Tag Archives: ESP

One-To-One Teaching

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Introduction

Much ESP is taught in one-to-one situations. When I first started teaching businessmen English in Japan in 1976, the classes were mostly one-to-one. I then spent five years teaching English to adult professionals in an ESP institution in the UK mainly in a one-to-one context. More recently, I have been teaching a Syrian refugee through CARA. in a one-to-one situation online. The participant was an agricultural engineer working as a project manager. It was then that I first started thinking seriously about one to one teaching and what it involved and I will probably continue for ever!.

Some thoughts:

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The 6 principles for exemplary teaching of English learners:  Academic and other specific purposes.

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The 6 principles for exemplary teaching of English learners:  Academic and other specific purposes. TESOL International Association (2020),

TESOL International Association have recently published 2 more books of interest to ESP teachers in their 6 principles for exemplary teaching of English learners series. The third book in the series focusses on teaching English for academic and other specific purposes.

The book consists of a preface and 5 chapters.

The preface introduces the 6 principles of exemplary teaching on which the series is based and describes the intended audience for the series. The 6 principles provide a solid foundation for any ESP programme, and, though they need a some localised refinement for the wide diversity of ESP contexts, they are an excellent source of
reflection on current teaching practice.

The 6 principles provide a basis for decision making, planning and teaching. They are:

  1. Know your learners,
  2. Create conditions for language learning,
  3. Design high-quality lessons for language development,
  4. Adapt lesson delivery as needed,
  5. Monitor and assess student language development,
  6. Engage and collaborate within a community of practice.

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Mark Krzanowski (1963 – 2021)

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I was very sad to hear of the death on my good friend and colleague Mark Krzanowski in Ghana on 19th January. I knew Mark for almost 25 years and he will be greatly missed. He was on holiday in Ghana, where he liked to spend some time every winter. Although he had spent many years in London, he still could not get used to the cold winters and in the last message I received from him – early January – he said he was hoping never to spend another Xmas in Europe! Continue reading →

ESP/EGP Distinction: Is it Real?

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I have been supervising MA TESOL and Applied Linguistics students this summer as they write their dissertations and I have most recently been marking them. May of the students have focussed on ESP (both EAP and EOP) for their research, but most of them have concentrated on general English (EGP).  I also attended a Business English conference in the summer. I saw some interesting presentations at the conference  and have have seen some interesting MA studies and it has made me realise that the distinction between EGP and ESP may not be so clear.

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Routledge Introductions to English for Specific Purposes

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ESP books are rare, but Routledge have recently published a series called: Routledge Introductions to English for Specific Purposes, edited by Brian Paltridge and Sue Starfield – well know joint editors of the Handbook for English for Specific Purposes (Wiley, 2013).

According to the blurb: Routledge Introductions to English for Specific Purposes provide a comprehensive and contemporary overview of various topics within the area of English for specific purposes, written by leading academics in the field. Aimed at postgraduate students in applied linguistics, English language teaching and TESOL, as well as pre- and in-service teachers, these books outline the issues that are central to understanding and teaching English for specific purposes, and provide examples of innovative classroom tasks and techniques for teachers to draw on in their professional practice.

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Is EAP ESP?

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At the ESP Special Interest Group (SIG)  meeting at the IATEFL conference in Brighton this year, there seemed to be some lack of agreement as to whether EAP was a type of ESP. This was shown in several presentations – and committee discussions – when ESP seemed to be contrasted with EAP.  People would say and write things such as “In ESP and EAP” and “it is true in ESP, but what about EAP?”

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More History of IATEFL ESP SIG Publication

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I’m preparing a presentation in commemoration of the 50th Issue of the IATEFL ESP SIG publication for the IATEFL conference IN Brighton in April  Here are a few more images that I plan to use, plus some figures and charts drawn from an analysis of article titles from 50 issues of the publication:

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Languages for Specific Purposes: Review.

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Language for Specific Purposes. Sandra Gollin-Kies, David R. Hall, and Stephen H. Moore. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.

Theoretical and practical books about ESP teaching are rare, so I was happy to see this book available recently. Although the title is “Languages for Specific Purposes”, most of the examples are from English and as well as that useful research from other languages is included. The book is highly recommended to all ESP, including EAP, teachers.

In Language for Specific Purposes, Gollin-Kies, Hall, and Moore provide a good overview of the history, concepts, application, pedagogy and research of language for specific purposes (LSP).

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ESP and Common Sense

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I remember a number of years ago, after a morning of evaluating student oral presentations with a colleague and wondering why they sometimes said strange things, I mentioned that it seemed to me that people lost their common sense when they were speaking a language they were not very confident in. My colleague – who was a good linguist and had never experiences such issues – disagreed.

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