English for specific purposes: a learning-centred approach

[

English for Specific Purposes A learning-centred approach

NEW DIRECTIONS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING Editors: Howard B. Altman and Peter Strevens This important series is for language teachers and others who: -need to be informed about the key issues facing the language teaching profession today; -want to understand the theoretical issues underlying current debates; -wish to relate theory to classroom practice.

In this series: Communicative Language Teaching- An introduction by W il/iam Littlewood Developing Reading Skills- A practical guide to reading comprehension exercises by Fran~oise Grellet Simulations in Language Teaching by Ken Jones Video in Language Teaching by Jack Lonergan Computers, Language Learning and Language Teaching by Khurshid Ahmad, Greville Corbett, Margaret Rogers and Roland Sussex Beyond Methodology- Second language teaching and the community by Mary Ashworth Course Design- Developing programs and materials for language learning by Fraida Dubin and Elite Olshtain English for Specific Purposes- A learning-centred approach by Tom Hutchinson and Alar. Waters Principles of Course Design for Language Teaching by Janice Yalden Strategic Interaction- Learning languages through scenarios by Robert J. DiPietro Self-instruction in Langnage Learning by Leslie Dickinson Understanding Research in Second Language Learning- A teacher's guide to statistics and research design by James Dean Brown

~

Focus on the Language Classroom- An introduction to classroom research for language teachers by Dick Allwright and Kathleen M. Bailey

I

I 1

· English

1

for Specific Purposes

I 1

A learning-centred approach

Tom Hutchinson and Alan Waters

••

Tl~ri!fllo/tlw

f.llotwr:il!' of Quuhrrdg~ l
f;·.
h ~-'­

r Why was ESP introduced in your country· or teaching institution? What kinds of ESP are taught?

(;~)'Tell me what, you need En~lis~ for and I will :ell yo~ the_ En_glish. ,.,, that you need (p. 8). How JUStifiable do you thmk this claim ESP?

IS

for

3 'The clear relevance of the English course to their needs would improve the learners' motivation and thereby make learning better and faster' (p. 8). · a) Give three ways in which' relevance' can be achieved. b) In what ways can motivation affect language learning? 8

2 The development of ESP

The best laid schemes o' mice and men Gang aft a-gley.

a

(Robert Bums)

!liilll

l!1i!ll

ii.l.ll

~

liii!l

From its early beginnings in the ~~~osESP ha~ undergone~ phases-of·aev~enr::-It is-now in a fourth phase..with. a-fifth phase starling -ro·enierge7.:We-shall describe each of the five phases in greater detail in later chapters, but it will provide a useful. perspective to give a brief summary here. l!_~houl