ESP 1

English for Specific Purposes: What does it mean? Why is it different?
Laurence Anthony
Dept. of Information and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering
Okayama University of Science, 1-1 Ridai-cho, Okayama 700, Japan
anthony 'at' ice.ous.ac.jp
1. Growth of ESP
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 (e.g. The University of Birmingham, and Aston University in the UK) and in the number of ESP courses offered to overseas students in English speaking countries. There is now a well-established international journal dedicated to ESP discussion, "English for Specific Purposes: An international journal", and the ESP SIG groups of the IATEFL and TESOL are always active at their national conferences.
In Japan too, the ESP movement has shown a slow but definite growth over the past few years. In particular, increased interest has been spurred as a result of the Mombusho's decision in 1994 to largely hand over control of university curriculums to the universities themselves. This has led to a rapid growth in English courses aimed at specific disciplines, e.g. English for Chemists, in place of the more traditional 'General English' courses. The ESP community in Japan has also become more defined, with the JACET ESP SIG set up in 1996 (currently with 28 members) and the JALT N-SIG to be formed shortly. Finally, on November 8th this year the ESP community came together as a whole at the first Japan Conference on English for Specific Purposes, held on the campus of Aizu University, Fukushima Prefecture.
2. What is ESP?
As described above, 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)
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.
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".
3. Is ESP different to General English?
If we agree with this definition,, we begin to see how broad ESP really is. In fact, one may ask 'What is the difference between the ESP and General English approach?' Hutchinson et al. (1987:53) answer this quite simply, "in theory nothing, in practice a great deal". When their book was written, of course, the last statement was quite true. At the time, teachers of General English courses, while acknowledging that students had a specific purpose for studying English, would rarely conduct a needs analysis to find out what was necessary to actually achieve it. Teachers nowadays, however, are much more aware of the importance of needs analysis, and certainly materials writers think very carefully about the goals of learners at all stages of materials production. Perhaps this demonstrates the influence that the ESP approach has had on English teaching in general. Clearly the line between where General English courses stop and ESP courses start has become very vague indeed.
Rather ironically, while many General English teachers can be described as using an ESP approach, basing their syllabi on a learner needs analysis and their own specialist knowledge of using English for real communication, it is the majority of so-called ESP teachers that are using an approach furthest from that described above. Instead of conducting interviews with specialists in the field, analyzing the language that is required in the profession, or even conducting students' needs analysis, many ESP teachers have become slaves of the published textbooks available, unable to evaluate their suitability based on personal experience, and unwilling to do the necessary analysis of difficult specialist texts to verify their contents.
4. The Future of ESP
If the ESP community hopes to grow and flourish in the future, it is vital that the community as a whole understands what ESP actually represents. Only then, can new members join with confidence, and existing members carry on the practices which have brought ESP to the position it has in EFL teaching today. In Japan in particular, ESP is still in its infancy and so now is the ideal time to form such a consensus. Perhaps this can stem from the Dudley-Evans' definition given in this article but I suspect a more rigorous version will be coming soon, in his book on ESP to be published in 1998. Of course, interested parties are also strongly urged to attend the next Japan Conference on ESP, which is certain to focus again on this topic.
5. References
Dudley-Evans, Tony (1998). Developments in English for Specific Purposes: A multi-disciplinary approach. Cambridge University Press. (Forthcoming)
Hutchinson, Tom & Waters, Alan (1987). English for Specific Purposes: A learner-centered approach. Cambridge University Press.
Johns, Ann M. & Dudley-Evans, Tony (1991). English for Specific Purposes: International in Scope, Specific in Purpose. TESOL Quarterly 25:2, 297-314.
Strevens, P. (1988). ESP after twenty years: A re-appraisal. In M. Tickoo (Ed.), ESP: State of the art (1-13). SEAMEO Regional Language Centre.
English for Specific Purposes - Introduction
ESP (English for Specific Purposes) has been referred to as "applied ELT" as the content and aims of any course are determined by the needs of a specific group of learners. ESP is often divided into EAP (English for Academic Purposes) and EOP (English for Occupational Purposes). Further sub-divisions of EOP are sometimes made into business English, professional English (e.g. English for doctors, lawyers) and vocational English (e.g. English for tourism, nursing, aviation, bricklaying). You will find special sections for Business English and English for Academic Purposes elsewhere on this website.
According to Dudley-Evans (2001) the absolute characteristics of ESP are:
• ESP is designed to meet the specific needs of the learners.
• ESP makes use of the underlying methodology and activities of the specialism it serves.
• It is centred not only on the language (grammar, lexis, register), but also the skills, discourses and genres appropriate to those activities.
ESP practitioners are also becoming increasingly involved in intercultural communication and the development of intercultural competence.
For Dudley-Evans (2001) the defining characteristic of ESP is that teaching and materials are based on the results of a needs analysis. The key questions are:
• What do students need to do with English?
• Which of the skills do they need to master and how well?
• Which genres do they need to master either for comprehension or production purposes?
Traditionally ESP courses were typically designed for intermediate or advanced adult learners. Nowadays many students can start to learn academic or vocational English at an earlier age and at a lower level of proficiency.
ESP has become increasingly important as:
• There has been an increase in vocational training and learning throughout the world.
• With the spread of globalisation has come the increasing use of English as the language of international communication. More and more people are using English in a growing number of occupational contexts.
• Students are starting to learn and therefore master general English at a younger age, and so move on to ESP at an earlier age.
An increasing number of learners are taught in English medium schools using approaches such as CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning).
In some English speaking countries governments are launching initiatives to help economic migrants obtain the practical English skills necessary to function in the workplace. For example, the new ESOL for Work Qualifications in the UK are designed to help employers and employees access courses which offer them the functional language skills demanded across a variety of employment sectors. Content includes topics such as customer care and health and safety.
Some teachers are afraid of making the transition from teaching general English to teaching ESP. There is also the danger that the novice ESP teacher will only use materials that they feel comfortable with and will not stretch their learners.
Bell (2002) argues that the depth of knowledge of a subject matter that a teacher requires depends on a number of variables which include:
• How much do the learners know about their specialism?
• Are the students pre-experience or post-experience learners?
• How specific and detailed are the language, skills and genres that the learners need to learn?
Although you perhaps don't need to be an expert in a specialist area, you do need to have some awareness and feel for a particular vocational area. Bell (2002) advocates the three Cs for helping teachers to improve their knowledge and skills in a particular area of ESP.
• Curiosity
The teacher should be interested in the subject area and want to learn more.
• Collaboration
Teachers should seek out subject specialists, show them their work and ask for their feedback.
• Confidence
Confidence will grow as teachers explore the new subject matter, engage with subject specialists and learn from their learners.
Harding (2007) stresses that the general skills that a general English teacher uses e.g. being communicative, using authentic materials and analysing English in a practical way are also applicable to ESP. He also suggests that teachers should:
• Think about what is needed and don't just follow an off-the-shelf course or course book.
• Understand the nature of their students' subject area.
• Work out their language needs in relation to their specialism.
• Use contexts, texts, situations from their subject area.
• Use authentic materials.
• Make the tasks as authentic as possible.
• Motivate the students with variety, relevance and fun.
• Take the classroom into the real world and bring the real world into the classroom.
Like it or not, the days of the EFL generalist teacher may be numbered, so it might just be time to explore the possibility of working in ESP!
Acronyms in ESP
CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning)
EAP (English for Academic Purposes)
EBP (English for Business Purposes)
ESAP (English for Specific Academic Purposes)
EGAP (English for General Academic Purposes)
EMP (English for Medical Purposes)
EOP (English for Occupational Purposes)
EPP (English for Professional Purposes)
EST (English for Science and Technology)
EVP (English for Vocational Purposes)
EWP (English for/in the Workplace)

References
Bell, D (2002) ‘Help! I've been asked to teach a class on ESP!' in IATEFL Voices, Issue 169, Oct/Nov
Dudley-Evans, T (2001) ‘English for Specific Purposes' in The Cambridge Guide to TESOL, Cambridge University Press
Harding, K (2007) English for Specific Purposes, Oxford University Press
English for specific purposes teacher: Job description and activities
English for specific purposes (ESP) teaching involves teaching English with particular attention to a certain area, for example, business, tourism, medicine, the law or engineering. ESP teachers tend to have had some general English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching experience first.
The demand for ESP has grown considerably in recent years, particularly in the area of in-company language training. Much ESP work is done under contract to companies and organisations abroad and those who freelance often find themselves working on short-term assignments in several countries. Specialist courses are available, for instance, in teaching English for business; most require experience and a TEFL qualification.
You will need to have or be prepared to acquire some knowledge of the subject matter and a familiarity with correct terminology. This can be from previous work experience or a related qualification. However, there is still a lot of general language work in ESP although there may be more emphasis on:
• letter writing;
• report-writing;
• using the telephone.
Teaching is often on a one-to one basis, or in small classes. Lessons tend to be very practical and functional rather than concentrating on theory and complex grammar.
For more information see English as a foreign language teacher.
English as a foreign language teacher: Job description and activities
On this page…
1. Job description
2. Typical work activities
Job description
Teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) involves teaching English, either in the UK or overseas, to students whose first or main language is not English. The term TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) is also used, but only when the students are in the UK.
TEFL teachers work in commercial language schools, schools and institutions of further and higher education throughout the UK and overseas. Some may also teach in industry, whilst others are self-employed. Students may be of all ages and levels and in various class sizes, depending on where you teach. Classes are usually taught in English, even with beginners.
Typical work activities
Teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL), like any other teaching job, is about conveying information to students in an interesting way and communicating a love and passion for the English language. Teachers use a wide range of course books, other materials and a variety of audio-visual aids. There is a strong emphasis on dialogue and role-playing, but more formal exercises, language games and literature are also used.
Students learn English for a variety of reasons: to improve their conversational English; to prepare for examinations; to gain entry to an English-speaking college or university; or to use English in their work, so the content of lessons varies. The level of the students' ability may also vary, depending on the setting where the classes take place. The aim of each lesson is to encourage the students to communicate with each other using the structures and vocabulary they have learnt, and to improve the four basic language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Typical work activities include:
• teaching English;
• classroom management;
• planning, preparing and delivering lessons to a range of classes and age groups;
• preparing and setting tests, examination papers, and exercises;
• marking and providing appropriate feedback on oral and written work;
• devising, writing and producing new materials, including audio and visual resources;
• organising and getting involved in social and cultural activities such as sports competitions, schools parties, dinners, excursions and pricing events appropriately;
• booking coaches and travel for excursions;
• participating in marketing events for the school;
• freelance teaching on a one-to-one basis;
• running specialist courses for adults or business people, which may require knowledge of scientific, technical or commercial terms;
• basic administration such as keeping student registers and attendance records for starters and leavers.