Научная статья на тему 'Language learners’ needs in esp teaching'

Language learners’ needs in esp teaching Текст научной статьи по специальности «Языкознание и литературоведение»

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Ключевые слова
ESP / GENERAL ENGLISH / NEED / DESIGN COURSE / DEVELOP MATERIALS / EVALUATION

Аннотация научной статьи по языкознанию и литературоведению, автор научной работы — Toshmatova Nazokat Akramovna

In this article has been looked through the problems which are appeared in ESP teaching and learning process. It has been analyzed and recommended some advices about essential skills and their degree for learning foreign languages. This article is going to delineate how to teach an ESP course successfully. For learners and students it is very interesting, useful way.

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Текст научной работы на тему «Language learners’ needs in esp teaching»

ПЕДАГОГИЧЕСКИЕ НАУКИ

LANGUAGE LEARNERS' NEEDS IN ESP TEACHING Toshmatova N.A.

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Toshmatova Nazokat Akramovna - Teacher, DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE TRAINING, FERGANA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, FERGANA, REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN

Abstract: in this article has been looked through the problems which are appeared in ESP teaching and learning process. It has been analyzed and recommended some advices about essential skills and their degree for learning foreign languages. This article is going to delineate how to teach an ESP course successfully. For learners and students it is very interesting, useful way.

Keywords: ESP, general English, need, design course, develop materials, evaluation.

The study of language varieties narrows down the focus of linguistic enquiry, from which both teachers and language learners can benefit. Ideally, by identifying the domain where language is used, e.g.: the home, the workplace, the university, etc., including the social factors mentioned above, teachers will acquire an idea of what to teach and how to teach it. In the case of ESP, it should be kept in mind that Special English, albeit different from the so-called General English in terms of preference of some grammatical structures to others, stylistic characteristics, and field-specific vocabulary, has nevertheless inherited the patterns of word formation, syntactic and discourse organization from the larger system of language. This implies that:

1) the distinction between Special English and General English is not as clear-cut as it seems to be, and

2) the groundwork behind teaching ESP is provided by teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) and as a Foreign Language (TEFL). The first problem one encounters when teaching ESP is not why their students need English. It might help them to become good computer engineers, for instance. (Although passing examinations is often the only objective.) It is more problematic to find out how students will use English in the relevant setting. If the language learners are university students who go to lectures and seminars in English, they will probably have to develop their listening comprehension skills, they will need practice in writing term papers in English, giving oral presentations in English, etc. If the language learners need English for their present or future job, the teacher should be aware of what this job is supposed to be and what it will most probably entail. Needs analysis and the idea of language teaching materials based on linguistic functions, rather than structures, seem to be quite relevant to teaching ESP [1]. However, needs analysis will be more superficial when learners share the same broader field of language usage and use but differ in their specializations. Consider a student specializing in commercial law and a student majoring in international law or two Food Technology students, one specializing in wine and beer production, the other one in the production of bread and baked goods. In both

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cases, teachers of English will probably stick to those areas of language usage and use which will be of help to both students and which characterize the broader field. This means that other areas will certainly be neglected and this is something teachers and learners are to be aware of. A related problem is the degree to which ESP teachers are acquainted with the respective science or occupation. Are they aware of the functions bearing communicative value in specialized discourse? Teachers of English are not expected to be experts in every sphere of knowledge but their students do not always understand this. (This is quite applicable to some societies where teachers are perceived as omniscient figures in accordance with the traditional view that they are the ultimate authority in the classroom.) Similarly, language learners studying Business English, for instance, might expect their teacher to know something about company types and their differences, company management, e-banking, etc. In addition, not all language teachers are acquainted with the linguistic conventions characterizing, let us say, business letters. It turns out that in the ESP classroom it is the language learners who possess the necessary real-world knowledge relevant to the language learning process. It is obvious that English teachers cannot amass all extra-linguistic knowledge they need to design a successful ESP syllabus. The question, which is rather a matter of degree, is evidently unanswerable: What is the minimal knowledge language teachers should have in order to choose content pertinent to the purposes of learning? The question of field-specific extra-linguistic knowledge also applies to language learners studying some subtype of ESP because it is preferable for them to be at least basically acquainted with the profession or science they need the second language for [2].

References

1. Tarone E., Yule G., 1989. Focus on the Language Learner. Approaches to Identifying and Meeting the Needs of Second Language Learners, OUP.

2. Widdowson H., 1983. Learning Purpose and Language Use. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

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