LESSON 1 Introduction to ESP

ESP

- It is an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and methods

are based on the learner’s reason for learning.
- ESP is defined to meet psychological needs of the learners and how they will respond to
temptations (Maslow's hierarchy of needs).
- ESP makes use of underlying methodology and activities of the discipline it serves.
- ESP is centered on the language appropriate to these activities in terms of grammar, lexis,
register, study skills, discourse and genre.

The Emergence of ESP

1.    The Demands of a Brave New World

The end of the Second World War in 1945 heralded an age of enormous and
unprecedented expansion in scientific, technical and economic activity 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 notably the economic power of the United States in the post-war world,
this role fell to English. English was the key to the international currencies of technology and
commerce and it became the accepted international language of technology and commerce. Then
it created a new generation of learners who knew specifically why they were learning a language.
For the example the doctors who needed to keep up with developments in their field. The
development was accelerated by the OIL Crises of the early 1970s, which resulted in a massive
flow of funds and Western expertise into the oil-rich countries. Time and money constraints
created a need for cost-effective courses with clearly defined goals. English now became subject
to the wishes, needs and demands of people other than language teachers

.      2.  A Revolution in Linguistics (Sudarma)

At the same time as the use of English which was growing up for specific needs, it also
influenced the study of language itself. In the past, the purpose of Linguistics was only for the
usage of the language which is well known as grammar. However, as the time goes by the early
studies began to find out that the usage of language grammatically is actually different from the
real life usage, one of the example is the way we speak and write the language.
 It can be explained that in the real life there are some differences of the usage of language
in some parts of life e.g engineering, hospital, and more. Then it developed that if the use of
language varies from one situation to another, it should be possible to decide the features of
specific situations and make these features as basis for learning the language. Since then,
especially in the late 60’s and 70’s, the researches were developed into the varieties of language.
In conclusion, by analyzing linguistic characteristics of the specialist area of language study,
particular group of learners could be identified. This is as the principle of ESP that “Tell me what
you need English for and I will tell you the English that you need”.

3.      Focus on the Learner (Novita)

The developments in educational psychology contribute to the rise of ESP, by

emphasizing the central importance of the learners and their attitudes to learning. Learners were
seen to have different needs and interest, which would have an important influence on their
motivation to learn and therefore on the effectiveness of their learning. This lent support to the
development of courses in which relevance to the learners need and interest was paramount. 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. The
growth of ESP was brought about by a combination of three importance factors. The expansion
of demands for English to suit particular needs and developments in the fields of linguistics and
educational psychology. All three factors seemed to point towards the need for increased
specialization in language learning.

Types of ESP
David Carter (1983) identifies three types of ESP:

1. English as Restricted Language

        The language used by air traffic controllers or by waiters are examples of English as a
restricted language. Mackay and Mountford (1978) clearly illustrate the difference between
restricted language and language with this statement:

The language of international air-traffic control could be regarded as 'special', in the sense that
the repertoire required by the controller is strictly limited and can be accurately determined
situationally, as might be the linguistic needs of a dining-room waiter or air-hostess. However,
 such restricted repertoires are not languages, just as a tourist phrase book is not grammar.
Knowing a restricted 'language' would not allow the speaker to communicate effectively in novel
situation, or in contexts outside the vocational environment
      

2. English for Academic and Occupational Purposes

        The second type of ESP identified by Carter (1983) is English for Academic and
Occupational Purposes.
        In the 'Tree of ELT' (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987), ESP is broken down into three branches:
            a) English for Science and Technology (EST),
            b) English for Business and Economics (EBE), and
            c) English for Social Studies (ESS).
        Each of these subject areas is further divided into two branches:
English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and
English for Occupational Purposes (EOP).

        Hutchinson and Waters (1987) do note that there is not a clear-cut distinction between EAP
and EOP: "· people can work and study simultaneously; it is also likely that in many cases the
language learnt for immediate use in a study environment will be used later when the student
takes up, or returns to, a job". Perhaps this explains Carter's rationale for categorizing EAP and
EOP under the same type of ESP. It appears that Carter is implying that the end purpose of both
EAP and EOP are one in the same: employment. However, despite the end purpose being
identical, the means taken to achieve the end is very different indeed. I contend that EAP and
EOP are different in terms of focus on Cummins' (1979) notions of cognitive academic
proficiency versus basic interpersonal skills. This is examined in further detail below.

3. English with Specific Topics

        The third and final type of ESP identified by Carter (1983) is English with specific topics.
Carter notes that it is only here where emphasis shifts from purpose to topic. This type of ESP is
uniquely concerned with anticipated future English needs of, for example, scientists requiring
English for postgraduate reading studies, attending conferences or working in foreign
institutions. However, I argue that this is not a separate type of ESP. Rather it is an integral
component of ESP courses or programs which focus on situational language. This situational
language has been determined based on the interpretation of results from needs analysis of
authentic language used in target workplace settings.
 ILLUSTRATION OF ESP STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

The ESP over the years has gone through five stages, which, according to Hutchinson and
Waters (1987), take shape in five approaches or theories:

Register analysis: This stage took place in the sixties. The aim of the analysis was to distinguish
between specialized languages and common languages, creating an interest to identifying the
grammatical and lexical features of these registers and to design the teaching materials. The main
motive behind register analyses was the pedagogic objective of making the ESP course more
relevant to learner’s needs. The most representative authors of this stage are, Halliday,
McIntochs and Strevens (1964), Ewer and Latorre (1969) and Swales (1971).

Rhetorical or discourse analysis: It appeared in the seventies. The basic hypothesis of this
stage expressed by Allen and Widdowson (1974), spoke about the unfamiliarity of the students
with the English use. This fact consequently could not be solved by a course which simple
provided further practice in the composition of sentences, but only by one which developed
knowledge of how sentences are used in the performance of different communicative acts.

Target situation analysis: This approach appears in the eighties and its aim was to relate
language analysis more closely to learner’s reasons for learning; therefore, the course of ESP
was designed through identifying the motivations of the students to learn the language and the
situations in which they would use it. From this information, the elaboration of the course would
allow students to achieve the goal that had been raised. Its main representative is Chambers
(1980).

Skills and strategies:This approach also appears in the eighties and concentrates its efforts on
reading and listening strategies, which permit the students to acquire the necessary tools that will
allow them to deduce the sense of a spoken or written text.

A learning-centred approach: Represented by the proposed approach of Hutchinson and

Waters (1987), for whom the questions of how to teach and how to learn acquire more relevance
than the language, its uses and the contents.