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ASSIGNMENT N0# 1
Submitted To:Sir Jahangir
Submitted by: Nobia Jabeen
Roll No. BR566376
MA TEFL: 1ST SEMESTER, SPRING 2018
Department of English
Allama Iqbal Open University
Mirpur
COURSE CODE: 5667
COURSE: (English for specific purposes)
ASSIGNMENT N0# 1
Submitted To:Sir Jahangir
Submitted by: Mahwash Razaq
Roll No. BR566360
MA TEFL: 1ST SEMESTER, SPRING 2018
Department of English
Allama Iqbal Open University
Mirpur
Question N0. 1
(i) Define and Describe ESP. Discuss the current situation of ESP
within the context of Pakistan.
Absolute characteristics
In Pakistan, most of the ESP teachers are those who taught ESP for a chain of
years. They had to face the following barriers in teaching ESP.
a) They were not provided sufficient ESP training. They were not equal to the
labor ions task of ESP teaching. They were to perform not only as classroom
teachers but also to design courses, conduct researches and analyze their
learners’ needs. The teachers should be imparted regular workshop training
on ESP teaching. In addition, they should have efficiency and ability of
performance.
b) Most of the ESP teachers in Pakistan do not care to change their mind
regarding the improvement of the class room skills. They are not sensitive
enough to accept the new challenges. These barriers can be easily
overcome by the ESP teachers.
c) Stake holders, expert course designers and the authorities concerned are
least pushed. They do not condescend to rescue the ESP teachers from the
carking issue of non-existence of tradition regarding authentic ESP text.
Hence the stake holders, course designers and skilled ESP partitions should
hold conferences / seminars / discussions with the ESP teachers.
d) . Majority of ESP teachers in Pakistan do not prefer to change their traditional
style of teaching. They should be skillful in applying modern ways of
teaching, especially to make proper use of computer in the teaching process.
Once again the remedy lies in the teacher himself / herself so that he / she
should come up to the required norms of quality teaching.
e) The ESP teachers in Pakistan do not display patience, flexibility and interest
in listening to the problems of the students. He / She should bear it in mind
that the teacher in the classroom is a role model. He / She should give
proper attention to the learner’s needs and preferences. f. Majority of ESP
teachers in Pakistan do not attach due significance to the research work.
Without conducting research, the knowledge of the practitioner remains
limited. The practitioners of ESP should be led to conducting research and it
is the duty of the Heads of the institutions to inspire and assist them
financially in their research work.
f) At present, steps for the dissemination of knowledge and information about
ESP teaching have not been properly taken as yet. Teachers do not like to
exchange their views about ESP teaching with each other. There is scant
publication of newsletters by the institutions. Hence institutions should bring
out newsletters and ESP materials for the improvement and enlightenment of
ESP teachers.
(ii)The major advancements in the field of ESP since its inception
in 1960s and their impact on teaching and learning methodology:
ESP teaching took birth in the second half of 20th century. It is based on designing
courses in keeping with the learners’ need. Course designing is applicable in
syllabus designing, methodology, material evaluation and materiel designing. Its
main emphasis is on what the students learn rather than how they learn. It is
learning-centered as well as language centered in its typical approach. ESP is sub-
divided into two major areas: -
1. English for academic purpose (EAP). It entails pre-service, in- service & post-
experience courses.
2. English for occupational purposes (EOP). It concerns study in a particular
discipline. Pre-experience course will overlook any typical work linked to the
actual discipline. The opportunity for specific work would be available during
in-service course.
From the early 1960's, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has grown to become
one of the most prominent areas of EFL teaching today. Its development is reflected
in the increasing number of universities offering an MA in ESP.
Conclusion:
As a result, cult for ESP grew for the learners’ theoretical and practical motives. The
brand new genre began to be purposefully employed by the whole range of
students desirous of becoming mechanics, lawyers, doctors, pilots, business men
etc.
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QuestionN0.2.
Discuss in detail various factors influencing implementation of an
ESP course and suggest some practical measures to improve the
situation.
INTRODUCTION:
At present ESP is the most vibrant and innovative area of language teaching and
research. ESP assesses needs and integrates motivation, subject matter and
content for teaching of relevant skills. In an ESP program the teacher plays a vital
role. An ESP teacher analyses the students need, helps them to develop their self-
confidence and motivates them towards language learning. ESP assumes that the
problems are unique to specific learners in specific contexts and thus must be
carefully delineated and addressed with tailored to fit instruction
The ESP practitioners should play five important role: teacher, course designer,
materials provider, collaborator, researcher & evaluator (Dudley-Evans & St. John,
1998, p.97). Though the ESP curriculum is being designed by the teacher himself
based on the needs of learners, still there are some issues that he/she should
keep in mind while designing the course. Course design is one of the most
essential elements on the part of the ESP course developer.
Designer Hutchinson and Waters (1987) highlighted some important factors
affecting ESP course design, they are Language Descriptions, Theories of
Learning and Needs Analysis; though these three factors seem to be three
different entities, they are still independent and interlinked to each other in the
process of ESP course design.
Factors affecting ESP course design Syllabus ESP Course
Recently, Basturkmen came up with slightly different views in ESPcourse design. The
four different issues involved are:
i. The topic of language varieties.
ii. The topic of need analysis.
iii. The topic of the syllabus.
iv. The topic of wide versus narrow angled course design.(Basturkmen, 2006, p. 15).
i) Varieties of language:
The term variety of language refers to registers of language use e.g.English in
business, English in Academic Settings, English in Media and English for everyday
conversation. Basturkmen (2006) argued "language
Varieties are based in and extend from a common core of language" and
"language varieties are self-contained entities" (p.28). The common core plus: There
is a common core of general language drawn in all areas of life and work.A
representation of common core language and its relationship to language varieties
(Pitt Corder, 199, as cited in Basturkmen, 2006, p. 16). The inner section represents
basic language which includes common words and sentence structures which can be
used in all situations.
All language is specific purpose:Another perspective in varieties of language is that
there is no common core of language. The core is a very vital part of anyone of the
numerous varieties of the language. Bloor and Bloor (1986) commented: All
language learning acquired from one variety or another, even if it is; classroom
variety.
A language learner is as likely to acquire the language from one variety as from
another, but the use of language, being geared to situation and participants, is
learned in appropriate contexts (Bloor and Bloor, 1986, p.28). Bloor and Bloor (1986)
fiirther say that, teaching specific variety of English (ESP) can start at any level
including beginners.
Moreover, learning from specific variety of English (e.g. English for Media, English for
Doctors, and English for Business Management) is highly effective as learners
acquire structure in relation to the range of meanings in which they are used in their
academic workplace or professional environment.
ii)Needs Analysis: According to Nunan (1988): The needs analysis procedures
made its appearance in language planning and became widespead in language
teaching" in the year 1970. In its early stage it was used as "the initial process for the
specification of behavioural objectives and later it explored different syllabus
elements such as ftinctions, notions and lexis in a more detailed manner (Nunan,
1988, p.43)
In ESP, language is learnt neither for its own sake nor for the sake of gaining a
general education but to smoothen the path to entry or greater linguistic efficiency in
academic, professional or workplace environments (Basturkmen, 2006, p. 17). Hence
needs analysis is a key feature in ESP course design.
Perspectives of Needs:
Perspectives of needs vary and the needs analyst has to decide whose perspectives
to take into account in designing ESP courses. Different approaches to needs
analysis attempt to meet the needs of the learners in the process of learning a
second language. Not a single approach to needs analysis can be a reliable indicator
of what is needed to enhance learning. A modern and comprehensive concept of
needs analysis is proposed by Dudley-Evans and St. John (1998: 125) which
encompasses all the above-mentioned approaches.
• Personal information about learners –
• Language information about learners –
• Learner's lacks
• Learner's needs from course -
• Language learning needs –
• Professional information about learners
• How to communicate in the target situation –
A Rigid View :
Therefore, Language Use in Specific Situations is simply too unpredictable to be
identified in any certain terms. ESP has sometimes produced a rigid view of language
needs and failed to take account of the variation of language use that exists in any
target situation.
• Language needs are not learning needs.
• Asking learners about their language needs can be problematic because they may
lack awareness.
• Objective needs are not necessarily the same as subjective needs or wants.
Deficiency Analysis:
Jordan (1997) maintains that deficiency analysis can form the basis of the language
syllabus because it should provide data about both the gap between present and
target extra linguistic knowledge, mastery of general English, language skills, and
learning strategies.
Choice of syllabus:
Choice of syllabus is also a big problem for ESP teachers. Based on their
observations of English language courses, Brown (1995) and Richards (1990) list the
following types of syllabuses. They also point out that courses are often based on a
combination.
Structural (organized primarily around grammar and sentence patterns).
Functional (organized around communicative functions, such as identifying,
reporting, correcting, and describing).
Notional (organized around conceptual categories, such as duration, quantity,
location).
Topical (organized around themes or topics, such as health, food, and clothing).
Situational (organized around speech settings and the transactions associated with
them, such as shopping, at the bank, at the supermarket).
Skills (organized around micro skills, such as listening for gist, listening for specific
information, listening for inferences).
Task- or activity-based (organized around activities, such as drawing maps,
following directions, following instructions).
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Question No.3
(i) What are different approaches to an ESP course and suggest
some practical measures to improve the situation.
APPROACHES TO COURSE DESIGN:
Course Design is the process by which the raw data about a learning need is
interpreted in order to produce an integrated series of teaching-learning
experiences. The aim of course design is to lead the learner to a particular state of
knowledge. In practical terms this entails the use of the theoretical and empirical
information available to produce a syllabus, to select, adapt or write materials in
accordance with the syllabus, to develop a methodology for teaching those
materials and to establish evaluation procedures by which progress towards the
specified goals will be measured.
There are probably many different approaches to ESP course design as there are
course designers. However, we can identify three main types of course design:
Language-centered course design, Skills-centered course design, and Learning-
centered approach.
Course design is a dynamic process. It does not move in a linear fashion from initial
analysis to completed course. Need and resources vary with time. The course
design, therefore, needs to have built-in feedback channels to enable the course to
respond to developments.
The learning-centered course design process: What does is mean in practical terms
to take a learning-centered approach to ESP? We will look in more detail at this
questions in materials design (chapter 10). For the moment let us look at a fairly
common example at the level of course design.
A need analysis reveals that the ESP learners need English in order to be able to
read texts in their subject specialism. They have no need to write, speak or listen to
English. Their sole need is to read English texts. If we followed a language-centered
or skill-centered approach to course design, we might conclude that ESP lessons
would concern themselves only with the activity of reading texts. There would be no
listening work; all discussion would be in the native language and writing tasks would
be minimal. This would be a logical application of the models for course design above
(figure 18 and 19). But if we took a learning-centered approach, we would need to
ask further question and consider other factor, before determining the content and
methodology of the course.
Course design is negotiation process in which both the target situation influences the
features of the syllabus and also it's a dynamic process in which means and
recourses vary from time to time. Despite the fact of being: a language, learning, or
skills- centered approach; making the ESP course as dynamic and flexible as much
as possible is the most important thing. Hence, a clear understanding of students‟
needs and the demands of the target situation will serve in developing the
appropriate materials and methodologies needed to function effectively in a given
domain.
Sequence:
It is important to have materials that are related to the lecture. There must be a relation
to previous texts, activities, topics not to miss the sense of a lesson.
Diversity:
The selected material should lead to a range of classroom activities, be a vehicle for
teaching specific language structure and vocabulary, and promote strategies. •
Acceptability:
It should contain acceptable cultural customs and language.
Conclusions:
It has been often observed that ESP is a materials-led movement and that part of
the role of the ESP practitioner is to write appropriate materials to meet the needs of
the target learner group. The author argues here that though materials development
is a very important element of ESP practice, designing them from scratch is best
regarded as the last resort. It seems only justified when all other possibilities of
providing learners with English for Specific Purposes needs-specific materials have
been exhausted. Making an attempt at the selection of appropriate materials, it is
important that ESP practitioners become familiar with ESP textbooks currently
available on the market. In the case of well-established disciplines, such as banking
or accounting, for example, teachers can choose from a wide range of off-the-shelf
ESP textbooks that are well grounded in recent research and replete with authentic
target community or workplace data. This does not seem the case with younger
subject areas (e.g. logistics, music), for which there only very few or no subject-
specific textbooks available. To provide learners with the materials catering for their
specific needs, many ESP teachers are confronted with the challenge of designing
tailor-made materials, adapting materials originally designed for other purposes or
editing published materials related to a given subject area.). It is also indispensable
that they have various contacts and experiences in the target setting (e.g. clinics in
various healthcare settings). Since the majority of ESP teachers are not experts in
the target field, it seems that the more experiences they have in the target setting
and the more they know about it, the more efficient they are likely to be in defining
the course objectives and selecting appropriate materials for it. In the cases when
there are not subject-specific ESP materials currently available or when published
materials can only be drawn on selectively, language instructors are left no choice
but to develop new ones.
__________________________________________________________________
Question N0. 4
(i) Discuss in detail the theoretical and practical significance of
analysis of learner’s needs in an ESP course design.
Any vocationally-oriented course must be based on the fundamentalissue of “what
learners need to do with English” (Dudley-Evans, 1997:5).Some authors even go as
far as to ‘suggest that needs analysis is in fact a crucial feature of ESP courses, cf.
Basturkmen (2013), who argues that “needs analysis is [...] a defining, if not the
defining, characteristic of LSP” .Needs analysis bridges the classroom situation,
typically characterized by the presence of pre-service (rather than in-service)
students, and the target environment, in which the newly acquired language skills
will be used by course participants. It could be said that course content is – ideally –
built around a series of steps that gradually build up the students’ linguistic
competencies and skills, eventually leading them to perform well or at least helping
them to get a good start in the future target situation.
Assessing the future needs of students requires an informed analysis of their target
communicative situation(s). As Nunan (1988:44) points out,“[o]objective needs
analysis results in content specifications derived from an analysis of the target
communicative situations in which learners are likely to find themselves.” However,
he goes as far as to suggest that “being derived from an analysis of the target
language situation, they can be carried out in the absence of the learner” (1988:44).
While that may be too extreme a view, it will be noted later on that the self-
perceived needs that the participants in vocationally-oriented ESP courses may
declare do not necessarily square with the actual linguistic requirements that they
will be exposed to in the target professional situations. Yet, the students’
preferences should not be ignored because the preferences are reflected in learner
factor analysis are important in contributing to learners’ motivation. At the same
time, however, the instructors may not have a much clearer idea of the future
professional needs of their students either (cf. Eslami, 2010:7).
Identifying what the target communicative situations may be is no easy matter. The
situations tend to be quite complex and diverse, as well as of-ten foreign to the
ESP/ELP practitioner. The complexity of the situation is noted by Dudley-Evans
(1997:5), who considers “three aspects, i.e. needs analysis, the analysis of the
genres and language related to these needs, and the use of the methodology of the
disciplines or professions it is serving for at least some of the time in materials in the
classroom, as the absolute characteristics of ESP that distinguish it from other
branches of English Language Teaching.” The underlying methodologies refer to
the frequent use of certain methods in particular areas, such as problem solving in
engineering, case studies in business, and information extraction and interpretation
in law. Moreover, students will need English to meet not only their professional but
also educational needs, i.e. the educational requirements set by their institutions.
This involves reading books, processing cases, writing essays, locating information,
etc. in English. Generally speaking, the ESP practitioner is there “to service the
English language needs of particular communities” (Aurelia, 2012:5479).Needs
analysis is directly related to the design of ESP courses. It is clear that “the
importance of needs analysis lies in the potential of its findings to inform the
development of the syllabus of the LSP course in question” (Basturkmen, 2013). Let
us therefore consider the issue of where course in-structures can obtain relevant
information about their students’ needs. The next section deals with the role of
respondents in needs analysis by concentrating on how they fit into the design of
language courses in general and legal ESP courses in particular
Needs analysis of the target communicative situation(s) is crucial for designing a
balanced syllabus. An ESP/ELP language course must include a selection of varied,
representative topics while addressing all the relevant skills. There are multiple
stakeholders, who all have some role –direct as well as indirect – in the design of
the course syllabus.
These include the teacher, the students, the current/future employers, the
administration of the educational institution, etc. The multiple stakeholder
perspective is also clearly articulated by Huhta et al. (2013:10), who, when
referencingRobinson (1991), points out that “[n]eeds may be investigated from thep
erspective of teachers, that of the learners or that of the employers who are funding
the language course.”As regards teachers, there are a number of ways in which
language instructors can choose topics for inclusion in their language courses.
Some teachers prefer to follow the pattern of specialized (content-oriented) classes,
even though that approach is certainly not methodologically appropriate from the
perspective of an ESP practitioner. Yet, it is sometimes the case that a lawyer –
most typically a native speaker of English – is asked to teach an ELP class and
ends up teaching law in English rather than explicitly addressing specific language
skills related to the students’ future target situations .Apart from such content-
oriented teaching, some instructors may preferto adopt an existing course book.
The use of a course book has many clear
Advantages:
a logical structure, a balanced mix of skills, the existence of a teacher’s book and
accompanying multi-media materials, etc. Yet, many ESP/ELP classes tend be so
specific that it may be difficult to find an ideal course book for a particular group of
students: the existing course books are either designed to meet the specific needs
of a very narrow community of learners (e.g. in a certain country/university) or they
address ‘universal ’international audiences to the extent that can be too general and
may need to be complemented with additional customized materials by the teacher.
It is also sometimes the case that an ESP/ELP course is based on theteacher’s
intuition.
While the teacher may justify this intuitive approach byclaiming that they ‘know their
students best’, this typically results in anunbalanced syllabus that is not ideally
geared towards the students’ currentor future needs. Where language instructors
lack prior experience with theprofessional environment themselves, the intuitive
approach results in pureguesswork about their students’ needs. Needless to say,
since pre-service students may likewise have an imprecise idea about their future
professional environment, an ill-conceived intuitive syllabus may not be immediately
evident as such.
The situation, however, is likely to be different with in-service students, who may be
quick to point out discrepancies between the course design and their actual needs
in the target situations. In-service students, as a rule, are also active in coming up
with specific topics, cases and materials.
QuestionN0.5
(i) Differentiate between learners needs in terms of lacks and
wants.
(ii) Devise a model for an ESP course evaluation.
Lacks. Are what the learners already know and what they 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.