first meaning of a word and do not
concern with its other meanings and usages. Besides, teachers do not often teach dictionary
using skills to students. Reading, listening, speaking and writing skills: concerning reading
skill, Rezaei, Rahimi and Talepasan (2012) showed that most learners had difficulties in
identifying and understanding syntaxes of sentences. This makes reading English more
difficult and sometimes learners may understand incorrectly sentence meaning. The reason
is that there are too few scientific and technology English articles in universities, so
students are unfamiliar with ESP documents. Concerning writing skill, Lâm (2011)
believed that most students were facing problems related to vocabulary, organizing ideas,
grammar and spelling. They are often impatient to outline, organize ideas logically and
connect them together in their writings. This makes ESP texts of students very sketchy,
shaky and sometimes they even identically copy other texts for their writings. Concerning
listening and speaking skills, students practiced these two ones very little in class because
they spend most of their time learning grammar, vocabulary and reading text documents.
Teachers do not pay attention to listening and speaking activities; and often give students
two-language lectures (native language and English). Therefore, students only remember
individual words and can not express their opinions in English for specific purposes.

Etel Itatí Aguirre DNI 34006310

Universidad Fasta- Licenciatura en Inglés ESP Final Exam 28/08/18

Works cited:

 Dudley-Evans, T., & St. John, M. (1998). Developments in English for specific
purposes: A multi-disciplinary approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press: Definition of ESP- absolute and variable characteristics- three fundamental
aspects: needs, methodology- treatment of the language.
 Hutchinson, T. and Waters, A. (1987). English for Specific Purposes.
Cambridge University Press: ESP is a particular trend in language teaching
(academic, professional, scientific endeavors) - English as the language for
international interaction.

 Source: Choudary, z. (2015).English for specific purposes: role of learners,

teachers, and teaching methodologies. European Scientific Journal July 2015
edition vol.11, No.20: Mother tongue as a source for the promotion of language
learning- translation as a tool- negative factors of ESP- ESP for beginners/ for
secondary school learners. “Native teachers of English argue that foreign language
learning needs as much exposure to L2 as possible during the precious classroom
time, and any usage of L1 or translation is a waste of time”

 Lynch, M. (2016) Bilingual Education: 5 reasons it should be required. The

Advocate. Retrieved from: https://www.theedadvocate.org/bilingual-education-5-
reasons-it-should-be-required/: bilingual children have academic advantage-
improves life-long learning skills- generation of students in a society increasingly
bilingual.

 Larouz, M. (2016). Demystifying the Disparity between ESP and EGP

Methodology. Arab World English Journal: “students from small towns have
lower foreign language proficiency than those from big cities”- lack of vocabulary-
dependence on dictionaries- ESP clearly-defined tasks- EGP general capacity to
cope with undefined eventualities.

 Quote: “One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open
every door along the way” Frank Smith- English psycholinguist.