REVIEWER FOR REPORTING (GROUP 1 - ELT 317)

TOPIC 1: INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES

Outline created by: Justin Banguis and Barbielle Alyssa Abayon

English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

This is the language used by professionals in the different fields of science, technology,
economic, and/or academic. It aims to give response to the needs of students who, beyond
the learning of the common language, require a practice regarding certain professional
areas. In other words, it refers to the teaching of English that focuses on developing
communicative skills in a particular field or occupation.

English for General Purposes or General English

This is the language of everyday conversation, newspapers, television and radio, films,
novels, shopping and so on. It is generally in an informal register, with friendly politeness
and a high frequency of phrasal verbs. It focuses on general English language abilities of
students at a school level where the occupational/professional and higher educational
orientations of the students are not defined whereas ESP focuses on specific skills and
needs of learners based on a detailed analysis of learners' professional/academic needs.

Herein;

- General English is full of rules and exceptions to the rule.

- General English likes to use flowery language and variety.

- General English can have multiple definitions and mean many things.

The distinction between ESP and EGP lies in the way we define and implement the learning
purpose. While ESP is objective-oriented learning where the specification of objective
corresponds to the aim – the training operation – which deals with the development of
restricted competence, EGP, on the other hand, is aim-oriented which does not equate the
specification of objective to aim – an educational operation – dealing with the development
of general capacity.
TOPIC 2: ORIGIN OF ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES
Outline created by: Stephanie Anne Dacalanio

ESP was not a planned and coherent movement, rather a phenomenon that grew out of
a number of converging trends. Thus, there are 3 main reasons common to the
emergence of ESP.

1. The demands of a Brave New World

At the end of the Second World War in 1945 heralded and age of enormous and
unprecedented expansion in scientific, technical, and economic activity on an
international scale. This expansion created a world unified and dominated by two
forces; technology and commerce, which in their progress resulted a demand for an
international language, which is English. English then became the key to the
international currencies of technology and commerce. As English became the accepted
international language of technology and commerce, it created a new generation of
learners who knew specifically why they were learning a language. That is
businessmen and women who wanted to market their products, mechanics who had to
read instruction manuals, doctors who needed to keep up with developments in their
field and a whole range of students whose course of study included textbooks and
journals that are written and published only in English.

2. A revolution in Linguistics

Traditionally the aim of linguists had been to describe the rules of English usage, that is,
grammar. However, according to Widdowson (1978), the new studies shifted attention
away from defining the formal features of language usage to discovering ways in which
language is actually used in real communication. One finding of this research was that
the language we speak and write varies considerably, and in a number of ways, from
one context to another. This idea was simple: if language varies depending on the
context in which it is used, it should be possible to identify the characteristics of
particular contexts and use these characteristics as the foundation of the learners'
course.

However, it was the late 1960s and early 1970s which saw the greatest expansion of
research into the nature of particular varieties of English, examples are the descriptions
of written scientific and technical English by Ewer and Latorre (1969), Swales (1971),
Selinker and Trimble (1976) and others. Where most of the work at this time was in the
area of English for Science and Technology (EST) and the time when EST and ESP
were regarded as almost synonymous. The idea that one could determine the type of
English that a specific group of learners needed by looking at the linguistic traits of their
field of study or work gained ground. Thus, “tell me what you need English for and I will
tell you the English that you need” became the guiding principle of ESP.

3. Focus on the Learner

Learners were seen to have different needs and interests; thus, the development of
courses should focus on the relevance of the needs and interests of the learners. A way
of achieving this was to take texts from the learners’ specialist area. For example, Texts
about Biology for Biology students, etc. This strategy was based on the idea that the
learners' motivation would increase as a result of the English course's relevance to their
needs, leading to better and more rapid learning.

TOPIC 3: BASIC FEATURES OF ESP

Outline created by: Mikhaila Cabunoc

1. Goal-oriented

The esp is goal oriented because it focuses on curating and presenting topics that cater
to the learners to achieve their specific goal or purpose of learning the language. It is
also perceived that ESP is goal oriented and focused English teaching and learning
program designed for the specific learners according to their academic and professional
needs. Hence, learners learn and are taught English based on their goal. Example, an
engineer needs to develop their English skills in order to write technical reports, explain
complex ideas and new technologies to people from non-technical backgrounds. Same
goes for doctors and nurses that need to explain the medical terms to their patients.

2. Based on Needs Analysis

The ESP is based on needs analysis since the program and its content are designed
based on the learners academic requirements, gaps, personal expectation, and factors
that affect their learning so as to have a more specific outline of the learning areas that
needs to be covered and put into priority. Moreover, needs analysis in ESP setting is so
vital for identifying specific needs of the learners as per their academic and professional
areas in order to further acquire content knowledge and skill.

3. Time-bound

Learning is direct to the point, you learn what you intend to learn. Learners at this stage
study English for a specific purpose, they do not intend to spend too much time
engaging in indirect learning activities and exercises. Each session aims to contribute to
the end goal, which should be met at a specified time or duration.
 4. For Adults

ESP is more common in adults simply because they study english as a means to
prepare themselves for higher learning or for work purposes. Aside from this, learners at
this stage are assumed to have acquired the basic knowledge of the target language.

5. Discipline Specific

Different disciplines can require very different skill sets, hence, in this program topics
and activities relevant to a particular learner or group of learners with the same field of
study are being focused in order to arrive at the end goal of the learner. Example,
English for Business, English for Social Sciences, English for Tour guides, and many
more.

TOPIC 4: DEVELOPMENT OF ESP

Outline created by: Caesar Rome Redulla & Mark Christian R. Estorpe

Register Analysis
·This first method is described in M.A.K. Halliday, A. McIntosh, and P. and primarily
occurred in the 1960s and 1970s. The Linguistic Sciences and Language Teaching by
Strevens (1964).

·Here, it is demonstrated that language differs according to the various speakers and the
various objectives for which it is used. The authors draw the conclusion that as languages
vary, various variations of individual languages must also exist.

·The Goals:

- Identification of the grammatical and lexical characteristics of these registers

- Create a curriculum that gave high importance to language forms that
students would encounter in their profession and low attention to language
forms they would not encounter.

Rhetorical/Discourse Analysis
·Henry Widdowson in Britain and the so-called Washington School of Larry Selinker, Louis
Trimble, John Lackstrom, and Mary Todd-Trimble in the United States were the key
protagonists in this movement.

·Register analysis as a research procedure was rapidly overtaken by developments in the

world of linguistics. Whereas in the first stage of its development, ESP had focused on
language at the sentence level, the second phase of development shifted attention to the
level above the sentence, as ESP became closely involved with the emerging field of
discourse and rhetorical analysis.

·The assumption in this approach is that the rhetorical patterns of text organization differed
significantly between specialist areas of use.

-What was important now was not so much «the frequency of feature x or y but the reason
for the cholee of x rather than y in the developing text. The focus was thus on the sentence,
and on the writer's purpose rather than on form» (Robinson 1991:24). A very practical and
readable account of this approach is given in L. Trimble (1985) English for Science and
Technology: A discourse approach. Whereas the first approach (register analysis) is
quantitative and tells us what linguistic forms occur and how frequently, this new approach
is qualitative and tells us what the forms count as communication, how they express
elements of discourse (see Fig. in the PPT).

Target Situation Analysis

·Taking the existing knowledge and setting it on a more scientific basis by establishing
procedures for relating language analysis more closely to learners’ reasons for learning.

·Its main purpose is to enable learners to function in a target situation (situations in work
fields). Examples, nurse, teachers, businessmen etc.,

(*Note- In looking at the target situation, the ESP course designer is asking the question
«What does the expert communicator need to know in order to function effectively in this
situation?» This information may be recorded in terms of language items, skills, strategies,
subject knowledge .. etc.).

·This starting point leads to conducting ‘Needs Analysis’ (the target situation analysis) for
designing the ESP course syllabus, that is done through 2 steps: identifying the target
situation and analyzing the linguistic features of the situation

Target Situation Analysis Framework

 *Note- In the figure, Needs analysis (a careful study on what students need) is a complex
process, involving much more than simply looking at what the learners will have to do in the
target situation. Both target situation needs (language use) and learning needs (language
learning) must be taken into account.

Skills and Strategies

• ESP has seen an attempt to look below the surface of language and to consider not
the language itself but the thinking processes that underlie language use.

• The next stage introduced the skills-centered approach that promotes common
reasoning and interpreting processes so as to enable learners to extract meaning
from discourse.

• Hence, the focus is not solely on the surface forms of the language. The focus is
rather on the interpretative strategies, for example, guessing the meaning of words
from context, using visual layout to determine the type of text, etc.

(*Note- this is because in terms of materials being used this approach generally puts
the emphasis on reading and listening skills. The characteristic exercises get the
learners to reflect on and analyze how meaning is produced and retrieved from
written and spoken discourse hence, learners are treated as "thinking beings" who
can be asked to observe and verbalize the interpretive processes they employ in
language use.)

Skills and Strategies Framework

(*Note- in the figure, this approach is at least realistic in concentrating on strategies

and processes of making students aware of their own abilities and potential and
motivating them to tackle target texts on their own after the end of the course, so that
they can continue to improve.)

Learner-Centered
• This approach is based on the principle that learning is totally determined by the
learner.

(*Note- As teachers we can influence what we teach, but what learners learn is
determined by the learners alone.)

• Learning is viewed as a process where learners make meaning of new information

by using their existing knowledge and abilities. It is an internal process that critically
depends on the knowledge that the learners already possess, as well as on their
capacity and drive to apply it.
 • Therefore, a valid approach to ESP must be based on an understanding of the
processes of language learning.

(*Because we cannot simply assume that describing and exemplifying what people do with
language will enable someone to learn it. Learning is not just a mental process, it is a
process of negotiation between individuals and society.)

Learner-Centered Framework

(*Note- in the figure, When evaluating student accomplishment, a learner-centered

approach looks beyond the competence that allows someone to perform; what the
method actually wants to find is not the competence itself, but how someone learns
that competence.)

*For more information, click the link:

file:///C:/Users/Caesar%20Rome/Downloads/Dialnet-TheDevelopmentOfESP-
175352%20(1).pdf
file:///C:/Users/Caesar%20Rome/Downloads/ESP.Section1.Chapter2%20(1).pdf
TOPIC 5: ESP IS NOT (NOT THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ESP)
Outline created by: Bernardo Olvina Jr.

ESP is not a matter of teaching specialized varieties of English

* The fact that language is used for a specific purpose does not imply that it is a special
form of the language, different in kind from other forms.

* But these differences should not be allowed to obscure the far larger area of common
ground that underlies all English use, and indeed, all language use.

* There are some features which can be identified as ''typical'' of a particular context of use,
and which, later on help learners to be prepared to meet in the target situation.

ESP is not just a matter of Science words and grammar for Scientists, Hotel words
and grammar for Hotel staff, and so on.

* There is much more to communication than just the surface features that we read and
hear. We need to distinguish, as Chomsky did with regard to grammar, between
performance and competence, that is between what people actually do with the language
and the range of knowledge and abilities which enables them to do it Hutchinson and
Waters, 1981).

ESP is not different in kind from any other form of language teaching, in that it
should be based in the first instance on principles of effective and efficient learning.

* Though the content of learning may vary there is no reason to suppose that the processes
of learning should be any different for the ESP learner than for the General English learner.

* There Is, in other words, no such thing as an ESP methodology, merely methodologies
that have been applied in EsP classrooms.
TOPIC 6: NEEDS ANALYSIS
Outline created by: Felicity Lumapas

NEED ANALYSIS – FELICITY LUMAPAS

WHY DO WE HAVE TO CONSIDER THE NEEDS OF TEACHING STUDENTS?

* In all ESP teaching situations, we must start by considering the needs of the learners
and what they have to do in the target situation (Flook, 1993).

· The process of needs analysis often entails collecting information for the sake of
having the necessary bases to develop a course that will meet the needs of a
particular group of students.

· The process of determining the needs for which a learner or a group of learners
acquires a language and arranges the needs according to priorities.

* The needs are arranged in accordance with the priorities or goals needed to achieve
because, in ESP, the language is taught for a specific purpose. Therefore, the needs
must be arranged in order to acknowledge and target the activities that will really help
the student in that specific purpose.

For example:

If the purpose of the student for enrolling in the course is English for academic purposes
then, therefore, the activities will be centered on the purpose of the course. Activities
and materials that will touch the course of English for medical purposes or tourism and
such will not be touched in the course of academic purposes

· A teacher engaged in the process of NA (need analysis) to gather information

about the learner.

* In this case, the teacher needs to know what the students need to learn as well as
how they learn. This will help the teacher as well as the people involved (course
designers) to align their activities and discussions to the learning style of the students
(ESP is time-bounded and might last only for months so they have to consider what is
the most efficient way to teach the language to the students).

PURPOSE OF NEED ANALYSIS

ü To find out what language skills a learner needs.

* This is relevant because the teaching of ESP must be very specific and time-bounded.
It would be less time consuming if the lapses or the gaps of the students’ skills will be
targeted and improved.

ü To help determine if an existing course adequately addresses the needs of

potential students.

* To further emphasize that, ESP is still learner-centered. That is why it is necessary to

determine if a course obtains and does align to the goal of the student and the
curriculum.

ü To identify what the students lacks, wants, and expects.

* This will be elaborated later on but one of the purpose of need analysis is to know
what the students lack, wants, and their expectations at the end of the course.

ü To collect information about what are the problems of the particular learner.

TWO TYPES OF NEEDS:

· Target Needs

· Learning Needs

Target Needs “What the learner needs to do in a specific situation?”

* In order to answer the question, teachers should at least identify the following factors
in students.

It includes the learners:

1. Necessities - (academic requirements or the occupational requirements)

* It could be a material, resources, ability to participate in activities, or their prior

knowledge when it comes to speaking and learning the language.

2. Lacks

* This includes what the learners already know (schema) yet fail to remember, execute,
or what might be lacking in their learnings. It means it is the gaps of their proficiency in
the language. These are the ones that will be targeted by the course.

3. Wants – personal expectations

* These are often the expectations and hopes at the end of the lesson or the course.
There might be wants that are too unrealistic and might not be met by the teacher for
some reason but if the majority of the class has one expectation then therefore, there
should be additional ways. On that note, teachers must know this even though it’s quite
subjective and personal because it will help both of them (students and teachers) to be
on the same path and track.

Learning Needs “How are we going to the destination?”

* This includes the factors and methods that will affect the students. For example it
could be their motivation, awareness, personality, and learning styles. As for the
methods, this includes the activities that might catch their interests and satisfy the goal
and purpose of the course.

THREE BASIC TYPES OF ANALYSIS:

1. Target Situation Analysis

2. Present Situation Analysis

3. Pedagogic need Analysis

TOPIC 7: TARGET NEEDS
Outline created by:
TOPIC 8: CLASSIFICATION OF SYLLABUS BASED ON ITS FUNCTION
Outline created by : Maria Aniflor C. Mantalaba and Cherry Lou R. Montealto

Different types of functions must be included in a syllabus in order to determine what should
be the focus of a certain syllabus. In order to establish a structured course outline for the
semester, each of the six kinds of syllabus is crucial yet beneficial for both the teacher and
the students.

Syllabus

• A syllabus is more localized and is based on the accounts and records of what actually
happens at the classroom level as teachers and students apply a curriculum to their
situation.

• On the first day of the student's courses , the teacher may spend some time reviewing the
syllabus for each class. Reading and understanding the syllabus can help the students
know what to expect from the class over the course of a semester.

• But what exactly is a syllabus and why is it so important for students ? Let's take a closer
look.

- The syllabus gathers all the vital information about the class in one place. If the student
has questions about class schedules, due dates, or office hours, the teacher will probably
say "it's on the syllabus." When the student has a question about how class works, they
should check their syllabus first.

• Taking time to read and understand the syllabus might not sound like fun, but it can be
really useful. The syllabus will help student in the following ways :

• The students will meet deadlines

• Be prepared for class
• Understand assignments
• Know how the students will be graded by the end of the semester
• Manage student and teacher's time
• Stay organized as much as possible in order to avoid stress
• Connect with teachers and classmates

Evaluation Syllabus

Most people will be familiar with this type of syllabus because this kind of document is
issued by ministries or other governing authorities especially DepEd and Ched. It contains
outlines of evaluations that a successful learner will attain at the end of the course. It
effectively documents the criteria used to assess success or failure. It reflects a stance
taken by the government regarding the nature of language and linguistic ability. For
instance, if the syllabus is organized on grammatical structures, this reflects the idea that
learning a language entails learning its basic building blocks. It would be impossible to
produce an evaluation syllabus without having a view of what language is and thus how it
can be broken down.

- ( In the picture, indicated here in the Assessment Evaluation the exams , quizzes,
research,oral recitation, assignments with it's corresponding weights that will able to guide
students as to what scores they will be receiving at the end of the semester. )

Organizational Syllabus

In this syllabus, it is ordered and organized here what the students are going to learn for
the semester. This can be found in the content page inside the textbook. The organizational
syllabus makes assumptions about the nature of learning and of language, which sets it
apart from the assessment syllabus. As a result, the organizational syllabus makes an
implicit claim about the nature of language and education. It is important to take into
account elements that are based on how people learn, such as:
• What can be learned more quickly? Is it for example the Origin of ESP?
• What is more fundamental to learning? Is it Basic features of ESP?
• Are some items needed in order to learn other items? Are Basic features of ESP a pre-
requisite in learning the Development of ESP?
• What is more useful in the classroom? Is the Syllabus useful and practical to teach inside
the classroom?

- These sets of questions can be utilized as guidelines in producing an Organizational

Syllabus to further establish a meaningful and effective syllabus.

The Material Syllabus

This syllabus focuses on its material. As we all know, the materials writer is usually the first
person to interpret the syllabus. So, we get our third kind of syllabus – the material syllabus.
In writing materials, the author adds more assumptions about the nature of language,
language learning, and language use. The author decides the context in which the language
will appear, the relative weightings and integration of skills, the number and type of
exercises to be spent on any aspect of speech, and the degree of recycling or revision.
Herein, we can modify what the students need to learn deeply and extensively. These can
all affect whether and how well something is known.
(In this picture (example) it indicates the learning activities, required readings, assessment
tasks, and criteria that serve as the materials to be used during the learning process)

The Teacher Syllabus

The second stage of interpretation usually comes through the teacher. The great majority of
students in the world learn language through the mediation of a teacher. Teachers control
what topics are mostly needed to be discussed and relayed to the students. The teacher
can influence the clarity, intensity, and frequency of any item, thereby affecting the image
the learners receive. Thus, we have the teacher's syllabus. This syllabus heightens topics
and lessons the teacher thinks need to be strengthened.

(In this picture (example), we have here the emphasized aspects)

The Classroom Syllabus

The classroom is a dynamic, engaging setting that has an impact on both the teaching and
learning processes. As we all know, there are instances when situations inside the
classroom distracts the flow of the lesson or the learning process. Herein, a planned
lesson's nature will be impacted by the conditions in the classroom.

Say for example:

● The learners as a group: are tired after a long day. Thus, being unable to focus in the
discussion
● Excitable after an incident in the break
● Individual students might hold matters up by asking questions and distracting the
attention of the class.
Thus, this kind of syllabus focuses more on the classroom context. As it addresses the
classroom situations and their effects on the planned lessons. This syllabus may include the
planned things to be done during class as well as the classroom rules and regulations.

The Learner Syllabus

A learner syllabus belongs to the internal syllabus in which it is the network of knowledge
that develops in the learner’s brain. Based on my research, the internal syllabus is under
the Processability theory which believes that learners have a kind of internal syllabus
allowing them to learn some language items before others. The learner syllabus is
significant because it serves as the mirror through which the learner perceives all other
syllabi.

Example: The student's perception of what they need and are going to learn in a certain
course or subject/ topic or lesson.
TOPIC 9: CLASSIFICATION OF SYLLABUS BASED ON ITS CONTENT
Outline created by: Cyril Cornito and Azmeer Hasannal A. Uka

Description: This kind of syllabus focuses on a kind of instruction in which the primary
purpose is to teach some content or information using the language that students are
learning. In this kind of syllabus, the subject matter is primary, and the language learning
occurs incidentally through the content learning.

1. Topic syllabus
The case for a topic-based syllabus for young learners is based on the belief that children
learn best by doing in the sense of exploring topics and engaging in meaningful tasks in a
stress-free and supportive learning environment. When topics are allied to tasks, one has a
very effective mechanism for planning and implementing English language instruction at the
lower primary level.

Its main goal is for students to acquire second language competence by working on
certain topic areas.

Example: If the topic is an animal, the teacher will let learners know about animals and will
tell them the names of the animals. Then, in the other phase, the teacher gives learners
different vocabulary like (long tail, fur, cold blooded and warm blooded animals, etc.) and
asks them to compare them.

2. Structural/Situational syllabus

A structural syllabus is a syllabus in which input is selected according to grammatical

notions of simplicity and complexity. This syllabus includes a collection of the forms and
structures, usually grammatical elements such as verbs, nouns, and so on.

The primary purpose : to teach the language that occurs in the situations.

An Example of a Structural Syllabus:

Chapter 1 Verb Tense
1-1 The simple tenses
1-2 The progressive tenses
1-3 The perfect tense
1-4 The perfect progressive tense
1-5 Summary chart of verb tenses
1-6 Spelling of –ing and –ed forms
Chapter 2 Modal Auxiliaries and similar expressions
….
Chapter 3 The Passive
….
Chapter 4 Gerunds and Infinitive
….

3. Functional/Notional syllabus

A Functional/Notional Syllabus is a syllabus in which the language content is arranged

according to the meanings that a learner needs to express through language and the
functions the learner will use the target language for. It is a product-oriented, content
based syllabus where “meaning” is permanent. It views language as a living, dynamic,
complex phenomenon and relies on the learner’s capacity for analyzing language for
himself. “Functions” may be described as a communicative purpose for which we use
language. However, “notions” are the conceptual meanings (objects, entities, states of
affairs, logical relationships and so on). A notional syllabus is contrasted with a
grammatical syllabus on structural syllabus or a situational syllabus.

It focuses on what people want to do or accomplish through language. This approach

has a goal to help learner use the real language or appropriate language when
communicating.

4. Skill syllabus

A skill-based syllabus to syllabus design focuses on the different underlying abilities that
are involved in using a language for purposes such as reading, writing, listening, or
speaking.

The primary purpose of skill-based instruction is to teach the specific language skill that
may be useful or necessary in using language. Skills are things that people must be able
to do to be competent in a language.

Refer to Azmeer Uka (5-8)

5. Situational syllabus

A situational syllabus is often defined as one in which the contents that

organized according to situations in which certain language is likely to be employed.
It is based on communication situations. It selects, organizes, and presents
language items according to situations. A situational syllabus identifies the situation
in which the learner will use the language and the typical communicative acts of a
language used in a setting. Again, it is designed in such a way to provide a realistic
situation based on a communicative view of language and experimental theory of
language learning.
Procedure:

In the initial stage of teaching, the teacher has to analyze the probable linguistic
situations in which the learners may use the language.

Next, he has to analyze the probable behaviors/activities that the learners may carry
out in different situations.

In order to conduct the analysis of behavior of your students, the teacher must rely
upon a set of parameters for describing the significant features of situations. These
include the physical context in which the language event occurs and the channel of
communication (spoken or written).

For example, buying a ticket at the airport, seeing the dentist, complaining to the
landlord, buying a book at the bookstore, meeting a new student, and so on.

6. Functional/Task-Based Syllabus.

Let’s define first what a TASK is.

The task is a piece of classroom work that involves learners in comprehending,

manipulating, producing, or interacting with the target language and their attention is
particularly focused on the meaning rather than form.

Task-based syllabi are constructed with varieties of tasks as the basic blocks
focusing on using the target language in the real world rather than drilling on isolated
grammatical items.

An example of a task is to have the students develop a guidebook for their school or
instructional program for actual use by other students. Immigrant students might
research the availability of healthcare in their community and develop a guide to using
healthcare facilities.

7. Discourse/Skills Syllabus

The Discourse/Skills Syllabus emphasizes how students produce unified spoken or

written text in social contexts. This syllabus perceived the importance of both
knowledge and enabling discourse skills of the students. The two main aspects of
the discourse syllabus are cohesion and coherence.

Cohesion is using linking expressions such as conjunction to connect phrases. And

coherent text is one that makes sense. So, these concepts include logically and
clearly indicating relationships such as cause and effect or problem-solving
between ideas or events.

The Discourse Syllabus also emphasizes genres such as conversations,

interviews, reports, etc. that would help the students in constructing phrases, and
sentences in spoken or written discourses.

For example, teacher-student interaction in the classroom, debating, etc.

8. Skills and Strategies Syllabus

This syllabus concerns the effective and appropriate strategies that you can use to
teach and assess the competence and comprehension of your students knowing
that the skills of your students must be activated and assessed accordingly.
Feedback, assessment, modeling, experiential learning, etc. are some of the
strategies.

For example, the ability to use language in specific ways (settings and registers) is
partially dependent on general language ability but partly based on experience and the
need for specific skills.
TOPIC 10: THE NATURE OF COURSE DESIGN
Outline created by: Trecia Lynn P. Bayate

A well-designed course must clearly explain the expected outcomes of the lesson or the
course. Students should be able to assess their progress throughout the course,
knowing which skills they should possess and master throughout and at the end of the
course.

The nature of course design:

● To create a quality learning environment for students, as well as experiences.
● Whereas, through their exposure to the learning materials, activities, and interaction
with their classmates, students will be able to acquire information, gain skills in
understanding important aspects especially in their lessons, and to practice their
higher level of thinking skills.
● Lastly, its focus is to have a learning environment that will support the student’s
learning ability and intellectual development, as well as appreciate what they
have learned in the long run.

I have here a diagram that shows a learning-centered approach to course design that takes
account of the learner at every stage of the design process. That leads to two
implications:
1. A negotiated process - Wherein the learning situation in the ESP as well as the
 target situation will affect the syllabus, learning materials, methodology, and
evaluation procedures. Therefore, as seen in the diagram each of the components
will be influenced and influenced by the others.

2. A dynamic process - Wherein the needs and resources can vary with time. It
needs to have built-in feedback channels to enable the course to respond to
developments. For instance, after analyzing the learning situation, the teacher may
be able to write a syllabus, then create materials, after which the teacher will teach
using the materials, and the last part is the evaluation process. Through this, the
course will be able to respond to the developments.

Then, let’s recall using the graphic org.

TOPIC 11: APPROACHES TO COURSE DESIGN AND COMPARISON OF THE
APPROACHES
Outline created by: Marie Franchesca Placer, Sharine Beth Imba, and Hannah Balla

INTRODUCTION

(Brief Concept of ESP)

Purpose: ESP is used in various contexts to help language learners cope with different features of
language and develop competencies while considering the alignment of a particular discipline, profession,
or workplace wherein learners can master English as a language.

(Brief Concept of Course Design)

● Within the educational process, course design is a second important step, following training
needs analysis.
● It is that component by which the information about the learning needs of the students is
understood and interpreted in order to produce teaching/course materials depending on the
syllabus, then to develop a methodology for teaching and not ultimately to establish certain
evaluation procedures, all these sub0components being meant to lead the learner to reach the
required competence and knowledge in a field.

Why do we need to consider an ESP Approach?

● The reason why we need to consider the ESP approach is that it helps both the students and the
teachers to know what are the objectives, methods, materials, and evaluations that would be
suitable for the target needs of a language learner for a specific purpose and in making the
course/syllabus.
● If we acquire an effective ESP approach, it would help boost the students’ comprehension of
English materials and the English language use they already know to acquire new skills, since
they already have an idea on which areas they are going to focus on to achieve language
proficiency in a specific context, which will then motivate them to interact with speakers and texts
in the target language.

Therefore, it is important that the content of the syllabus and approach is also carefully justified in terms of
relevance and motivational potential for the students.

There are three types of ESP course design approaches that emerge as a framework for teaching and
learning:
1. Language-centered course approach
2. Skill-centered approach
3. Learning-centered approach

LANGUAGE-CENTERED APPROACH
Language-centered approach is an approach that focuses on the linguistic performance of the
learner in the target situation (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987). This approach aims to draw a
connection between the target situation and the content of the ESP course.

● It usually starts from the identification of the linguistic features of the target situation in order to
describe the trainees’ needs and to create a syllabus and evaluation procedures after the course
materials are designed. (process)
● It is the simplest to develop in a course

Weakness of language-centered approach

1. It starts from the learners and their needs
➢ The learner is simply used as a means of identifying the target situation.
➢ Instead of taking the whole of English and teaching it to the learner, as happens in
General English, only a restricted area of the target language is taught.
➢ The learner is used solely as a way of locating the restricted area. Thereafter, the learner
plays no further part in the process.
➢ As we have seen, when considering need analysis, the learner should be considered at
every stage of the process. Yet, in this model the learning needs of the students are not
accounted for at all. It is, therefore, not learner-centered, but simply learner-restricted.
2. It is a static and inflexible procedure, which can take little account of the conflicts.
➢ Once the initial analysis of the target situation is done, the course designer is locked into
a relentless process. But what if the initial analysis wrong? What if some crucial element,
such as the unexpected motivational attitude of Mead’s students is not taken into
account?
➢ Any procedures must have flexibility, feedback channels and error tolerance built in so
that it can respond to unsuspected or developing influences.
3. It appears to be systematic.
➢ One of the alluring features of this model is that it appears to be systematic.
➢ Certainly, there is a lot of evidence to show that the systematization of knowledge plays a
crucial role in the learning process: we learn by fitting individual items of knowledge
together to create a meaningful predictive system.
➢ The most important point here is that it must be an internally-generated system not an
externally-imposed system. The fact that knowledge has been systematically analyzed
 and systematically presented does not in any way imply that it will be systematically
learnt. Learners have to make the system meaningful to themselves.
➢ Unfortunately we have to admit that we do not know enough about the mind actually goes
about creating its internal system of knowledge. We must, however, avoid the mistake
made by the Audiolingual Approach of believing that because language has a
describable system, describing that system will induce systematic learning.
4. It gives no acknowledgement to factors which must inevitably play a part in the creation of
any course.
➢ One of the alluring features of this model is that it appears to be systematic.
➢ Data such as that produced by a needs analysis, is not important in itself. Data must be
interpreted and in interpreting the data we make use of all sorts of knowledge that are not
revealed in the analysis itself.
➢ What is actually happening in the language-centered approach is that an analytical model
is also being used inappropriately as a predictive model. An analysis of what happens in
a particular situation is being used to determine the content of pedagogic syllabuses and
materials.
5. The language-centered analysis of target situation data is only at the surface level.

➢ It reveals very little about the competence that underlines the performance.
The logical, straightforward appeal of the language-centered approach is, in effect, its weakness. It fails to
recognize the fact that, learners are people, and learning is not a straightforward logical process.

SKILL-CENTERED APPROACH

Skills Centered Approach - This approach aims at helping learners to develop skills and
strategies which will continue after the ESP course. Its aim is not only to provide language
knowledge but to make the learners into better processors of information. The figure below
presents this model.

Hutchinson and Waters (1987) state that the role needs analysis in this approach is to help
the ESP practitioner discover the potential knowledge and competences of the learner, and their
perspectives of the target situation.

The skills-centered approach still approaches the learner as a user of language rather as a
learner of language.

● Skills-centred model view language in terms of how the mind of the learner processes it rather
than as an entity in itself.
● It tries to build positive factors that the learner brings to the course, rather than just on the
negative ideas of the ‘lacks’.
● It frames the objectives in open-ended terms, so enabling learners to achieve at least something.
Yet, in spite of its concern for the learner, the skills-centered approach still approaches the
learner as a user of language rather than as a learner of the language.
● This approach aims at helping learners to develop skills and strategies that will continue after the
ESP course. Its aim is not only to provide language knowledge but to make the learners better
processors of information.
LEARNING-CENTERED APPROACH

A learner-centered approach views learners as active agents. In the learning-centered situation,

students are ultimately responsible for their own learning using different strategies. For example
they have to engage in assigned learning activities and exert the effort required to learn. So if
students are supposed to take responsibility for their own learning, it is time to give them more
control over the way learning experiences are structured.

The idea behind this approach is that the learner is the main actor in the learning process for this to
happen it takes the following principles:

● Learning is totally determined by the learner who uses his knowledge and skills to make sense of
new information.
● Learning is not just a mental process; it is a process of negotiation between individuals and
society.
● Course design is negotiation process in which both the target situation influences the features of
the syllabus and also it's a dynamic process in which means and recourses vary from time to
time.

For example they have to engage in assigned learning activities and exert the effort required to learn. So
if students are supposed to take responsibility for their own learning, it is time to give them more control
over the way learning experiences are structured. In addition to this, teachers delivering a learning-
centred need to control aspects of the course to ensure that they meet their professional responsibility to
create a course that addresses certain learning outcomes. In the same line, students need to control
aspects of the learning environment to meet individual learning goals and maintain motivation.

COMPARISON

A language-centered approach says: this is the nature of the target situation performance and that will
determine the ESP course.

A skill-centered approach says: that’s not enough. We must look behind the target performance data to
discover what processes enable someone to perform. Those processes will determine the ESP course.

A learning-centered approach says: that’s not enough either. We must look beyond the competence
that enables someone to perform, because someone acquires that competence.
We might see the relationship in this diagram: