O’zbekiston respublikasi oliy ta’lim, fan va innovatsiyalar vazirligi andijon davlat chet tillari instituti ingliz tili o’qitishning integrallashgan kursi kafedrasi chet tillarni o’qitishning integrallashgan kursi

Activity 2 Exploring principles of an ESP approach
Objective: to explore current ESP practices with studentss
Time:
Materials: handouts 1a-d – one copy per group.
Procedure:

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   Say that based on the previous activity you would like studentss to draw up some principles of an ESP approach. Ask the following questions and elicit a few random answers after each question:
  

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  Which of these cases was related to EAP and which to EOP?
  
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  What are the main differences between teaching EAP and teaching EOP?
  
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  What are the main differences between teaching EGP and ESP?
  

Suggested answers: EAP: 1a and b; EOP: 1c and d. Teaching EAP takes place in a traditional academic environment where English becomes a part of students’ undergraduate or postgraduate studies. Therefore an EAP course is less job-specific and is to a greater extent than an EOP course based on the syllabus imposed by an institution. Students are younger and have time allocated for English classes during their studies. They are still studying their subject(s)and need English to have access to their specialist knowledge. An EOP course is more needs or skills-specific and a teacher enjoys a relatively greater freedom in terms of course development and the choice and use of materials. Learners are generally more mature and experienced than in an EAP course and this makes them more useful as a teaching / learning resource. Generally EAP more than EOP resembles EGP, however, the main difference lies in the objectives of an ESP course whichare always to a certain extent subject-specific. The analysis of students’ specific long-term and short-term needs in ESP plays a greater role than in EGP. In teaching any ESP course a teacher also has more freedom in the choice and the use of materials. Often lacking sufficient expertise in the professional/academic area of their students, teachers (who are first of all teachers of English) are bound to make a good use of learners as ateaching resource. Their primary responsibility is to teach language and not content.

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   Give your comments where necessary. Say that you would like studentss to work towards the principles of ESP in groups. Ask them to brainstorm the categories these principles should be based on in the whole group. Say that students have already discussed objectives and content as points for consideration in an ESP course. Return to the question written on the board:
  

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  What will the content and objectives of the course be?
  

Ask students to think of more questions to be asked about an ESP course.

Suggested questions: What is the main priority for these learners? What skills should the course focus on most of all? In what ways would you take students’ background into account? What kind of teaching resources / materials would you use and where would you get them? How do you address students’ specialist professional knowledge in English classes? What time limitations are there and how can you make best use of the time available?

Write the questions on the board and add your own if necessary.

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  Put students back in their groups and ask groups that worked with handouts 1a to apply these questions to the case in handout 1c, 1b –> 1d , 1c –> 1 a and 1d –> 1b. After 10 minutes invite a spokesperson from each group to report their answers to the whole group. Make your comments if necessary.
  
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  Tell participants to remain in their groups and ask two groups to brainstorm the principles of EOP and the other two groups to work on the principles of EAP. Ask them to refer to the questions on board. Give your own example: (e.g. EAP: The objectives of the course are determined by the educational institution and by learners’ broadneeds. EOP: The objectives are determined by narrowing down learners’ needs in their present professional environment.)
  
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  After 10 minutes ask groups working on the same variety of ESP to exchange their lists of principles and see if they could complement each other.
  
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  Ask spokespersons from each of two larger groups (i.e. EAP and EOP) to report to the whole group. Discuss the principles of teaching EAP and EOP with participants.