Curso de Postgrado Inglés en Contextos Académicos - 2017- Resolución UNRN 691/10

English for Specific Purposes: What does it mean?

1- From the early 1960's, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has grown to
become one of the most prominent areas of English as a Foreign Language (EFL)
teaching today. Its development is reflected in the number of ESP courses offered
to overseas students which aim at specific disciplines, e.g. English for Chemists, in
place of the more traditional 'General English' courses.

2- ESP is generally described as the language taught to people whose first

language is not English, but who need to know technical, scientific, and other
English vocabulary from specific fields for their careers or education. Some people
describe ESP as simply being the teaching of English for any purpose that could
be specified. Others, however, are more precise, describing it as the teaching of
English used in academic studies or the teaching of English for vocational or
professional purposes. Tony Dudley-Evans, co-editor of the ESP Journal clarifies
the meaning of ESP, gives an extended definition of ESP in terms of 'absolute'
and 'variable' characteristics (see below).

Definition of ESP (Dudley-Evans, 1997)

Absolute Characteristics

1. ESP is defined to meet specific needs of the learners.

2. ESP makes use of underlying methodology and activities of the discipline it
serves.
3. ESP is centered on the language appropriate to these activities in terms of
grammar, lexis, register, study skills, discourse and genre.

Variable Characteristics

1. ESP can be related to or designed for specific disciplines.

 Curso de Postgrado Inglés en Contextos Académicos - 2017- Resolución UNRN 691/10

2. ESP can use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology from that of
General English.
3. ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at a tertiary level institution
or in a professional work situation. It could, however, be for learners at
secondary school level.
4. ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students.
5. Most ESP courses assume some basic knowledge of the language systems.

3- The division of ESP into absolute and variable characteristics, in particular, is

very helpful in resolving arguments about what is and is not ESP. From the
definition, we can see that ESP can but is not necessarily concerned with a
specific discipline, nor does it have to be aimed at a certain age group or ability
range. ESP should be seen simple as an 'approach' to teaching, or what Dudley-
Evans describes as an 'attitude of mind'. This is a similar conclusion to that made
by Hutchinson et al. (1987:19) who state, "ESP is an approach to language
teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the
learner's reason for learning".

4- If we agree with this definition, we begin to see how broad ESP really is. In
fact, one may ask 'What is the difference between the ESP and General English
approach?' 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.

Laurence Anthony
Dept. of Information and Computer
Engineering,
Faculty of Engineering
Okayama University of Science, Japan