English for Specific Purposes

Name : Yuni Azizah

NPM : 2116003
Lecturer : Maria Ramasari M, Pd

ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM LANGUAGE AND ART EDUCATION

DEPARTMENT INSTITUTE OF TEACHER TRAINING AND ENGLISH
TEACHERS ASSISION Of REPUBLIK INDONESIA STKIP-PGRI
LUBUKLINGGAU
2019/2020
 English For Spesific Purposes

What is ESP?
Far different from General English based on more traditional humanities. When we

go down the tree, we can see that ESP is only one branch of EFL / ESL, which is the

main branch of English Language Teaching in general. ELT, in turn, is one variation of

the many types of language teaching that are possible. But, of course, there is more

than one tree than is seen above the ground: trees cannot survive without roots. The

roots that maintain the EL T tree are communication and learning. The analogy of a tree

can help us get a little closer to the definition of ESP not by showing what ESP is, but by

showing what is not ESP.

ESP is not a matter of teaching "special varieties" of English due to the fact that

language is used for certain purposes. There are several features that can be identified

as "typical" from a particular usage context, and which, so, learners are more likely to

meet in the target situation. But these differences should not be allowed to obscure a

much broader area of similarity that underlies all English usage, and indeed, all use

language.
 ESP is not just a matter of science words and grammar for scientists, and so on.

When we see the tree, there are actually many hidden from view in and under the tree

even though we know the leaves and branches. They are supported by complex

fundamental structures. The point is we need more communication than just the surface

features of what we read and hear and also we need to differentiate between

performance and competence in relation to what people actually do with language and

the range of knowledge and abilities that can enable them to do so (Hutchinson and

Waters, 1981).

ESP does not differ in form from other forms of language teaching. This is based

on the principles of effective and efficient learning. Although the learning content is

different, the learning process must be different for ESP students than for general

English students.

 The origin of ESP?

The end of the Second World War in 1945 marked the era of massive expansion in

scientific, technical and economic activities on an international scale. This expansion

created a world that was united and dominated by two forces - technology and trade -

which in their continuous progress immediately generated a demand for international

languages. For various reasons, especially the economic power of the United States in

the post-war world, this role fell to English.

The effect is to create a new mass that fully wants to learn English, not for the

pleasure or prestige of knowing the language, but because English is the key

international currency for technology and trade. Previously the reasons for learning

English (or other languages) were not well defined. Knowledge of foreign languages is
generally considered a sign of comprehensive education, but few really question why it

is necessary. So, learning a language is its own justification.

 The development of ESP?

ESP has evolved at different speeds in various countries, and examples of all the

approaches that I will describe can be found operating somewhere in the world today.

 ESP must be seen as an approach not as a product

ESP is not a specific type of language or methodology does not consist of certain

types of teaching material. Properly understood, this is a language learning approach,

which is based on student needs. The foundation of all ESPs is a simple question: Why

do these students need to learn a foreign language? From this question will flow a

number of further questions, some of which will relate to students themselves, some

with the nature of language that will need to be learned by students, some for the

context of learning provided. This whole analysis comes from the initial needs identified

on the part of students to learn languages. ESP then is a language teaching approach

where all decisions for content and methods are based on the student's reason for

learning.
 ESP design has been one of the areas of most concern in teaching English as

a foreign language since the early 1960s. This issue has become a phenomenon that

continues to develop and give birth to various tendencies. Today there are many

courses offered in the ESP field. There have been many approaches used to design

ESP courses, but the authors believe these approaches have weaknesses and

advantages. This article aims to integrate various approaches to meet all needs in the

ESP course. This approach will integrate the three components of the analysis of the

needs of PSA, TSA and LSA. This approach will also integrate the data sources needed

in analyzing the needs of stakeholders, students, teachers and experts. Every step in

the design will integrate every component needed.

 Language Descriptions
We now have a number of ways of describing language available to us. Therefore
important to understand the main features of each of these descriptions in order to
consider how they can be used most appropriately in ESP courses. We can identify six
main stages of development.
a. Classical or Traditional Grammar - Languages were describe in this way because
the classical language were case based language where the grammatical function of
each word in the sentence was made apparent by the use of appropriate inflections..
b. Structural Linguistics - The structural or “Slot” and “filler” form Language
description will be familiar to most Language teachers as result of the enormous
influence it has had on teaching since the Second World War.
c. Transformational Generative (TG) Grammar - 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. Language Variation and Register Analysis - The language varies based on
context it is used. Sometimes it can be formal or informal and written or spoken.
e. Functional/Notional Grammar - Functional deals with social behavior and represent
the intention of the speaker/ writer like advising, warning, threatening, describing,
etc  while notional deals with the reflection of the way of human mind thinks (the mind
and thereby language divide reality) like time, number, gender, location, etc.
f. Discourse/ Rhetorical Analysis - This stage deals with how the meaning between
sentences is generated. The important thing is the context of the language. Different
replacement makes different meaning. Because of this discourse analysis, the effects to
ESP are:
1. Learners are made aware of the stages in certain set-piece transaction associated
with particular specialist fields. The aim of such an approach is to make the learners into
more efficient readers, by making them.
2. The second use of discourse analysis in ESP has been through materials which aim
to explain how meaning is created by the relative positions of the sentences in written
text.
 Model of learning
It is considered as a practical source of reference for the ESP teacher and course
designer. Model of learning is similar to a network of connection in the mind that all
internal and external factors are all interrelated to each other and they play important role in
learning
a. Individual items only acquire meanings that are connected to the network  of
existing knowledge.
b. Existing network makes it possible to construct new construction in the mind.
c. Items of knowledge are not of equal significance Some items are harder to
acquire.
d. Connection between networks is not built haphazardly. It requires planning
e. Communication network is a system
f. To make communicational network, motivation is important.

 Need Analysis
English for General Purposes, traditionally does not specify needs. There is always an
identifiable need of sorts. ESP is distinguished by its high awareness of needs. On the
surface, ESP is distinguished by content (science etc), but this is a secondary
consequence of the felt needs. There are many different types of ‘Needs Analysis’. It is
part of the skill of the teacher to balance the various needs.
Process of need analysis:
a. Decide the purpose of the analysis. 
b. Delimit (specify) the student population
c. Decide on the approaches
d. Determine, and decide to work within, the constraints/limitations
e. Select methods of collecting data
f. Collect data
g. Analyze and interpret results
h. Decide on your syllabus objectives
i. Results analysis leads to syllabus objectives and principles, and then a syllabus,
content, materials, methods, etc.
Target Situation Analysis in need analysis
1. Necessities. (Target situation analysis). What the learner has to know in order to
function effectively in the target situation. e.g, a Businessman may need to know about
letters, know how to speak at sales conferences, be able to read catalogues, etc. Study
the situations, identify parts, and relate to language.

2. Lacks. (Deficiency Analysis) To identify the necessities alone is not enough.

3. Wants. (Subjective Needs Analysis) Learner perceived needs is a VERY important
factor in motivation. They must not be ignored. Usually these wants are very personal;
therefore they are sometimes called 'subjective needs' In fact, these wants are very
real, and may conflict with the necessities as perceived by the learner.
Learning Needs Analysis / Strategy Analysis
1. In the 1980's, the focus of needs analysis turned more towards the methodology
employed to implement the language programs, which involved ,not just the
teaching methods, but also the methods of learning.
1. Why are the learners taking the course? e.g for enjoyment, fulfillment, sense of
achievement.
 2. Learner styles and expectations may be different to preferred teaching methods.
The typical clash is between 'rote learning' and participation. Rote learning is
regarded by most teachers as inefficient. Previous school learning experience
influences both proficiency and learning style.
3. Learning skills, such as reading skills, or the skills to pick up vocabulary, are,
sadly, sometimes weak even in L1, therefore the language teacher has to
develop them. Even when the skills are strong, they need practice in a second
language.
Gathering information about target needs Various techniques:
1. Questionnaires
2. Interviews, with students, and administrators

 Approaches to Course Design

1. Language centered course design It is the simplest and more familiar kind to English
teachers (Ts). It aims to draw as direct a connection as possible between the analysis of
the target situation and the content of the ESP course. However, it has a number of
weaknesses:
1. it starts from the learner and their needs. It might be considered a learner-centered
approach. The learner is simply used as a means of identifying the target situation.
2. It is a static and inflexible procedure, which can take little account of the conflicts and
contradictions that are inherent in any human endeavor.
3. It appears to be systematic and it only produces systematic learning for learners.
4. It gives no acknowledgement to factors which must inevitably play a part in the
creation of any course. Data is not important in itself.
5. The language-centered analysis of target situation data is only at the surface level. It
reveals very little about the competence that underlies the performance.

2. Skills Centered course design

It 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. Its aim is
not to provide a specified corpus of linguistic knowledge but to make the learners into
better processors of information Two fundamental principles:
a. Theoretical hypothesis Underlying any language behavior are certain skills and
strategies, which the learner uses to produce or comprehend discourse
b. Pragmatic basis for the skills-centered approach derives from a distinction made
by Widdowson (1981) between goal-oriented courses and process-oriented
ones.
 Designing Syllabus for ESP Course
To design a syllabus is to decide what gets taught and in what order. Syllabus design is
understood as the organization of the selected content into in ordered and practical
sequence for teaching purposes. Munby (1987) views syllabus design as a matter of
specifying the content that need to be taught and the organizing it into a teaching
syllabus of appropriate learning units. It includes the criteria consisting of (a) progress
from known to unknown matter, (b) appropriate size of teaching units, (c) a proper
variety of activity, (d) teachability, and (e) creating a sense of purpose for students.
MATERIALS EVALUATION
After completed our need analysis and course design, the next step that should be
done by the teacher is deciding what they will do. Teacher may turn the course design
into actual teaching materials. There are three possible ways of turning the course
design into actual teaching materials:
1. Select from existing materials: materials evaluation
2. Write our own materials: material development.
3. Modify existing materials: materials adaptation.
According to Hutchinson &Waters (1987) stated that evaluation is a matter of
judging the fitness of something for a particular purpose. Evaluation concerns on the
relative merit. There is no absolute good or bad, only degrees of fitness for the required
purpose. It means that, when the teacher does materials evaluation, the evaluation is
based on the required purpose or goal that would be reached by the students.
2. How do you evaluate materials?
Hutchinson &Waters (1987) stated that“ evaluation is basically a matching process:
matching needs to available solutions”. In order to match the needs and solutions, the
matching should be done as objective as possible. It means that teachers have to look
the needs of students and the solution separately. In the final analysis, any choice will
be made on subjective grounds. However, if subjectivity influence your judgement, it
may blind you to possible alternatives. For example: teacher might reject a particular
textbook, because the teacher does not like the picture on the cover or dislike functional
syllabuses but it does not mean that the book does not suit the needs of parties.
Below is also presented checklist of criteria for objective and subjective analysis.
There are some practical steps that we should do in material evaluation, as follows ;

1. Answer the A question. In this step, answer the A question to identify the
requirements that can be used as a basis for writing the material or as an input to
the next stage of material evaluation.

2. Answer the B question. In this step, answer the B question to analyze the
materials that have selected.

3. Make your choice and use your findings to prepare any documentation needed
for defending your decision. You can make a decision upon the analysis, whether
everything is good, or some part need to be modified /replaced

Conclusion

There are some conclusion that we can conclude from the materials about materials
evaluation : We observed the materials evaluation as one way of exploiting a course
design. The evaluation process should be systematic. The evaluation process is best
seen as a matching exercise: matching your analyzed needs with available solutions. It
can save a lot of duplication of effort by possibly revealing materials that can provide all
or part of your materials needs.

 THE ROLE OF THE ESP TEACHER

The lack of orthodoxy

A first stage of ESP there was no question of using authentic texts. According to A.
J. Herbert (r965) he created his own texts to high light language features much in the
same way as was done in General English, therefore continued in the era of discourse
analysis. First of all, it is necessary to be clear what the term 'authentic' really means.
It’s usually about the sense of 'taken from the target situation and, therefore, not
originally constructed for language teaching purposes'. Authenticity is not a
characteristic of a text in itself: it is a feature of a text in a particular context. A text alone
has no value. A text is a message from a writer to the reader. A text can only be truly
authentic, in other words, in the context for which it was originally written. Since in ESP
any text is automatically removed from its original context, there can be no such thing
as an authentic text in ESP. As the example of the use or non-use of authentic texts
illustrates, ESP teacher will often have to orientate themselves to difficult problems with
little or no guidance. There are no easy solutions to this situation, but some methods
that might be useful are:

a. Surveys of the history and present state of ESP in your own or neighbor countries:

b. Formations of groups of ESP teacher, perhaps allied to any existing national

organization for the promotion of ELT, to further the support and development of ESP:

c. Establishment of newsletters and other form of publication, for exchanging

information and views about ESP in your country:

d. Provision of pre-and in-service teacher training focusing on ESP issues. Such

provision can take a variety of form: workshops, seminars, short courses etc.

2. New realms of knowledge

ESP teachers may also have to struggle to master language and subject matter
beyond the bounds of their previous experience. Teachers who have been trained for
General English teaching or for the teaching of Literature may suddenly find themselves
having to teach with texts whose content they know little or nothing about as well as
having to cope with the uncertain values of the strange land of ESP, ESP teachers may
also have to struggle to master language and subject matter beyond the bounds of their
previous experience. Thus in addition to having to orientate themselves in a shifting
world, ESP teachers may at the same time feel a sense of utter inadequacy at their
ability to cope. This problem is best illustrated in the question of specialist knowledge
and language. So why should a different standard apply to the Science or Commerce
text? But we need to look at this in a broader context if we are going to be able to come
up with a reasonable answer.
a) Does the content of ESP materials need to be highly specialized?

As the work of the early pioneers in register analysis showed, there’s little
linguistic justification for having highly specialized texts. There IS no clear relationship
between sentence grammar and specialization of knowledge. ·In specialized texts the
discourse structure may be denser and more formalized but not different in kind from
that of less specialized material. If the texts cannot be handled effectively by the
teacher, it is not enough to simply expect the teacher to cope as well as possible. A
reasonable solution should be negotiated. We might compare this situation to cooking.
Good ingredients are important for a successful meal. But they will not of themselves
produce success. From those are problems, the ESP teacher should be showed that
specialist subjects areas are not difficult to understand and can be interesting and also
realize that they already have much of knowledge needed to understand the subject
matter.

3. Change in the Status of English Teaching

One of the characteristic of ESP in relation to general English is English changes

becoming a subject to a service industry for other specialism. It would a lowering of
status for the teacher, or at least this seems to be the ESP teachers' view. Johns
(1981), for example, lists five problems that EAP teachers complain, namely:

a. Low priority in timetabling.

b. Lack of personal/professional contact with subject teachers.

c. Lower status/grade than subject teachers.

d. Isolation from other teachers of English doing similar work.

e. Lack of respect from students.