chapter 13 (orientation) ESP

THE ROLE OF THE ESP TEACHER
ESP is seen within the context of language
teaching, therefore, the work of the ESP teacher
is different from the General English teacher’s
• ESP teachers have to analyze the learner’s needs, design syllabus, write or

adapt and evaluate materials.
• The majority of ESP teachers have not been trained as General English ones,
so they need to orientate themselves to a new environment for which they have
not been well-prepared

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orientation
ESP teachers always have to face three problems:
I. The lack of orthodoxy to provide a ready-made guide.
II. The new areas of knowledge
III. The change in the position of ESP teacher

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I. The lack of an orthodoxy
There is no intrinsic merit in an authentic text
because of its principles and definition.
- The term “authentic” is not originally constructed for
language learning purposes.
- A text can be truly authentic in the context which it was
originally written.
- Therefore, in ESP any text is automatically removed

from its original content
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The text is just seen a part of the
teaching and learning process
- The importance of the text is not intrinsic to
the text, but derives from the role of the
text has to play in the teaching/learning
process.
- Different types of text will be required at
different stages of a course, depending on
what the teachers want the text for.
- For examples: to use a target situation text
to make the exercise more realistic, to
motivate the learner by emphasizing the
real world application of the language…
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The teacher will have to orientate
themselves to difficult problems with
little or no guidance
Some useful methods
-Surveys of the history and present state of
ESP
- Formation of groups ESP teachers to gain
more supports and development of ESP
- Establishment other forms of publication, to
exchange information and views about ESP

- Taking part in workshops, seminars, short
courses..,
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In conclusion
• There is no ready-made, straightforward answers to
the ESP teacher’s problems.
• ESP teachers need to collect the answers from the
particular circumstances.
• ESP teachers need to have open mind, curiosity and a
degree skepticism.

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II. NEW FIELD OF KNOWLEDGE IN ESP

1. The content of ESP materials need to be highly
specialized
2. Reasons for the difficulties of teachers to
comprehend ESP subject matter
3. Knowledge requirements of ESP teachers

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1. Why do the content of ESP need to be
highly specialized?
• Learners may be motivated by highly specialized texts

which have validity.
• The text must be handled effectively by the teacher who
may be considered a cook.
=> The teachers’ competence is an essential ingredient in the
teaching-learning process, it is the best if many ESP
teachers are course designers and materials writers.

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2. Why do so many ESP teachers find it difficult to
comprehend ESP subject matter?
• Language is related to Humanities and Society. This means English
teachers are not usually well educated in the Sciences and
Technology.
• ESP teachers does not have a great desire to learn about new
science area of teaching, but economic pressure can force them to
learn and teach
• It must be admitted that little effort has been made to retrain teachers
or at least make them be less afraid of teaching ESP
• ESP teachers are expected to conform to the requirements of the
target situation, but Science and Technology are seen as boring,
complicated, confusing, etc. => It results in a fear of teachers, many
of whom feel alienated by the subject they are expected to teach.
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3. What kind of knowledge is required of
ESP teachers?
•

a positive attitude towards the ESP content
•
A knowledge of the fundamental principles of the subject area
•
An awareness of how much they probably already know
Example: when confronted with a machine, the teacher should not
necessary know how it works, but should be able to ask:
1.
What is the machine used for?
2.
What’s this part called?
3.
Why does/doesn’t it do that?
=> To sum up, it is essential to have a common fund of knowledge
and interest between teachers and learners. Particularly, ESP
teachers must know something about the subject matter of
the ESP materials
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III. CHANGE IN THE STATUS OF ENGLISH TEACHING

•
•

Current status of ESP teaching
Methods to change the status of ESP teaching

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1. What is current status of ESP teaching?
• In ESP, the status of English changes from
being a subject in its own right to a service
industry for other specialisms => In many
cases, this leads to a lowering status for the
teacher or at least a general feeling of
inferiority
• The result of a move to ESP is always to make
the ESP teachers more accountable to others

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2. What should ESP teachers do to
change their status?
• Work in close cooperation with subject
specialists because thanks to the help of
subject specialist, ESP teachers can be learnt
about the learners’ target situation, and
potential problems are anticipated and
avoided.
• Prepare thoroughly language content including
specialized vocabulary and particular
grammatical or structural forms
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2. What should ESP teachers do to
change their status?

• Have strategy for dealing with problems caused by
learners’ demand for subject-specific texts
 Try and establish groupings along broad subject lines such as:
commerce and economics, medical and biological sciences, etc.
 Avoid highly specific materials and give everyone’s specialism some
chance
 Make the lecture interactive and enjoyable, because if people have
fun, they are far less likely to complain or question.

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CONCLUSION
- It is important to balance all factors involved in
teaching-learning process. In this way, the
difficulties that many ESP teachers encounter can be
reduced.
- Hopefully, the ESP teachers will expand and develop
the land of ESP with their knowledge and potential.

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