THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF ESP

Discussion 1 by UMG Students (Group A):

THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF ESP
I. Introduction

1.1. The definition of ESP

ESP has had a relatively long time to mature and so we would expect the ESP community to have a
clear idea about what ESP means. Strangely, however, this does not seem to be the case. In
October this year, for example, a very heated debate took place on the TESP-L e-mail discussion
list about whether or not English for Academic Purposes (EAP) could be considered part of ESP in
general. At the Japan Conference on ESP also, clear differences in how people interpreted the
meaning of ESP could be seen. Some people described ESP as simply being the teaching of English
for any purpose that could be specified. Others, however, were more precise, describing it as the
teaching of English used in academic studies or the teaching of English for vocational or
professional purposes.
At the conference, guests were honored to have as the main speaker, Tony Dudley-Evans, co-
editor of the ESP Journal mentioned above. Very aware of the current confusion amongst the ESP
community in Japan, Dudley-Evans set out in his one hour speech to clarify the meaning of ESP,
giving an extended definition of ESP in terms of 'absolute' and 'variable' characteristics (see
below).

Definition of ESP (Dudley-Evans, 1997)

1.2. 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.

1.3. Variable Characteristics

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

2. ESP may 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

The definition Dudley-Evans offers is clearly influenced by that of Strevens (1988), although he has
improved it substantially by removing the absolute characteristic that ESP is "in contrast with
'General English'" (Johns et al., 1991: 298), and has included more variable characteristics. 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".

II. CONTENT

2.1. THE ORIGIN OF ESP

2.1.1 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 international language.
The effect was to create a whole new mass of people wanting to learn English, not for the
pleasure or prestige of knowing the language, but because English was the key to the international
currencies of technology and commerce. The general effect of all this development was to exert
pressure on the language teaching profession to deliver the required goods.

2.1.2 A Revolution in Linguistic

At the same time as the demand was growing for English courses tailored to specific needs,
influential new ideas began to emerge in the study of language. Traditionally the aim of linguistic
had been to describe the rule 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 (Widdowson, 1978). One finding of
this research was that the language we speak and write varies considerably, and in a number of
different ways, from one context to another. The idea was simple if language varies from one
situation of use to another; it should be possible to determine the features of specific situation
and than make these features the basis of the learners course.
In short, the view gained ground that the English needed by a particular group of learners could be
identified by analyzing the linguistic characteristics of their specialist area of a work or study.

2.1.3 Focus on the Learner

Learners were seen to have different needs and interest which would have an important influent
on their motivation to learn and therefore on the effectiveness of their learn. The clean relevance
of the English course to their needs would improve the learners motivation and thereby make
learning better and faster.

2.2 THE DEVELOPMENT OF ESP

ESP has develop at different speeds in different countries, and example of all the approaches we
shall describe can be found operating somewhere in the world at the present time.

2.2.1. The concept of special language: register analysis

This stage took place mainly in the 1960s and early 1970s and was associated in particular with the
work of Peter Strevens (Halliday Melcintosh and Stevens, 1964), Jack Ewer ( Ewer and Lattore,
1969) and John Swales (1971).
Operating on the basic principle that the English of, say, electrical engineering constituted as
specific register different from that of, say, biology or of general English, the aim of the analysis
was to identify the grammatical and lexical future of these registers. Teaching materials then took
these linguistic features as their syllabus. A good example of such a syllabus is that of A Course in
Basic Scientific English by Ewer and Latorre (1969).

The aim was to produce a syllabus which gave high priority to the language forms students would
need in their. Sciences studies and in turn would give low priority to forms they would not meet.
Ewer and Hughes-Davies (1971).

2.2.2. Beyond the sentence: rhetorical or discourse analysis

ESP had focused on language at the sentence level, the second phase of development shifted
attention to the level about the sentence, as ESP become closely involved with the emerging field
of discourse or rhetorical analysis.

2.2.3. Target Situation Analysis.

The stage that we come to consider now did not really add anything new to the range of
knowledge about ESP. What it aimed to do was to take the existing knowledge and set it on a
more scientific basis, by establishing procedures for relating language analyzing more closely to
learners reasons for learning. Given that the purpose of an ESP course is to enable learners to
function adequately in a target situation, that is, the situation in which learners will use the
language they are learning, then the ESP course design process should proceed by first identifying
the target situation and then carrying out a rigorous analysis of the linguistic features of that
situation. The identified features will form the syllabus of the ESP course. This process is usually
known as need analysis. However, we prefer to take Chambers (1980) term of target situation
analysis, since it is a more accurate description of the process concerned.

The most thought explanation of target situation analysis is the system set out by John Munby in
communicative Syllabus Design (1978). The Munby model produces a detailed profile of the
learners needs in terms of communication purposes, communicative setting, the means of
communication, language skills, functions, structures etc.

2.2.4. Skills and Strategies

The fourth stage of ESP has seen an attempt to look below the surface and to consider not the
language itself but the thinking processes that underlie language use. There is no dominant figure
in this movement, although we might mention the work of Francoise Grellent (1981).

The principal idea behind the skills centered approach is that underlying all language use there
are common reasoning interpreting processes, which, regardless of surface forms, enable us to
extract meaning form discourse. There is, therefore, no need to focus closely to the surface forms
of the language. The focus should rather be on the underlying interpretive strategies, which
enable the learner to cope with the surface forms, for example guessing the meaning of words
from context, using visual lay out to determine the type of text, exploiting cognates (i.e. words
which are similar 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 registers.

2.2.5. A learning-centered approach

Our concern is with language learning. We can not simply assume that describing and exemplifying
what people do with language will enable someone to learn it. A truly valid approach to ESP must
be based on an understanding of the processes of language learning.
The important and the implications of the distinction that we have made between language use
and language learning.

III. CONCLUSION

In this section we have identified the main factors in the origins of ESP and given a brief overview
of its development. We have note that the linguistic factor has tended to dominate this
development with an emphasis on the analysis of the nature of specific varieties of language use.
Probably this have been a necessary stage, but now there is a need for a wider view that focuses
less of differences and more on what various specialism have in common is that they are all
primarily concerned with communication and learning. ESP should properly be seen not as any
particular language product but as an approach to language teaching which is directed by specific
and apparent reason for learning.

REFRENCES

1. http//www.esp journal.com
2. Wilkins,D.A.,National Syllabuses,Oxford University Press,1976
3. Swales,J.,Writing Sientific English, Nelson,1971
4. Carver, D. (1983). Some propositions about ESP.
5. The ESP Journal, 2, 131-137.Dudley-Evans, T. & St. John, M. (1998).
6. Developments in ESP: A multi-disciplinary Approach.
7. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
8. Gatehouse, K. (2001). Key issues in English for specific purposes (ESP) Curriculum. The Internet
TESL Journal, 7,1-11.

Questions
1. What is the definition of ESP?
2. Mention the three absolute characteristic of ESP?
3. ESP is centered on the language that is appropriate with?
4. What is the definition of ESP according to the Dudley-Evans?
5. Mention the variable characteristics of ESP?
6. What is the definition of ESP according to Thu Hutchinson?
7. What is the general effect of the demand of a brave new world?
8. What about English?
9. What is the aim of linguistics?
10. What is the idea of development of English courses for specific group of learners?
11. what will make the learners motivation and learning better and faster improve?
12. Beyond the sentence, rhetorical or discourse analysis, ESP had focused on what?
13. What is target situation analysis?
14. Why the target situation analysis approach didnt really change?
15. What is the principle idea behind the skills centered approach?

ANSWERS
1. The teaching of English used in academic studies or teaching of English for vocational or
professional purposes.
2. a. ESP is defined to meet specific needs of the learners.
b. ESP makes use of underlying methodology and activities of the discipline it serves.
c. ESP is centered on the language appropriate to these activity in terms of grammar, lexis,
register, study skills, discourse, and genre.
3. Grammar, lexis, register, study skills, discourse, and genre.
4. ESP is giving an extended definition of ESP in terms of absolute and variable characteristic.
5. a. ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines.
b. ESP may use in specific teaching situations.
c. ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, a tertiary level institution or in professional work
situation.
d. ESP is generally designed for immediate or advanced students.
e. Most ESP courses assume some basics knowledge of the language systems
6. ESP is an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are
based on the learners reason for learning.
7. Exert pressure on the language teaching profession to deliver required good.
8. English had became accountable to the security of the wider world and traditional leisurely and
purpose free stroll through the landscape of the English language seemed no longer appropriate in
the harsher realities of the market place.
9. The aim of linguistic is to discovering the ways in which language is actually used in real
communication.
10. Language varies from one situation to another, it should be possible to determine the features
of specific situation.
11. The learners motivation and learning become better and faster will improve with the clean
relevance of the English course to their needs.
12. ESP had focused on language at the sentence level and the second phase of development
shifted attention to the level about the sentence.
13. Target situation analysis is a detailed profile of the learners needs in term of communication
purposes, communicative setting, the means of communication, language skill, functions,
structures, etc.
14. Because in its analysis of learner need. It still looked mainly at the surface linguistics features
of the target situation.
15. The principle idea behind the skills centered approach is that underlying all language use
there are common reasoning interpreting processes which regardless off surface form, enable us
to extract meaning form discourse