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Section 4 THE ROLE OF THE ESP TEACHER

Our explorations of the land of ESP are almost complete, and we come in this final section to consider the role of the ESP teacher, in particular, to consider in what ways the ESP teacher`s lot differs from that of the General English teacher. We have stressed a number of times the need to see ESP within the context of language teaching in general and this applies as much to the role of the teacher as to materials and methodology. Nevertheless, three are important practical ways in which the work of the General English teacher and the ESP teacher differ. We shall conclude our journey by considering two of the most important differences, the one briefly and the other at greater length.

Firstly it will be clear from the preceding chapters that the ESP teacher`s role is one of many parts. Indeed swales (1985) prefers with some justification to use the term `ESP practitioner` rather than `ESP` teacher ` in order to reflect this scope. It is likely that in addition to the normal functions of a classroom teacher, the ESP teacher will have to deal with needs analysis, syllabus design, materials writing or adaptation and evaluation. We do not intend to go into this aspect in any further detail : the whole book is a testimony to the range of parts the ESP teacher is called  upon to play. The second way in which ESP teaching differs from General English teaching is that the great majority of ESP teachers have not been trained as such. They need, therefore, to orientate themselves to a new environment for which they have generally been ill-prepared. This section will deal with this matter of orientation. The appendix details sources of information to help the ESP teacher.

4.     Orientation

1.      The lack of an orthodoxy

Lacking a long tradition which might give some stability, ESP has frequency been a hotbed of conflict-the Wild West of ELT.

The importance of a text is not intrinsic to the text, but devices from the rule the text has to play in the teaching/ learning process.

As the example of the use or non-use of authentic texts illustrates, ESP teacher will often have to orientate themselves to difficult problems with little or no guidance. There are no easy solutions to this situation, but some methods that might be useful are:

·      Surveys of the history and present state of ESP in your own or neighbor countries:

·      Formations of groups of ESP teacher, perhaps allied to any existing national organization for the promotion of ELT, to further the support and development of ESP:

·      Establishment of newsletters and other form of publication, for exchanging information and views about ESP in your country:

·      Provision of pre-and in-service teacher training focusing on ESP issues. Such provision can take a variety of form: workshops, seminars, short courses etc.

2.      New realms of knowledge

As well as having to cope with the uncertain values of the strange land of ESP teachers may also have to struggle to master language and subject matter beyond the bounds of their previous experiences.

Does the ESP teacher need to understand the subject matter of ESP materials?

Taken in isolation, the answer to this question must be ‘yes’. Teachers of social or literary English would not enter the classroom understanding little about the content of the texts to be taught.

We need to ask ourselves three questions:

a)    Does the content of ESP materials need to be highly specialized?

In specialized texts the discourse structure may be denset and more formalized, but not different in kind from that of less specialized material.

The linguistic knowledge needed to comprehend the specialist text is little different from that required to comprehend the general text.

b)   Why do so many ESP teachers find it difficult to comprehend ESP subject matter?

This problem arises from four causes:

                                  i.          There is the tradition in education of separating the Humanities and the Sciences. Languages have usually been allocated to the Humanities camp.

                                ii.          Many ESP teacher are reluctance settlers in the new territory. They would prefer to be teaching literature and Social English in the comfortable environs of ELT, but have been obliged by economic pressure to emigrate.

                              iii.          Considering the scale of the ESP revolution it must be admitted that little effort has been made to retrain teachers or to at least allay their fears.

                              iv.          The general attitude in ESP seems to be to expect teachers to conform to the requirements of the target situations.

c)                   What kind of knowledge is required of the ESP teachers?

ESP teachers do not need to learn specialist subject knowledge. They require three things only:

                                                        i.            A positive attitude towards the ESP content;

                                                      ii.            A knowledge of the fundamental principles of the subject area;

                                                    iii.            An awareness of how much they probably already know.

3.      Change in the status of English teaching

One of the most important features of ESP in relation to General English is that the status of English changes from being a subject in its own right to a service industry for other specialism. In many cases this leads to a lowering of status for the teacher, or at least this seems to be the ESP teacher’s view.

There are only two ways in which the subject has any kind of influence on the language content:

a)         Vocabulary. But even here the differences are far less significant than might be expected.

b)        Certain subject areas show a higher proportion of particular grammatical or structural forms. For example, a register analysis of Scientific and Technological subjects will show a high percentage of passives and nominal/adjectival compounds.

            The reason for having the subject-specific approach rest almost entirely on two  affective factors generated by the learners themselves:

a)      Face validity. Subject-specific materials look relevant

b)      Familiarity. If learners have got used to working with a particular kind of text in the ESP classroom they will be less apprehensive about tackling in the target situation

COMMENTS

In this chapter, we learn about orientation. This chapter is the some of the features that distinguish the role of the ESP teacher. In this way, the difficulties that many ESP teachers encounters can be reduce. So, we should like to present a simple analogy to sum up the approach we have presented in this book

11 & 12

4.     METHODOLOGY

I heard and I forget.

I see and I remember.

I do and I understand

(Chinese proverb)

   A learning-centred methodology

1.      Second language learning is a developmental process. Learners use their existing knowledge to make the new information comprehensible.

2.      Language learning is an active process. It is not enough for learners just to have the necessary knowledge to make things meaningful, they must also use that knowledge. We must make a distinction between two types of activity:

a)    Psycho-motor activity, that is, the observable movement of speech organs or limbs in accordance with signals from the brain;

b)   Language processing activity, that is, the organization of information into a meaningful network of knowledge. This kind of activity is internal and not observable.

3.      Language learning is a decision- making process. In the traditional classroom the teacher made all the decisions. Indeed it was essential for the teacher to do so in order to avoid all possibilities of error, you cant make decision without taking risks makes errors possible or even likely.

4.      Language learning is not just a matter of linguistics knowledge. The most fundamental problem of second language learning is the mismatch between the learners conceptual/cognitive capacities and the learners linguistic level.

5.      Language learning is not the learners first experience with language

6.      Learning is an emotional experience

7.      Language learning is to large extent incidental.

8.      Language learning is not systematic. We learn by systematizing knowledge, but the process it self is not systematic.

Analysis

Exploit a number of simple techniques, which can be applied to almost any lesson.

1.      Gaps. If everything is certain and known, there is no need to think. There are many types of gaps, which can be exploited :

a)    Information gaps. Most teacher will be familiar with this type of activity.

b)   Media gaps. The information is available in one medium and needs to be transferred to another medium, for example read: make notes: discuss using notes: complete gapped text.

c)    Reasoning gaps. There are clues and pieces of evidence, but the answer needs to extrapolated.

d)   Memory gaps. The learners have received some information at one stage of the lesson.

e)    Jigsaw gaps. All the parts are there, but they need to be put together to form a complete unit.

f)    Opinion gaps.

g)   Certainly gaps.

2.      Variety. It is the spicy of learning. In order to get the repetition necessary to help learning, there must be variety to keep the mind alert. Variety can be achieved in a number of ways:

a)    Variety of medium: text, tape pictures, speech

b)   Variety of classroom organization: whole class, pair individual, group.

c)    Variety of learner roles : presenter, evaluator, receiver, thinker, negotiator

d)   Variety of exercise: activity or task

e)    Variety of skills: reading, listening, writing, speaking, graphic skills.

f)    Variety of topic

g)   Variety of focus: accuracy, fluency, discourse, structure, pronunciation

3.      Prediction. Prediction is a matter of using an existing knowledge of a pattern or system in order to anticipate what is likely in a novel situation.

4.      Enjoyment. Enjoyment isn’t just an added extra, an unnecessary frill.

5.      An integrated methodology. Using a range of skills greatly increases the range of activities possible in the classroom.

6.      Coherence. It should be clear where a lesson is going.

7.      Preparation. Lesson preparation is normally interpreted as the teacher planning the stages of the lesson.

8.      Involvement. Learners need to be involved both cognitively and emotionally in the lesson. But there are two words of warning here:

9.      Creativity. Language is dynamic. Lesson should reflect this.

10.  Atmosphere. For all that we might try to analyze and systematize teaching, we must still recognize that effective learning depends heavily on intangible factors, such as relationship between teacher and student.

COMMENTS

In this chapter, we learn about methodology. Means the methodology is methodology to teach. We have tried in this chapter to show some techniques which can help to make the ESP classroom a livelier, more enjoyable and thus more effective environment for both learner and teacher. Before we conclude, it is necessary to repeat two very important points.

a)      There is nothing specific about ESP methodology. The principles which underlie good ESP methodology in general..

b)      What happens in the classroom  is not just an afterthought to be grafted on to ready-made materials and syllabuses

5.     EVALUATION

Ah, but man’s reach should exceed his grasp,

Or what’s a heaven for ?

(Robert Browning : ‘Andrea den Sarto’)

Two levels of evaluation have thus been brought into prominence:

A.    Learner assessment. As with any language course there is a need to assess student performance at strategic points in the course, for example, at the beginning and at the end.

B.     Course evaluation. A second important form of evaluation is the evaluation of the ESP course itself.

These two forms of evaluation are not always distinct. Evaluation of the learners reflects not just the learners performance but to some extent the effectiveness or otherwise of the course too.

A.    Learners assessment

In ESP there are three basic types of assessment:

1)   Placement test. These are used to ‘place’ learners in the ESP course most suited to their needs.

2)   Achievement tests. These test show how well the learner is keeping up with the syllabus and can be adminestered any time through the course.

3)   Proficiency test. These asses whether or not the student can cope with the demands of  a particular situation, for example, study at a university or reading technical manuals.

1.      Placement tests

The aim of the placement test is to determine the learners’ state of knowledge before the ESP course begins. The placement tests, is, therefore, in the first instance a proficiency test.

2.      Achievement tests

In constructing a good ESP achievement test you should follow the same basic principle as you would for constructing any test. For example:

a)    Test what you can reasonably assume the learners have learnt.

b)   Your test should test what you actually want it to test.

c)    Avoid bias in the test.

          A description of how the coolant circulates through the system

a)    It involves production as well as understanding

b)   It is integrated task rather than a set of discrete-point tests focusing on particular sub-skills, for example, ‘linking clauses’.

c)    The content of a similar nature to that of the unit: it is concerned with the movement of a fluid through an enclosed system

d)   The subject matter is probably already known to the learners

e)    It does not require knowledge of subject specific vocabulary, such as ‘auricle’ and ‘ventricle’

f)    It tests written production

3.      Proficiency tests

In the introduction to their Guide to English Language Examinations, Davies and West (1984) identify the primary purpose of language testing in the eighties as ‘proficiency testing designed to assess whether candidates will be able to perform the tasks required of them.

Proficiency test for specific purposes should, therefore, be able to give the reliable indication of whether a candidate of proficient enough to carry out the tasks that will be required. Such test also have high face validity in that they look as if they are reliable indicator

B.     Course evaluation

There are four main aspects of ESP course evaluation to be considered (Alderson and waters, 1983)

a)      What should be evaluated

The shorts answer is: everything of significance. However, there are two important constraints:

                                                        i.            Your ability to collect the information;

                                                      ii.            Your ability to use the information once it has been collected.

b)      How can ESP courses be evaluated?

In theory, there are very many ways in which the ESP course can be evaluated, ranging from stimulation to suggestion boxes. However, in practice, most ESP courses are evaluated using one or more of the following techniques:

·      Test results;

·      Questionnaires;

·      Discussions;

·      Interviews;

·      Informal means;

c)      Who should be involved in the evaluation

Evaluation is concered with people’s perceptions of value and their views will, therefore, vary according to their own interest and concern.

d)     When (and how often) should evaluation take pla

COMMENTS

To make an evaluation, I think it is very difficult, because we must to measure the skill of the student. The kind of evaluation to measure the skill of the student is carried out and described how each fit into a learning. We also can give the assessment to student, it means to emphasing what test can tell us about