Introducing Course Design in English for Specific Purposes

Lindy Woodrow

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351389167
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Linguistics
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Introducing Course Design in English for Specific Purposes is an accessible and practical introduction to the theory and practice of developing ESP courses across a range of disciplines. The book covers the development of courses from needs analysis to assessment and evaluation, and also comes with samples of authentic ESP courses provided by leading ESP practitioners from a range of subject and global contexts. Included in this book are:

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• The basics of ESP course design

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• The major current theoretical perspectives on ESP course design

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• Tasks, reflections and glossary to help readers consolidate their understanding

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• Resources for practical ESP course development

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• Examples of authentic ESP courses in areas such as business, aviation and nursing

Introducing Course Design in English for Specific Purposes is essential reading for pre-service and in-service teachers, and students studying ESP and applied linguistics.

Part 1
Essential aspects of English for specific purposes

Chapter 1
Overview of English for specific purposes (ESP)

This chapter aims to provide a foundation in the major issues in English for specific purposes (ESP) which underpin current thinking in ESP curriculum and course design. ESP theorising is informed by teaching and learning contexts, with curriculum and course design at its core. Essentially, ESP courses are focused on the needs of the learners and other stakeholders, such as employers and universities. The focus of an ESP course may be narrow or broad. The chapter presents an overview of the development of ESP and its different branches. This includes English for occupational purposes and English for socio-cultural purposes, both of which are recent areas of ESP. The chapter defines ESP and discusses the classification of ESP.

What is ESP?

ESP may be considered as an approach to course design and teaching that targets groups of learners who have a common goal or purpose in learning English. This may be an educational or occupational focus. The single most defining feature of ESP courses is that they are based on the analysis of learner needs. This important aspect of ESP course design is addressed in Chapter 2.

Dudley-Evans and St. John (1998) refer to the absolute and variable characteristics of ESP. The absolute characteristics of ESP courses are:

1. Designed to meet the needs of the learner.
2. Make use of the methodology and activities of the disciplines it serves.
3. Centred on the language, skills and genres appropriate to these disciplines.

The variable characteristics of ESP courses are:

1. May be related to specific disciplines.
2. May use different methodologies to English for general purposes (EGP).
3. Likely to be designed for adult learners.
4. Generally designed for intermediate or advanced leaners.

ESP is sometimes contrasted with to English for general purposes (EGP). This is somewhat controversial, with Dudley-Evans and St. John (1998) making a rather tongue-in-cheek reference to EGP as EFNOP – English for no obvious purpose. The basic tenet of ESP is that it is based on learner needs; of course, this can also be the case for EGP. However, to highlight the major characteristics of ESP, I have presented the commonly referred to differences between EGP and ESP in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1 Some typical characteristics of ESP and EGP courses

ESP	EGP
Adult learners	Any age learners
Learners have a common goal	Learners have a wide range of goals
Learners have high external motivation	Learners have a range of motivation
Are short term	Are long term
Based on needs analysis	May not bear in mind student needs
Have an academic, professional or workplace focus	Have no specific focus
Have specific content	Have general content
Are based on specific target communication	May include limited exposure to target communicative events
Learners usually have a basic command of English	Learners may be at all levels, including absolute beginners
Focus on specific lexis	A full range of lexis is included
May have a limited focus on grammar	Usually incorporates the full grammatical system. This may be the central organisational strand in the syllabus
A limited range of skills taught – for example, writing and speaking	All four skills are taught with equal focus
ESP courses may be taught with methodologies relevant to the content field	Methodology tends to be similar across courses adopting current thinking in English-language teaching in the region

Generally, ESP courses tend to be for adult learners as they are more likely to have specific needs related to their study or occupation. However, there is a branch of ESP referred to as English for educational purposes, which is EAP for school age students (Cruickshank, 2009). ESP learners tend to have more focused goals than EGP learners. For example, an English for business purposes course focuses on the needs of business professionals in terms of a specific range of knowledge and skills, whereas an EGP course seeks to cover the whole range of grammar and lexis in the language with the goal of general language proficiency. ESP learners may have more externally oriented motivation. For example, an EAP learner may hope to enter an English-speaking university. EGP leaners, on the other hand, may have a range of motives for learning the language. In a school setting where English is mandatory, students may lack motivation. Given that ESP learners may have more focused learning goals and that the courses attempt to achieve these, it is likely for an ESP course to be for a specified period of time, whereas in EGP in schools, students may learn English for the entirety of their school and university education. Typically, an ESP course is based on a needs analysis arising from academic or workplace settings. As far as possible this setting will inform the informational content of the courses provided and will focus on the target communicative situations the learner is likely to encounter. EGP, on the other hand, may not reflect learner needs but be based on content which is selected based on potential interest. EGP courses do not always reflect the target communicative situations the learner will encounter. Because ESP courses are focused on a full range of lexis and grammar, these may not be included in the course, and the course is likely to be of limited duration. EGP, on the other hand, is often long-term, as is the case in school English. Finally, in terms of methodology, ESP courses often employ the dominant methodology from the content field rather than the prevalent view of English-language-teaching methodology. For example, problem-based learning (PBL) is popular in English for medical purposes because this is the dominant methodology in medical studies, while communicative-language-teaching methodology is the chosen approach in many EGP courses.

Of course, these are generalisations and we can find EGP courses with more of the characteristics of ESP, and ESP courses that have more features of EGP.

Reflection 1.1

Characteristics of English courses

What types of English course are you familiar with? Which of the characteristics listed in Table 1.1 do they reflect?

Task 1.1

Examples of English courses

Think about each of the characteristics of ESP and EGP courses listed in Table 1.1. Give an example how each of these may occur in courses you are familiar with. These characteristics are not absolute. Can you think of any situations where the above would not apply?

Classification of ESP

ESP is usually classified into two main branches: English for academic purposes (EAP) and English for occupational purposes (EOP). Within these two main divisions there are many subdivisions and overlaps based on the setting, level of experience and field of ESP.

Figure 1.1 presents a classification of EAP. EAP is primarily classified as English for general academic purposes (EGAP) and English for specific academic purposes (ESAP). In EGAP, the learners may come from a range of specialisations. So, for example, students who will study medicine, mathematics and history at university may be in the same English class. In this case, materials that are of general academic interest are used. The generally held belief of course designers and practitioners of EGAP is that academic English comprises a range of general academic language abilities that can be transferred to a range of different academic situations regardless of the setting or subject area. In ESAP, the learners are from similar backgrounds – for example, business. In this case, materials are directly relevant to the learners’ intended area of study. This notion of specificity is a central theme in ESP and is discussed in detail in later chapters. ESP courses may also be classified by when they occur. For example, EAP courses may be pre-sessional, occurring before the students engage in academic study. These courses are often EGAP. Or they may be exam-oriented to train students in the skills and strategies necessary to achieve university-entry requirements, such as levels in IELTS or TOEFL. Foundation courses are a unique type of EAP course that includes EAP and subject tuition and are usually direct-entry programmes for entrance to a university. In this case, students often need a lower admission English score than for their chosen academic programme. They then complete a foundation course and are guaranteed entry to their academic programme provided they pass the foundation course. A further type of EAP course is the in-sessional course. Such courses are designed to help students while they are studying and are likely to be more specific. Each of these types of course is explored in more detail in Part 2, with examples of courses in Part 3.

Figure 1.1 Classification of English for academic purposes (EAP)

Figure 1.2 illustrates a classification of EOP. As with EAP, specificity also plays an important role in EOP. EOP courses can be general. A general English for medical purposes course could be developed that includes the essential features of medical discourse. There is a wealth of published textbooks available in this area – for example, Glendinning and Howard’s (2007) Professional English in use: Medicine. This makes it possible to design a course without in-depth analysis of the participants’ communicative needs. A course for a group with very specific needs – an example might be English for triage nurses in the accident a...