ESP: Approach is not and language description

CHAPTER 3:

ESP: APPROACH NOT PRODUCT

What ESP isn’tIt is not a matter of teaching

“specialized varieties” of EnglishIt is not just a matter of words and

grammar for each areaIt is not different kind from any form

of language teaching

ESP must be seen as an approach not as a product

ESP is not a particular kind of language or methodology, nor does it consist of a particular type of teaching material.

It is an approach of language learning which is based on learner’s need.

All decisions as to content and method are based on the learner’s reason for learning.

ESP COURSE DESIGN ADAPTED FROM HUTCHINSON & WATERS (1987)

I keep six honest serving-men.

(The taught me all I knew.)

Their names are What and Why and When

And How and Where And Who. (Rudyard Kipling)

INTRODUCTION

ESP: approach to language teaching which aims to meet the needs of particular learners

ESP Course Design: substantial & important part of workload

QUESTIONS

1. Why does the S need to learn?

2. Who is going to be involved in the process? Teachers, sponsors, inspectors, coordinators?

3. Where is the learning going to take place? What potentials does the place provide? What limitations does it impose?

+QUESTIONS

4. When is the learning to take place? How much time is available? How will it be distributed?

5. What does the S need to learn? Waht aspects of language will be needed and how will they be distributed? What level of proficiency must be achieved? What topic areas will need to be covered?

+QUESTIONS

6.How will the learning be achieved? What learning theory will underlie the course? What kind of methodology will be employed?

More questions?

FACTORS AFFECTING ESP COURSE DESIGN

Syllabus

Methodology

Nature of particular target & learning situation

Language descriptionsThey have been at a greet feast of language, and stolen the scraps.

(shakespeare: love’s labour’s lost)

ESP course makes use of explicit or implicit ideas about the nature of language. These ideas are drawn from the various language description that have been developed by succeeding schools of thought linguistics.

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We can identify six main stages of

development.1. Classical or traditional grammar2. Structural linguistics3. Transformational generative (TG)

grammar4. Language variation and register

analysis5. Functional / notional grammar6. Discourse (Rhetorical) analysis

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conclusiona) There is no single source from which a

language course can, or should, derive its linguistic input.

b) Describing a language for the purpose of linguistic analysis does not necessarily carry any implications for language learning.

c) Describing a language is not the same as describing what enables someone to use or learn a language.

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