ESP Teaching and

Learning Processes
 ESP Teaching and Learning
Processes
The methodologies of ESP teaching conform to the same model of the

language teaching process as does any other form of language teaching.

That is to say, the basic teaching activities are these; Shaping the input;

Encouraging the learners’ intention to learn; Managing the learning

strategies and Promoting practice and use.

(Strevens, 1988: 44)

ESP Teaching and Learning
Processes (elements)
• In ESP teaching, some basic elements have to be taken into
consideration, the most important of which are

• the learner needs, goals and motivation.

• Furthermore learners’ attitudes/approaches towards learning and

learning strategies are emphasized/stressed and seen as fundamental
to the ESP process.
• The ESP teacher in the classroom is“…a knowledge provider and a facilitator of
students’ learning and no more as a resourceful/capable authority.”(Kashani et al
2007:85).

• However, he/she is more concerned with designing suitable syllabi and courses for
different learners with various needs and fields

• “Thus, whereas course design plays a relatively minor part in the life of General
English teacher, courses here usually being determined either by tradition, choice
of textbook or ministerial decree, for the ESP teacher, course design is often a
substantial/significant and important part of the workload” (Hutchinson & Waters,
1987: 21).
• As the students are sited(fixed) in the core of the learning process they have
to be dynamic contributors in their learning either in the classroom or out of
it.

• Students use the adequate and favourite learning strategies and put a rapid
and durable learning rhythm to achieve the stated objectives.

• They are more intrinsically(basic) than extrinsically oriented.

• “Learning is more individualized than standardized/consistent and students

are more open to new ideas. They take responsibility for their own actions
and accept related consequences”. (Kashani et al 2007:87).
• ESP teaching/ learning processes necessarily go through
different stages
Stages in the ESP Teaching
Process
• Dudley-Evans and Johns (1998:121) maintain that “The key stages in ESP
are:

• needs analysis, course (and syllabus) design, materials selection (and

production), teaching and learning, and evaluation/assessment.”

• ESP course design is the product of a dynamic interaction between these

elements which“… are not separated, linearly(directly)-related activities,
rather, they represent phases which overlap and are interdependent”.
• It is well demonstrated/confirmed that the basic elements in the ESP
teaching process are interconnected and there is no differentiation
between theory and reality “the simplicity and clarity of figure 1 is in
reality more like figure 2” (Dudley-Evans and St. Johns, 1998: 121)
Therefore, the achievement of ESP courses are:

• those where the syllabus and the material are determined by the prior/earlier
analysis of the communication needs of the learner (Mumby, 1978: 2),

&

• those in which the aims and the context/background are determined

principally or wholly not by criteria/conditions of general education but by
functional and practical English language requirements of the learner (Strevens
1977 :90).
Further parameters(measurable
factors)
• However, designing effective ESP course is governed by further
parameters/factors that have to be examined first.

• According to Miliani (1994), after his exploration of the Algerian

context, stated that four essential points have to be studied and
analysed as a pre-design process, which consist of:
a-Situation analysis, b-Setting Aims
and Objectives
a-Situation analysis:

• it envelop the general requirements of both learners and institutions,

their profiles and attitudes, also the existing materials.

b-Setting Aims and Objectives:

• the results of learners needs identification and analysis (NIA) lead to

setting up general statements and what would be achieved at the end of
the courses.
c- Generating Syllabus Content, d-
Assessment:
c-Generating Syllabus Content

• organizing the syllabus content “through the sequencing of materials

whose layout and presentation should form a continuum(variety/range)

d- Assessment

• gathering data regarding syllabus before or during the course

implementation let to readjust the content of the syllabus.
• From the quoted descriptions of ESP teaching process it is viewed that in
the first instance, learners needs have to be identified and analysed.

• Therefore, the development of an ESP course should be in line with

learners requests and wants.

• Thus, needs outcomes will operate as a guide for the teacher in designing
a suitable syllabus, producing course materials as well as teaching and
testing methods.
A detailed description of each
step is as follow:
1. Needs Identification and
Analysis (NIA)
• “As in all ESP teaching situations, we must start by considering the needs
of the learners and what they have to do in the target situation”(Flook
1993 qtd in Benyelles 2009:21)

• In general, the term “needs” is defined as the differences between the

actual state regarding the group or situation in relation to a specific
question and the desired state.

• They reflect the existence of a certain problem that requires an

intervention and must be dealt with.
1. Needs Identification and Analysis (NIA)
(contd…)
• A needs assessment attempts to identify such problems, to analyse their nature
and causes and to establish priorities for future actions.

• It is a systematic approach to identifying social problems, determining their extent,

and accurately defining the target population to be served and the nature of their
service needs (Rossi, P. H., Freeman, H. E

• An NIA answers the questions who, what, when, and where but not how, that is,
the target audience (who needs to be trained), the task or content (what needs to
be taught) and the context or training environment (where and when the training
needs to be conducted) (Clark & Lipsey, Mark 1998).
1.1 Rationale/logic for NIA in Pedagogy
• Pedagogically, needs are always defined as the learners requests in order to
communicate efficiently in specific situations.

• “The idea of analysing the language needs of the learner as a basis for
course development has become almost synonymous with ESP”.
(Mc.Donough 1984: 29).

• Hence, ESP has its foundation on the exploration and analysis of learners’
purposes and the set of communicative requirements arising from these
purposes.
1.1 Rationale for NIA (Needs Identification and Analysis) in
Pedagogy (contd..)
• The analysis of the specific needs serves as the introduction to an ESP course
design, “…any course should be based on an analysis of learner need”
(Hutchinson & Waters 1987:53), because it determine the reasons and
procedures that should be used to achieve satisfactory communicative results.

• “The rationale for needs analysis is that by identifying elements of students'

target English situations and using them as the basis of EAP/ ESP instruction,
teachers will be able to provide students with the specific language they need
to succeed in their courses and future careers”. (Johns, 1991: 67).
1.1 Rationale for NIA (Needs Identification and Analysis) in
Pedagogy (contd..)
• In sum, the reasons for performing NIA, according to Long (2005) are to
determine the relevance of the material to the learners situation, to
justify the accountability of the material to all the constituents
implicated in the situation, to describe and explain learners’ differences
in terms of needs and style and, finally to produce efficient materials
that will fulfill learners’ requirements and needs as wholly as possible.

_____________________________________________________
Types of Needs
• ESP specialists (Hutchinson & Waters 1987, Robinson 1980, 1991, West
1993), agree on the fact that the term needs is the learners’
requirements aiming at communicating effectively in the target situation.

• “An ESP course will not only involve these requirements, but will also
consider the different levels of language knowledge of the learners in
order to specify the conditions of their learning situation” (Benyelles
2001:26).
Types of Needs (contd…)
• Accordingly, this requires that NIA classification may be viewed
differently, however two (02) types, i.e.

• 1. Target Needs

and

• 2. Learning Needs

are the main concepts used by the scholars in ESP literature and practices.
Target Needs
• Needs analysis is a complex process which has to take into account what Hutchinson
and Waters (1987:54) define as “target needs”, what learners need to do in the target
situation. In other words, what are the linguistic elements needed to achieve specific
communicative purposes.

• Robinson presents aspects of the target situation and students' educational

backgrounds: "study or job requirements," "what the user-institution or society at
large regards as necessary," "what the learner needs to do to actually acquire the
language," "what the students themselves would like to gain from the language
course," "what the students do not know or cannot do in English" (Robinson 1991pp.
7-8).
Target Needs (contd…)
• In this respect, Hutchinson and Waters propose further subdivisions of
target needs which are:

• Necessities,

• Lacks,

&

• Wants.
Necessities
• Are the academic or occupational requirements of the target
situation, that is, what the learner has to know in order to function
effectively in the target situation.

• Accordingly, needs “are perhaps more appropriately described as

objectives” (Robinson, 1991: 7) to be achieved.
Lacks

• Are what the learners are deficient in, i.e what they ignore or cannot
perform in English.

• Subsequently, lacks are the gaps between the initial or actual

situation of the learners in terms of language proficiency or aptitudes,
and the one which is required after the accomplishment of the
language training.
Wants

• Wants are the learners’ personal expectations and hopes towards

acquiring English,

• i.e. what they would like to gain from the language course.
Target Needs (contd…)
• In order to design the syllabus content, the ESP practitioners have to take
into consideration the learners aims; however, in almost all cases, these
contrast with the lacks identified by the teacher or the necessities of the
target situation. This divergence leads West (1993) to add
“constraints/limitations” as fourth type of target needs. “ It involves the
non-pedagogic limits that control a course planning process such as the role
of the national policy, and financial restrictions, which the analysts need to
be aware of once they start the process of NIA”(Benyelles 2001:31).
Learning Needs
• According to Hutchinson and Waters a relevant needs analysis of the target situation can
disclose and reveal “What the learners need to learn”; however, it is not sufficient, in ESP
context the question “How will the learners learn” in order to learn, is of central importance
to determine the content of the course.

• Hutchinson and Waters (1987:54) define learning needs as “what learners need to do in order
to learn”. In the same vein, Robinson (1991: 7) states that learning needs are “…what the
learner needs to do to actually acquire the language.”. In this sense, learning needs look for
data in relation to the learning situation which take into consideration learners’ type, cultural
awareness and proficiency level in English, the available materials, the existing resources and
all the information that can help the teacher to provide the learners with the appropriate
knowledge.
Learning Needs (contd…)

• All Wright (1982, qtd in West, 1994) states that “the investigation of
learners’ preferred learning styles and strategies gives us a picture of the
learners’ conception of learning”.

• The findings of the gathered data will provide an overview regarding

learners’ feelings and positions to learn a foreign language in specific
contexts.
Learning Needs (contd…)
• For language audit, it is generally used to establish the role assumed by this
foreign language in business, industrial or public enterprise, accordingly ESP
researchers have to:

- Determine the language skills needed to carry out specific jobs or studies
(West:1993).

- Evaluate the actual proficiency level of the target population in order to

compare the different levels of achievement at the end of the course.

- Find out the necessary time volume needed for language instruction.
Learning Needs (contd…)
• In sum and regardless of the various approaches recommended to identify
students’ needs, almost all the scholars mentioned above (West, Hutchinson
and Waters, Robinson, All Wright) have the same opinion on the collection
of the same type of information during the needs analysis stage.

• The information concerns:

• a- The target situation: the role of ESP practitioner is to take into

consideration the needs of the target situation through the enquiry of the
variety, the language forms and the necessary level of performance required
in the target language.
Learning Needs (contd…)
• b- Learners: the researcher has to determine learners’ language lacks,
investigate their wants, and attitudes concerning language course,
taking into consideration their current language ability.

• c- The learning situation: it broadly reveals significant information

regarding the learning environment and specifically the teaching
situation, the nature of the setting, the available materials and the
time volume.
• After the identification and analysis of learners’ needs the ESP teacher
can go through the next phase which is syllabus design.
Thank you!