This edited book focuses on current practices, challenges and innovations in the emerging field of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). By combining diverse, empirically-proven and innovative ESP practices from all over the world with inspiring theoretical input and reflections from experienced practitioners, the authors in this volume examine both best-practice examples and ESP programmes which by various metrics are deemed to have failed. This book will be of interest to practitioners, teacher educators and researchers working in the field of ESP, as well as readers interested in language education and curriculum development more broadly.
This volume offers research-based studies on English for Specific Purposes in higher education from across the world. By drawing on international studies, the book brings together diverse ESP practices and aspects of relevant issues in the development of ESP programs, teachers and learners in a coherent fashion. There is a growing need for undergraduate students to develop their proficiency of ESP skills and knowledge in the increasingly globalized world. Knowledge of ESP is an important factor in subject matter learning by students, and also closely related to the performance of university graduates in the relevant sectors. Careful planning and efficient implementation are essential to ensure the quality of the language learning process. For a variety of reasons, it proves difficult to maintain ESP instruction in higher education. These reasons include the incompetence of teachers, lack of materials for that specific context, as well as lack of opportunities for ESP teachers to develop their skills. The chapters in this book, taken from a wide variety of countries, shed light on the diversity of current practices and issues surrounding ESP.
Introducing English for Specific Purposes presents the key concepts and practices of ESP in a modern, balanced, and comprehensive way. This book defines ESP and shows how the approach plays a crucial role in the world of English language teaching. Explaining how needs analysis, language and learning objectives, materials and methods, and evaluation combine to form the four main pillars of ESP, the book includes: practical examples that illustrate how the core theories and practices of ESP can be applied in real-world academic and occupational settings; discussion of some of the most hotly debated issues in ESP; insights on how ESP courses can be organized and integrated to form a complete program; reflection boxes, practical tasks, extension research questions, and resources for further reading in each chapter. Introducing English for Specific Purposes serves as an ideal textbook for graduate and advanced undergraduate students studying courses on English for Specific Purposes or English for Academic Purposes, as part of degrees in English for Specific Purposes, Education, ELT, Applied Linguistics, TESOL or TEFL. This comprehensive publication is also an invaluable reference resource for pre-service and in-service teachers of ESP, and for English program managers and administrators.
Be specific! Enhance students' language skills in a particular area to help them reach their goals. Learn the different types of ESP, various materials that can be incorporated into a course, and the roles of teachers and students. Read about four key topics within ESP: needs analysis, genre, specialized vocabulary, and corpus linguistics.
Featuring a collection of newly commissioned essays, edited by two leading scholars, this Handbook surveys the key research findings in the field of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). • Provides a state-of-the-art overview of the origins and evolution, current research, and future directions in ESP • Features newly-commissioned contributions from a global team of leading scholars • Explores the history of ESP and current areas of research, including speaking, reading, writing, technology, and business, legal, and medical English • Considers perspectives on ESP research such as genre, intercultural rhetoric, multimodality, English as a lingua franca and ethnography
This volume presents a range of views about language, learning, and teaching in English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Its purpose is to go beyond individual cases and practices to examine the approaches and ideas on which they are based. The aim is for readers to adopt an analytical stance toward the field and to identify current perspectives in ESP and the ideas driving them. Ideas and Options in English for Specific Purposes does not promote any one approach, but rather identifies and illustrates those in evidence today. The main emphasis is on the links between theory and ESP teaching and research. Ideas from linguistics, sociolinguistics, education, SLA, and social theories are described. Links are then made between these ideas and ESP course designs, instructional materials, and research projects. Thus the book moves back and forth between descriptions of theories, teaching practice, and research. Part I introduces the book's approach to description of ESP and the framework used to investigate it. Part II examines ideas of language, learning, and teaching in ESP. Recognizing that ESP is taught in many different countries and contexts, the author draws on a wide range of examples of teaching practice and research from around the world and from different branches of ESP, including English for Academic Purposes, English for Professional Purposes, and English for Vocational Purposes. From Chapter 3 onward, each chapter includes Questions for Discussion and Projects, to encourage readers to research and analyze the practices of ESP in their own contexts and to consider the ideas they draw on in their own teaching. This text is geared toward graduate-level TESOL education courses.
Presented in two parts, this book firstly introduces core considerations in ESP course development drawing on examples from a wide range of ESP and EAP courses. Secondly four case studies show how experienced ESP teachers and course developers went about developing courses to meet the needs of their particular learners.
The main concern is effective learning and how this can best be achieved in ESP courses. This book discusses the evolution of ESP, the role of the ESP teacher, course design, syllabuses, materials, teaching methods, and evaluation procedures. It will be of interest to all teachers who are concerned with ESP. Those who are new to the field will find it a thorough, practical introduction while those with more extensive experience will find its approach both stimulating and innovative.
In the United States today there is lively discussion, both among educators and employers, about the best way to prepare students with high-level language and cross-cultural communication proficiency that will serve them both professionally and personally in the global environment of the twenty-first century. At the same time, courses in business language and medical language have become more popular among students. Language for Specific Purposes (LSP), which encompasses these kinds of courses, responds to this discussion and provides curricular models for language programs that build practical language skills specific to a profession or field. Contributions in the book reinforce those models with national survey results, demonstrating the demand for and benefits of LSP instruction. With ten original research-based chapters, this volume will be of interest to high school and university language educators, program directors, linguists, and anyone looking to design LSP courses or programs in any world language.
