TEACHING ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES

Task 3 - Variables for designing an ESP course

Developed by:

YAMID ARBEY ROJAS

Code. 1087996264

ANGELA CATHERINE BAQUERO

Code.

CLARA ESPERANZA BILBAO CORTÉS

Tutora

BARCHELOR’S DEGREE IN ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL ABIERTA Y A DISTANCIA
Bogotá 2020

ALL PARTICIPANTS’ ESSAYS

Yamid’s essay

INTRODUCCIÓN

Before going into context with this essay, I want to emphasize that ESP students are
adults who are already familiar with English and are learning the language to
communicate a set of professional skills and perform specific functions related to work;
This includes facing each of the challenges that may arise with the sole objective of
spreading English towards a particular purpose.

The ESP speaker or teacher should first of all consider the needs of the students,
identify these needs and the capabilities involved in devising functions for which the
students will use English.

In this essay we will analyze the case of two parents who plan to live abroad with their
two children next year, and are looking for an English tutor who can help their 12-year-
old son and daughter have an easier transition to a science class. These two children
have been in a bilingual school for 2 years, but for some reason the science teacher
spoke more Spanish than English during their class, and for this reason the children
were not familiar with enough English vocabulary on science topics. . Their parents
want their children to learn and master the science vocabulary used for sixth and
seventh grade. Children are pretty good at learning English, but they don't understand
specific vocabulary well enough.
Although it seems incredible, in some bilingual institutions do not teach the subjects in
English, especially the didactics of science as it is in the case of the two students that are
12 year olds; This happens because the educational system was lagging and that is
because today students are graduating with little knowledge of English in a specific area
like science. This is my perspective of what is happening, and I mention it because I
was part of those generations of students for whom English in science was not the most
appropriate.

The most unfortunate thing is that still in some schools classes are still taught in the
same way, either because there are still teachers with many years of service who refuse
to accept the change in society that needs more and more of the English language or
because They are young teachers who find it easier to teach as they were taught.

 After doing this analysis, we set out to find a solution for 12-year-old children whose
parents will take them to study abroad next year; Here the teacher plays a key role,
because we have to find the necessary strategies to achieve the learning of scientific
knowledge in English since the child has a very particular way of understanding the
world around him.

once the need or problem to be solved has been defined, we must analyze the contents
that the children are going to be taught and the appropriate time for them to learn; the
most optimal time is in the morning since it is in this time that the brain is most rested.

Once the content has been selected, learning objectives must be established; in this case
to reinforce the vocabulary of science and what better than to define a design plan based
on CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning). This methodology is based on
learning foreign languages through the teaching of common subjects such as science.
This allows teachers to have a greater scope in terms of content and language that can
be included in the day to day. In this way, children learn efficiently because they are
constantly exposed to the language by using it in interactions and in specific academic
functional language.

 
Finally, it is important to promote collaboration and knowledge of the culture; When
teaching science in English, you should talk about relevant topics in the communities
where the students live. This increases the knowledge that students have about their
social and cultural environment. Thanks to this, students' motivation and involvement
are increased because they can use the knowledge they acquire in classes on a daily
basis and apply it abroad when they enter their new school.

CONCLUSIÓN

The previous case gives us a clear example of how most English teachers in our country
are not competent when it comes to preparing in English for specific purposes. ESP.

As future teachers of the English language, we have to learn this language in each of the
areas and specialize to transmit English effectively and prepare ourselves for each of the
challenges of educational life.

REFERENCES
 Chacon. M (2011) Metodo de analisis de necesidades de cursos de ingles con
fines específicos a poblaciones de estudiantes de educación a distancia.
Universidad de Costa Rica. UNED. Revista Espiga No. 22: pg 49-57 Retrived
from: file:///D:/Downloads/Dialnet-
MetodoDeAnalisisDeNecesidadesDeCursosDeInglesConFi-5340012.pdf
 Dudley-Evans, T. (2001). English for specific purposes. In R. Carter & D.
Nunan (Eds.), The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other
Languages (The Cambridge Guides, pp. 131-136). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511667206.020. Retrieved from
https://www-cambridge-
org.bibliotecavirtual.unad.edu.co/core/books/cambridge-guide-to-teaching-
english-to-speakers-of-other-languages/english-for-specific-
purposes/D4F4CD1BB2EB4C8FAD01A497924E4039
 English Test-Aptis (2016) Assessing English for Specific Purposes. Retrieved
from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=62sMGrmxjto
Angela’s essay

Nowadays, the English language has predominated in many commercial, educational,

and business areas, among others, being part of our daily routine, generating the need
for people to train to deal with these specific areas, confronting the individual
efficiently, effectively and productively in the different fields in which it is developed,
from which is derived the ESP (English for Specific Purposes), Dudley-Evans, T.
(2001) says that “The key defining feature of ESP is that its teaching and materials are
founded on the results of needs analysis” are therefore courses that derive from a
specific work, professional or learning situation and therefore have a specific design
that allows the individual to use the knowledge and skills in their specific profession or
vocation, but It is important for this to analyze the objective needs, the learning needs
and clearly the course design that is going to be implemented being some of the most
important factors that help us define and characterize not only the purpose of the course
but the methodology, theories, strategies, materials and of course the study program
indicates English Test-Aptis (2016) “In the different in work contexts, actual tasks will
be quite different, while employees will likely need different language profiles; by this
we mean that they are expected to have different levels of ability to read, write, listen
and speak”
The linguistic needs in the English language are not the same for all individuals; there is
an individual's need to manipulate this language skill, whether for study or work
reasons, to complement their studies or for purely work situations, this corresponds to
having a need awareness; Chacon. M (2011) indicates that "the needs analysis provides
a clear overview of the expectations, specific tasks and previous knowledge of the target
population" in this way the ESP course is channeled, the needs are met and the process
is supported based on the data thrown in said analysis; within this analysis we find the
“objective needs (that is, what the student should do in the objective situation)”
indicates Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (1987); For example, a university student who
requires receptive listening and reading comprehension skills with which she can
present an exam in which she can demonstrate the development and application of her
skills and be able to graduate, so we can identify the objective needs in this case: to
develop linguistic competences. Such as being able to read texts of different difficulties
and / or themes and understand information from audios or an L2 speaker with an
addition that is to achieve a B2 level. The student must be aware of their need so that
the needs can be characterized more effectively and the model of the course can also be
modeled. In this same order, the student's criteria must be taken into account as part of
their motivational actor for which He decides to take the course beyond his own
objective need to quote, says Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (1987) “The designer or
teacher is aware of such differences and takes them into account in materials and
methodology. There is little point in taking an ESP Approach, which is based on the
principle of student engagement, ignoring the wishes and views of students”
On the other hand, being consistent with the objective needs, we must keep in mind the
learning needs that are characterized by what the student must do to learn, in the
analysis of the objective needs we verify why the language is required, with whom, how
and where will use and the area where it will be developed. In the learning needs, the
knowledge and skills that will be needed to solve the objective need and effectively
cope with their objective situation are analyzed. Taking the example of the university
student, it is necessary to verify in this analysis why she takes the ESP course. , what is
his purpose, that he motivates to take the course and of course the methodology that will
be applied, the material, the technique, strategies, time intensity and so on, the needs
analysis allows “the involvement of future participants in the decision-making about
learning, resulting in empowerment, as a source of intrinsic motivation… helps course
designers and sponsors decide the optimal content, language skills, and materials for
meeting learning objectives” says Chacon. M (2011) the adequate interpretation of the
student's needs, their characteristics, purposes and their objective situation offers the
possibility of designing a course that is consistent with the student's needs and
motivations and that in turn allows them to perform in a significant in your target
situation.
In the challenge of designing an ESP course, we find a series of circumstances that lead
us to structure a course that fosters the potential of the individual in order to exploit it in
a meaningful and challenging way, giving meaning and meaning to its purpose. As
teachers, we must be concerned with guiding the processes of individuals, allowing
them to experiment and reflect on the decision by which they take the ESP course. The
design of the course must be focused on all its steps towards the student, it must be the
factor and / or element that Prima, the course that has a focus on learning guarantees
that according to Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (1987) “A focus on learning says: that is
not enough either. We must look beyond the competition that allows someone to act,
because what we really want to discover is not the competition itself, but how someone
acquires that competence”; therefore we can infer that it is a dynamic, flexible process
that adjusts to the needs of the students and their characteristics of knowledge
acquisition and development of competences.
To conclude, we can conclude that characterizing and analyzing the educational, social,
and professional needs of students provide us with the opportunity to guarantee the
structuring of courses that are more solid and consistent with the needs of the student, of
course, bearing in mind that the student is an actor active of its process and must include
in each one the elements and factors that intervene in the design of an ESP course, the
processes must be dynamic, conscious, interactive, constructive, contributing to a
constant intervention in the process that facilitates the quality of development of the
course.
 REFERENCES

 Chacon. M (2011) Metodo de analisis de necesidades de cursos de ingles con

fines específicos a poblaciones de estudiantes de educación a distancia.
Universidad de Costa Rica. UNED. Revista Espiga No. 22: pg 49-57 Retrived
from: file:///D:/Downloads/Dialnet-
MetodoDeAnalisisDeNecesidadesDeCursosDeInglesConFi-5340012.pdf
 Dudley-Evans, T. (2001). English for specific purposes. In R. Carter & D.
Nunan (Eds.), The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other
Languages (The Cambridge Guides, pp. 131-136). Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511667206.020. Retrieved from
https://www-cambridge-
org.bibliotecavirtual.unad.edu.co/core/books/cambridge-guide-to-teaching-
english-to-speakers-of-other-languages/english-for-specific-
purposes/D4F4CD1BB2EB4C8FAD01A497924E4039
 English Test-Aptis (2016) Assessing English for Specific Purposes. Retrieved
from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=62sMGrmxjto
 Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (1987). Needs analysis. In English for Specific
Purposes (Cambridge Language Teaching Library, pp. 53-64). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511733031.010. Retrieved
from https://doi-
org.bibliotecavirtual.unad.edu.co/10.1017/CBO9780511733031.010
 Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (1987). Approaches to course design. In English
for Specific Purposes (Cambridge Language Teaching Library, pp. 65-78).
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511733031.011.
Retrieved from https://doi-
org.bibliotecavirtual.unad.edu.co/10.1017/CBO9780511733031.011
COMPARATIVE CHART PRESENTING ALL THE COMPONENTS
MENTIONED IN THE ESSAYS AND DEVELOPED IN TASK 2.