Approaches to ESP Learning
1. Introduction
This paper deals with the definitions of some terminologies and approaches concerning
English language teaching as well as ESP. The candidate begins with a concise description
of English as a medium of international communication and the importance of ESP in the
light of the globalization process. She also tackles the summary of the characteristics of the
most significant approaches followed by language teachers, namely the Grammar
Translation Approach, the Audio-Lingual Approach, the natural Approach, and finally, the
Communicative Language Teaching.
2. English as a Means for Global Communication
The latest world events, notably world wars and 9-11 events (1), have called attention to
the need to increase understanding and to improve communication among all nations. An
international exchange of ideas is essential in areas ranging from the medical research,
engineering to the political challenges of a global economy.
To meet these communication needs including exchange of information and understanding,
more and more individuals try to acquire highly specific academic language skills for
professional and educational reasons. That is why a clear necessity for effective English
communication skills for graduates in the current globalised work environment emerged. It
is observed that non native English speaking students do not gain the kind of proficiency
demanded in present day context where communication is beyond the mastery of the four
skills, namely: reading, speaking, listening and writing.
Communication across global companies and multinationals, require workforce that is
competent in particular skills like negotiations, team work, oral presentations, report
writing, decision making and so forth. Unfortunately, all Algerian students do not gain
competency in such skills during their studies at university, although these are crucial in
the places of work because they had not been trained for that. Once at university level, the
students knowledge of English is generally in the area of general English and does not
include specific preparation for studying at university.
According to Crystal, English is at present the dominant or official language in over 100
countries and is represented in each of the five continents (Crystal, 1997:3) with more or
less 341,000,000 native speakers (2).During the twentieth century, almost all technological
inventions and developments, such as telephone, fax, electronic mail, internet, etc have
made communication between people easier. The language that is used most is English, as
the following quote confirms: “€Most of the scientific, technological and academic
information in the world is expressed in English and over 80% of all the information stored
in electronic retrieval systems is in English”€™ (Crystal, 1997:106).
[pic]
Map 1: English speaking countries and territories around the world.
(Culture and Language: anthro.palomar.edu/language/language_1.htm)
English speaking countries
Non- English speaking countries
Graddol (1997:8) identifies mainly 12 domains where English is used as an
international language (3):
1) “English is the working language of international organisations and conference.
2) English is the international language of science and technology.
3) English is used in international banking, economic affairs and commerce.
4) Advertising for global brands is done in English.
5) English is the language of audio-visual and cultural products.
6) English is the language of international tourism.
7) English is the language of tertiary education.
8) English is the language of international safety in the fields of aeronautics and sea.
9) English is the language of international law.
10) It is a relay language in interpretation and translation.
11) It is the language of technology transfer.
12) It is the language of internet communication.”
In fact, it can be claimed that, internationally English has developed a “€special role that is
recognised in every country”€™ (Crystal, 1997:2). Kachru has presented a concentric
model to conceptualise the role which English serves in various countries. His model
represents the types of spread, the patterns of acquisition, and the functional allocation of
English in diverse cultural contexts”€ (Kachru, 1992:356).
[pic]
(Kachru,1992)
Figure 1: Kachrus circles of Englishes
(Kachru (1992): The Other Tongue: English across Cultures. Urbana: University of
Illinois Press)
The inner circle symbolizes the countries where English is the primary language. These
countries are “€traditional cultural and linguistic bases of English”€™ (ibid). In other
words these countries such as the United States of America (USA) and England are
recognized as models for Standard English.
The outer circle symbolizes countries where English is second language and has spread as
a result of British colonialism. These newly independent countries such as India and
Kenya have adopted their own English norms.
The expanding circle embodies countries where English dominates FLL and is spreading
as a result of foreign language teaching (FLT).
However, MacKay (2002:9) disapproves Kachrus categorization on the basis that many
countries of the expanding circles have more English language speakers than countries of
the outer-circles. The truth of MacKays opinion is evident if demographic figures and the
expanding number of learners and language users in the outer circle are considered.
Algeria, where the English language is neither the first nor the second language, is no
exception to this statistic (refer to p.6) as many Algerians in various fields of work use
English to communicate with other nationalities. Algeria tries to survive in this
fast-moving globalised world in which we live in today. She is struggling to be on an equal
par with the leading countries of the world and in order to be much effective in this way
communication has to be efficient. As Crystal writes (1997:106), “€organisations wishing
to develop international markets are under considerable pressure to work with
English”€™.
3. Status of English in Algeria
Classical Arabic is the official language in Algeria and English is taught as a foreign
language. According to Benmoussat (2000:118) “it (English) has no established functions
in the country; officially it is considered to have equal status with the other foreign
languages, namely Spanish and German” Almost all subjects are taught in Classical
Arabic at the university, except in the faculties of medicine, biology and engineering,
while English is included in the school curriculum as a compulsory subject. However, with
the adoption of English as the international language for communication and its wide use
all over the world, more and more universities(4) would place an emphasis on running
different kinds of English courses for their students to enable them to become competitive
and competent enough in their future career.
4. Approaches to FLT
During decades and till now, the main concerns of methodology and pedagogy researchers,
as well as language teachers are to reach a level of proficiency with the foreign language
learners that would be as close as possible to ones native language competence to
understand and communicate.
Various approaches and methods have been applied with a unique will which is to develop
and improve the teaching and the learning of foreign languages. For decades foreign
languages, including English were taught like dead languages, namely Greek and Latin:
the case of the grammar translation method. But things evolving, after World War II,
language teaching and more particularly the Audio-Lingual Approach as well as the
Natural Approach benefited more systematically from the contribution of sciences like
psychology, cybernetics, sociology, anthropology, etc. (Miliani, 2003), the case of the
audio-lingual approach, the natural approach and so forth.
The Grammar Translation Approach emerged at the end of the eighteenth century in
Germany (1890s-1930s), when people of the Western world wanted to learn such foreign
languages as Latin and Greek. The approach focuses on learning grammatical rules and
memorizing vocabulary and language declensions and conjugations. Typical classroom
activities and homework include text translation and written exercises.
The teacher presents a grammar translation class in the learners native language, and
learners are not encouraged to use the TL in class. The teacher affords detailed descriptions
of the grammatical intricacies of the TL, and often focuses on the form and inflection of
words. Vocabulary is learned under the form of lists, and the rules of grammar provide the
blueprint for putting words together. Students begin early to read classical texts, which are
treated as exercises in grammatical analysis.
The Audio-lingual Approach, the Grammar translation approach began to be replaced in
Western schools in the mid-1950s by a new, scientific,”€ method known as
Audio-lingualism (1950s-1960s). It is also called the “aural-oral”€ method.
Audiolingualism emphasises pattern drills and conversation practice.
In the audio-lingual classroom, the new material is presented by the teacher under the form
of dialogue, and students are expected to mimic her pronunciation and intonation. The
approach is characterised by memorizing phrases, over learning and pattern drills
repetition. Grammatical explanations are avoided; the learners learn grammar through
analogy rather than explanation.
Audio-lingual teachers place great importance on getting students to produce error-free
speech. They immediately reinforce successful speech, and quickly correct errors. They
teach vocabulary through pronunciation, and they make regular use of audio-visual aids
such as tapes and language laboratories. In the classroom, the teacher strongly discourages
the use of the learners mother tongue (MT).
But, although the grammar translation method and the audio-lingual method dominated
much of language teaching, there were better alternatives available. Notable among these
is the direct method, which emerged in the 19thcentury.
The principle of the direct method is that second language learning (SLL) should be more
like first language learning. The method (1970s) includes lots of oral interaction and the
spontaneous use of language. The teacher discourages translation between first and second
