Assignment : ESP
THE SUMMARY OF ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES (A Learning- centered approach by Tom Hutchinson and Alan Waters)
ARRANGED BY
WD NUR SYAMSI .R A1D207152
FACULTY OF TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION DEPARTMENT HALUOLEO UNIVERSITY KENDARI 2010
SECTION I WHAT IS ESP
1. The Origins of ESP There are three main reasons common to the emergence of all ESP, they are: a. The The Dema Demand ndss of a Brav Bravee New New Worl World d The end of the second world war in 1945 heralded an age of enormous and unpr unprece ecede dent nted ed expa expans nsio ion n in scie scient ntif ific ic,, techn technic ical al and and econo economi micc acti activi vity ty on an international scale. This expansion created a world unified and dominated by two forces, technology and commerce which in their relentless progress soon generated a demand for an International language. For various reasons, most natably the e conomic power of the United states in the post-war world, this role fell to English. The effect was to create a whole mass of people wanting to learn English, not for pleasure or prestige of knowing the language, but because English was the key to the International currencies of technology and commerce. As English became the accept accepted ed intern internatio ational nal langua language ge of techno technolog logy y and commer commerce, ce, it created created a new generation of learners who knew specifically why they were learning a language businessman who wanted to sell their products, mechanics who had to read instruction manuals, doctors who needed to keep up with developments in their field and a whole range range of studen students ts whose whose course course of study study includ included ed textbo textbooks oks and journa journals ls only only avai availa labl blee in Engl Englis ish. h. All All thes thesee and and many many othe others rs need needed ed Engl Englis ish h and and , most most importantly, they knew why they needed it. b. A Revolu Revolutio tion n in in Lingui Linguisti stics cs Treditionally the aim of linguistics had been to describe the rules of English usage, that is the grammar. However the new studies shifted attention away from defining the formal features of language usage to discovering the ways in which language is actually used in real communication. One finding of this research was that
the langugae we speak and write varies considerably, and in number of different ways, from one context to another. The view gained ground that the English needed by a particular group of learne learners rs could could be adenti adentified fied by analys analysing ing the lingui linguisti stics cs charact characteri eristic sticss of their their specialist area of work or study c. Focu Focuss on on the the Lear Learne ner r New developments in educational psychology also contributed to the rise of ESP, by emphasising the central importance of the learners and their attitudes to learning. Learners were seen to have different needs and interests, which would have an important influence on their motivation to learn and therefore on their effectiveness of their learning. This lent support to the development of courses in which ‘relevance’ to the learners’ needs and interests was paramount. The standard way of achieving this was to take texts from the learners specialists area – texts about Biology for Biology students etc. the assumption underlying this approach was that the clear relevance of the English course to their needs would improve the learners’ motivation and thereby make learning better and faster. 2. Th Thee Dev Devel elop opme ment nt of ES ESP P
from each early beginnings in the 1960s ESP has underground three main phases of development. It is now in fourth phase with a fifth phase starting to emerge. a. The Conce Concept pt of Specia Speciall Languag Languagee : Register Register Analy Analysis sis Operating o the basic principle that the English of say, Electrical Engineering constitute constituted d a specific specific register different from that of say Biology or General General English, English, the aim of the analysis was to identify the grammatical and lexical features and their syllabus. In fact, as Ewer and Latorre’s syllabus shows, register analysis revealed that there was very little that was distinctive in the sentence grammar of Scientific English beyond a tendency to favour particular forms such as the present simple tense, the passive voice and nominal compounds. It did not, for example reveal any forms that were not found in General English. The aim was to produce a syllabus which gave high priority to the language forms students would meet in their science studies and in turn would give low priority to forms they would not meet. Ewer and Hughes Davies (1971), compared the language of the texts their Science students had to read with the language of some widely used school textbooks. They found that the school textbooks reglected some of the language forms commonly found in Science texts, for example
compound nouns, passive, conditional, anamalous finites ( i.e. modal verbs). Their conclusion was that the ESP courses should therefore give precedence to these forms. b. Beyond Beyond the Sentence Sentence : Rhetori Rhetorical cal or Discourse Discourse Analys Analysis is In the first stage of its development, ESP had focussed of langugae on the sentence level, the second phase of development shifed attention to the level above the sentence, as ESP became closely involved with the emerging field of discourse or rhetorical analysis. Register analysis had focussed on sentence grammar, but now attention shifted to understandi understanding ng how sentences sentences were combined combined in discourse to produce produce meaning. The concern of research, therefore was to identify the organisational patterns in texts and to specify the linguistic means by which these patterns are signalled. These patter patterns ns would would then then form form the syllab syllabus us of the ESP course. course. The typical typical teachi teaching ng materials based on the discourse approach taught students to recognise textual patterns and discourse markers mainly by means of text-diagramming exercises. c. Targ Target et Sit Situa uati tion on Analy Analysi siss The purpose of an ESP course is to enable learners to function adequately in a target situation, that is the situation in which the learners will use the language they are learning , then the ESP course design process should proceed by first identifying target situation and then carrying out a rigorous analysis of the linguistic faeatures of that situation. The identified features will form the syllabus of the ESP course. This process is usually known as needs analysis . However we prefer to take Chambers’ (1980) term of ‘target situation analysis’, since it is a more accurate description of te process concerned. The target situation analysis analysis stage marked a certain ‘coming ‘coming of age’ for ESP. what what ghad ghad prev previo ious usly ly been been done done very very much much in a piec piecem emea eall way, way, was was now now systematised and learner need was apparently placed at the centre of the course design process. It proved in the event to be a false down. d. Skil Skilll and and Stra Strate tegi gies es The principal idea behind the skills centre approach is that underlying all language use there are common reasoning and interpreting processes, which regadless of the surface forms, enable us to extract meaning from discourse. Therefore no need to focus closely on the surface forms of the language. The focus should rather be on the underl underlyin ying g interp interpreti retive ve strateg strategies ies,, which which enable enable the learne learnerr to cope cope with with the surface forms, for example guessing the meaning of words from contexts, using visual
lay out to determine the type of text, exploiting cognates (i.e. words which are simiar in the mother tongue and the target language) etc. a focus on specific subject registers in unnecessary in this approach, because the underlying processes are not specific to any subject register. As has been noted, in terms of materials this approach generally puts the emphas emphasis is on reading reading or listen listening ing strate strategie gies. s. The The charact characteri eristic stic exerci exercises ses get the learners to reflect on the analyse how meaning is produced in and retrievedfrom written or spoken discourse. e. A Lear Learni ning ng – Cen Centre tred d Appr Approa oach ch Esp is not concerned on language use – although this will help to define the course objectives. Our concern is with language leaaring. We can not simply assume that describing and exemplifying what people do with language will enable someone to learn it. If that were so, we would need to do no more than read a grammar book and a dictionary dictionary in order to learn a language. language. A truly valid approach approach to ESP must be based on an understanding of the processes of language learning. This brings us to the fifth stage of ESP development – the learning – centred approach. The importance and the implications of the distinction that we have made between language use and language learning. 3. ESP : app approa roach ch not not Prod Product uct
In the time honoured manner of linguistics, we shall represent the relationship in the form of a tree below.
The analogy analogy of a tree can help us to get a bit closer to a definition definition of ESP not so much by showing what ESP is but rather by showing what ESP isn’t. a. ESP is not not a matter matter of teaching teaching ‘speci ‘specialis alised ed varietie varietiess of English. English. The The fact that language language is used for a specific purpose purpose does not imply that it is a special form of the langugae, differen in kind from other forms. b. ESP is not not just a matter matter of Scienc Sciencee words and and grammar grammar for scientis scientists. ts.,, Hotel words and grammar for Hotel staff and so on. When we look at tree we see the leaves and the branches, but there is much more to the tree than just these. – much of it hidden from view inside and beneath the tree. There is much more to communication than just the surface features that we read and hear. c. ESP is not not differen differentt in kind from any any other other form of languag languagee teaching, teaching, in that that it should be based in the first instance on principle of effective and efficient learning. No such thing as an ESP methodology, merely methodologies that have been applied in ESP classrooms, but could just as well have been used in the learning of any kind of English.
ESP must be seen as an approach not as a prduct. Esp is not particular kind of language or methodology, nor does it consist of a particular type of teaching material. Understood properly, it is an approach to language learning, which is based on learner need. ESP then, is an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learner’s reason for learning.
SECTION II COURSE DESIGN
In this section we shall investigate these basic questions more thoroughly, by consid considerin ering g them them under under three three main main headin headings: gs: Langua Language ge descri descripti ption, on, Theori Theories es of learning and need analysis. We should emphasise however that although for clarity we need to look at the three factors separately, it is their interpendence in the course design process which is of greatest importance. We might represent their relationship like this:
4. Lang Langua uage ge Des Descr crip ipti tion on
We now have a number of ways of describing language available to us. Therefore Therefore important important to understand understand the main features of each of these descriptions descriptions in order to consider how they can be used most appropriately in ESP courses. We can identify six main stages of development. a. Classi Classical cal or Tradit Tradition ional al Grammar Grammar Descriptions of English and other languages were based on the grammars of the classical languages, Greek and Latin. These description were based on an analysis of the role played by each word in the sentence. The prestige of the old classical languages ensured the survival of this form of description even after English had lost most of its case markers and become a largely word order based language. It can also be argued that although cases may no longer be apparent in modern English, the concepts they represent underlie any language (Fillmore,1968). Thus a knowledge of the classical description can still deepen on our knowledge of how languages operate. b. b. Stru Struct ctur ural al Lin Lingu gust stic icss In a structural description the grammar of the language is described in terms ter ms of synt syntag agna natic tic stru struct ctur ures es whic which h carry carry the the fund fundam amen enta tall prop propos osit itio ions ns (sta (statem temen ent, t, interrogative, negative, imperative, etc) and notions (time, number, gender etc). by varyin varying g the words words within within these these struct structura urall framew framework orks, s, senten sentence ce with with differ different ent meanings can be generated. This method of linguistic analysis led in English language teaching to the development of the substitution table as a typical means of explaining grammatical patterns. The very simplicity of the structural language description entails that there are large areas of language use that it cannot explain. In particular it may fail to provide the learner with an understanding of the communicative use of the structures. Later developments in language teaching and linguistics have attempted to remedy this wakness. c. Transf Transform ormati ationa onall Generati Generative ve (TG) (TG) Gramma Grammar r For ESP the most important lesson to be drawn from Chomsky’s work was the distinction he made between performance (i.e surface structures) and competence (i.e the deep level rulas). Chomsky’s own definition of performance and competence was narrowly based, being concerned only with syntax. A simple way of seeing the
distinction between performance and competence is in our capacity to understand the meanings of words we have never met before. d. Langua Language ge Variat Variation ion and and Regist Register er Analys Analysis is The concept of language variation gave rise to the type of ESP which was based on register analysis. If language varies according to context, it was argued then it should be possible to identify the kind of language associated with a specific context, such as an area of knowledge (legal English; social English; medical English; busin business ess Englis English; h; scient scientific ific Englis English h etc), etc), or an area of use (techni (technical cal manual manuals, s, academic academic texts, texts, business business meetings, meetings, advertisemen advertisements, ts, doctor-patien doctor-patientt communicat communication ion etc). the important point is that even if particular registers favour certain forms they are not distinctive forms. They are simply drawn from the common stock of the grammar of the language. e. Func Functi tion onal al// Notio Notiona nall Gramma Grammar r Functions are concerned with social behavior and represent the intention of the speaker or writer, for example advising, warning, threatening, describing, etc. on the other hand notions reflect the way in which the human mind thinks. They are the categories into which the mind and thereby language devides reality, for example time, frequency, duration, gender, number, location, quantiyt, quality etc. on notional or functional grounds, however some approximate equivalence can be achieved, since notions and functions represent the categories of human thinking and social behaviour which do not vary across language. f. Disc Discou ours rsee (Rhet (Rhetor oric ical) al) Ana Analy lysi siss We can identify two key ways in which the results of studies into the nature of discourse have been used in ESP teaching materials •
Learners are made aware of the stages in certain set-piece transactions
associated with particular specialist fields. •
The The seco second nd use use of disc discou ours rsee anal analys ysis is in ESP ESP has has been been thro throug ugh h
mate materia rials ls whic which h aim aim to expl explai ain n how how mean meanin ing g is creat created ed by the the rela relati tive ve positions of the sentences in a written text. The aim of such an approach is to make the learners learners into more efficient efficient readers, readers, by making them them aware of the unde underly rlyin ing g stru struct ctur uree of a text text and and the the way way in whic which h lang langua uage ge has has been been organised to create this structure. 5. Th Theo eori ries es of Le Lear arni ning ng
a. Behaviour Behaviourism: ism: Learning Learning as Habit Formatio Formation n
This method, which will be familiar to many language teachers, laid down a set of guiding methodological principles, based firtsly on the behaviorist stimulusrespon response se concep conceptt and second secondly ly on an assump assumptio tion n that that second second langua language ge learnin learning g should reflect and imitate the perceived processes of mother tounge learning. Some of these percepts were : never translate, new language should always be dealt with in the sequen sequence ce ; hear, hear, speak speak,, read, read, write, write, frequen frequentt repetit repetition ion is essent essential ial to effectiv effectivee learning, all errors must be immediately corrected. b. Mentalism Mentalism:: Thingkin Thingking g as Rule Rule – governed governed Activity Activity
Thinking must be rule-governed: a finite, and fairly small, set of rules enables the mind to deal with the potentially infinite range of experiences it may encounter. Having established thinking as rule-governed behaviour, it is one short step to the conclution that learning consists not of forming habits but of acquiring rules – a pro proce cess ss in whic which h indi indivi vidu dual al expe experi rien ences ces are used used by the the mind mind to form formul ulat atee a hypothesis. The mind, in other words, does not just respond to a stimulus, it uses the individual stimuli to find the nderlying pattern or system. c. Cognitive Cognitive Code: Code: Lear Learners ners as Thinking Thinking Beings Beings
Learning then is a process in which the learner actively tries to make sense of data,and learning can be said to have taken place when the learner has managed to impose some sort of meaningful interpretation or pattern on the data. In simple terms, what is means is that we learn by thinking about and trying to make sense of what we see, feel and hear. The basic teaching technique associated with a cognitive theory of language is the problem-solving task. d. The Affective Affective Factor: Factor: Learners Learners as Emotional Emotional Beings Beings The imprtance imprtance of the emotional emotional factor is easily the relationship relationship between between the cognitive and affective to the learner. The cognitive theory tells us thet learners will learn actively think about what they are learning. learning. But this cognitive cognitive presupposes presupposes the affecti affective ve factor factor of motive motivetio tion. n. Before Before learni learning, ng, they they sholud sholud activel actively y think think about about something, they must want to think about it. The emotional reaction to the learning experience is the essential foundation for the innitation of the cognitive process. e. Lear Learni ning ng and and Acq Acqui uisi siti tion on Lear Learni ning ng is seen seen as cons consci ciou ouss
proc proces ess, s, whil whilee
acqu acquis isit itio ion n
proc procee eeds ds
uncons unconscio ciousl usly. y. This This reflect reflectss our view view that that for the second second langau langauge ge learne learnerr both both
processes are likely to play a usefull part and that a good ESP course will try to exploit both. f. A Mod Model el for for Lea Learn rnin ing g Picture, the main as a network of connections, rather like a road map. The individual individual houses, towns and villages villages represent represent items or bundless bundless of knowledge knowledge.. These various settlements, however are only usefull if they are connected to the main networ network k by roads. roads. To achiev achievee this, this, commun communicat ication ionss networ network, k, links links can only only be established from existing links. 6. Nee Needs Anal Analy ysis sis
a. What What are are tar targe gett need needs? s? ‘Target needs’ is something of an umbrella term, which in practice hides a number of important distinctions. It is more useful to look at the target situations in terms of necessities, lacks, and wants. b. b. Lear Learni ning ng need needss For all manner of possible reasons learners may be well motivated in the subject lesson on their work, but totally turned off by encountering the same material in an ESP calssroom. The target situation, in other words, is not a reliable indicator of what is needed or useful in the ESP learning situation. The target situation analysis can determine the destination; it can also act as a compass on the journey to give general direction, but we must choose our route according to the vegicles vegicles and guides available. c. Anal Analys ysin ing g Lea Learn rnin ing g Need Needss To analyse learning needs, we can use a similar checklist to that used for target situation analysis: A framework for analysing learning needs •
Why are the learners taking the course?
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How do the learners learn?
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What resources are available
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Who are the learners?
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Where will the ESP course take place?
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When will the ESP course take place?
7. Approa Approache chess to to Cour Course se Design Design
Course design is the process by which the raw data about a learning need is interpretate in order to produce an integrated series of teaching learning experiences, whose ultimate aim is to lead the learners to a particular state of knowledge. a. Langua Language ge –centr –centred ed Course Course Design Design The The lang langua uage ge –cen –centr tred ed coyr coyrse se desi design gn proc proces esss aims aims to draw draw as direc directt a connection as possible between the analysis of the target situation and the connect of the ESP course. In summary, the logical, straightforward appeal of the languagecentred approach is, in effect, its weakness. It fails to recognise the fact that, learners being peple, learning is not a straightforward, logical process. b. Skills Skills-cen -centred tred Course Course Design Design The skill-centred model is a reaction both to the idea of specific registers of English as a basis for ESP and to the practical constraints on learning imposed by limited time and resources. In essence it sees the ESP course as helping learners to develop skills and strategies which will continueto develop after the ESP course itself. Its aim is not to provide a specifiedcorpus of linguisticknowledge but to make the learners into betterprocessors of information. c. A Lear Learni ning ng –cen –centr tred ed App Appro roac ach h The learner-centred learner-centred approach is based on the principle principle that learning learning is totally totally determined by the learner. As teacher we can influence what we teach, but what learner’s learn is determined by the learners alone.
SECTION III APPLICATION
8. The Syll Syllab abu us
a. What do we mean by a Syllabus? A syllabus is a document which says what will (or at least what should) be learnt. But in fact, there are several different ways in which syllabus can be defined. •
The evaluation syallbus. It states what successful learner will know by the end of the course. In effect, t puts on record the basis on which success or failure will be evaluated.
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The organisational syllabus. It carries assumptions about the nature of learning as well as language, since in organising the items in a syllabus, it is necessary to consider factors which depend upon a view of how peple learn.
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The materials syllabus. The first person to interpret the syllabus is usually the materials writer. In writing materials, the author adds yet assumptions about the nature nature of langua language, ge, langua language ge learni learning ng and langua language ge use. use. The author author deci decide dess the the cont contex exts ts in whic which h the the lang langua uage ge will will appe appear ar,, the the rela relati tive ve weightings, and integration of skills, the number and type of exercises to be spent on any aspect of language, the degree of recycling or revision.
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The teacher syllabus. syllabus. It refers to the teachers’ teachers’ rule as a mediator. mediator. The teacher can influence the clarity, intencity and frequency of any item, and thereby affect the image that the learners receive.
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The classroom syllabus. The classroom is not simply a neutral channel for the passage of information from teacher to learner. It is a dynamic, interactive, environment, which affects the nature both of what is taught and what is learnt. The classroom thus generates its own syllabus.
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The learner syllabus. It is the network of knowledge that develops in the learner’s brain and which enables that learner to comprehend and store the later kknowledge. It is a retrospective record of what has been learnt rather than a prospective plan of what will be learnt.
b. Why Should We Have a Syllabus? •
Language is a complex entity. It can not be learnt in one go. We have to have some way of breaking down the complex into managable units.
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In addition to its practical benefits, a syllabus also gives moral support to the teac teache herr and and lear learne nerr , in that that it make makess the the lang langua uage ge lear learni ning ng task task appe appear ar managable.
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A syllabus particular an ESP syllabus, also has a cosmetic role. Sponsors and students will want some reassurance that their investment of money and time will be worthwhile.
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Returning to our analogy of learning as a journey.
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A syllabus is an implicit statement of views on the nature of language and learning.
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A syllabus provides provides a set of criteri for materials selection and writing.
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Uniformity Uniformity is a nescessary nescessary condition condition of any institutio institutionalised nalised activity, activity, such as education.
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Provides a visible basis for testing. te sting.
d. On What What Criter Criteria ia can a syllab syllabus us be organ organise ised? d? Some lists below are illustrating the different criteria that can be used. Topic syllabus (i.e The Rig or Fishing Job). Structural/ situational syllabus(i.e The Hotel and the staff which generates about patterns of the verb ‘to be’; demonstrative. Skill and strategy (i.e who do you think you are? Exercises in personal evaluation. 9. mate materi rial alss Eval Evalua uati tion onss
Evaluation is a matter of judging the fitness of something of a particular purpose. A cereful evaluation can save a lot of expense and fustation. On the positive side, it can also help in justifying requests to sponsors or other members of an ESP team for money to buy materials or time to write them. We can divide the evaluation process into four major steps •
defining criteria
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subjective analysis
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objective analysis
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matching
10. Materials Design Some techniques for producing useful and creative ESP materials. a. Defining objectives b. A material design model. The model consists of four elements : input, content, focus, language focus, task. •
Input. Input. This may be a text, dialogue, dialogue, video recording, recording, diagram or any place of comm commun unic icati ation on data data,, depe depend ndin ing g on the the need needss you you have have defi define ned d in your your analysis.
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Content focus. Language is not an end in itself, but a means of conveying informatio informations ns and feelings about about something something.. Non linguistic linguistic content content should should be exploited to generate meaningful communication in the classroom.
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Language focus : our aim is to enable learners to use language, but it is unfair to give learners communicative tasks and activities for which they do not have enough for necessary language knowledge.
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Task. The ultimate purpose of language learning is language use. Materials should be designed to lead towards a communicative task in which learners use the content and language knowledhge they have built up through the units.
11. Evaluation
Two levels of evaluation have thus been brought into prominence: •
Learner assessment. As with any language course there is a need to assess studen students ts perfor performan mance ce at strateg strategic ic points points in the course course for exampl example, e, at the beginning and at the end.
•
Course evaluation. A second important form of evaluation helps to assess wheth whether er the course course objecti objectives ves are being being met whether whether the course course,, in other other words, is doing what it was designed to do.
Learners assessment In ESP there are three basic types of assessment.
a.
placeme ement te tests. Th These ar are us used to to pa pace le learn arners ers in in th the ES ESP co course mo most
suited to their needs. The placement test normally comes at the beginning of the course. b.
Achi chievement ent te tests. Th These tes testt ho how we well th the le learn arner is ke keeping up up wi with
the syllabus and can be administered anytime through the course.
c.
Proficiency te tests. Th These ass assess wh whether or or no not the the st students ca can co cope
with the demands of a particular situation, for example study at the university or reading technical manual.
