Harappa was discovered in 1921 by Dayaram Sahni. The excavations were done under the guidance of Sir John Marshal and Colonel Meke. Remains of the Harappan civilisation has been found in other cities like Mohen-Jo-Daro, Ropar, and Alamgirpur.

1. NEEDS ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES FOR
ARCHEOLOGISTS AT HARRAPPA (PAKISTAN)
The Researcher: Shabila Hafeez
ABATRACT
The objectives of this small research project are to have an overview of the linguistic needs
and to design an ESP course for a group of Archeologists working at Harappa, Pakistan. The
key phases in the research include needs analysis and designing a course plan. Mixed
method research approach was used.. The quantitative data were collected through close-
ended questionnaire. The constructs of questionnaire were on likert scale. The questionnaires
were distributed among the samples and authentic data were obtained. The qualitative data
included an interview with the head of Harappa Museum. The data collected suggested that
there is a dire need for an English language course for Archaeologists at Harappa Museum.
So the focus of the research would be on English for Specific Occupational Purposes
(ESOP). A detailed course outline has been created in the light of the linguistic needs of
Archaeologists.
Introduction
English for specific purposes (ESP) represents the effect of the worldwide interest in the
study of English. Among the factors paving the way for the creation of this academic subject,
Kennedy and Bolitho (1984:1) include:
 The introduction of governmental mass education programs “with English as the first, and
sometimes only, foreign language;

2.  The need of English as a common medium of communication as a consequence of the
growth of business and increased occupational mobility;
 The facilitation of access to scientific and technical literature.
This study is an attempt to identify a real group of Archaeologists working at Harappa
museum, Pakistan for needs analysis and course design. The fresh and young Masters Degree
holders, joining this profession, are facing problems to serve efficiently. The participants
have wide knowledge of archaeological sites and related to their field work as they did
masters in this subject and studied in English medium but they have no practice of speaking
skill with foreigners when they visit here. So needs analysis and course design plan may be
beneficial for them.
Literature Review
English for specific purposes (ESP) refers to the teaching and learning of English as a second
or foreign language where the goal of the learners is to use English in a particular domain.
The teaching of English for specific purposes, in its early days, was largely motivated by the
need to communicate across languages in areas such as commerce and technology. This has
now expanded to include other areas such as English for academic purposes (EAP), English
for occupational purposes (EOP), English for vocational purposes (EVP), English for
medical purposes (EMP), English for business purposes (EBP), English for legal purposes
(ELP), and English for sociocultural purposes (ESCP) (Belcher 2009).
In fact, the term ESP has been in use for a quarter of a century now, and its definition can be
found in many issues on the subject that followed the first, classic, edition by T. Hutchinson
and A. Waters (1987). Hutchinson and Waters (1987) attempt to define ESP not by showing
what ESP is, but rather showing what ESP is not:

3. a) ESP is not a matter of teaching' specialized varieties' of English. The fact that
language is used for a specific purpose does not imply that it is a special form of the
language, different in kind from other forms. Certainly, there are some features which can be
identified as 'typical' of a particular context of use and which, therefore, the learner is more
likely to meet in the target situation. But these differences should not be allowed to obscure
the far larger area of common ground that underlies all English use, and indeed, all language
use.
b) ESP is not just a matter of Science words and grammar for Scientists, Hotel words and
grammar for Hotel staff and so on. When we look at a tree, we see the leaves and branches,
but there is much more to the tree than just these- much of it hidden from view inside and
beneath the tree. The leaves do not just hang in the air: they are supported by a complex
underlying structure. In the same way there is much more to communication than just the
surface features that we read and hear. We need to distinguish, as Chomsky did with regard
to grammar, between performance and competence that is between what people actually do
with the language and the range of knowledge and abilities which enables them to do it.
c) ESP is not different in kind from any other form of language teaching, in that it should be
based in the first instance on principles of effective and efficient learning. Though the
content of learning may vary there is no reason to suppose that the processes of learning
should be any different for the ESP learner than for the General English learner. There is, in
other words, no such thing as an ESP methodology, merely methodologies that have been
applied in ESP classrooms, but could just as well have been used in the learning of any kind
of English. (Hutchinson and Waters 1987, p. 18)

4. Hutchinson and Waters illustrated their idea of ELT by the picture of a tree. In the picture,
ESP is opposed to General English, usually taught for exam purposes.
Thus, the first conclusion we can draw is that ESP is teaching English for any other purposes,
e.g. work or study. These two are usually called professional (also occupational or
vocational) purposes and academic purposes. According to the division, most secondary
schools teach General English simply because their purpose is a particular exam (a GE exam,
of course, such as the FCE or the standard Russian school exam). If a student intends to use
English in their future profession or wants to continue their academic studies, they need

5. another sort of English that ought to meet some particular needs. Therefore, all our
universities and colleges deal with ESP.
The Birth of ESP
Hutchinson and Waters (1987) show a long-term retrospective view on causes resulting in
the birth of E.S.P., when they present nearly the same factors, which, in turn, suggest a
cause-effect relationship (p. 6):
 The enormous and unprecedented expansion in scientific, technical and economic activity
on an international scale. Two forces were dominating the new post-war world – technology
and commerce, whose relentless progress soon generated a demand for an international
language and, due to the economic power of the U.S. it was English which was granted this
role.
 The emerging of a new mass of people wanting to learn English – the key to international
currencies of technology and commerce. This mass of people joined together particularly
new generations of learners who knew specifically what they were to learn and why.
 the Oil Crises of the early 1970s involved a massive flow of funds and western expertise
into the oil-rich countries. Therefore, English suddenly turned into „big business‟ and, on the
other hand, commercial pressures began to exert an influence in the acquisition of this
language. Time and money constraints created a need for cost-effective courses with
accurately specific goals.
 The need for several countries to update their knowledge. Therefore, E.S.P. came into
being and gradually developed into a multilayered language approach primarily based on
learners‟ specific needs required by their professions or occupations. The domain labeled
E.S.P. was proven to have a universal dimension through the concept of language for specific

6. purposes and a language-specific perspective through the insights explored into various
European languages. Out of these mention will be made of French, German, Russian and
Spanish. The Romanian specialists have shown a certain interest in approaches to
terminologies rather than in the study of what is generally known as limbajele functional.
Their interest is focused more on practical aspects than on purely theoretical ones.
Demands of Teaching ESP
Basturkmen (2010) is of the view that teachers may find themselves dealing with content in
an occupation or subject of study that they themselves have little or no prior knowledge of (p.
7). Some may find themselves working alone in an on-site environment. They may find they
have far less knowledge and experience in the subject than their learners.Cook (2002)
distinguishes between external and internal goals for language teaching. External goals can
be related to the uses of language outside the classroom – being able to get things done in the
real world, such as being able to buy groceries or provide medical information. Internal goals
relate to the educational aims of the classroom – improving attitudes to speakers of other
languages, promoting thinking skills such as analysis, memorizing and social goals. ESP
teaching is generally understood to be very largely concerned with external goals. In ESP the
learner is seen as a language learner engaged either in academic, professional or occupational
pursuits and who uses English as a means to carry out those pursuits. External goals suggest
an instrumental view of language learning and language being learnt for non-linguistic goals.
In a general ELT situation, goals are generally linguistic (such as, development of oral
competence or a wide vocabulary, or ability to use a wide range of grammatical structures).
In an ESP situation, it is understood that the learner would want to achieve „real world‟
objectives, objectives requiring specific linguistic competencies. The ESP teacher/course

7. developer needs to find out what the language-based objectives of the students are in the
target occupation or academic discipline and ensure that the content of the ESP course works
towards them (Basturkmen 2010, p. 8). ESP focuses on when, where and why learners need
the language either in study or workplace contexts. Decisions about what to teach, and
sometimes how to teach are informed by descriptions of how language is used in the
particular contexts the learners will work or study in.
ESP Teaching Objectives
Stern (1989, 1992) distinguished four types of ESP teaching objectives: proficiency,
knowledge, affective, and transfer. Proficiency objectives concern mastery of skills such as
reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Knowledge objectives concern the acquisition of
linguistic and cultural information. Linguistic knowledge objectives include language
analysis and awareness of the systematic aspects of language. Cultural knowledge objectives
include control of socio-cultural rules (mastery of the norms of society, values, and
orientations) and also the ability to recognize culturally significant facts, knowing what is
acceptable and what is not. Affective objectives concern the development of positive feelings
toward the subject of study. They include attitudes toward attaining second language
competence, socio-cultural competence, and language learning. Transfer objectives concern
the ability to generalize from what has been learnt in one situation to other situations. Helen
Basturkmen (2006) describes the five broad objectives in ESP teaching:
(i) to reveal subject-specific language use,
(ii) to develop target performance competencies
(iii)to teach underlying knowledge
(iv)to develop strategic competence and

8. (v) to foster critical awareness.
Needs Analysis
In designing an ESP course it is imperative to carry out a needs analysis to determine
the specific reasons for learning the language (Hutchinson, and Waters, 1987,) or to specify
exactly, what students need to achieve through the medium of English (Robinson 1991).
According to Nunan techniques and procedures for collecting information to be used in
syllabus design are referred to as a needs analysis (Nunan, 1988: 13). In more formal terms a
needs analysis is the process of determining the needs for which a learner or group of
learners requires a language and arranging the needs according to priorities (Richards, and
Platt, 1992:242).
The target needs
Before designing a course, students should know why they are taking the course and
how they will apply that learning. Also English language teachers should know what kind of
tasks and activities learners will be using English for (Kandil, 2003).Hutchinson, and Waters,
1987 suggested the following questions as a start-point to uncover relevant information.
 Why is the language needed?
 How will the language be used?
 What will the content areas be?
 Who will the learners use the language with?

9.  When/Where will the language be used?
(Hutchinson, T. and Waters, A 1987, pp 59).
The learning needs
The learning needs refer to the learner‟s language difficulties, their learning
objectives, their styles of learning etc (Jolly. and Bolitho.1998). It is the starting point or the
route and answers the question. To understand the learning needs we should find answers for
the following questions.
 Why are the learners taking the course?
 How do the learners learn?
 What resources are available?
 Who are the learners?
 When/Where will the course take place?
The new educational pedagogy emphasizes the importance of the learners and their
attitudes to learning (Hutchinson, and Waters, 1987, pp 59). Satisfying learner’s needs and
interests has an important influence on the learner‟s motivation and therefore achievements.
Moreover, this approach gives learners the opportunity to participate in the syllabus design.
In a context where the nature of the work changes and the linguistic needs change too, the
importance of this approach increases. As Mackay and Mountford (1978) stated, adults who
need English for academic or professional purposes are more aware of what they want to use
English for. In fact, the results of a needs analysis are not absolute but relative. There are a

10. number of factors that could affect the outcomes: for instance: who to ask; what the questions
are; and how the responses are interpreted (Dudley-Evans and St. John 1998).
Purpose of the Needs Analysis
A needs analysis is the first and foremost step to investigate the Archaeologists‟ needs as a
basic foundation of ESP program development. Knowing the target populations‟ needs and
their learning background can be helpful in designing and administrating the course more
successfully and effectively. Moreover, the ultimate goal is to take all the needs into
consideration of designing the ESP program. It is beneficial to the non-English native
speaking employees engaged in English learning as well as promotes their quality standard of
service.
Limitation of Study:
In Pakistan, there is no wide scope for archaeologists. Researcher felt difficulty to find the
conclusion of this study because mostly archaeologists belongs to United Kingdom. Many of
people found unaware from this profession in Pakistan. On archaeological sites
archaeologists came from America or other countries but due to security issue they haven‟t
come for many years. Archaeologists who were appointed by government at museum were
not able to perform job responsibilities which they needed. Even they were totally unaware
about ESP course. No research work was found on this topic on internet too.
Target Population
The target population of Needs Analysis of this study was the young Archeologists working
at Harappa Museum, Pakistan. For sampling, mode of convenient sampling was adopted.
They did Masters in archeology and syllabus was designed in English but as in our

11. Educational system we least emphasis on field practice so they feel problem when speak with
foreigners. They understood them in some extent but were not able to speak fluently. They
had normally been recruited on the expectation that they were fluent in English and would be
able to communicate with foreigners and visitors who belong to elite class in English
conveniently. But as most of them had no practice of speaking and listening skill so they
could not perform well at their work place. Moreover, the museum management had never
offered any ESP course for improving their professional skills.
Methods of Needs Analysis
In order to successfully conduct the needs analysis, there have been used triangulations of
two instruments for this study which include questionnaire and interview. The needs analysis
instruments are intended to capture the participants‟ perspective and needs. Each instrument
is elaborated as follows.
Questionnaire for Archaeologists:
Questionnaires are more efficient for gathering information on a large scale than any
other approach (Brown1995).The questionnaire (see appendix) contains on introduction af
participant and detail of information about needs of ESP. The first part attempts to elicit
personal information. The second part is a query about language learning priorities for the
target samples, gathers skill vise information about the job functions and skills needed at
their place of job. This step is very helpful for program designers to have a better and clearer
idea about the employees‟ particular job contents related to use English, so that they can
develop the accompanying tasks for the ESP program.
Interview of Head of Harappa Museum:

12. An interview with senior or head of Archaeologists is to find out the most common situations
and problems the samples encounter when they interact with foreigners or English speaking
local people. For example, interacting with foreigners, describing the specification of place,
telling directions, writing reports, briefing
about record of sites, interacting laboratory staff, generate publicity materials, give
educational talks and presentations etc.
Procedure of need analysis:
The first step of the procedure of need analysis is a questionnaire for archaeologists. Then an
interview of museum head was conducted. Both helped researcher to find authenticate and
valid data.
.Data Analysis
Questionnaire
The questionnaire was given to ten Archaeologists of Harappa Museum. After finishing the
questionnaire, they submitted back to the researcher. Based on the responses of
questionnaires, their English language background and job content could be easily
comprehended. Through the answers of the questionnaires some questions for interview were
also elicited.
As far as the first part of the questionnaire is concerned, it tells the level of participants of
interacting with people. Many participants felt difficulty
Data Analysis of Interview:
After the data collection through close ended questionnaires, an interview was conducted
with senior Archeologists regarding the difficulties faced by newly joined archeologists
during working hours. It was found that the newly appointed archaeologists faced a lot of

13. difficulty than the senior ones in using and understanding the register of site. They also face
problem in uttering words with correct pronunciation. They also feel difficulty in
understanding the accents of the visitors. They are also weak in grammar and lexis. They feel
shy to express their ideas and most of time they cannot understand the language of
foreigners. Head suggested them to develop their listening and speaking skill which is most
important for them. He told researcher that universities provide a good quantity of knowledge
but students have lack practice in field work. The most heart touching thing is this that if a
person want to work in America he has to perform as a digger for some time as mostly
students passed the exams due to learn some specific material. They don‟t bother to have
maximum practice of their occupational requirements.
Findings of the Research
The findings which emerged out of questionnaire as well as interview have been given here
below:
 Speaking and listening skills are the most important.
 Grey areas in speaking skills: interaction with foreigners, using vocabulary related to
the profession, introducing their selves, telling directions
 Giving correct pronunciation
 Weakness in listening Skills: accent, understating vocabulary, face to face interaction.
 Enhance phonological accent
ESP course designing
Dudley-Evans and St. John (pp. 145) [7] discuss a number of parameters needed to be
brought into account while making decisions about course design. They are as follows:

14.  Should the course be intensive or extensive?
 Should the learners‟ performance be assessed or non-assessed?
 Should the course deal with immediate needs or with delayed needs?
 Should the role of the teacher be that of the provider of knowledge and activities, or
should it be as facilitator of activities arising from learners expressed wants?
 Should the course have a broad focus or narrow focus?
 Should the course be pre-study or pre-experience or run parallel with the study or
experience?
 Should the materials be common-core or specific to learners study or work?
 Should the group taking the course be homogenous or should it be heterogeneous?
Course Title: ESP for Archaeologists
Credit Hours: 02
Classes: 03 classes of two hours/ week
Course Length: 05 weeks
Class Days: Last three days of the week
Class Timings: 5 pm to 7 pm
Maximum Enrolment: 10 students
Goals of the overall instructional program:

15. By the end of this course, the participants will be able to …
 Listen and speak correct English language and to enable them to fulfill requirements
of communications with local or foreign visitors.
 Writing report and taking notes
 Carry on face-to-face and work-related topics, such as giving information about the
museum, guiding/briefing about museum sites ,deal laboratory staff efficiently.
 Develop cultural sensitivity and the ability to identify and use a variety of strategies
for emergent problem solving at the workplace.
Course framework
Sessi
ons
topics skills Communicative
activity
Related
micro
activity
Language
form
Carrier
content
Activitie
s
5
classe
s
/sessi
ons of
two
hours
each
Fluency
speakin
g
Quick
thinking
skills/
speaking
skills
-How to hold a
steady
understandable
conversation with
foreign or local
visitors
-How to
communicate on
-
Pronunciatio
n
-Stress
-Rhythm
-Intonation
-Use of
appropriate
verbs and
Verbs
Adverbs
Adjectives
Use of
helping
verbs like
Movies
Discussio
ns
A/V aids
hospitals
authentic
text
Role-
play
Discussi
ons
Lectures

16. telephone.
-How to give
instructions
register
-Giving
information
-Use of
imperatives
-Use of
modal
auxiliaries
like should,
must, ought
to etc.
is/ am/ are
etc.
Imperatives
Tenses
material
like hand
out,
brochures
etc.
5
classe
s of
two
hours
each
Commu
nication
General
communi
cation
skills/
listening
skills
-How to listen
and comprehend
the locals and
foreigners.
-How to
understand the
questions
-How to
understand
foreign as well as
local accent.
-How to
-
Recognizing
stress, tone,
rhythm,
register and
vocabulary.
-
Interrogative
s
-Imperatives
-Complaints
Adjectives
Adverbs
Conditional
sentences
Imperative
sentences
Interrogativ
e sentences
Authentic
material
Audio/
Visual
aids
Role-
play
Discussi
ons

17. understand
instructions,
complaints etc.
Tenses
5
classe
s of
two
hours
each
Report-
writing
Note-
taking
Writing
listening
-How to write a
report
-How to note
down important
points from
spoken/written
texts
-Getting
gist/
summary of
what
happened
for report
writing
-Format of
report
-Note-taking
-Guessing
meaning
from context
-
Recognizing
grammatical
word class
-Getting gist
of what is
said for
Tenses
Tenses-
shift
Modal
auxiliaries
Authentic
material
Statement
s
Previous
reports
Previous
notes
Lectures
Controll
ed,
guided
and free
writing
exercises

18. note-taking
Teaching Strategies:
 Classroom lectures
 Group Discussions
 Role-plays
 Pair work
 Group work
 Communicative activities in functional and situational contexts
Assessment and Evaluation:
 Attendance and Class participation
 Individual presentations
 Self and peer assessment
 Question answer session
Conclusion
Information collected through needs analysis of the Archaeologists serving at Harappa
museum, shows that speaking and listening skills are very important for them. It also shows
that they are facing a lot of difficulty in interaction, vocabulary, accent etc. In the following
course design an effort has been made to cater the needs of this homogenous group. For this
purpose learner centered approach is strongly recommended so that the participants after
studying this intensive course may give maximum output during working hours.
The current research in the field of ESP may help young researchers who want to conduct
their investigation in this field. It may be beneficial for the archaeologists who want to join

19. this profession. It may provide insights to the planners in human resource development in the
country. It may be fruitful for the administration of the private archaeological organizations.
Appendix:
NEEDS ANALYSIS QUESTIONNAIRE
COURSE: ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES:
GROUP OF ARCHAEOLOGISTS:
Name of participant: ________________________________________________
Qualification: ______________________________________________________
School/College: ____________________________________________________
Age:______________________________________________________________
1: What are the ESP needs of Pakistani Archaeologist?
Situations Strongly agree Agree Undecided Disagree
1: For Travel
2: Writing
reports
3: Speaking
with Foreigners
4: Manage sites
of Excavations

20. 5: Research
Organizations
2: What language skill do you need to develop?
1: Speaking 2: Writing 3: Reading 4: Listening
3: What is your level of proficiency in English?
1: Beginner 2: Basic 3: Intermediate 4: Advanced
5: Very
Advanced
5: What experience do you have learning other Language except English?
1: Beginner 2: Basic 3: Intermediate 4: Advanced
5: Very
Advanced
Questions for an Interview
1: What are the most important ESP needs of an archaeologist working at Harappa
museum?

21. ___________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2: Where do you feel the English language be used during working hours?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
3: Do you use English at work?
Very
Frequently Frequently Occasionally Rarely Never
4: What do you do to understand the language of a foreigner who come from United
Kingdom?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
5: What is the most important skill your juniors need?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Signature: ____________________

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