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31International scientific-practical conference on the topic of "Problems and perspectives of modern technology in teaching foreign languages"
TEACHING ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES AND ITS TYPES
d https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7353249
Yunusova Zilola
Senior lecturer of the department of foreign languages Journalism and Mass Communication University of Uzbekistan
ABSTRACT
English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has been a current trend in language teaching for years. The ESP principles take part in the process of designing a syllabus or developing a teaching material for a particular course or study. 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. A needs analysis, which is a part of ESP's principles, is applied in order to find the needs of the course's participants. This paper comprises three parts; the nature of ESP, the needs analysis in ESP, and ESP in EFL context.
Keywords: English Language Teaching, English for Specific Purposes
Teaching language for specific purposes (LSP) can be traced as far back as the Greek and Roman empires. In the same vein, Strevens states that the history of LSP goes back to "at least half a century". Regarding English for Specific Purposes (ESP), it emerged at the end of Second World War and it "was not a planned and coherent movement, but rather a phenomenon that grew out of a number of converging trends". ESP have functioned and operated in diverse ways around the world, "but we can identify three main reasons common to the emergence of all ESP.": the demands of a brave new world, a revolution in linguistics and a new focus on the learner.
Some linguists, being aware of the world changes, began to focus their studies on the ways in which language is used in real situations. Traditional approach in language study centered the attention on the grammatical rules governing the language usage. However, it was found that discourses vary according to contexts. Then, it was necessary to reorganize the teaching and learning methodologies according to the language specificities of each situation. The English needed by engineers, doctors, linguists or officers "could be identified by analyzing the linguistic characteristics of their specialist area of work or study". "Tell me what you need English for and I will tell you the English that you need became the guiding
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International scientific-practical conference on the topic of "Problems and perspectives of modern technology in teaching foreign languages"
principle of ESP".
In the same period learners motivation towards acquiring a foreign language was the subject study of the educational psychologists, who noticed the use of different learning strategies by learners; they have different attitudes, needs and interests. The idea was based on the statement of tell me what you need English for and I will tell you the English you need. It was a natural expansion of this philosophy to plan special courses for each range of specific learners. Strevens notes: "...the existence of a major "tide" in the educational thought, in all counties and affecting all subjects. The movement referred to is the global trend towards "learner-centered education". Like the world, language study and concepts of education fundamentally changed, the English language teaching changed with it, and knew the birth of teaching English for Specific Purposes which is considered as the direct result of the world evolution. "ESP is not a monolithic universal phenomenon"; it has developed at different speeds in different countries. The approaches that we shall describe can be found operating somewhere in the world at the present time. This concept departed from the principle that English of a specific science differs from each other in terms of its grammatical and lexical features of the registers. Register analyses in ESP was tailored for the pedagogic purpose, i.e. making the ESP course more relevant to learners" needs, not intended for the purpose to discuss the nature of registers of English per se. The main purpose of an ESP course was to produce a syllabus which gave a high priority to the language forms students would meet in their field and in turn would give low priority to forms they would not meet. Register analysis revealed that there was very little that was distinctive in the sentence grammar of scientific English beyond a tendency to favor particular forms such as the present simple tense, the passive voice and nominal compound. The aim of target situation analysis is to take the existing knowledge and set it on a more scientific basis, by establishing procedures for relating language analysis more closely to learners' reasons for learning. There is a purpose of ESP course that support this phase, the purpose is to enable learners to function in situations which the learners will use the language they are learning, then the ESP course design process should proceed by first identifying the target situation and then carrying out the right analysis of the linguistic parts of that situation. It will form the syllabus of the ESP course. This process known as "needs analysis". What had been done previously in piecemeal way become something's systematized and learner needs was apparently placed at the center of the course design process.
International scientific-practical conference on the topic of "Problems and perspectives of modern technology in teaching foreign languages"
ISSN 2181-1784 SJIF 2022: 5.947 | ASI Factor = 1.7
Previously, in the origins of ESP, we knew that there were three forces that had role in ESP and became its characteristics , they were needs, new ideas about language and new ideas about learning. We use all the approaches so far based on the descriptions of language use and the concern in each case is with describing what people do with language, but the concern is not actually on the language use only, our concern should with language learning too because a truly valid approach to ESP must be based on an understanding of the processes of language learning. With this statement, it brings us to this fifth stage of ESP development. The importance and the implications of the distinction that we have made between language use and language learning will hopefully become clear for us to understand each of the stages of ESP development. David Carter identifies three types of ESP:
□ English as a restricted language
□ English for Academic and Occupational Purposes
□ English with specific topics.
The language used by air traffic controllers or by waiters are examples of English as a restricted language. Mackay and Mount ford clearly illustrate the difference between restricted language and language with this statement: ... the language of international air-traffic control could be regarded as 'special', in the sense that the repertoire required by the controller is strictly limited and can be accurately determined situationally, as might be the linguistic needs of a dining-room waiter or air-hostess. However, such restricted repertoires are not languages, just as a tourist phrase book is not grammar. Knowing a restricted 'language' would not allow the speaker to communicate effectively in novel situation, or in contexts outside the vocational environment. The second type of ESP identified by Carter is English for Academic and Occupational Purposes. In the 'Tree of ELT', ESP is broken down into three branches: a) English for Science and Technology (EST), b) English for Business and Economics (EBE), and c) English for Social Studies (ESS). Each of these subject areas is further divided into two branches: English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Occupational Purposes (EOP). An example of EOP for the EST branch is 'English for Technicians' whereas an example of EAP for the EST branch is 'English for Medical Studies'.
Hutchinson and Waters do note that there is not a clear-cut distinction between EAP and EOP: "people can work and study simultaneously; it is also likely that in many cases the language learnt for immediate use in a study environment will be used later when the student takes up, or returns to, a job". Perhaps this explains
International scientific-practical conference on the topic of "Problems and perspectives of modern technology in teaching foreign languages"
Carter's rationale for categorizing EAP and EOP under the same type of ESP. It appears that Carter is implying that the end purpose of both EAP and EOP are one in the same: employment. However, despite the end purpose being identical, the means taken to achieve the end is very different indeed. The third and final type of ESP identified by Carter is English with specific topics. Carter notes that it is only here where emphasis shifts from purpose to topic. This type of ESP is uniquely concerned with anticipated future English needs of, for example, scientists requiring English for postgraduate reading studies, attending conferences or working in foreign institutions. However, that this is not a separate type of ESP. Rather it is an integral component of ESP courses or programs which focus on situational language. This situational language has been determined based on the interpretation of results from needs analysis of authentic language used in target workplace settings.
REFERENCES
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