Challenges of teaching ESP
Challenges and Suggestions for Teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP)
Date of Submission: 29/12/2013 This paper aims to identify the challenges of teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and offers some suggestions to encounter them. First, the paper provides the definition of ESP, its characteristics, types and developments. Then, it describes six main challenges facing the ESP practitioner which are insufficient knowledge, lack of proper needs analysis conduction, course designing, lack of students’ motivation, discrepancies of levels and insufficient time allotted for the course; some suggestions are proposed at the end of discussing each challenge. Finally, it provides two recommendations for an ESP course. The term “practitioner” is going to be used instead of “teacher” as the ESP practitioner is not only a teacher, but also a collaborator, course designer, material provider, researcher and evaluator as mentioned by Tony Dudley-Evans (1998).The target learners in this paper are first year students in the Faculty of Engineering at The Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT). Tom Hutchinson and Alan Waters (1987) define ESP as “an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learner’s reason for learning”. ESP is English taught to English as a Foreign Language (EFL) or English as a Second Language (ESL) learners in order to communicate using the language in their particular field and that is why all the decisions made in ESP courses depend on the needs of the learners; the courses rely on when, why and where the learners need the language. Helen Basturkmen mentions that “the learners can easily become motivated by language course content that does not appear directly relevant to their real world objectives”. Thus, language is taught as a means and not as an end. Tony Dudley-Evans and Maggie Jo
Date of Submission: 29/12/2013 This paper aims to identify the challenges of teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and offers some suggestions to encounter them. First, the paper provides the definition of ESP, its characteristics, types and developments. Then, it describes six main challenges facing the ESP practitioner which are insufficient knowledge, lack of proper needs analysis conduction, course designing, lack of students’ motivation, discrepancies of levels and insufficient time allotted for the course; some suggestions are proposed at the end of discussing each challenge. Finally, it provides two recommendations for an ESP course. The term “practitioner” is going to be used instead of “teacher” as the ESP practitioner is not only a teacher, but also a collaborator, course designer, material provider, researcher and evaluator as mentioned by Tony Dudley-Evans (1998).The target learners in this paper are first year students in the Faculty of Engineering at The Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT). Tom Hutchinson and Alan Waters (1987) define ESP as “an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learner’s reason for learning”. ESP is English taught to English as a Foreign Language (EFL) or English as a Second Language (ESL) learners in order to communicate using the language in their particular field and that is why all the decisions made in ESP courses depend on the needs of the learners; the courses rely on when, why and where the learners need the language. Helen Basturkmen mentions that “the learners can easily become motivated by language course content that does not appear directly relevant to their real world objectives”. Thus, language is taught as a means and not as an end. Tony Dudley-Evans and Maggie Jo
References: Basturkmen, H.(2010). Developing Courses in English for Specific Purposes. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan Dudley-Evans, T.& John, M.(1998).Developments in English for Specific Purposes: A Multi-Disciplinary Approach University Press Hutchinson, T.& Waters, A.(1987) Saliu, B. (2013). Challenges for Learners/ Teachers in the ESP Course for Legal studies Tyagi, S. & Kannan, R. (2013). Implementing Project Based Learning in Teaching English to Engineering Students