What is ESP and why is it important?

Discuss About The Difficulties In Teaching English For Specific Purposes.

ESP came to be, due to the progressing of the world’s economy and a surge in the numbers of students that are studying in English speaking countries. The global business community realized the importance of learning English for not only passing on knowledge and communication but also as a platform for international communication (Stan, 2014). In the last two decades, ESP has grown rapidly. ESP growth has been characterized by the increased number of studies carried out outside the United States and the United Kingdom, in places like Central and South America, China and Hong Kong indicates that ESP has been globally accepted as an academic discipline. According to Kumar (2016), Increase in research has contributed to the exponential and gradual growth in ESP.

According to Chen (2016), ESP is characterized by meeting the specific needs of the learner, making use of latent approach and activities of the specialty that it serves, focusing on the language appropriate to these activities in terms of grammar, lexis, register, study skills, discourse, and genre. ESP focusses on needs of the student whereby, they are told how and what they will be learning, they are persuaded to be responsible for their studies, they are encouraged to work with each other, they are taught content that is relevant and useful in real life and also how to use critical thinking in their studies (Kumar, 2016).

ESP is intended to be used by students at a higher learning institution or people in a given profession. It can also be used by learners in secondary school level. Many ESP courses take it that the learner has some fundamental comprehension of the language system. The learner’s grasp of ESP heavily depends on the skills and efficiency in which the teacher delivers the lessons and also a precise understanding of the learner’s needs. For a teacher to be successful in delivering ESP to learners, it is important to understand the various ways in which professionals communicate and how language is involved (Jendrych, 2013). The teacher is in charge of selecting learning materials for the ESP class, which involves finding a suitable course book or and also materials that will aid in the teaching a specific group. New materials should be used only when there are no existing materials at hand. The teacher should be very willing to cooperate with other subject teachers in the academic field of professionals in that given field, by incorporating the subject course into the ESP classwork. Cooperation of the ESP teacher with the subject teacher is crucial in preparing materials to be used in an ESP class, with the subject teacher providing text recordings for utilization and also assisting learners with academic activities required of them. At the end of the course, the teacher evaluates the learner’s grasp of the coursework, and also the learner’s probability of studying in English since it is the language used by most international institutions of higher learning in countries like England, USA, Australia and New Zealand. Evaluation should be done during and at the end of the course, and it is important for the teacher to ask whether the coursework has actually helped the learner in the course of a profession of their choice after undertaking the ESP course.

Characteristics of ESP

Bhatia (2003), states that factors that strengthen teaching are focusing on the learner, purpose of learning culture and individual expectations. Learners in ESP classes have three major expectations; cultural, personal, and finally academic and occupational expectations (Bracaj, 2014). Cultural and personal expectations go hand in hand with the learner’s background and his objectives being a student. Academic and professional expectations are the ones that matter most being the main reasons learners undertake ESP courses. According to Gollin-Kies, Hall & Moore (2015), the needs can be for immediate or future purpose.  Both academic and professional fields require the learner to have a good grasp in ESP, and they become the basis of deriving two types of ESP; English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) and English for Academic Purpose (EAP).  EOP can be divided into three categories; English for Science and Technology, English for Business and Economics and English for Social Studies (Javid, 2013). These types of ESP emerged due to the demands of what the world became after World War II, transformation in linguistics and also the concentration on the needs of the student. ESP had to be chiseled by the teacher in order to fit the student’s needs (Jendrych, 2013).

Learners undertake EOP in the case whereby they need to use English for the purpose of working in a given profession. There is a difference in the content of English lessons for a learner who intends to start a profession and one who is already involved in the profession. EAP is usually taught in academic institutions to students to whom English is a requirement in their course. It involves taking notes, listening to teachers, reading available materials and report writing (Bracaj, 2014). ESP teachers require thorough training in order to meet the needs and expectations of learners. Not just any teacher can be selected to teach ESP, only those who truly feel that they can and are very willing to so. The teacher should always continue to improve their personal education as they teach or while training. They should be conversant with the basics required of any teacher irrespective of the subjects that they teach. This will enable the teacher to cater to the needs of learners no matter the level of their (learners) skills. Special training of teachers is crucial to understanding the learner’s needs well (Bracaj, 2014).

Many higher learning institutions in England offer ESP courses to international students who speak English as their second language. Some of the top ten Universities in the world are found in England, and this is why some students from all over the world prefer to study their higher education at English universities. English is widely spoken in England. One of the major problems that the international students who don’t use English as their native language face are conversing in English since it is the official language in England and the medium language for studying most courses. Most teachers in countries that are native English speakers experience similar challenges in delivering ESL lessons to international students. Several universities like the University of Glasgow, University of Liverpool and the University of Kent just to name a few, in the United Kingdom offer ESP courses to international students. 

Teaching ESP

ESP teachers in England’s higher learning institutions already have a problem teaching English as a Second Language before even teaching English for Academic purpose in countries where English is widely spoken. Some universities experience proportional problems in outlining and executing ESP courses because ESP is a course undertaken by adults and one has to persuade students about the benefits accruing to it. It is not easy to find and prepare appropriate materials for ESP classes. ESP materials should confer real language, should increase exposure to the language, should be well-founded and reliable, should be demanding, should offer new knowledge and also consider details that can be needed outside the learning environment (Sierocka, 2014). Problems that arise due to materials are; inadequate time, inadequate cash to capitalize getting more teachers to help in learning, challenges in getting subject-specific information of the given target community, staff from subject departments not collaborating, deficiency in morale, exposure, creativity and innovativeness and finally lack of dependability with learners. Another challenge in teaching ESP is the lack of motivation in students. This is mainly because the students spend less time in studying English than when studying for their specific subjects and they do not imagine English playing a crucial part in a given academic field. Students view learning English as a hindrance to excelling in their specific subjects. This makes it hard for the teacher to deliver ESP lessons to students with low motivation and interest.  Lack of student motivation may be caused by; age, whereby some students may be too old to concentrate, problems in concentrating, long lesson hours, health complications and a shortage of materials (Dislen, 2013). A large number of students lack the motivation to learn English despite the fact that they will know that they will need English very much after graduation when they start working. They assume that they will learn English after graduating, just to comfort themselves into avoiding English lessons. 

 A teacher’s competence in delivering ESP lessons depends on whether they are well qualified. They (teachers) must have strong academic backgrounds, or else they have to train themselves and also the student, which will adversely affect the students personally. To curb incompetence, the teacher should go to workshops and conferences and also interact with more experienced teachers in the field. They should also keep themselves updated in study skills that will help the student. A competent teacher is able to give a comprehensive definition of his subject, able to make use of existing learning materials and to schedule classes, able to motivate students and also have interest to venture further into his profession.

Different types of ESP courses

In Vietnam, English is not widely spoken. This makes it difficult for native students in various universities in Vietnam to excel in courses that require English as a medium of learning. It is even harder for International students who do not speak English as their first language. A good grasp of English is an important requirement for a country like Vietnam, which is still developing so that it can intermingle with the outside world (Ha, 2018). The levels of English in students in Vietnamese universities are not equal. Some students have learned English for long periods, some for short period and some have not undertaken any English lesson in their lives. This puts the teachers in a difficult position while scheduling and also teaching ESP. Students who are conversant and excellent in English can, therefore, ask for exclusion from the lessons. Teachers have to assess and establish English levels for students depending on their own methodology.

Vietnamese universities are having programs linked to foreign testing organizations in order to implement standards for their students. Students in the universities mostly concentrate on grammar, sentence construction and reading without listening or speaking English. This becomes a problem to the teacher once he reaches a point during the course where the student is required to put into practice what he has learned (Ha, 2018). Time is also a factor that contributes to challenges facing ESP teachers in the universities since the maximum time for students to learn English is three hundred and ninety lessons, which is clearly not enough for students to practice the four skills a student needs,  which are; writing, speaking, reading and speaking. Teachers of ESL have clearly stated that  ESP studies put in place at the universities do not concentrate on output, and they only take into consideration the content to be taught, time and curriculum. Collaboration between the ESP teacher and the subject teacher is needed for proper development of ESP course studies. A challenge experienced in collaboration is where the subject lecturer cannot pronounce well and correctly like the ESP teacher. This makes it difficult for the ESP teacher to relate and communicate well with the subject lecturer for the benefit of understanding better the subject in question so as to enable him (ESP teacher) to deliver the relevant content to ESP students. Policy makers in the education sector in Vietnam have advocated for ESP teacher to be Native English speaker in order to make it easier to administer ESP studies (Ha, 2018).

Challenges in Teaching ESP

In Vietnam, ESP is giving rise to substantial interest and demand for quality teaching and studying by use of English instruction. Despite this, ESP teachers have noted that there is little attachment between course books and the students’ needs (Nguyen & Nguyen, 2017). ESP plays a major role in Vietnam’s national and international business. For example, the country’s import and export business and also customs services are swiftly expanding and this calls for high levels communication in English because the workforce is constantly keeping in contact and interacting with clients from all over the world. There is a concern that ESP courses are not satisfying the demands of such places of work. ESP courses address the local Vietnam work environment more than the larger global work environment. After Vietnam became a member of World Trade Organization in 2007, its global interactions in business quickly increased. This required the various employees involved to undertake English for Business Purposes in order to do business with foreigners. A challenge occurring here is that the local workforce is only exposed to the practical terminology of the given field and there is a limited access common day to day situations. Repeated exposure to the practical terminology does not equal to proficiency in specific English language for a field or profession.  This calls for ESP lessons to be given to them in order to increase their competence and efficiency in the field (Nguyen, 2017). English Language Education in Vietnam has gone through significant changes over a long period. English used to be taught during the American and Vietnamese war. After the war ended, English was banned from Vietnam’s education system (Nguyen, 2016). After economic reforms in 1996, the connection between America and Vietnam was re-established. Vietnam has seen an increase in tourism and business since then and this has requested for the emerging of English as the language of choice between the locals and tourists. In university education, English has become compulsory and ESP students have to undertake a minimum of 150 hours of ESP classes. To attain skills needed to excel in the multinational workforce, the local employees attend ESP courses both in Vietnamese universities and also abroad, preferably in English speaking countries.

 Higher learning institutions in Vietnam have now embraced education programs to provide learners with skills required to survive in any job environment in the world (Le, 2014). In places of work, be it business, medicine or agriculture, communication will rapidly challenge the worker’s competence in English. A problem occurring in teaching ESP is that material chosen by the teacher, especially course books are chosen depending on whether the title corresponds to the learner subject of interest (Sarré & Whyte, 2017). No interest has been taken whatsoever to investigate whether the content of these materials corresponds to the learner’s needs. This suggests that there is a shortage of genuine, easily available and relevant materials that will enhance the learner’s motivation and willingness while undertaking studies (Le, 2014).  Due to this shortage of materials, ESL teachers design the learning materials themselves or opt to use materials that are published and readily available in the market. Another challenge experienced by ESL teachers using published material is that can be used by many specific subjects. This makes teachers feel undecided while teaching ESP (Nguyen, 2016). This means that the teachers cannot teach ESP since they do not completely comprehend terminologies of specialized learning material. This also translates into a problem for the learner too. Teachers experience problems while preparing learners for exams since the content is directly taken from the published materials which now define the students learning habits. Also, most learning materials are prepared to enhance skills in reading, writing, listening and translating but the teacher may think that just terminology is enough. Students end up forgetting most of the terminology after the exams (Khanh, 2015).

 
ESP teachers experience confusion in the beginning or during the course concerning the objectives of ESP; on whether they should teach specialist knowledge or skills. It can mark the teacher as to being inefficient . This problem is caused by the teachers focusing on terminologies that are popular. This causes a variation in language and subject learning. It will indirectly affect the teacher’s motivation and willingness to teach ESP. A problem in teaching ESP in Vietnamese universities is excess workloads on the teachers. This is especially common with new and relatively inexperienced teachers and they find it hard to find their way in the vast requirements of teaching ESP. This indirectly affects the students since they will study and learn depending on how the teacher guides them. The reason why teachers in Vietnam have huge workloads is that ESP is seen as just a part of English subject curriculum and so the teachers are also put in charge of other courses in English. This leaves them fatigued and unable to concentrate on ESP alone. The teacher needs to completely understand the content to be used in teaching otherwise it might lead to misleading the students. Some teachers fail to verify the correctness of facts and therefore ends up teaching the wrong content to students (Khanh, 2015).

ESP teachers in Vietnam lack special skills since they are not allowed to do refresher courses relating to ways and methods of teaching ESP while they are still teaching students. There is so much to be done in ESP lessons in a short time frame. This means that the teacher may skip some activity and content in order to save time and go through all of the coursework. (Essays, UK 2013).

A shortage of theoretical framework to assist in teaching ESP is another problem facing ESP teachers. A scarcity of teaching material also greatly affects teachers (Ngan, 2011). Quality of ESP teaching materials is not high since they are developed by teachers with no specialized knowledge (Pham & Ta, 2018). ESP course material that at a very high level compared to the student’s capabilities discourages the student and makes them bored (Ngo & Hendricks, 2018). Due to this, students cannot extend their knowledge due to limited information in the learning materials.

The teaching of ESP is negatively affected by large numbers of students in a single ESP class. This impacts the teacher’s teaching efficiency since the different student has different needs and he cannot cater for all of them since it will be exhausting. As a result, some students might find the course being easy and others might find it is hard (Hoa & Mai, 2016). As a result, some discontented students end up lacking motivation. This is hard for the teacher. The effectiveness of teaching ESP is lowered due to mainly focusing on passing exams rather than understanding the course itself (Phuong, 2016).

Conclusion

Some challenges experienced while teaching ESP in both England and Vietnam are similar , such as inefficiency of the teacher, shortage of learning material and content, short time span within which much course material should be covered, background and also needs of the student, lack of collaboration between the ESP teacher and also the subject teacher. These challenges can be tackled by providing adequate and relevant course materials, employing ESP teachers who are native English speakers, effective collaboration between ESP teacher and the subject teacher, taking into account the most important content while scheduling for the coursework and also establishing sessions to know the specific needs of a student depending on his background. Also, ESP teachers should be thoroughly trained in order to improve efficiency in teaching.

References

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