Научная статья на тему 'COMPULSARY METHODS FOR TEACHING ESP'

COMPULSARY METHODS FOR TEACHING ESP Текст научной статьи по специальности «Языкознание и литературоведение»

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Ключевые слова
ESP / EFL / METHODOLOGY / DESIGNING MATERIALS / EVALUATION / NEEDS

Аннотация научной статьи по языкознанию и литературоведению, автор научной работы — Rasulova Nadira Bakhadyrovna

Language learning does not only involve acquiring grammatical structure but also its function. It is important for engineering students to be able to present their ideas, exchange their opinions or follow technological developments all over the world. Most universities have been offering ESP courses besides the general English lessons to boost their confidence in this field. ESP is a major ELT enterprise in English speaking countries where English for occupational purposes for new migrant and refugee population and English for academic purpose in academic context for non native speaking students are offered. However, the present trend is spreading ESP into non- native English speaking countries where English is taught as either as a second language or as a foreign language.

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Текст научной работы на тему «COMPULSARY METHODS FOR TEACHING ESP»

instructors work as a team. The aim of such program is to enable the learners to enter university directly by making them proficient in English language required for a specific academic program. Furthermore, such courses assist second language (L2) students in acquiring language skills needed for successful work in higher education. Whereas, in nonspeaking English countries such as Middle East countries EAP is a part of academic program, in which students are required to take a compulsory subject like study skill as an intensive program, which is a part of pre- planned syllabus.

References

1. Hamp-Lyons L. (2001). English for Academic Purposes. In R. Carter &D. Nunan (Eds.), The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (pp. 126130).

2. Hutchinson, T. & Waters A. (1987). English for specific purposes: A learning-centered approach. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

COMPULSARY METHODS FOR TEACHING ESP Rasulova N.B.

Rasulova Nadira Bakhadyrovna - Teacher, PRACTICAL ENGLISH DEPARTMENT, PHILOLOGY FACULTY, UZBEK STATE WORLD LANGUAGES UNIVERSITY, TASHKENT, REPUBLIC OF

UZBEKISTAN

Abstract: language learning does not only involve acquiring grammatical structure but also its function. It is important for engineering students to be able to present their ideas, exchange their opinions or follow technological developments all over the world. Most universities have been offering ESP courses besides the general English lessons to boost their confidence in this field. ESP is a major ELT enterprise in English speaking countries where English for occupational purposes for new migrant and refugee population and English for academic purpose in academic context for non native speaking students are offered. However, the present trend is spreading ESP into non- native English speaking countries where English is taught as either as a second language or as a foreign language. Keywords: ESP, EFL, methodology, designing materials, evaluation, needs.

When we talk about specific methodology, we mean all language aspects from reading complex articles to making a presentation. When we chose a method to be used in ESP classroom we should think of our group of learners and adapt one method with our teaching materials. Hutchinson and Waters [2] claimed that there is no specific methodology for ESP. English for Specific or Special purpose (ESP) has become prominent part of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) or ESL (English as a Second Language) teaching since 1960. Nowadays both material writers and teachers realize the importance of need analysis due to the influence of ESP on English language teaching in general. ESP is a broad area consisting of English for business, English for science and technology, English for engineers, English for waiters etc. It is a branch of English Language Teaching (ELT) with its own approaches, materials, and methods which have been developed by adapting from other disciplines and integrating with other disciplines. ESP has been very actively influencing ELT since it is material driven, learner centered and learning centered approach.

ESP did not begin just because of some new theories or ideas in any field. It was mainly because of the necessity of the time which shaped ESP in the present form. The proverb

"Necessity is the mother of invention" is very relevant to the origin of ESP. ESP has been changed since it originated because of the developments in education, business, computer, information technology, global economy, applied linguistics and ELT. There were many events which paved the way for ESP. According to Hutchinson and Waters [2] the demands of a brave world, a revolution in linguistics and focus on the learner were the three common reasons for the birth of ESP. They further argued that Second World War and the Oil Crisis of 1970 were the two historical events that were responsible for the origin of the ESP. Firstly; the Second World War changed the world politics drastically, the immediate result of which was the emergence of the US as the world super power, the expansion of science and technology, growth of global economy and becoming English as the international language for communication. Secondly, because of the Oil Crisis of 1970, western money and new knowledge flowed into the oil rich countries. Naturally, English was the language of this knowledge. As a result, there was a pressure on ELT to modify its approaches, methods and materials according to the needs of the learners and clients. Hutchinson and Waters aptly said, "English now became subject to the wishes, needs and demands of people other than language teachers" [2, p. 7]. Around this time, changes took place in linguistic in general and in ELT in particular. For instance, traditional linguistics viewed language as an object to be described and segmented into discrete elements like phonemes, morphemes and words while the revolutions in linguistics forced linguistics to view language as means of communication used in the context. Consequently, language has been viewed that it varies depending on the context, participants and purposes. In addition, there was a shift from teaching method and the teacher to the learning and the learner due to the popularity of Communicative Language Teaching. Learners use different learning strategies as they are different and their needs are divergent. In fact, all this lead to the importance of considering learners' varied needs in learning context. Focusing on learner and learning resulted in adapting the language instruction according to their needs and designing a course that suitable to the specific needs of the learners.

ESP contrast with the rather mischievous acronym LENOR (Learning English for No Obvious Reason); it implies that we are going to take the client's needs and goals more seriously when planning the course, and rather than teach "general English", we are going to tailor everything to his or her character and particular requirements [3, p. 13]. According to Strevens [3] ESP is designed to meet learners" specific needs by choosing content from particular disciplines and using activities, syntax, lexis and discourse suitable to these activities, and he added that ESP may not use any pre-planned instructional methodology. Dudley- Evans and St. John (1998) revised Strevens definition and accepted most of his claims [1]. Unlike General English, ESP has to blend both interpersonal communication skills and academic communication skills effectively and naturally. It is the challenge of the ESP practitioner to integrate all these skills effectively in the ESP course naturally by balancing and blending structures, lexical and discourse into the course.

References

1. 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 (pp. 131136).

2. Hutchinson T. & Waters A. (1987). English for specific purposes: A learning-centered approach. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

3. Strevens P. (1988). ESP after twenty years: a reappraisal. In M. Tickoo (Ed.), ESP: state of the art. (pp. 1-13). Singapore: SEAMEO Regional Language Centre.

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