A-Brief-Introduction-to-ESP

ABriefIntroductiontoESPEnglishhasbeenmadeamajorinuniversitiesforquitealongtime，andquantitiesofresearchershavefounditnecessarytocombineEnglishwithotherspecializedknowledge，forEnglishisjustatooltolearnfromoutsideworld.Therefore，EnglishforSpecialPurposes（ESP）―businessEnglish，Englisheducation，legalEnglishbecomespopularmajorsinuniversity.1.DefinitionandcharacteristicsofESPEnglishforSpecialPurposes（ESP）referstoEnglishrelatedtoacertainoccupationorsubject.IncludingmainlyEnglishforAcademicPurpose（EAP）―academicEnglish；scientificEnglish；thesiswriting，andEnglishforOccupationalPurpose（EOP）―financialEnglish，medicalEnglish，legalEnglishtourismEnglish，itisacourseinaccordancewithspecificeducationalobjectiveorspecialneeds.AccordingtoPeterStrevens，ESPhasfouressentialcharacteristics.First，thecurriculummustmeetlearners’particularneed；second，curriculummustberelatedtosomespecificsubject，occupationandactivity；third，emphasisshouldbeplacedonlinguisticusesthatmakewords，morphologyanddiscoursestructurecorrespondwiththoseparticularactivities；fourth，ESPmustbedifferentfromEnglishforGeneralPurposes（EGP），whichteachesEnglishasaseparatelanguagecourse.2.TeachingmodelsbasedonESP（1）EGP+ESPmodelESPisanextensionofEGP，whichaimstocultivatepracticaltalents.ThroughbasicEGPcourse，students’basicEnglishskills―listening，speaking，readingandwritinghavealreadybeenimprovedandtheircommunicativecompetencehasalsobeencultivated.Basedonthis，ESPcourses，combiningEnglishwithspecializedknowledge，makesEnglishreallyatoolforthemtoadaptthesociety.（2）CollaborativeteachingmodelItcontainstwomodels，namely，thecooperationoflanguageteachersandspecializedteachersandthecooperationofteachersandstudents.Throughthehelpoflanguageteachers，specializedteacherscanteachprofessionalknowledgeeasier，withnoneedtothinkwhetherthephrasesorsentencesaretoohardtounderstand.Withthehelpofspecializedteachers，languageteacherswouldhaveabetterunderstandingtotheactualsituationinwhichlearnersaregoingtouseEnglish.Astothecooperationofteachersandstudents，thismodelaimstocreateaninteractiveenvironmentforstudentstocommunicatewithteachersandstudentsandthushelpstudentsgraspbothlanguageandspecializedknowledge.（3）AuthenticteachingmodelApartfromlanguagelearningintermsofwords，grammarinclass，itisalsoimportanttocreateanauthenticenvironmentforlearners.ESPcourserequiresthatlearningmaterialsbecloselyrelatedtothespecializedknowledge.Teachersshouldadoptdifferentteachingmethodsaccordingtodifferentteachingcontentandorganizeactivitiesbasedonrealenvironmentsothatstudentscanrecognizewhatknowledgeandskillstheyneedtoobtain.（4）PracticalteachingmodelThismodelisdesignedtostrengthenlearners’languageabilitytobefullycombinedwithspecializedknowledge，andthusconnectlanguageandapplication.TheessenceofESPistoapplywhatpeoplehavelearnedtoactualuse.Sopracticabilityandflexibilityofcurriculumareemphasizedandpracticeshouldbeasanimportantpartofstudy.3.Somesuggestions（1）MakecleartherelationbetweenESPandEGP.ThedevelopmentofESPmustbebasedonEGP.Theyarenotopposedbutcontemporarytoeachother.SoastothosewhoarerelativelyweakinEnglish，theyshouldfirstlearnEGPuntiltheyhaveadequatebasicknowledgetolearnESP.（2）Thearrangementofcurriculumcanbebasedontheactualsituationofstudents，schoolsandareas.StudentscanbearrangedintodifferentclassesaccordingtocertaintestthatthosehaveagoodcommandofEnglishcanparticipateinESPdirectly，whilethosewhoarerelativelypooratEnglisharerequiredtohaveEGPclassfirst.ESPcoursehasandwillbethetrendforEnglishteachingatuniversities.Itcanbroadenstudents’horizonandhelpthemadapttotheirfuturejob.AndInordertoachieveadecentresult，itrequirescooperationamongteachersofdifferentsubjectsandstudents.Ascientificteachingplanbasedonstudents’realsituationisofessentialimportanceaswell.References：[1]Hutchinson，T.，&Water，A.EnglishforSpecificPurposes：ALearning-centeredApproach[M].Cambridge：CambridgeUniversityPress，1987：9-19.[2]蔡基??.后大学英语教改依据与对策研究[J].外语电化教学，2010（5）.[3]罗毅，李红英.论大学英语与专业英语教学的衔接[J].外语界，2008（1）.