1. What is
English for Specific Purposes?
Chris Moore, Managing Director, Specialist Language Courses
2. English for Specific Purposes Courses are…
• Targeted – ESP courses focus only on the language you need
• Relevant – ESP is about your life outside the training room
• Specialist – ESP trainers need to understand the context
• Motivating – ESP language is business or work-critical
• Cost-effective – ESP training wastes no time
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3. ESP Courses are Vocational
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People study English for Specific Purposes so they can..
• perform better in a globalised economy
• progress in an English-speaking company
• talk to and manage international teams
• preserve health and safety in complex, multilingual environments
They study targeted ESP courses, such as English for
• Doctors
• Engineers
• Pilots
• Lawyers
• Maritime Officers
• Soldiers
• Bankers
• Human Resources
4. ESP is Business Critical
ESP MATTERS. It is critical to what the learner does at work. They need the training.
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Examples:
1. Air Traffic Controllers and Pilots who need to pass a recognised Aviation English
test to show that their English is at ICAO Level 4 standard, so they can work in
international air space.
2. Ship Officers managing multinational, multilingual crews on commercial ships
3. Oil & Gas engineers working on international energy projects
4. Doctors relocating to English-speaking countries
5. Lawyers working for a global firm where the lingua franca is English
5. ESP is Needs Driven
ESP courses start by clearly identifying the learner’s language needs. These
become the objectives of the course.
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The learner’s needs may be
a. Highly focused, for example how to read legal documents
b. More varied, such as the many types of language required to
manage an international team
Needs Analysis needs to be detailed. It examines the specific scenarios the
learner needs to use their target language in. It identifies what language
knowledge and skills they need to do that.
Needs Analysis can also involve learner managers, company HR and
Learning & Development specialists.
6. ESP Requires Accurate Level Assessment
• Needs Analysis is combined with a language level assessment. This measures how
far the learner currently is from being able to achieve their objectives.
• This assessment should focus on the areas the learner will be using the language
in. It should be scenario-specific, and target the relevant skills the learner will
focus on during their course.
• The assessment results should be shared with the learner in order to manage their
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expectations.
• If there is a wide gap between level and needs, but not much time allocated, then
course objectives will need to be scaled back to what is achievable.
7. ESP Course Design
Course design works back from the objectives determined in the Needs Analysis and
Level Assessment process
If ‘Writing Reports’ is a key objective, then a course will map out a series of focus
points, such as:
- Writing to your audience
- Formal language – register, style, passive voice, modal verbs
- Connecting ideas within and between sentences, different clause types
- Format – headings, paragraphing
- Expressing key ideas, eg summary, problems, conclusions, recommendations
- Case studies, industry examples
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8. ESP Course Design – Common Objectives
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Typical objectives in ESP courses are:
• Describing technical issues in plain English
• Understanding what people say in specific work scenarios
• Responding effectively in unpredictable or emergency situations
• Understanding business and industry-specific jargon, abbreviations and acronyms
• Dealing with native speaker phrasal verbs, collocations and idioms
• Understanding how different cultures communicate with each other
• Understanding different ‘Englishes’
9. ESP Involves Task-Based Lessons
If language taught is meaningful, it is easier to remember. Learners can apply it to
their lives. They can see their improvement and are motivated by this.
ESP teachers give learners tasks where they need to use English to successfully
achieve a specific result.
Tasks reflect real life and learners focus on meaning instead of practising a
grammatical point or specific word set, for example. They are free to use any
language they want.
Tasks include role plays, solving problems, exchanging information, or playing a
game, among others.
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10. Task-Based Lessons – 3 Part Flow
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Pre-task Preparation
(no real life tasks are
done in isolation)
Learners perform the
task
Teacher supports,
listens, takes notes
Feedback and Language
focus.
Teacher discusses
language points to
improve – grammar,
vocab, pronunication
11. Teaching ESP
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ESP teachers are
a. Experienced, adaptable English language teachers, able to work with demanding
students, often at advanced levels
b. Subject specialists, able to teach complex technical English language required by
the area
A working background in engineering, medicine, the military, oil and gas, or law can
make a big difference to the impact of the course the teacher designs and delivers.
Of course, many excellent ESP trainers have learnt their trade by research, practice and
a commitment to their professional development.
12. Teaching ESP – Professional Development
On-going Professional Development is vital to the ESP teacher. Here are a few things
they do to keep up to date in their field:
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• Talk with subject specialists and other ESP trainers
• Attend targeted training courses and workshops, including publisher-led events
• Attend conferences, such as the IATEFL BESIG conference, the IATEFL annual
conference, the ESP conference, and subject-specific events. These all have online
streams.
• Keep up to date with published ESP materials
• Use the web, both for English language and industry-based materials
• As they teach, learn from the student, their experience, and their company
materials, both online and printed
14. ESP Course Examples
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Here are some of the courses we have recently organised
• English for Oil & Gas for 2 senior managers at a global oilfield services
company in the UK
• English for HR for the HR Director of a global fashion company
• Business English for a widespread group of international managers at a
global retail company
• Maritime English & Teacher Training for a Maritime English teacher at the
University of Montenegro
• English for Hotel Staff at a luxury 5 star hotel in London
• English Report Writing for a group of auditors at a global consultancy
15. Is ESP the Future?
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In a word, ‘Yes’.
General English is being taught better and better at primary and secondary
schools around the world.
Business is increasingly globalised. English is the lingua franca – of industries and
of many companies, even where there are no native speakers present.
However, while they may have a good grounding in the language, learners
increasingly want and need the right language to be successful at work.
ESP courses meet these needs. Course participants learn the language skills to
perform and participate effectively in an international environment.
16. Find out more
Specialist Language Courses organises outstanding ESP courses around the world.
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Choose from:
• Intensive immersion courses at business language schools around the
English speaking world
• Tailor-made in-company courses
• Specialist online courses
• A blend of the above
Contact us to find out more:
e: enquiries@specialistlanguagecourses.com
t: +44 1273 757535
w: www.specialistlanguagecourses.com
