ESP Needs Analysis Overview

Week 6 to 7: Practical Concerns in ESP

• This week covers practical concerns in English for Specific Purposes (ESP).

A. Needs Analysis

• Needs can be viewed in different ways

  • Objectives (Berwick, 1989)
  • Necessary or desirable knowledge (Mountford)
  • Required language use for acquisition (Widdowson, 1987)
  • Personal goals/aims (Berwick, 1989)
  • Lack of knowledge in English (Robinson, 1991)

• Needs analysis is the process of gathering and analyzing data to inform curriculum development (lwai et al., 1999).

• Two main types of needs analysis

  • Target Situation analysis: Focuses on learner needs at the end of the program.
  • Present Situation analysis: Examines learner language skills at the start of the program, considering strengths and weaknesses.

• Pedagogic Needs Analysis (West, 1998) considers:

  • Deficiency analysis (learner lacks)
  • Strategy analysis (learning strategies)
  • Means analysis (cultural differences)

B. Syllabus/Course Design

• Syllabus in the British context is a "plan of work" for a specific course (Robinson, 1991; Mackay and Bosquet, 1981).

• Curriculum in the US context is often synonymous with British syllabus. Recent North American publications increasingly use the British definition of curriculum, including policy, planning, and a comprehensive educational perspective.

• Types of syllabuses:

  • Content-based: Focuses on language form, notions, functions (e.g. greeting, asking), or topic (e.g., 1970s notional-functional syllabus).
  • Skill-based: Emphasizes particular language skills (e.g. writing business letters, presenting reports).
  • Method-based: Has two subcategories
    • Learning process: Focuses on student preferences in the language learning process, teacher-student negotiation.
    • Task or procedure: Emphasizes meaningful tasks relevant to the subject.

• A single syllabus may combine different types and approaches.

• Course design process overview

  • Needs assessment is gathering information.
  • Needs analysis is assigning value to gathered information (Graves, 1994).
  • Communicative Needs Processor (CNP): Munby (1978) model for needs analysis, looking at variables that affect communication needs.
  • CNP variables include Participant (background), Purposive Domain (reasons for study), Setting (physical and social environment), and Interaction (people student will communicate with).

• Objectives and Goals

  • Goals are broad, overall purposes of the course (Graves, 1996).
  • Objectives are specific ways to achieve the course's goals.

• Content conceptualization and organization is plotting lessons, topics, and learning activities within the program.

• Selection and Development of Materials

  • ESP materials are "authentic" and fit the student's workplace/academic settings.

• Assessment and Evaluation

  • This process assesses learning and provides input to make improvements

C. Role of Materials

• ESP materials are important and should be carefully selected or designed, often for activities, but more importantly, they are a simulation of the target environment (workplace or academic setting).

• Authenticity: The materials are originally used for a purpose other than language teaching.

• Types of ESP materials

  • Content-based materials: focuses on language form, notions, functions, or situations (more appropriate for EAP).
  • Competency-based materials: focuses on language skills (more appropriate for EOP).

• Materials preparation is a process parallel to syllabus design.

D. Testing and Evaluation

• Testing is the process of measuring student learning using tools.

• Evaluation considers "how well" a student has learned.

• ESP testing often uses performance-based assessments to evaluate whether a student has reached the expected language level.

• ESP tests are criterion-referenced (student must reach a certain level), not norm-referenced (compare students to each other).

• International English language testing system (IELTS), and Testing in English for Educational Purposes (TEEP) are examples of widely used ESP tests.

• Scoring

  • Holistic scoring: Evaluates overall performance.
  • Analytic scoring: Evaluates performance on each criterion.

E. Classroom Practice

• Opposing views on ESP

  • Some critics view ESP as narrowly focused on immediate job needs instead of broader language development (Eckard's article). Other teachers and learners value the specific learning, and skill development provided through ESP (Masters).

• There have been debates in how learning language should be emphasized.

  • Proponents of ESP argue that learning is more effective when tailored to specific needs, while opposed argue that language should be learned as a comprehensive skill.

• Techniques in the ESP classroom

  • No single teaching practice is universally adopted for ESP courses.

• Methodology

  • The task-based approach is used, with guidelines that include:
    • Reality control: tasks should be accessible.
    • Non-triviality: tasks aligned with the student's purpose.
    • Authenticity: the language used reflects the student's environment
    • Tolerance of error: errors that do not obstruct communication may be accepted.

• Activities in ESP

  • Role play and simulation
  • Case studies
  • Project work
  • Oral presentations

• Important Consideration: The teacher should have knowledge of the content area; if the teacher does not have an adequate knowledge of the academic or professional field. their teaching will not be as effective.