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Lesson 16 English for Research Publication Purposes
Situated Learning Theory
There has been growing scholarly research and interest in writing for academic publication
over past decade and the field of English for research publication purposes (ERPP) has established
itself as an important domain within English for Academic Purposes.
 English for Research Publication Purposes (ERPP) is any readily available artifact
which has passed peer review.
 English for Research Publication Purposes (ERPP) a worldwide open access peer
reviewed online international journal publishing organization.
 Individuals create meaning through their interactions.
 Emerged in late 1980’s-1990’s (Lave & Wenger, 1991)
 Also known as situated cognition, who first proposed by Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger as a
model of learning in a community of practice.
 Situated Learning Theory states that every idea and human action is generalized, adapted
to the ongoing environment; it is founded on the belief that what people learn, see, and do is
situated in their role as a member of a community (Lave and Wenger, 1991)
Methods used in ERPP Research

Importance of English for Research Publication

 To make a successful paper publication in reputed international journals which
improves the profile of individual researcher and academic institutions.
 Allows people to study internationally or read the scientific works right after they are
published.
 Provide a scholarly venue for the construction and dissemination of discourses related
to the fast-expanding field of ERPP.
 Help academics and practitioners working in (sub)disciplines such as Applied
Linguistic, EAP, ESP, Education, and Writing studies to communicate their relevant
scholarly works and perspectives with international members of their community of
practice.
Types of Publication in Research
 Social media and Web pages
 Newspaper
 Conference proceedings
 Magazines The ERPP Curriculum
 Books
(Flowerdew & Wang 2016; Li et al, 2018) suggested the ideas for teaching ERPP courses to use the
Inequalities in Academic Publishing genre-based pedagogy, through which students become aware of linguistic and disciplinary content
aspects of academic writing.
Challenges faced by small and medium Publishers In writing for publication Kwan’s (2010) refers to these two aspects of what she calls “Discursive
 Changing Demands task” as on the other hand, communicating one’s research through an RA and on the other hand,
 Inconsistent Revenues Communicating with gate-keepers about the RA.
 Digital Disruption
 Lack of Know-low What is Discursive task?
 Royalty Management  Research method for studying written or spoken language in relation to its social context.
 Increased Competition  Exploring the idea or variety of topics.
 Moving from topic to topic without order.

Approaches to Theory in ERPP
Social constructivism Theory
 A social group constructing things for one another, collaboratively creating a small culture of
shared artefacts with shared meanings (Moodle, 2015)
 Social constructivism theory focuses heavily upon dyads (Johnson & Bradbury, 2015)
 Knowledge is constructed through human activity.
Lesson 17: Needs Analysis and Curriculum Development in ESP: An
Overview
Needs analysis is an integral part of language curriculum development. It provides the basis
for lesson planning, syllabus design, materials evaluation and development, and instructional design
and assessment development. Generally speaking, needs analysis is common practice in English for
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Specific Purposes (ESP) programmes. The lesson will focus on Needs Analysis and Curriculum
Development in ESP. In this respect, ESP teachers or practitioners usually start with the question: “Why
do these learners need to learn English?” (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987, p.53). Therefore, in the
ESP/EAP contexts, needs analysis is crucial in determining the aspects of language that are important
for particular area of teaching.
Needs analysis, carried out to establish the “what” and the “how” of a course, is the first stage
in ESP course development, followed by curriculum design, materials selection, methodology,
assessment, and evaluation. However, these stages should not be seen as separate, proceeding in a
linear fashion. Rather, as noted by Dudley - Evans and St John (1998), they are interdependent
overlapping activities in a cyclical process. Needs analysis refers to the techniques for collecting and
assessing information relevant to course design: it is the means of establishing the how and what of a
course. It is a continuous process, since we modify our teaching as we come to learn more about our
students, and in this way it actually shades into evaluation – the means of establishing the
effectiveness of a course. Needs can involve what learners know, don’ t know or want to know, and can
be collected and analyzed in a variety of ways (Hyland 2006: 73)
Figure 1. Linear vs. cyclical processes of needs analysis (Dudley- E vans and St John 1998:
121).
Different Approaches of ESP Needs Analysis
Needs analysis in ESP has a long history and is constantly evolving and redefining itself.
Before the 1970s, needs analyses were based on teacher intuitions and sometimes informal analyses
of students’ needs, as noted by West (1994) in his landmark state - of - the - art article.
1. Target Situation Analysis (TSA)
It was in the 1970s that needs analysis first entered the literature on ESP as a formal concept
and during this decade was largely defined in terms of the Target Situation Analysis (TSA),
what learners are required to do with the foreign or second language in the target situation.
2. Present Situation Analysis (PSA)
Richterich, and Chancerel (1997) put a particular emphasis on Present Situation Analysis
(PSA). A present situation analysis draws attention to the gap between what students are able
to do with language at the beginning of the course and what they need to do at the end of the
course. This is sometimes referred to as their “lacks”.
3. Language Situation Analysis (LSA)
Refers to subjective, felt, and process-oriented needs. LSA also directs what learners want to
learn. Dudley-Evan and ST. John (1998) state that LSA means effective ways of learning the
skills and language.
4. Means Analysis
This more contextual, social, aspect of the language - teaching environment is referred to as a
“means analysis” by Holliday (1994). Means analysis involves information of the local situation
(e.g., teachers, teaching methods, management, students facilities, etc).
Sources and Methods
Long (2005) cites the following as sources of information: published and unpublished
literature, learners, teachers and applied linguists, domain experts, and triangulated sources
(comparison of a range of data sources).
As for methods, Long (2005) notes that both inductive and deductive procedures
(Berwick 1 989) are used. The former includes expert intuitions, participant and non -
participant observation, and unstructured interviews, while the latter involves surveys and
questionnaires, structured interviews and, less commonly, criterion- referenced performance
tests.
Moreover, as Hyland (2006: 68) notes, validity (an accurate reflection of the features
being studied) and reliability (a consistent interpretation of the features) in needs analysis
procedures can be achieved in three main ways:
Triangulation. Conclusions are developed using a range of data sources, research methods or
investigators.
Prolonged engagement. The use of repeated observation and collection of sufficient data over a
period of time.
Participant verification. The analysis is discussed with participants and its “reality” verified by them.
Needs Analysis in English for Academic Purposes (EAP)
Needs analysis conducted in the academy usually take a skill – based approach at the macro
– level. Early EAP syllabi for writing were often derived from the material writer’s own intuitive
conception of needs supported by research studies on analysis of the target domain.
Approaches in EAP Needs Analysis
 Rights analysis (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987:108) – a theoretical tool for EAP teachers
and students to consider possible responses to unfavorable social, institutional, and classroom
conditions.
 Needs Analysis (Cooley and Lewkowicz, 1997) – carried out a large, triangulated needs
analysis through examination of student writing samples and questionnaires administered to
students and supervisors.
 Interactive Needs Analysis Framework (Richards, 1988) – used to determine the course
development in a summative manner. Evaluation of materials and methodologies provides
another mechanism to feed in needs analysis.
 Participatory Appraisal Model (Holme and Chalauisaeng, 2006) – puts the learner at the
heart of this dynamic needs analysis process by co – opting learners as co – researchers to
determine their own needs and learning goals in an EAP reading program. This model
employed two qualitative approaches, (1) Participant observation, and (2) Semi – structured
interviews, triangulated with quantitative instruments in the form of questionnaires collected
over a period of several months.
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Needs Analysis in English for Occupational Purposes (EOP)
The needs analysis for English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) discussed in this
section straddle both the academy and the professional workplace.
EOP in the Academy
Needs analyses have been conducted targeting EOP needs for implementation in
EAP course. Crosling and Ward (2002) suggest that universities focus on extending generic
oral communication skills, building in assertiveness training when presenting viewpoints, and
involving students in group work ideally taking place in cross – gender, cross – cultural and
multidisciplinary setting, which can then be adapted in a job – focused work environment.
Dovey (2008: 395) proposed a curriculum based on strategic needs on the ability to
participate in/or manage the social and technical processes involved in leveraging knowledge.
EOP in the Workplace
Needs analyses in workplace situations favors task – based needs analyses carried
out through ethnographic on – site observations and often supplemented with more
quantitative data (Long, 2005).
There are two other aspects that are recurrent themes in accounts of needs analyses for EOP:
 Internationalization – transmission of science and technology, and
internal/international communication or tailored as “to the outside world”.
 Use of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) – dominance of English used in
international business context.
Lesson 18 Genre and English for Specific Purposes
The term "genre" was first introduced in the area of English for specific purposes
(ESP) in 1981. Elaine Tarone and her colleagues (1981) use the term in their discussion
of the use of the passive in research writing in the area of astrophysics while Swales
(1981) uses the term in his seminal work on the discourse structure of research article
introductions. Genre, in ESP work, refers to communicative events such as seminar
presentations, university lectures, academic essays, and business reports. ESP genre
studies are based largely on Swales' (1981, 1990) work on the discourse structure and
linguistic features of scientific reports. These studies have had a strong influence on the
teaching of English for specific purposes and especially the teaching of academic writing
to ESL graduate students.
LESSON OUTLINE
Genre, Discourse, and English for Specific Purposes
➢ Genre analysis is a process of looking at several of particular genres to
analyze their similarities and differences, in terms of their purposes,
macrostructure and language choice.
➢ In ESP genre studies, the discourse structure of texts is typically described as
being made up of a series of moves, each of which may contain one or
more steps (see e.g., Swales, 1981, 1990, 2004). This is typically referred to
as "move analysis."
➢ Known as CARS (create a research space) model Swales (1981 – 1990);
Move 1: Establishing a research territory
Move 2: Establishing a niche
Move 3: Occupying the niche
Genre, Language, and English for Specific Purposes
A number of corpora have been used in many ESP, genre studies which give a
greater level of reliability to the claims that can be made about genre-specific
language. It includes:
• the British academic spoken English (BASE Plus) corpus
• the British academic written English (BAWE Plus) corpus
• the English as a lingua franca in academic settings corpus (ELFA) corpus
• the Michigan corpus of academic spoken English (MICASE)
• the TOEFL spoken and written academic language corpus
Genre, Multimodality, and ESP Research
➢ Johns (1998) reviews the role of visuals in specific purpose genres showing
how, although these have been discussed in areas such as adult literacy
and document design, they have only more recently been given focused
attention in ESP research.
➢ Rowley-Jolivet (2002) also discusses visual elements in conference
presentations. She found there were four main kinds of visuals used in the
presentations: scriptural (those that consist mainly of written text),
numerical (such as mathematical formulae and numerical tables), figurative
(such as photos and images such as X-rays or CAT scans), and graphical
(such as maps, diagrams and charts).
➢ Tardy (2005, 2009) looked at the use of Microsoft PowerPoint presentation
slides by multilingual writers in presentations that they prepared for an
advanced writing class they were taking part in at a major US unQiversity.
Genre as Social Action in ESP Research
A genre is defined, not in terms of "the substance or the form of discourse but
on the action, it is used to accomplish" (Miller 1984: 151).
➢ In Tardy's (2011c: 57) words, genres "are often said to 'index' or reflect the
socio-rhetorical contexts in which they exist."
➢ Swales and Rogers (1995), their study shows is the "added value" of carrying
out a contextualized analysis of specific purpose genres in order to provide
insights into the origins, development, and impact of genre "as a situated
response to an emerging rhetorical need"
➢ Lillis (2008: 353), in her discussion of strategies for "closing the gap between
text and context," suggests ways in which ESP researchers may
contextualize their research as a way of "adding value" to their studies.
These include what she terms "ethnography as method," "ethnography as
methodology," and ethnography as "deep theorizing."
The Teaching and Learning of Specific Purpose Genres
➢ Genre-based teaching emerged, in many ways, as a response to the process
approach to teaching writing, with teachers and researchers arguing that
process-based teaching does not address issues such as the requirements
of particular writing tasks and variation in individual writing situations.
➢ Tardy (2006) examines the research in genre-based teaching and learning, in
both first and second language contexts.
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➢ In Cheng's (2008a: 68) research, he discusses how his student found genre
"a supportive, explicit tool of learning" which he felt helped address other
researchers' concerns about the product-oriented nature of ESP genre-
based teaching.
Professional Genres and ESP
• Genre Integrity – generic characters that means it is acceptable to the member
of a particular discourse community.
• Discursive Process and genre – products of set of established procedures.
• Generic Purposes and Intentions – although many of the genres employed in
the well-established professional contexts serve recognizable and somewhat
standardized set of communicative purposes. • Genre Participants – almost like
playing a game with its rules and conventions.
• Genre Versality – although genres like business letters follow conventional
formats, different institutions and companies have their own norms for
structuring their communications.
Future Directions for ESP Genre Studies
➢ In a review of genre and ELT published in 2007 (although written in 2001), I
pointed to a number of areas in need of further research. Some of these
areas have been addressed in the research literature that has been
published since then. We have learnt more about the historical, social, and
ideological underpinnings of particular genres.
➢ ESP research has come a long way in recent years, but there is still much
work to be done. We are also gaining a better understanding of the
multiliteracies requirements of our students' academic and professional
lives (Cope and Kalantzis 2000).
Lesson 19 ESP and ASSESSMENT
Assessment is one of the most effective factors that play a decisive role in enhancing
the quality of teaching and learning. Accordingly, assessment in English for Specific Purposes
(ESP) is now widely known as an integral part of language assessment. Language
assessment practitioners must take account of test purposes, test taker, characteristics and
language use situation. All language assessment specialist adhere to accepted principles of
measurement including providing evidence for test reliability, validity and impact.
The Theory and Practice of Assessment in ESP.
- After the number of years, English for specific purposes teaching and assessment had
been part of the profession of applied linguistics and language pedagogy.
- See Swales (1985) discuss the early example of ESP pedagogy, while Douglas (2000)
had been discuss of early ESP assessment.
Two theoretical issues affect the practice of ESP
1. The construct of specific purpose language ability;
2. The related issue of how the criteria for assessing specific purpose language
performances.
- Davies (2001) argued the concept of variation in LSP has theoretical status. Thus, the
only justification for developing specific purpose language test is to achieve validity.
- Occupational English Test (OET) in the language-based criteria failed to capture
critical features of the performance that supervising physicians necessary for on-
the-job communication.
English for Academic Purposes
English for academic purposes (EAP) assessment has evolved mainly with an
emphasis on proficiency tests with reference to norms established for determining
learners ’ levels of ability for mainstream classrooms and admission to tertiary
education, and a secondary and more recent focus on criterion – referencing with
respect to standards set for learners ’ attainments and public accountability in
education (Cumming 2009 ).
According to Elder (2001) outlines some of the problematic aspects of tests for
teachers, including;
specificity – what is the domain of English for teaching?
authenticity – what task features are characteristic of the English teaching domain?
–and
non- language factors – what place do such factors as teaching skills or strategic
competence have in the assessment of English for teaching?
English for Employment Purposes
English is a common communication language that connects different cultures, people,
nations and culture in one business environment. English for employment, vocational, and
professional purposes, including;
• Phone Pass (Versant) test for employment purposes (Chun 2006) •
Language testing in the military (Green and Wall 2005 ),
• English for the workplace (Lumley 2003 ; Lumley and Qian 2003 ; O ’
Loughlin 2008 ; Qian 2005 ), and
• The use of the IELTS general training module for vocational purposes
(Smith and Haslett 2008).
Specific areas of research and development also includes;
Aviation English
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) instituted a requirement that
pilots and air traffic controllers involved in international aviation be certified as to their
proficiency in English, the official language of international civil aviation.
Business English
The major contribution to the field of the assessment of Business English in the last
few years is O ’ Sullivan (2006).
Business English is a part of English for Specific Purposes and can be considered a
specialism within English language learning and teaching, or a variant of international
English.
Court Interpreters
Court interpreters has generated interest in the language – testing field, particularly
in the United States, where the certification of interpreters in federal courts is
mandated by law.
Health/ Medical English
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The use of English language tests for determining the ability of internationally –
trained health professionals to practice in English speaking environments has been a
topic of concern in the ESP field for a number of years and continues to be of interest
to researchers. In order to use a test of academic English for professional language
certification, empirical evidence must be provided to show that interpreting test
performance for a purpose other than that for which the test was designed is valid
(Douglas 2000 ).
English Testing for Immigration and Asylum
Language assessment instruments have been used for the purpose of determining
the ethnicity and/or the suitability of applicants for immigration and political asylum for
decades (millennia, if one accepts the evidence of the Biblical “ shibboleth test ”
(Spolsky 1995), and research into the validity as well as the ethics of such uses has
become of recent concern.
Language Assessment Quarterly was devoted in 2009 to these concerns. -
McNamara (2009a) considers the role of language testers with regard to the use of a
linguistically demanding citizenship test in Australia.
There are important topic of language and social identity in McNamara and Roever ’ s book.
• Language Testing: The Social Dimension (2006) in which they discuss the use of language
assessments of various kinds to identify acceptable and unacceptable members of ethnic
and national groups. According to the view of (Messick 1989 ) that all language tests imply
values and that tests, both well – designed and improperly designed ones, can be used
for unethical purposes to deny, for example, refugee status, political asylum, legal
immigration, and citizenship.
Lesson 20 Technology And ESP
Technology has long played a major role in the teaching of English for specific purposes
(ESP) in two distinct ways. The use of technology can be applicable across all types of ESP
classrooms. The use of English as a lingua franca remains a primary focus for this discussion of
technology and ESP. The choice of a technology, either as a tool or a communicative space, is
never a neutral decision: it can both affect the learning process and be affected by how it is adapted
in the classroom. The use of technology in ESP has raised a variety of legal and ethical issues for
teachers. One of them is the use and distribution of intellectual property and the related changes in
attitudes towards plagiarism.
The use of Technology in ESP classes
 Technology use in ESP also provides students with the strategies to learn languages for
specific purposes, task-based and collaborative learning activities, content-based authentic
materials, and tailored learning environments to students’ own needs (Dashtestani &
Stojković, 2015).
 Technologies have also been used in a variety of ESP classes to create contexts for
communicating with oral, literate, and visual modes of discourse.
 Synchronous forms of discourse\ such as chat, where the participants
interact in the same time frame.
 Asynchronous forms, such as email, listservs, Twitter, or blogging, or
newer forms of technologies, such as Facebook where the reader/writer
can interact using any of these modes of discourse.
 ESP teachers have long relied on needs assessment for selecting the goals of their
curricula. Hyland (2002) has argued that an ESP curriculum begins with a needs
assessment of the learner.
 Dudley - Evans and St John (1998) describe different types of needs analysis.
 Objective needs
 Subjective needs
 analysis of the current situation
 With the newer technologies, direct teaching has become even more important. Newer
technologies have tended to integrate different forms of environments. Many environments
allow video, audio, and textual communication to occur at the same time.
 Understanding the role of technology in these various and sometimes interlocking contexts
has become extremely important.
 The experiences with these technologies that students bring from both inside and outside
the classroom may be invaluable in their future careers.
 As technology becomes more a factor in ESP education as a tool for language learning, as
a site for varied and authentic materials, and as a place for publishing and sharing work,
the impact of technology has become more complicated and often more controversial as
well.
Technology as Tool for Language Learning
 As Belcher (2004) points out, technology has often been used in ESP teaching as a tool for
bringing language experiences from outside the classroom that are relevant for the teaching of
English for a variety of purposes.
 Concordancing has been particularly favored by ESP teachers since these sites can
provide lexical and syntactic examples from authentic texts in specific areas of
discourse.
 Concordancing is an older technology that was primarily accessible to a few
researchers in the field of linguistics.
 Websites and application Video- hosting sites like YouTube and Hulu, Wiki and Wikipedia.
 Podcast
 Email
 Cloud sites, such as Google Docs
 Blog
Technology as a Communicative Space
 Global Telecommunications Systems
 Web
 World wide web
 Data
 Radio waves
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The Ethical controversies over the Use of technology
The use of technology in ESP has raised a variety of legal and ethical issues for teachers. One of the
most contentious ethical issues has been over the use and distribution of intellectual property and the
related changes in attitudes towards plagiarism. Plagiarism, too, can be seen in such complex ways that
are equally subject to much debate. Rightly or wrongly, the internet is frequently blamed for the so -
called “ plagiarism epidemic ” that is frustrating teachers all over the world.
Lesson 22 ESP and Intercultural Rhetoric
Intercultural rhetoric (IR), previously called contrastive rhetoric (CR)1 , is “the study of written
discourse between and among individuals with different cultural backgrounds” (Connor, 2011, p. 1). IR
examines the influences of first language, culture, and education on the production of texts with the aim
of advancing cross-cultural communication research as well as informing writers, editors, translators,
and language and composition teachers and learners, among other users and producers of text.
History of Intercultural Rhetoric
➢ The study of cross - cultural writing began with Robert Kaplan ’ s (1966) research into
differences in organization of essays written in English by international students with a variety
of backgrounds.
➢ Contrastive Rhetoric: Cross-Cultural Aspects of Second- Language Writing set out to define
contrastive rhetoric and establish it as a legitimate area of research in second language
acquisition studies.
➢ Kaplan ’ s observations about ESL students ’ paragraph writing pioneered attention to cultural
differences in the writing of ESL students. This focus on writing was relatively new in the area
of ESL instruction for international students in the United States. The emphasis had been on
the teaching of oral language skills.
Methodology in Intercultural Rhetoric Research
➢ Intercultural rhetoric research, like any good research, involves a planned and systematic way
of developing a better understanding of the researched phenomenon. It requires careful steps
in the planning, conducting, and reporting stages. Typically, researchers draw their idea for the
study from previous research as well as from practical experiences. In the planning stage, a
researcher identifies a topic, conducts a literature search, develops tentative questions,
designs the data collection, and often conducts a pilot study.
➢ In the conduct of a study, intercultural rhetoric researchers need to carefully follow the design
features of tertium comparationis (a common platform of comparison) between texts.
➢ In intercultural rhetoric research, semi - ethnographic approaches are also being used in the
field where actual intercultural interactions take place in offices, business meetings, and other
workplaces.
➢ In reporting the results, the intercultural rhetoric researcher also follows the usual steps from
drafting to revising and editing. It is important to keep in mind what the readers want to know;
why the research was carried out; how it was conducted; what methods were used; what was
discovered; and what the fi ndings may mean for research and practice.
Examples of Recent Published Works
➢ As the domain of writing in EAP has expanded from the teaching of essay writing to other
genres in academic and professional contexts, genre analysis has provided researchers with
methods of analysis that supplement the discourse analysis methods used in previous
contrastive rhetoric research.
➢ The rhetorical analysis of specific genres by genre analysts has led intercultural rhetoric
research to expand into many additional academic and professional genres.
➢ The number of comparative empirical genre analysis has been staggering in the past two
decades. Published studies have compared the rhetorical moves and linguistic features of the
research article in a number of disciplines in various countries (e.g. Bielski and Bielski 2008 ;
Duszak 1994 ; Golebiowski 1998 ; Moreno 1998 ; Mur Due ñ as 2008 ; Pab ó n Berbes í , and
Dominguez 2008 ; Ventola and Mauranen 1991 ; and Vladimirou 2008 ).
Future Directions
➢ Future research in intercultural rhetoric in ESP settings is expected to continue with two related
foci: the first on cross - cultural studies of specific genres, and the second on interactions in the
production and comprehension of these genres. In academic settings, genres produced by
students, such as theses and dissertations, and genres produced by academics, such as
research articles, call for increased attention.
Lesson 24 Critical Perspective on ESP
 Master(1998) demonstrate his awareness of this hierarchy when he expressed his concern about
the global dominance of English, it’s predominant role in academic publication, and it’s capacity to
pose a threat to the use of other languages in the domain not only of science, technology, and
culture but in some cases to their very existence as languages. Addressing the role of English for
specific purposes (ESP) specifically, he identified what he called ‘’a subtle aspect of linguistic
dominance’’.
 In the early years of ESP in the period after World War II, it was viewed by many in the west as a
modern, more scientific and efficient approach to language learning and teaching than previous
approaches and as helping to contribute to progress and development in developing countries.
 Benesch (2001) in her book, Critical English for Academic Purposes , however points to the
large scale ESP projects of the early periods as being driven less by goals of global progress and
communication but more narrowly by British neocolonialism and American capitalism and
imperialism. It is doubtful whether the early proponents of ESP could have anticipated either the
global expansion of English or the critique that this expansion has occasioned.
 Pennycook (2001 ) referred to in this paragraph have commented on English language learning
and teaching but it is their contribution to shaping the “ critical turn ” that is important to
understand. It is fair to say that the early years of ESP were not characterized by much interest in
these larger social concerns, in particular a concern with the role of English, as attested to be a
number of the chapters in this volume.
 The work of critical discourse analysts such as Norman Fairclough (1995) is heavily influenced by
Foucault ’ s thinking as is much poststructuralist thinking about pedagogy and the ways social
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power relations shape communicative practices and may restrict access to powerful discourses
(Morgan 2007 ).
Critical Perspectives on English for Academic Purposes
 Benesch ( 2009 : 81) describes critical EAP (CEAP) as widening the lens of academic purposes
to take the sociopolitical context of teaching and learning into account.
 Pennycook ( 1997 : 258) termed the acculturation approach “ vulgar pragmatism, ” arguing that it
failed to show awareness of the role of English in “ the spread of particular forms of culture and
knowledge ” and called for a “ critical pragmatism.
 Morgan (2009) wonders whether critical approaches have perhaps exaggerated the capacity for
teachers to act as change agents, noting that many EAP teachers remain in marginalized contract
positions.
 Dudley - Evans (2001) claimed that the economic power of the full - fee paying international
students at his university had been benefi cial, leading to changes on the part of the academic
departments in course content, teaching methods, and an acceptance of the role of the EAP
teacher in a team - teaching capacity.
 Harwood and Hadley (2004) proposed a critical pragmatic approach to teaching academic writing
through introducing students to corpus-based research for investigating disciplinary literacy
practices in their own fields of study.
Critical Perspectives on Needs Analysis
 Belcher (2006) needs analysis has been one of the cornerstones of the ESP approach and has
always been research - based.
 Benesch (2001) problematized and further expanded ESP ’ s notion of needs analysis from its
focus on the target situation through her focus on “ rights analysis, ” calling attention to the need to
take into consideration learners ’ opportunities for negotiation and resistance both within and
beyond the language classroom.
 Belcher and Lukkarila (2011) argue that needs analysis should take into account contemporary
understandings of identity through acknowledging students ’ multiple and fl uid identities and
multiple community memberships.
Perspective on plagiarism
 Pennycook ’ s (1996) seminal article on the construction of plagiarism in late twentieth - century
Western academia which drew our attention to the intersection and interconnections of questions
of the ownership of English, historically limited, peculiarly Western, essentially modernist
constructs of authorship and originality, and the increased scrutiny of “ apparent plagiarism, ”
particularly of non - native speakers of English, a considerable amount of research has looked at
plagiarism less as students ’ deliberate intention to deceive and more as a response to unfamiliar
and frequently contradictory academic literacy practices, encompassing a set of strategies that
students resort to out of a relative sense of powerlessness in the university.
 Flowerdew and Li (2007) report on a “ language re - use ” writing strategy adopted by Chinese
doctoral students in research science who are required to publish in Science Citation Index (SCI) -
listed English language journals in order to graduate.
Genre, Access, Power
 Morgan and Ramanathan ( 2005 : 155) argue a “ politics of access ” which sees as its main goal
“ the modeling of powerful genres and texts may presume a degree of disciplinary stability and
textual uniformity at variance with the co - constructed dynamics observed in discourse
communities. ” They remind us that power is not solely located in texts but in how “ text users ” are
located institutionally and socially.
 The pragmatist and the criticalist views on genre teaching were in all likelihood not as polarized as
they may have initially appeared in the early debates. Certainly, the debate has been healthy in as
much as it has led to a greater understanding of the various positions (Bawarshi and Reiff 2010 ).
 Tardy (2009:282) has recently acknowledge that her biggest challenge as a writing instructor is to
balance the need.
The Power and Politics of Publishing in English
 Flowerdew (2007: 14) identifies the worldwide pressures on non - native scholars to publish in
English as being symptoms of globalization and the marketization of the academy, pointing out
that these scholars will, in all likelihood, also need to develop the skills to publish in their native
language as well.
 Swales 1990 which focus on the newness of the research and the need to market ideas as
original may not suit the needs of scholars in less competitive communities.
Future Directions
 The consolidation of English as the dominant language of international publication, the emergence
of lingua franca English in workplaces across the globe, the extent to which these developments
contribute to greater access to rights, oppurtunities, and choices for the citizens of what remain.
 Yongyan Li ( 2007 : 74) pertinently asks how teachers of EAP can facilitate non - native English
speaking apprentice scholars ’ successful writing for publication while helping them to develop
their agency to challenge dominant norms “ sanctioned in the Anglo - American publication world.
Lesson 25 Gender and Race in ESP Research
Issues of gender, race, and other social categories are underexplored in English for
specific purposes (ESP) research. Even in the broader field ofsecond language education, only
recently did these topics, especially race, begin to attract explicit attention. The increased
focus on these issues refl ects the critical turn observed since the 1990s in teaching English to
speakers of other languages– the field that encompasses ESP (Kumaravadivelu 2006).
Pragmatism Contested: Critical Approaches and their Relevance to Gender and Race
ESP addresses pragmatic concerns in academic settings in secondary or higher education and
various occupational contexts including teaching English to immigrants and refugees for
facilitating resettlement purposes (Belcher 2009).
Shifting Conceptualizations of Gender and Inquiry into Identity
In the past two decades, gender has attracted greater attention in sociolinguistics and applied
linguistics research. Consistent with feminist studies, the contemporary approach to research on
language use and gender is characterized by postmodern poststructuralist, and constructivist
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approaches to gender difference (Cameron 2005; Higgins 2010 ; Kubota 2003 ; Pavlenko 2001 ;
Sunderland 2000 ).
Conceptualization of Race and Critical Race Theory
Race has received greater attention in recent applied linguistics scholarship but it has not
been discussed as widely as issues of gender. Race is a socially constructed notion. Scientists
agree that there is no scientific evidence that race exists biologically as almost all human
genes are shared.
Other Social Categories and Intersectionality
Other social categories (e.g. age, class, language, religion; sexual identity) impact social
practices and identities in academic and professional settings.
Teaching Language to Adult Immigrants for Resettlement and Work Purposes
The experiences of adult immigrants and refugees learning English for resettlement and work
purposes have been studied by qualitative studies outside of ESP proper with a specifi c focus
on the role of gender in language learning. However, issues of race and other social categories
are underexplored in these studies despite the fact that many of them focus on immigrants and
refugees of color.
Teaching EAP
In the area of teaching EAP, researchers have addressed several topics relevant to this
chapter: e.g. gendered practice in academic writing activities and publications, cultured
practice of academic writing, and inquiry into gender and other social categories in EAP
classrooms.
Lesson 26 Ethnographic Approaches to ESP Research
There is wide agreement that English for specific purposes (ESP) is largely a teaching -
materials driven and learner - centered approach (Dudley - Evans and St John 1998 ). This focus has
developed concurrently with the “ social turn ” (Gee 1990 ) in language and literacy studies, which
considers that language use cannot be properly described and understood outside its context of social
use. As a result, much of the research carried out in ESP over the past decades has been done so with
the express intent of improving teaching methods by improving our understandings of language use.
Without necessarily carrying out actual ethnographies, ESP studies since the 1980s have
demonstrated a desire to develop a more ethnographic, or social - use - centered, orientation. This
orientation can be seen, for example, in articles from the earlier volumes of the journal, English for
Specific Purposes, where qualitative techniques and contextual analyses of sociopolitical or socio
educational factors were used to meet a shared research goal of providing more authentic descriptions
of specific purpose language use to improve teaching materials. Qualitative and ethnographic - oriented
approaches have since become increasingly accepted as part of ESP research practice, as can be
seen in the growing number of studies using such methods which have been published in the field’s
major journals. A survey carried out for the purposes of this chapter, which looked at publications in
English for Specific Purposes , the Journal of English for Academic Purposes, and the Journal of
Second Language Writing (see qualitative and ethnographic approaches in ESP research below)
shows that for each ten - year period since the early 1980s, that number has tripled.
WHAT IS ETHNOGRAPHY?
 refers to a range of diverse and ever - changing research approaches originating in
anthropological and sociological research and characterized by first - hand, naturalistic,
sustained observation and participation in a particular social setting. (Harklau, 2005,179)
WHAT IS AN ETHNOGRAPHIC APPROACH TO RESEARCH?
The move to a more sociocultural orientation in ESP research has caused scholars to
devise increasingly complex ways to provide contextual understandings of texts. One way in
which scholars have done this has been to integrate various ethnographic and qualitative
approaches and techniques into their research practice.
TRIANGULATION
 is one important distinctive of ethnographic research in that it “requires the researcher
to approach an issue, topic or event in a variety of ways in order to validate the
findings ” (Johns and Makalela, 2011 : 202).
Harklau (2011) identifies two overarching trends in qualitative research in applied
linguistics:
 On the one hand, there are sociocultural approaches oriented toward describing the
ecological context of language learning, such as ethnographies and case studies.
 On the other, there are approaches such as conversation analysis and genre
analysis, which examine the construction of social realities through discourse using
audio, video, or textual data.
Within these two broad groups, there is however considerable overlap among categories:
discourse - based researchers often highlight the usefulness of including interpretive and
empirical orientations in their analysis of discourse, and socioculturally-focused researchers
combine their research methods with a focus on language in new and opportune ways.
Scollon and Scollon (2001) have identified several key characteristics they find common to all
ethnographic studies.
 Fieldwork
 Participant observation
 Strange making
 Contrastive Operation
 Members Generalizations
 Individual Members Experiences
 Participant Feedback
Lillis (2008) identifies three levels of ethnography currently used in studies that have a
qualitative research orientation:
1. Ethnography as method
2. Ethnography as methodology
3. Ethnography as deep theorizing
ETHNOGRAPHY AS METHOD
 Lillis gives talk around text as an example of “ ethnography as method. ” She pinpoints a
number of limitations with this kind of technique, however. As she notes, text in this approach
is treated as a complex phenomenon, but the talk around it “tends to be treated as
straightforwardly transparent, a simple reflection of the writer' s perspective” ( 2008 : 361). As a
consequence, she argues strongly for using other methods of research, other than just talk -
around - text.
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Three different levels: In this survey, studies were identified as using qualitative methods if authors used at least one,
1. as a “ realist ” tale; if not a combination of, qualitative methods including: surveys, questionnaires, interviews, case studies,
2. as indexing relevant aspects of the community of practice, of self, and of writing; and textography, “ ethnography, ” “ qualitative analysis, ” participant and non - participant observation,
3. as a performative indicator of the power relations between researcher and writers being researched evaluations, onsite visits, focus group interviews, writer reflections, peer reviews, think - aloud protocol,
and how this influences the outcome of the talk (Lillis 2008 ). researchers ’ own intuitions as non - native speakers, narrative, literacy histories, network histories, and
a situation or contextual analysis of wider sociocultural, sociohistorical, sociopolitical or
ETHNOGRAPHY AS METHODOLOGY socioeducational factors.
 Ethnography as methodology differs from ethnography as method through its long - term site The survey period spanned 30 years (1980 – 2010). During this period, 85 articles (8.4
and actor engagement, drawing from the idea that “ long conversations ” (Maybin, 2006 ) are a percent) were identified as using some combination of qualitative methods (see Table 26.1 ). As
useful means for gathering information. similarly observed in the field of applied linguistics more generally (Gao, Li, and L ü 2001 ), the number
of ESP - based studies using a qualitative research orientation has grown over time (see Figure 26.1 ).
To create such holistic understandings, the various data collected need to reflect both: While in the early 1980s and throughout much of the 1990s, only a couple of articles using qualitative
Thick Descriptive Practices approaches were published each year, between 1999 – 2007 this number doubled, and doubled again
 by observing and collecting “ everything that may prove (potentially) to be significant, building between 2008 – 2010.
up a detailed pictures of places, people, and resources ” (Lillis 2008 : 368) using journals, field
notes, or photos. Qualitative and ethnographic-oriented approaches have since become increasingly accepted
Thick Participative Practices as part of English for specific purposes (ESP) research practice, as can be seen in the growing number
 which involves “a form of [researcher] socialization in order to achieve a threshold for of studies using such methods, which have been published in the field's major journals. A survey carried
interpretive understanding” (Lillis 2008 : 367). out for the purpose of this chapter, which looked at publications in ESP, the Journal of English for
ETHNOGRAPHY AS DEEP THEORIZING Academic Purposes (EAP), and the Journal of Second Language Writing, shows that for each ten-year
 Using this perspective on ethnography can, she claims, narrow the gap between text and period since the early 1980s, that number has tripled. The result of the survey helps to investigate the
context by using two context - sensitive categories drawn from linguistic ethnography: extent to which such qualitative and ethnographic approaches have made their way into ESP research
indexicality and orientation. Indexicality, here, acts as a mediational category that helps practices.
bridge the gap between text and context, thereby “radically challenging the dichotomy between Hyland (2002, 2009) makes a strong argument for using ethnographic approaches to research
language and culture ” (Lillis 2008 : 381). in order to preserve the usefulness of ESP research for teaching purposes. He points to our research
community’ s increasing knowledge about the specificity of disciplinary writing tasks and to the wide
TEXTOGRAPHY variation seen in genre exemplars across disciplines and professions. Such distinctions have been
 is an approach to the analysis of written texts which combines text analysis with ethnographic brought to light not only by a sizeable collection of survey studies, but additionally by ethnographic
techniques such as surveys, interviews, and other data sources in order to examine what texts methods. As he notes, ethnographic studies paint a more accurate, albeit complicated, picture of
are like, and why. generic norms and of literacy that can only be of benefit to our learners.

QUALITATIVE AND ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH IN ESP

Three international Peer-reviewed Journals in ESP Lesson 27 MULTIMODALITY and ESP RESEARCH
 The English for Specific Purposes journal (preceded by The ESP Journal, 1980 – 1985)
 The Journal of Second Language Writing English for Specific Purposes (ESP) research and pedagogy developed initially against
 Journal of English for Academic Purposes conceptualizations of a general English language competence, a single language system
26.1 Number of studies using qualitative methods per journal target that could be described by some grammar (not yet determined) linked to a lexicon and
Number of articulated through a phonological and orthographic system, a competence that generally
Total number of appeared to be mode – free.
Journal name Total period qualitative %
publications
studies
English for Specific Along with contemporary moves in ethnomethodology (e.g. Cicourel 1973; Garfinkel1967) and
1980-2010 51 548 9 the ethnography of communication/sociolinguistics (e.g. Gumperz1982; Hymes 1974), ESP
Purposes
The Journal of Second emerged as a counter to the dominant vision of general language competence, articulating a
1992-2010 21 278 7.5 notion of language as more heterogeneous, dialogic, and situated, as a mosaic of registers
Language Writing
Journal of English for and genres organized around specific domains of social practice – disciplines, professions,
2002-2010 13 176 7.4 workplaces, recreation, home, and community/public life.
Academic Purposes
Total number of articles 85 1002 8.4
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Nevertheless, multimodality seems to have remained a somewhat peripheral area of ESP
research as traditional language theories have continued to shape questions and methods.
Speaking and Listening, Reading and Writing: The Four - Mode Scheme
- This scheme structures the first section of this Handbook (ESP and Language Skills), with
chapters devoted to each of the four modes plus one for vocabulary. Mode in this scheme is
defined as a way of using language, with the basic modal binary of orality and literacy further
subdivided into productive and receptive uses.
- In these terms, multimodality might then refer to the way these four modes of language work
together and are used in a specific domain. ESP needs analyses have pretty routinely asked
how language needs and uses in specific domains are distributed across the four - mode
scheme.
- The four – mode scheme and elaborations on it (e.g. attention to particular kinds of reading or
writing, speaking or listening) have been a staple of ESP needs analysis since its formation,
particularly in studies that use questionnaires to identify situation – and role – specific
communicative needs in particular domains.
- Johns (1981) , for example, developed a questionnaire for academic English needs, in which
faculty were asked to rate the importance of the four language skills (reading, writing, speaking
and listening) as well as of specific forms of each (e.g. reading textbooks, examination
questions or journals in the field; writing reports, essay answers, or critiques; talking in class or
for oral reports).
- This four – mode scheme is largely taken for granted theoretically and typically not associated
with the idea of multimodality.
Multimodality Studies and ESP in a Digital Age
- Multimodality studies is particularly associated with the work of Gunther Kress and Theo Van
Leeuwen (e.g. 1996, 2001 ) and their colleagues, and tends to be grounded in systemic –
functional linguistics (Halliday 1978 ).
- In Kress ’ s account, the emerging digital age is defined by a shift from the practices and
values of written prose to those of the highly visual representations found in digitally – driven
new media technologies (digital fi lm, computer animation, digital photography, computer –
aided graphs, diagrams, and illustrations, much now on the Web or at least designed with web
distribution in mind).
- Multimodality studies has focused sharp attention on new media and the digital revolution, has
especially emphasized the role of the visual in the current communicative economy, and has
recognized that multiple modes operate together in any particular semiotic object. For
multimodality studies, in the age of digital media, the design of semiotic objects has become
the key issue.
Multimodality as Semiotic Practice: Situated and Ethnographic Research
- As studies of language in specific domains emerged across fields (i.e. not only in ESP),
attention turned to situations of use as well as domains of language and often to embodied
semiotic practices as well as semiotic artifacts.
- (Goodwin 2007 ; Streeck 2009 ).Increasingly, studies that look at face – to – face interaction
look beyond oral language, attending also to gesture and other nonverbal, situated use of
tools, and the indexical coupling of discourse with environments.
- Situated attention to conference presentations has been a particularly productive arena for
considering the multimodal character of semiotic practices. Shalom (1993) analyzed the way
written text, visuals, and varied kinds of presentational and interactive talk were displayed in
different kinds of conference events (plenary lecture, roundtable, poster) at an ecology
conference.
- Ethnographically informed studies have also considered how multimodal practices are related
to discourse enculturation.
- Tardy (2009) examined how several graduate students in different disciplines engaged in
multimodal genre networks as they learned the staged and blended semiotic practices of
presenting slides for presentations in classrooms, research groups, conferences, and other
settings.
- Paltridge (2004) analyzed the way art and design master ’ s projects blend a visual – material
art project (paintings, digital and material objects, installations, events) with a textual exegesis
that contextualized the art.
- Situated and ethnographic research on professional settings also points to multimodal chains
of activity. For example, in a study of land surveyors in Hong Kong, which drew on
observational protocols and participant logs of communication, Cheng and Mok (2008)
mapped out complex multilingual as well as multimodal chains of genres and communicative
events in this workplace.
Embodied Activity – in – the – World: Reimagining Situated Needs and Socialization
- Goodwin (1994, 2007) examines another site of field enculturation and activity as he traces the
professional vision of archeologists in the field.
- Latour (1999) also notes the way the environment was marked and labeled, selectively
sampled and ordered, tested and described through varied semiotic means.
- Drawing on the dialogic notion of semiotic remediation (the way situated activity routinely
involves semiotic performances that are re – represented and re – used across chains of
activity (see Prior and Hengst 2010 ; Prior et al. 2006 ).
- Haviland (2007) analyzed the semiotic transpositions in a master ’ s class for a string quartet
as instructors moved from miming the playing of instruments (sometimes in the air, sometimes
bowing on fingers) to playing their own instruments or bowing on the student ’ s instrument as
the student fingered the notes; in this setting, the music instructors evoked the score through
gestures, vocal song, humming, and other sounds as they characterized the score verbally and
metaphorically.
- Prior and Shipka (2003) consider the embodied and materially - , spatially - , and temporally –
organized character of literate composing, highlighting the way undergraduate students,
graduate students, and professors displayed varied ESSPs (environment – selecting and –
structuring practices) aimed at supporting the participants intellectual engagements and
composing processes.
- Studies of environmentally coupled and discursively animated embodied action point to the
specialized ways that bodies act and interact in what have been widely conceptualized in ESP
simply as special – purpose domains of language.
The Case of Biology: Academic Needs as Embodied, Multimodal Genre Systems
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- Among academic fields that EAP is interested in, biology happens to be one that has been
studied in particularly intense ways that illustrate the range of semiotic resources that might be
taken up in ESP research. Studies of representational practice have highlighted the way
biology texts are routinely multimedia genres (Lemke 1998 ).
- Multimodality studies have so far been focused on interpretive accounts of how images on
page, screen or other surface might structure the meanings that idealized readers take from
them, research on visual practices in biological laboratories has focused on environmentally
coupled gestures and talk, as scientists engage in the work of interpreting visual data and
visualizing conceptual understanding.
- In combination, these studies of laboratory research and practice in biology, of popular and
technical genres, and of apprentice – like enculturation processes make it clear that
multimodality is about more than multiple modes inscribed in conference slides, textbooks, and
journal articles, that it is also about deeply embodied multiple modalities of engagement in the
world.