DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES

EKITI STATE UNIVERSITY, ADO EKITI

ENG 408: ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES
COURSE DESCRIPTION
As a current trend in English language research and scholarship, ESP is directed at how the
English language should be used to further the course of specific disciplines. In other words, it is
usage specific. It is hinged on Hutchinson and Water’s dictum: “Tell me what you need English
for and I will tell you the type of English that you need.” This course shall consider the essence
of English for Specific Purposes to see how the methodology in English language instruction can
help reduce the dwindling performance in language that has become a global lingua franca.

COURSE OUTLINE
WEEK I-The Meaning and Scope of ESP/GPE in ESL Environment
WEEK II-ESP as a Revolution in Applied Linguistics
WEEK III- ESP and General Purpose English Distinguished
WEEK IV- Learning Theories in ESP-Learner Centredness, Scaffolding, etc.
WEEK V- Continuous Assessment
WEEK VI-Needs Analysis in ESP-PSA/TSA
WEEK VII-The Teaching and Learning Process of English in Non-native Environments
WEEK VIII- Group Presentations I
WEEK IX-English for the Purpose of Mass Communication
WEEK X-Group Presentations II
WEEK XI- Working with ESP
WEEK XII-Group Presentations III
WEEK XIII-Group Presentations IV
WEEK XIV-Revision for Examination
WEEK XV-Examination

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DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES
EKITI STATE UNIVERSITY, ADO EKITI
ENG 408: ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES
LECTURE I: The Meaning and Scope of ESP/GPE in ESL Environment

In modern linguistics, especially Applied Linguistics where ESP rightly belongs, second

language pedagogy is a serious issue considering the fact that performance in English as a

second language is dwindling fast. ESP is a departure from the traditional way of second

language English teaching and learning. The traditional pedagogical methods focus on structural

aspects of language, ESP concentrates on second language acquisition in specialized contexts.

This is why some key issues are very important in ESP. According to Dudley Evans and St. John

(1998) the ESP practitioner is:

a. A teacher;

b. Course designer and materials provider;

c. Collaborator;

d. Researcher

e. Evaluator.

These following issues are germane in ESP as a new approach in second language English

scholarship through the ESP:

1. Abilities required for successful communication in occupational settings;

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 2. Content language acquisition versus general language acquisition;

3. Heterogeneous versus homogenous learner group;

4. Materials development.

The major reasons for the emergence of ESP include:

i. The demand for a new world order after the World War II which threw up English as

the global language;

ii. Revolution in linguistics which places emphasis on functionalism rather than

structuralism. This is what distinguishes ESP from GPE. In GPE, the English

language was taught as a general subject without recognition for distinctiveness that

exists in diverse disciplines. The emphasis in GPE was mere analysis of the structures

of English without serious thought for what the language will be used for. Such

methods as direct, audio-lingual and grammar-translation.

The need therefore to restrict second language learning to the required needs of the learner,

rather than general language teaching, where the learner is taught an array of structures,

relevant and otherwise, and then left to forage for his needs became necessary. This is the

major difference between English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and English for General

Purposes (GPE). ESP, therefore, is a learner-centered approach to the learning of English in

that it focuses on the interests of the learner, rather than those of others involved in the

learning process. The approach has many implications for the design of the curriculum,

course content and interactivity of courses. This completely is in contrast to traditional

learning modes. In other words, as a learner-centered approach, it focuses on learners’

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interests, abilities and learning styles with, in most cases, the teacher acting as a mere

facilitator. The traditional approach is mainly teacher-centered as the teacher is at the centre

playing active role and learners in passive role.

In ESP, as we are going to see in subsequent lectures, the needs of the learner play prominent

roles in the pedagogical process (curriculum design and execution). For example, such

questions as:

a. In what area(s) do the learners want to use English

 Commerce;

 Mass communication;

 Academics;

 Jobs/promotions; etc

b. Where do the learners want to use the English?

 Office, school, bank, industry;

 Airlines;

 Markets; etc.

c. In which form is the learner going to use the English?

 Face-to-face conversation;

 Written discourse;

 Telephone conversation; etc

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DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES
EKITI STATE UNIVERSITY, ADO EKITI
ENG 408: ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES
LECTURE II: ESP AS A REVOLUTION IN APPLIED LINGUISTICS

As a form of applied linguistics, ESP is concerned with the use of English is specific or

specialized areas. More specifically, applied linguistics, according to Crystal (2004) edited

Penguin Encyclopedia “The application of linguistic theory, practice, and methodology to

situations which present language-related tasks or problems. The most well-established field is

that of language teaching and learning, particularly with reference to foreign language”. As a

form of approach to language teaching and learning, ESP contrasts traditional modes of language

teaching and learning, especially second language teaching and learning. Thus ESP is a

revolution in linguistics. In traditional linguistics, emphasis is always on language structure

without serious consideration for functions. On the other hand, in ESP, emphasis has shifted

from mere analysis of language structures to functions that language should perform in the

society, outside the classroom, where language has its real existence.

As a departure from traditional linguistics, which aims at description of the rules of English

usage, in terms of its grammar, ESP, according to Hutchinson & Waters (1991:7), emphasising

Widdowson (1978), “shifted attention away from defining the formal features of language usage

to discovering the ways in which language is actually used in real communication”. It is a form

of Language for Specific Purposes, characterized by the value placed on language as a means

rather than an end in itself. This is because language in itself is of little value, besides being used

to achieve a definite purpose. This is where ESP departs from traditional linguistics in that the

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former defines English language use to achieve specific objectives. In traditional linguistics, it is

possible for learners of English especially, as a second language, to memorize rules of the

language and regurgitate them without a proper mastery of the language for use in real life

situations. The use of traditional method of language learning has not caused improvement in

performance in second language English usage, at least, in recent times.

A new emphasis in language teaching and learning is Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)

via the English for Specific purposes approach (ESP). Hyland (2002:386) describes ESP as “the

language and activities appropriate to particular disciplines, occupations and activities and as

required by particular learners”. Earlier, Mackay (1978:21) says ESP generally refers to the

teaching/learning of a foreign language for a clearly utilitarian purpose. It is the teaching of

English, not as an end in itself but as an essential means to clearly identifiable goal. Although

English is no more a foreign language in Nigeria, what applies to English teaching as a foreign

language is not too distant to what applies to it also as a second language, when the ESP

approach is adopted to make English language teaching and learning more focused and more

learner-friendly, for effectiveness. This is the aspect in which ESP has revolutionized linguistics.

The goal of using English, for example, in vocational and technical education, like in many other

professions, is not to make English men of black technicians and engineers or other

professionals; but designing English programmes “to instruct students in the effective use of the

language which serves to further their profession” (Widdowson, 1998: 13). Dating back to post

World War II in 1945, the ESP approach to CLT is based on the needs of a particular group, by

identifying their peculiar linguistic features via their specialized area of study. This actually led

to the now popular ESP slogan: “Tell me what you need English for and I will tell you the

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English that you need” (Hutchinson and Waters, 1991: 8). The ESP approach to English

language teaching/learning shifts attention away from the usual General English, studied for

examination purpose to tailoring the teaching/learning of English to the purpose of the learner.

To Crocker (1981: 8), a Language for Specific Purpose (LSP) course is characterized, more than

anything else; by the value such course places upon language as a means rather than as an end in

itself. This is precisely what ESP, which is an offshoot of LSP, is all about.

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DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES
EKITI STATE UNIVERSITY, ADO EKITI
ENG 408: ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES
LECTURE III: ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES VERSUS GENERAL PURPOSE

ENGLISH

General Purpose English is the language as it is commonly learnt without any specific purpose in

focus. In General Purpose English, the English language, in a second language situation is taught

the same way to different categories of learners, with the expectation that each category of

learners will make a choice of what is needed for their own purpose. This detracts from the

expected results in competence and performance. English for Specific Purposes on the other

hand, discourages the assumption of uniform pedagogical approach of the GPE. Instead it

emphasizes the necessity of needs analysis as a precondition for syllabus and course content

design. This is a learner centered approach to learning the language especially by adults. Like

Language for Specific Purposes (LSP), ESP is the teaching and learning of English to meet the

specific needs of a specific group. ESP is therefore an instance of LSP, and it is generally used to

refer to the teaching and learning of a foreign language for a clearly utilitarian purpose, and more

specifically, it is the teaching of English, not as an end in itself but as an essential means to a

clearly identifiable goal (Mackay, 1978).

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is a need-specific kind of English. In order words, it is a

learner-centered approach to teaching English as an additional language, with emphasis on

developing communicative ability in a specific discipline or business. In English for Specific

Purposes, students are taught along their stated needs relative to content in a particular discipline

8
or occupation. The most important feature of ESP is the departure from traditional English

pedagogy. One of the major differences is in who the learners are and their purpose of learning.

Usually adults with some knowledge of English are those to be taught ESP or to be taught using

the ESP approach to enable them effectively communicate and perform in some job related

functions. This is why ESP is considered as a specialist course.

ESP is a departure from traditional linguistics. Traditional linguistics is concerned with the

description of rules of language, in terms of its grammar. ESP, on the other hand, sees English as

it functions in real life situation, usually outside the classroom where language is in practical use.

It is a form of Language for Specific Purposes, which is a bigger umbrella that places premium

on language as a means to an end rather than an end in itself. Language in itself, of course, has

little value, apart from being used to achieve a definite purpose.

Traditionally, the aim of linguistics had been to describe the rules of language use, that is the

grammar, which is usually learnt in a formal manner and, in most cases, completely detached

from real life experiences. However, new studies, especially as promoted by ESP, shift attention

away from defining the formal features of language usage to discovering the ways in which

language is actually used in real life communication. To a great extent, learners are a major

factor in ESP because how the language instructor will approach topics, organize the points and

the language to be used will be determined by them. The emphasis on learners is further borne

out of the fact that needs vary in line with so many factors sch as learners’ current knowledge

which is referred to as Present Situation Analysis (PSA) and learning objectives, identified in

Target Situation Analysis (TSA) in ESP. This is as an alternative method in ESL/EFL pedagogy.

9
Lack of consideration for learners in the learning of English as a second/foreign language is

because learners are seen as passive, and the whole responsibility in the pedagogical process

rests on the teacher. In his kind of approach learners’ actual needs are not accorded deserved

attention. Instead perceived needs take precedence over target/learning needs. This is especially

the case when classes are large and teachers are few with usually necessitates teachers’

overriding roles and subsequent relegation of learners to mere passive recipient of knowledge

that may not be really useful.

Curriculums designed and textbooks written for second/foreign language English environments

must consider learners’ attitude, linguistic disposition and progress. The current practice of

perceived needs that are ready-made before the beneficiaries are known is no longer fashionable

and effective. Those planning curriculum and writing textbooks must not only know their

subject, they must also the subjects they are writing for.

ESP is focused learning, with focus on the English language to achieve specific or specialized

purposes, and this is what necessitated the slogan: “Tell me what you need English for and I will

tell you the type of English that you need”. As focused teaching, one of the basic principles that

underlie it is Needs Analysis.

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DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES
EKITI STATE UNIVERSITY, ADO EKITI
ENG 408: ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES
LECTURE IV: LEARNING THEORIES IN ESP

Certain theories underlie English for Specific Purposes as a learning approach to effective

communication in English. Language, as a human phenomenon, has had its development

subjected to various philosophies. From the two extremes of nativism or innatism to which

belong mentalism and structuralism, a proposition of the rationalist school, and then empiricism

where we have behaviourism.

Language development in man has, over time, been discovered impossible to be put in a strait-

jacket of one philosophy or the other. Rather, what is now obtainable is a mid-way between the

two polar views. As McLaughlin (2006: 129) has noted “these poloar positions contrast in a

number of ways, including the contributions of learning principles, mental structures, cognitive

processes, and societal factors”. The mid-point, currently, is interactionism. This strikes a

balance between a learner’s interaction with the environment, which is referred to as social

interactionism, in a way that enhances a learner’s cognitive structures that support langauge

learning, in what is referred to as cognitive interactionism. So when it comes to second language

learning today, the principle now is no longer “nature versus nurture”, but a question of “how

much of each”? (McLaughlin, 2006: 129). Earlier, Lopez (1989), stressing the learner-

centredness of an effective learning process, considers learners as active rather than mere passive

recipients in the learning process. This is also the belief of constructivism, as a theory of

learning, where learning is viewed as an active constructive process. As “A theory of knowledge

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that argues that humans generate knowledge and meaning from an interaction between their

experiences and their ideas” (Learning-Theories.com), Constructivism is linked to the

pedagogical approaches that promote active learning or learning by doing, that will, no doubt,

involve both innate abilities and experience gathered from the environment.

Language cannot be fully mastered in the classroom, otherwise, many years in the classroom,

under experienced teachers and well written textbooks should make adults demonstrate better

language skills than children. Unlike adults in the classroom, children usually have a haphazard

learning procedure with peers and without a formal classroom yet demonstrate a near flawless

language performance at the age of about three. Extant literature reveals that even with highly

gifted adults, second language learning is imperfect and marked with a lot of infelicities,

compared to perfect mastery by children. This is where ESP becomes relevant as learning is

restricted to what is relevant to them at the expense of other things.

Constructism places emphasis on the ability of the learner to create knowledge using language.

Chomsky’s Language Acquisition Device (LAD) predisposes all normal language users to

explore fully the linguistic ability inherent in them to be creative linguistically, thereby

perfecting either L1 or L2. Task-based syllabus, which is in tandem with the constructivist view

of learning, when properly conceived and implemented has the potential of making learners

construct ideas that require language to perfect, and vice versa. In ESP, for example, learners are

made to interact in their profession using the English language that is directly relevant to them

and their profession rather than an omnibus learning process.

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 DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES

EKITI STATE UNIVERSITY, ADO EKITI

ENG 408: ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES

LECTURE V: NEEDS ANALYSIS IN ESP

Needs Analysis is the systematic identification of the reasons or purposes for which a learner of

English requires the language. Hutchinson and Waters (1987:19) say “ESP is an approach to

language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learner’s

reason for learning.” Needs Analysis is diagnostic which is required before making a

prescription. This is a departure from traditional approach to English language pedagogy which

is more of postmortem approach to the teaching and learning of English.

Learners’ needs take precedence, if they are to benefit fully from an ESP programme. In ESP, it

is expected that the learner would be prioritised over method. Error/needs analysis should

therefore form part of second/foreign language English teaching/learning process, as a way of

narrowing the teaching process to required specifics. This normally follows the identification and

classification of needs, instead of following an omnibus curriculum, which now hardly benefits

learners in nonnative environments.

According to Brumfit (1977), ESP course is directly concerned with the purposes for which

learners need English, purposes which are usually expressed in functional terms. This way,

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according to him, ESP firmly fits within the general movement towards communicative teaching

in recent times.

Non-linguists usually see errors as anomalies, and so detest them, and the thought or commission

of errors frighten students. But errors are essential part of second/foreign language learning

process. Although most people naturally frown at errors, and see them as things that must not be

touched, even with a long pole, the reality, however, is that errors are not unexpected and so are

not really as bad in second language learning.

Error is an instrument in the teaching/learning process of English as a second/foreign language.

They are essential feedbacks to the teacher, enabling him/her to know what has not been properly

taught or learnt, which may necessitate the teacher adopting another teaching method to achieve

the purpose of teaching. Error analysis is therefore a form of needs analysis required in ESP as a

form of Communicative Language Teaching. An error detected is a pointer to a need that is

yearning to be met. When errors are identified, needs are discovered. Therefore Error Analysis in

second/foreign language English teaching is similar to needs analysis procedure in ESP for the

purpose of focused teaching. Identification of errors helps the teacher to narrow down the

common language difficulties learners still have that require specific attention for the purpose of

remediation.

There are two types of needs in ESP and they are discussed below.

a. Present Situation Analysis

This is the systematic identification of the knowledge the learner is bringing in to the current
learning situation. This will assist the instructor to know:

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 i. what has been learnt successfully that need not be repeated to save time, energy and
resources;

ii. what has been learnt successfully but still needs to be reinforced as a way of
consolidation;

iii. the actual deficiency that needs dedicated attention.

The PSA enables the ESP instructor to assist the learner by developing/designing specific

courses that will meet the individual or group needs in a dedicated manner. This is where ESP is

learner friendly or learner-centred. ESP is commonly centered on the language (grammar, lexis,

register) skills, discourse and genres that are appropriate to meet the purposes for which the

learner or group of learners is learning English. In ESP, the English language is taught in relation

to or designed for specific disciplines using, in specific teaching situations, a different

methodology from that of General English.

b. Target Situation Analysis

This is another systematic and thorough identification and analysis of the goal for which the

language is to be taught and learnt. Every learning process should have an outcome. The

expected outcome is the goal that the learner and the instructor strive to achieve. In very simple

terms, the target situation is the objective of any ESP programme. Error analysis in

second/foreign language English teaching/learning process is similar to needs analysis procedure

in ESP for the purpose of focused teaching. Errors assist the teacher to identify common

language problems as needs that still require specific attention for the purpose of remediation. To

this extent error analysis and needs analysis share the same objective.

15
Error is an instrument in the teaching/learning process of English as a second/foreign language.

They are a form of feedback to the teacher, enabling him/her to know what has not been properly

taught or learnt, which may necessitate the teacher adopting another teaching method to

accomplish the pedagogical purpose. Error analysis is therefore a form of needs analysis required

in ESP as a form of Communicative Language Teaching as errors detected point to what has not

been learnt which constitute needs that are yet to be met. When errors are identified, needs are

revealed.

16
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES
EKITI STATE UNIVERSITY, ADO EKITI
ENG 408: ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES
LECTURE VI: NEEDS ANALYSIS PROCEDURE IN ESP
Needs Analysis is diagnostic. In other words, it determines the cause of a problem. To determine

the cause of a language problem, the following method may be adopted:

Test of ability, which can take the form of

a. Written assignment(s): This must be in form of impromptu work within a space of time,

as a test of present ability. Written expression will show the true ability of learners, as it

will help distinguish between mistake and error.

b. Oral or written interview: This is like written assignments, only that it may not have the

duration of the former. Besides, oral interview may also reveal the oral aspect that may

also require intervention.

c. Impromptu interaction: This is an informal conversation that will afford the needs analyst

the opportunity to identify individual or group deficiencies that require remediation

through focused attention.

d. Observation: This may take the form of either participant or non-participant observation.

The participant observation is like the impromptu interaction as discussed earlier, while

the non-participant has to do with the needs analyst staying off the interaction. It could

take the form of tape-recording conversations in which the analyst is a mere observer and

17
 without any form interference. This kind of observation is better in a natural setting to

reveal the true identity of learners.

Any method that is capable of showing learners’ deficiencies for which a remedy is required is

adequate as a method in Needs Analysis. Each case will normally determine its own method in

the final analysis.

Importance of Needs Analysis

An effective ESP programme is an outcome of a prior Needs Analysis. This process is

immeasurably beneficial to the entire pedagogical process. NA reveals learners’ deficiencies

which call for attention. Because needs are not identified in traditional pedagogical method that

emphasises structural analysis, many learners benefit little or nothing, as most often they are

taught concepts that are not needed and actual needs in real life situation are neglected.

Needs Analysis aids in the preparation of appropriate curriculum to meet the target needs of the

learner. This is also a departure from the practice where curriculum prepared may not meet the

actual needs of beneficiaries. In many instances, curriculum planners may not have direct access

to the actual needs of those they are planning for, and so may just rely on perceived needs.

The teaching/learning process is expedited and so save time and resources that are usually

expended with little or no result in the teaching and learning of General English. With specific

needs identified, attention is directed only to areas of need. Materials are also prepared and

tailored to meet specific needs rather than an omnibus one which learners are exposed to. In most

instances, the persistent adoption of the traditional mode of teaching in many English as second

18
language environments de-emphasises the use of authentic materials as should be the case in

ESP.

One other benefit of NA is the opportunity it accords learners to partake actively in the

pedagogical process, unlike the situation where they are considered as passive participants and

mere recipients of knowledge in General English. NA affords learners, as active participants, to

indicate what they want to be taught which may also dictate how. Citing the Brazilian ESP

project, Hutchinson & Waters (1987:15) reveal that “The teaching of grammar is based on the

minimum necessary for understanding academic texts”. This way, the distinction between ESP

and General English becomes clearer as the latter emphasises the teaching of structure to the

detriment of communication in real life situations outside the classroom. This distinction is “the

awareness of a target situation-a definable need to communicate in English...” (Hutchinson &

Waters (1987:54), which, according to Hyland (2002:386), is “...the language and activities

appropriate to particular disciplines, occupations and activities and required by particular

learners.”

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DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES
EKITI STATE UNIVERSITY, ADO EKITI
ENG 408: ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES
LECTURE VII: COURSE AND MATERIALS DESIGN

As part of ESP procedure, special courses must be designed to fit into and meet learners’

identified specific needs.an ESP course is not an omnibus one but one designed specially to meet

special needs. The General English curriculum from which ESP is a departure is without any

clearly known beneficiaries, but with the hope that some unknown needs may somehow be met.

Such curriculums are designed by unknown people for unidentified beneficiaries.

ESP is restrictive in nature and delimits the pedagogical process to the needs and dictates of a

particular profession or environment. Indeed, it is “an approach to language teaching in which all

decisions as to content and method are based on the learner’s reason for learning” (Hutchinson &

Waters, 1987: 19). It is a form of directional teaching, different from General English language

teaching which, “tends to set out from a point toward an often indeterminate destination, setting

sail through largely uncharted waters”. On the other hand, “ESP aims to speed learners through

to a known destination” (Basturkmen (2006: 9).

The table shows identified peculiar needs of different ESL professionals in a non-native English

environment.

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Pofession Specific English Reason/Purpose What to be Taught

Needs

Medicine & Allied -Highly technical -Secrecy/ -Direct use of

Fields with colleagues confidentiality specialized register

-Simple, almost -Questioning

simplistic with -To arrive at the techniques-the use of

patients root of a problem to Wh- for closed ended

enable the right questions requiring

diagnosis and short responses and

prescription open ended questions

to open possible

conversation

Military -Military -Urgency/terceness, -Direct teaching of

terminology revealing no more specialized register

information than

required -Direct teaching of

-Commanding -Urgency/ordering sentence typology,

for operational with emphasis on the

security imperative

Law -Arguing/debating -Convincing/ -Argumentative

persuading essay

-Questioning

-Examination/cross -Sentence typology,

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 examination with emphasis on

functional

-Legal drafting -Avoidance of classifications

ambiguity -Sentence typology,

with emphasis on

structural

classifications

Journalism/Mass -Reporting -News -Emphasis on

communication dissemination reported speech

-News writing -Sentence typology,

-do- simplicity in writing

-News casting -Phonetics/

-do- phonology, with

emphasis on correct

pronunciation at

segmental and supra-

segmental levels

What follows after the course design is finding relevant materials to fit the designed curriculum.

Since needs are specific, materials also be designed to be needs specific. This one of the areas

where the ESP teacher must be resourceful. The teacher must multifunction as teacher,

curriculum designer and materials producer. These are enormous responsibilities on the teacher.

Although the use of authentic materials is favoured to make the teaching more needs specific,
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where this is not readily available, it is the responsibility of the teacher to design an alternative in

line with the profession that the materials would serve. This is where collaboration with

specialists in special needs areas becomes necessary. Such specialists will supply necessary

vocabularies which the ESP teacher will incorporate in the material for use.

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES

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 EKITI STATE UNIVERSITY, ADO EKITI
ENG 408: ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES
LECTURE VII: CURRICULUM AND SYLLABUS DESIGN IN ESP/ESP METHODOLOGY

Curriculum is a set of concepts included to be taught in a course of study. Like the syllabus, it is

a set of topics clearly set out to be taught and be learnt by students. Since ESP is learner specific,

a one-cap-fits-all curriculum cannot suffice, even in the same learning environment. This is

where the teacher’s role becomes very important. The teacher has to collaborate with specialists

in the area of needs to prepare a tailor-made curriculum that will meet specific needs. This

should be done after a prior needs analysis. This is, however, for ESP as a methodology. For ESP

as a course, the usual practice of setting up a curriculum can still be adopted since it is to teach

those going to implement needs.

ESP Methodology

The following are the major techniques to achieve results, especially when adopting ESP

methodology in English language teaching.

a. Learner-centredness: The neglect of learners in the learning of English as a second/foreign

language stems from the fact that learners are seen as passive participants in the learning process

in which case the teacher has to think for them. With this kind of scenario, learners’ real

expectations are not always given adequate consideration as perceived needs take precedence

over target/learning needs. This is especially so in cases where classes are large and teachers are

few, as a result of which teachers take the centre stage and learners are left to wander in teachers’

world of knowledge that alienates learners who are relegated to the background.

24
b. Task-based: An effective method in ESP is to engage learners in tasks that involve the needs

to be met. It is no longer very profitable to engage learners in long and laborious task of teaching

structures at that may not be needed in real life experience. In ESP, while not relegating the

teaching of grammar to the background as it is the building block of effective language learning,

grammar rules are taught “on as-needed basis, and fluency takes precedence over grammatical

accuracy” (Fromkin, Rodman and Hyams,(2007: 352).

c. Use of Authentic Materials: This is one of the areas where GPE and ESP part ways. While

GPE does not discriminate in the use of materials irrespective of learner or group of learners and

their specific purpose for learning English, ESP does. The latter favours the use of special, and at

times, materials that have direct relevance to the needs to be addressed to enable focused

teaching. Authentic materials are those learning tools that are used in real life situation of

learners. Where there are no authentic materials, the task rests on the ESP teacher to make them

available.

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND LITERARY STUDIES

EKITI STATE UNIVERSITY, ADO EKITI
25
 ENG 408: ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES
LECTURE VIII: ENGLISH FOR THE PURPOSE OF MASS COMMUNICATION

Mass communication is the dissemination of information through any mass means and to a

diverse audience. The following specific features are expected of the language of mass

communication.

a. Simplicity- in diction and syntax. Disseminating information to a variety of audience

requires simplicity of expression. It is not a specialized language of information to an

audience of the same understanding of the jargons and special diction of a profession.

The choice of words should therefore be as simple as can be without necessarily

being simplistic. The advice of Daniel Defoe, a novelist is worth heeding here.

According to him: “If any man was to ask me what I would supposed to be a perfect

style of language, I would answer: that in which a man speaking to 500 people of all

common and various capacities, idiots and lunatics excepted, should be understood by

them all.” Also in the words of Arthur Christiansen, a great newspaper editor of all

season, on what constitutes a bad style “It is a story that cannot be absorbed on the

first time of reading…it is a story that has to be read two or three times to be

comprehended.” A good writer for mass communication must strive to write in such a

way that the message cannot be misconstrued.

b. Use of passive voice. The use of passive rather than active voice is to avoid situations

where the performer of an action is unknown or is to be avoided for possible

litigation. This is particularly so in case of immediacy of news story when the true

situation may still be hazy.

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c. The adoption of the Inverted Pyramid Style. It is the usual practice to build a story

from the beginning and build it to a climax. This practice is reversed in journalism,

especially in the case of news writing. As many people are interested in the meat of a

news event, without bothering so much about surrounding details, mass

communicators present what readers want to know in the immediate, bringing other

details in tow. In essence, in the first paragraph, of a news story, the reader is

presented with who, what, where, when, why and how of an occurrence that makes

the news story. For example:

The Vice Chancellor (who) has ordered the immediate reroofing of the

administrative block (what) near the university central area (where) with immediate

effect (when) to avoid further damage to the age long building (why) by direct

labour. (how). This is called the 5W’s and the H in news writing.

d. Avoidance of figurative expression/technical jargons where not essential. In line with

Daniel Defoe’s and Christiansen’s admonitions in simplicity of style, news stories

must be devoid of figurative expressions whose meanings are not immediately

comprehensible to “people of all common and various capacities, idiots or lunatics

excepted…” News stories should be written in as simple a style as possible that is

accessible to readers of various capacities, and not necessarily to impress. Writers

who write to impress focus attention on themselves rather than the message. In such

cases the message may be lost.

e. Avoidance of semantic ambiguity. Ambiguity occurs when a word or an expression

can be understood in more than one sense, both of which are correct but one of which

was not intended. Semantic ambiguity is when an expression, as presented, has more

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than one possible meaning. A simple punctuation misuse can cause a semantic

ambiguity with fatal consequences. This is why those who write for mass

communication must do so with caution and with a specific purpose in mind.

Consider the following sentences for clarification:

Kill not, discharged and acquitted.

Kill, not discharged and acquitted.

It is imperative that those who write for others must consider it important that they

strive to be as unambiguous as possible. Simplicity is, in fact, the hallmark of good

writing.

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