WHAT IS ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES?

REBECA SMOAK
INTRODUCTION

WHAT IS ESP?

The
concept
of
ESP
changes List of words: ESP is not simply
depending on which article we have
teaching
technical
vocabulary.
just read, whose lecture we have just
Students already know the technical
heard, or what kind of ESP class we
terms of their field of study, because
have been asked to teach.
they have learned them along with
their
native
English-speaking
John M. Swales
classmates
from
their
content
Professors
First thing, the way we view the field
of ESP today is far different than the Authentic material, authentic
way we viewed it in the 1960s.
language: Reading or writing about
a profession is not the same as
In the 1960s ESP practitioners
reading or writing texts actually
believed their main job was to
used in that profession. These
teach the technical vocabulary of a
students were writing lab reports
given field or profession.
and completing patient charts. In
Later, teachers of ESP began to
their medical classes, they were
recognize
the
importance
of
listening
to
lectures
and
subtechnical vocabulary.
participating in discussions. At the
At the same time, the movement in
hospital, they were participating in
ESOL towards learner centered
rounds and talking to patients,
teaching was reflected in ESP by
orderlies, nurses, and doctors. They
the focus on learner needs and
did not need to learn how to write
needs analysis as the underpinning
friendly letters in English to their
of course design.
relatives because they were not
Later, discourse and genre analysis
planning to write such letters.
and linguistic corpora began to
inform the field.
Authentic language may not be
Second thing, new ESP teachers seem
to have to go through the same
stages of development personally that
the field has gone through since the
1960s:
Beginning with an urge to teach

what you assume it to be, so dont

trust your intuition or the intuition of
the ESP textbook writer. Analyze and
teach the language in use in the
particular situation relevant to your
students.
Needs analysis: Needs analysis is

general English with technical

vocabulary.
Moving to an awareness of the
importance
of
sub-technical
vocabulary and needs analysis.
Emerging eventually to recognition
of the need to use discourse
analysis and linguistic corpora.

good, but it should never be

unilateral.
Simply
asking
the
professors or supervisors what kind
of
English
their
students
or
employees need probably wont
result in a very accurate picture of
students actual needs.
Discourse
communities
and
corporate culture: Dont trust your
intuition, so dont assume that a
discourse situation in your field is
the same as in others.
Dont assume that what you learned
10 or 15 years ago is still the
prevailing or accepted practice.