The Study on English for Specific Purposes Teaching for Computer Curricula

Abstract： What the above questions point to and assert is that ESP syllabus design for computer students is indeed a matter of assembling， matching， and， ultimately， balancing different perspectives and different insights. Whether I have been objective and successful in trying to strike a pragmatic balance between voices from soaring theory and voices from down-to-earth practice is open to evaluation and assessment. It is my contention that such an evaluation should be linked to process-referenced action rather than to take-away canons.

Key words： ESP； Computer curricula； Teaching

1 Introduction

It has been a long-held tenet in the field of language teaching that the rise of LSP （Language for Specific Purposes） to prominence is to be associated with socio-economic trends and policies rather than with shifts and trends in the Applied Linguistics per se [1]-[4]. This is especially the case with ESP （English for Specific Purposes）， a term which can be said to be inherently responsive to major developments in many areas of professional and/or academic activity. As generally conceived， ESP focuses attention on the learner's current， perceived or targeted upon socio-cultural profile and on the reasons s/he might have for learning a/the specific language within the said framework. The student on an ESP course is certainly not learning English as an end in itself， but en route to the acquisition of some quite different body of knowledge or set of skills. An ESP course， then， must be aimed at a clearly utilitarian purpose beyond the learning environment itself. This purpose is the successful performance of occupational or educational roles integrally linked with pre-defined areas of activity （academic， vocational or professional） [1]-[5].

2 FEATURES INFLUENTIAL IN ESP SYLLABUS DESIGN

The goal-oriented and purposeful nature of ESP is bound to have serious implications for the kind of activities， topics and specialist language that an ESP course needs to involve. It goes without saying that the specifying factor as to what the learners need to do through the medium of English lies in needs analysis， a parameter treated as a common denominator in ESP courses by a number of authors and practitioners [7].

This is bound up with learner-centredness and， hence， with the awareness that the ESP student can and should be allowed to express his or her purpose in learning [7]. This， in turn， is closely interlaced with the students' learning styles and preferences， as well as with their potential capability of interacting with syllabus designers through the adoption of either positive or negative attitudes [7]. Given that what is crucial in ESP is the awareness of needs and not the mere existence of them， examining different types of learner awareness might also facilitate the formulation of suggestions for the syllabus to be developed. It goes without saying that these suggestions should be related to the time available for the course. This necessitates collaboration among all interested parties， i.e. syllabus designers， ESP teachers， subject specialists and professors， institutional and departmental councils， social partners， potential sponsors， and， of course， students.

3 FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE： A CASE STUDY

As stated above， the Institution concerned is the School of Pedagogical and Technological Education， known as ASPETE， the sole state-funded Technical and Vocational Teacher Training Institution in Greece. Education at ASPETE is divided into five major engineering disciplines （electrical， electronic， mechanical， civil and structural， and civil and construction engineering）， each of which constitutes a separate Department.

ESP in all five engineering Departments of ASPETE is taught as a compulsory course for one semester， the overall duration of studies being four years， including a six-month practical training and the submission of a thesis. The course is preceded by remedial core-language classes which are optional. The remedial course syllabus consists of an ordered set of language items typically graded by difficulty of learning， whereas the ESP course deploys the content of the specific discipline.

Students range from 18 to 30 years old， with most in their early or mid twenties. Their Target Language （TL） mastery on entry to ASPETE ranges from a low intermediate to a good， post-First Certificate level. Their TL entry motivation seems to be largely determined by the status of English as a language of international communication. What the quantitative analysis of their answers showed， is that a large number of them （84%） tend to subscribe to a motive-driven need of a far more urgent immediacy： to use the language as an indispensable tool in their discipline-oriented studies in Greece， or in a host-institute in E.U. Given the above data， the question to be asked is how this raw material can be made to contribute to the choice of a syllabus type for the particular ESP case-study and its computer oriented terrain. The answer is to be found in the Target Situation Analysis （TSA）， which focuses on the students' expected and perceived needs at the end of the course.

The information sought for TSA comprises a wide range of parameters that can be best codified by means of Munby's widely discussed categories. Employing them， the ESP syllabus designer can reach valuable conclusions as to the preparation of the proto-syllabus description and the elaboration of its pedagogical version. The first thing to do is to establish relations between the various items gathered， the caveat being that including everything is not always the best practice. Consideration of the quantity and quality of the information to be utilized for the TSA （Table 1） survey assists in keeping the process to manageable and realistic proportions as to later decisions. The crux of the matter is the specification of the occupational and/or educational purposes for which the target language， in this case English， is required.

The distinction between occupational and educational purposes becomes quite crucial when it comes to the computer teacher students of ASPETE since the School's mission encourages both. In fact， these two different purposes do co-exist as equally strong， potentialities， which never become mutually exclusive. Consequently， the purposive domain of the said students， although built around a common core of an in-study ESP， ranges from an occupational， post-experience ESP to an educational， discipline-based， post-study ESP - a fact that determines the formation of two diverging sets of features within the same participant （Table 1）.

PSA and TSA findings：

It is clear that the proposed organizational phases cannot and should not be pursued sequentially. As to the Specialized Phase content， care must be taken to ensure that the progression matches the computer curriculum of the previous and/or current semester. Such an arrangement will enable the student participants to acknowledge their own expertise in the subject knowledge， an acknowledgement that will increase their inner motivation， and sensitize them to the learning processes they are asked to embrace. Seen in this perspective， the Specialized Phase can be said to employ the rationale and grading principles of a topic-based syllabus.

5 CONCLUSION

Over the recent years ESP syllabus design has emerged as a particularly dynamic quest and request to the theoretical credentials of ESP， challenging what has arisen in the field or simply subscribing to it [1]， [4]-[7]. When pursued in a disciplined manner， syllabus design itself constitutes a form of research bound to chart new routes to already known terrain（s） and vice-versa. It is indeed a matter of assembling and balancing different perspectives and different insights entailing diverse ways of listening to what the voices of the parties concerned have to say. Working within this framework can be a really rewarding experience. What I have learned from it above all， is that in the real world of ESP syllabus design there has to be a creative synthesis of theoretical principles and practical constraints and that where these conflict， the latter must take precedence. In sum， any syllabus designer wishing to do justice to an ESP syllabus in the context of electrical engineering curricula should bear in mind the following：

Adherence to pure doctrine principles and standpoints can lead to pedagogically disruptive decisions with no bearings on reality.

Reconciling theoretical evidence with hard facts is a multi-faceted and time-consuming task which calls for a cooperative approach of key-parties involved， including ESP target group students.

Any cooperative approach to ESP syllabus design entails participation of all key-parties involved and consideration of all features criterial to it.

The voices from the ESP classroom are too illuminating to be neglected.

Institutional， departmental， and ESP student and teacher–emanating constraints are too important to be ignored.

ESP students’ intrinsic motivation goes hand in hand with extrinsic motivation.

ESP students’ preconceptions and/or expectations of what teaching and learning should be， constitute a ‘set’ for learning， which if unrealized can give rise to a case of learner disaffection and demotivation.

Many-pronged， spiral approaches to PSA and TSA are moreeffective than single-pronged， sequential ones.

The PSA and TSA findings call for detailed elaboration， assessment， qualitative and quantitative analysis and correlation.

The use of participatory appraisal in the ESP classroom should not be underestimated.

Proposals as to existing or targeted upon syllabus framework（s） based on PSA and TSA findings have to be piloted， monitored and continually assessed before a final evaluation can take place.

The element of negotiation can be both creative and disruptive depending on whether it is incorporated in otherwise formulated syllabus， or its made the core of a purely negotiated model.

In case plans must be set for groups prior to their arrival at a particular educational setting， the syllabus designer can， to a certain extent， generalize from experience.

The construct validity of an ESP syllabus in the context of electrical engineering or other curricula can be checked by reference to both content and process aspects of the course.

The syllabus model thus evolved and analyzed should not be seen as an end-product per se； rather as an open-ended circumscription of areas to be explored and/or mastered. Questions are bound to be asked： To what extent can such a syllabus be said to be realizable as an operable， dynamic and cost-effective process disentangled from the inadequacies and hurdles within the/an existing institutional framework？ How viable would an assertion made in this light be？ Could such an assertion be taken to be viable in the first place？ If not， where have we failed？ Or， else， what have we failed to see or to follow？ Have we failed to adopt what theory and research has amply offered， or have the theoreticians-researchers failed to communicate to us where emphasis should be laid and where not？

References

[1] T. Dovey， “What purposes， specifically？ Rethinking purposes and specificity in the context of the new ‘vocationalism’”， English for Specific Purposes， vol. 25， pp. 387-402， 2009.

[2] D. D. Belcher， “English for Specific Purposes： Teaching to perceived needs and imagined futures in worlds of work， study， and everyday life”， TESOL Quarterly， vol. 40， pp. 133-156， 2010.

[3] P. Cheung， “ Specifying ‘purpose’ in ESP： The case of the engineering analytical report”， Research and Practice in Professional Discourse， C.N. Candling Ed. Hong-Kong： Hong Kong Univ. Press， pp.395-420， 2002.

[4] V. Wright， “Language for Specific Purposes，” CKS Working Papers，. Cambridge： The CKS Consortium， 1993.

[5] I. Marmarinos and M. Kantonidou-Daskalaki， “On Some Aspects of ESP Syllabus Design” Sborník Prací Díl 5， Slezská Univerzita Karnivá， pp.33-38， 1997.

[6] J. McDonough， ESP in Perspective. A Practical Guide. London： Collins ELT， 1984.

[7] P. Robinson， ESP Today： A Practitioner’s Guide. Hertfordshie： Prentice Hall， 1991.