ESP refers to teaching English for specific purposes like business or academic fields. It focuses on the needs of learners by selecting appropriate content and teaching approaches. ESP covers a wide range of topics but is defined by its aims being more focused than general English courses. There are two main branches - English for Occupational Purposes and English for Academic Purposes. Needs analysis plays an important role in ESP to determine what language skills and content are needed. Authentic materials from relevant fields can be adapted for ESP learners. Evaluation from both learners and teachers is important for improving ESP materials.

1. MATERIAL
FOR
SPECIFIC
PURPOSES
By :
Edi Julianto
Agus Eko
Susanto
Yusvanto
Chapter
18
Roger Barnard
and Dorothy
Zemach

2. Short story of ESP
• Relatively long history there is some disagreement about the exact
meaning of the term
• attempts by those directly involved in ESP to claim a separate, and by
implication, superior position in the world of EFL/ESL
• these claims are mistaken, according to the writers

3. Did you know?
• ESP covers an enormous range of content areas such as business,
medicine, the law, engineering, history and art and design; in fact,
any area of contemporary academic or professional life in which English
is needed.
• ESP is not an approach, a method or a technique (although simulation
and role-play activities are often identified with business ESP courses).
The only feature common to all types of ESP course is the selection of
the content and teaching approach according to the perceived needs of
the learners. Consequently, needs analysis generally plays a more pivotal
role in ESP than in EGP (English for General Purposes).

4. Definition
• English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is an umbrella term that refers to
the teaching of English to students who are learning the language for
a particular work or study-related reason

5. ESP Areas?
• English for Occupational Purposes (EOP), concerned with enabling a
learner to function in English in a particular job or profession.
• English for Academic Purposes (EAP), which provides learners with
the appropriate language skills for pursuing a tertiary-level course
taught in English, and/or presenting, researching, and publishing in
academic settings

6. ESP or EGP
• the dividing line between ESP and EGP is not always clear.
Example:
a course designed for a Korean businessperson who is to assume a post
abroad in the near future? If the learner’s proficiency level is very low.
ESP should not be regarded as a discrete division of ELT, but simply an
area (with blurred boundaries) whose courses are usually more
focused in their aims and make use of a narrower range of topics

7. ESP or EGP
• McDonough and Shaw (1993) that both ESP and EGP courses are
expected to pay detailed attention to learner needs and expectations,
and to respond to them as efficiently and effectively as possible

8. two possible branches of the EGP–ESP
continuum

9. A brief history of ESP
After World War II, the world came to be dominated by two forces:
technology and commerce. For various reasons, most noticeably the
power and influence of the United States, the primary language for
both fields became English

10. A brief History of ESP
Until the 1960s, there had been no concerted effort to design language
courses for specific learning objectives; however, in the post-war years,
international exchanges in technology and commerce became
increasingly important, with English as the lingua franca. Partly due
to corporate and governmental pressure, and partly to the wishes of
learners who were learning the language for professional or academic
purposes, it became clear in the 1960s that there was a need for English
courses that were designed to satisfy real-world demands as efficiently as
possible.

11. A brief History of ESP
Accelerated in the 1970s by the considerable investment in English
language programs in the oil-producing countries. Some saw English as a
neutral empowering medium (Strevens, 1977), while to others it was (and
still is) an agent of international capitalism and ‘linguistic imperialism’
(Phillipson, 1992; Pennycook, 1994).

12. five main currents in ESP which have
influenced developments in the field
1. Register analysis,
The first important ESP materials in the 1960s and early 1970s were based on the findings of
register analysis, in which the grammatical and lexical features of a topic area were analyzed and
organized with the aim of making the contents of the course more relevant to learners’ needs.
However, register analysis proved to have limited usefulness as far as ESP syllabus design was
concerned
2. Discourse and rhetorical analysis
In the 1970s, attention shifted to understanding how different social contexts influenced the way
discourse above the sentence level was used for communication. This included not only grammar and
lexis, but levels of formality and management of information, and led to the development of
‘functional’ syllabuses based on functions

13. 3. Needs analysis
The process of collecting, collating and interpreting data on the learner’s likely
use of the target language has been an indispensable feature of ESP from the
beginning, and Munby’s highly detailed model (1978) represented the
culmination of the ‘target situation analysis’ approach.
4. The skills-centred approach
Skills-centered courses explored the thinking processes that underlie language
use, and developments in this area were most noticeable in EAP

14. 5. The learning-centred approach
As presented by Hutchinson and Waters (1987), this approach paid greater
attention to the affective factors of language learning, and attempted to
address learner needs at all stages of course design

15. Present-day ESP
ESP
Business
EAP
English needed to
complete academic
courses
English used in
academic
communities
Writing essays, participating
in graduate seminars
Reading and writing for journals,
giving presentation at
conferences

17. Present-day ESP
English needed to
complete academic
courses
Helping learners learn language and strategies for taking test
Grammar and vocabulary different in context of test items
Give attention to learners’ cultural background
Find out what is expected of students

18. The Materials Writer
 an acceptable linguistic knowledge of the target language
 general teaching experience
 teaching experience in the relevant specialism
 some degree of knowledge of the relevant specialism
 an interest in the relevant specialism
 familiarity with learning materials available for the specialism
 experience of writing general English materials
 an interest in the learning/teaching process
 the ability to work with others
 the ability to assess the clarity and effectiveness of materials and respond
appropriately

19. Types of Materials
The following are the main types:
Published course materials:
 General business, e.g., Business Venture (OUP)
 Specialized business, e.g., English for International Banking and Finance (CUP)
 Professional English, e.g., Oxford English for Electrical and Mechanical Engineering
(OUP)
 Vocational courses, e.g., Travel File (Longman)
 Academic English skills, e.g., Academic Writing for Graduate Students (University
of Michigan Press)
 Content-based or theme-based academic English courses, e.g., Northstar (Longman)

20. First Steps in Preparing ESP Materials
 Bear in mind the backgrounds of the teachers who will use the materials.
 There should be a course syllabus which will indicate what kind and what
amount of materials are needed.
 Allow for personal preference and modification on the part of the teacher.
 Ideally, the course syllabus and class materials will be designed not only by a
group of teachers who are conversant with the latest developments in ELT
and ESP, but who share a similar approach to teaching, who can cooperate on
collating and responding to feedback and who are supported by a sympa-thetic
management.
 Consider designing guides and templates to aid less experienced teachers to
develop materials.
 Remember that syllabuses and materials have a limited lifespan.
 Encourage ongoing research into analysis of relevant source texts (written
and spoken), and related textbooks.

21. A Recommended Sequence for Preparing Materials
 Determine the needs and preferences of the students and institution/cor-
poration through questionnaires and/or interviews.
 Decide what sort of language contexts the course will focus on (e.g., lectures,
business meetings).
 Decide on the categories for presenting the language in the course (e.g.,
grammar, function, lexis, situation, topic, communicative skill).
 Decide what language skills and sub-skills the course will focus on (e.g., lis-
tening, speaking, reading, writing), taking into account learners’ and com-
pany’s objectives.
 Design the syllabus; will it be cumulative, or will each unit/lesson be inde-
pendent?
 Decide the types of activities that will be used in the course (e.g., individual,
pair, group, whole class).

22.  Decide on the page layout of worksheets; prepare templates.
 Prepare the materials.
 Pilot the materials; collect and collate feedback through questionnaires and
interviews.
 Revise the materials.
 Use the materials.
 Get feedback from students, teachers and sponsors during and after the
 Revise the materials if necessary.
 Periodically review the course.
A Recommended Sequence for Preparing Materials

23. Example Materials for Specific Purpose
the use of authentic material adapted to provide challenging, motivating practice for high-beginner
learners

24. Example Materials for Specific Purpose
- gives another pair work activity, based on material taken from the Internet.

25. Example Materials for Specific Purpose
a workbook reading and writing exercise designed to be completed outside class after related classroom work, and
shows that material designed for receptive use away from the pressure of the classroom can feature a higher level of
language.

26. EVALUATION
• There are two kinds of evaluation, each of equal importance:
1. evaluation by the learners, and
2. evaluation by the teachers
The lesson comment sheet
1.What did you do in today’s lesson?
2.What did you learn in today’s lesson?
3.Which activities did you enjoy? Why?
4. Which activities didn’t you enjoy? Why not?
5.Did you have any problems? If so, what kind?
6.Do you have any other comments or suggestions
about the lesson?

27. The Future
The easiest changes to predict in the foreseeable future for ESP materials
development involve computers and technology, which will impact at least three
main areas:
a. Subject matter.
b. Availability of information, authentic texts and opportunities for interaction
c. Ease of creating materials

28. CONCLUSION
• ESP and the other English is not separated.
• EAP teachers and material writers must know some criterion in
making or developing materials
• the use of authentic materials in the classroom are popular as we
enter the twenty-first century. The resulting blend may be difficult to
label, but should provide exciting possibilities for the ESP teacher and
materials developer