Pusat Program Luar/FBMK

UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA

Program Bersemuka 2
Semester I 2008/2009

Kursus: BBI 3211

(English for Specific Purposes)

Tarikh: 21 September 2008

Tempat: BKP 001 UPM
Pensyarah: PM Dr. Mohd Faiz
Abdullah
BBI 3211 (ESP):
Review of Course Objectives and
Assessment Scheme
Lecturer: Assoc. Prof. Dr.
Mohd Faiz Abdullah
Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, students are able to:

1. identify the differences between
teaching/learning ESP and General English;
2. describe the different approaches to needs
analysis;
3. list and describe the possible constraints on
the process of analysing needs and
designing ESP courses;
4. identify the various approaches to ESP
course design;
Learning Objectives (cont’d)

5. determine how special language can be

analysed and described;
6. describe the role of the ESP practitioner
and appropriate methodology in ESP;
7. identify the features of sound ESP materials;
and
8. describe the functions of evaluation and
apply techniques of assessment in ESP.
Assessment

• Individual Task 10%

• Mini-project I 15%
• Mini-project II 15%
• Mid-semester Test 20%
• Final Examination 40%
• TOTAL MARKS 100%
Final Examination
• assessment of your knowledge of
the course content
• will comprise 40 multiple-choice
questions and two (2) essay
questions
• You must attempt all the multiple-
choice items (30% of course marks)
and choose one essay question
(10% of course marks).
BBI 3211 (ESP):
REVIEW OF UNITS 5 – 7

Lecturer: Assoc. Prof. Dr.

Mohd Faiz Abdullah
Unit 5: ESP MATERIALS
Unit Objectives
At the end of this unit, you will be able to:
• describe ways in which knowledge of special
language can be used in the development of ESP
materials,
• identify authentic texts for use in ESP classes,
• distinguish between language-focused and authentic
activity-focused use of text,
• assess the relative merits and demerits of using
textbooks and in-house materials, respectively, and
• select appropriate techniques of ESP materials
design and apply these to their own practice.
Link between Language and
Content
1. Language descriptions - the link between NA,
CD and Materials.
2. Methodology in ESP - two angles, i.e.
‘methodology’ as:
• the approach to problem-solving that is practised
in a particular discipline and/or area of study/work,
and
• the sum total of teaching/learning activities in a
course of instruction.
3. Current approaches to ESP are based on:
– notions of ‘genre’ and ‘register’ in relation to
language use in work/study context
– Topics and learning tasks in course design
Link between Language and Content (cont’d…)

4. Descriptions of special language link NA to

the language content of the course via:
– description carried out at NA stage of course design

– basis for the development of materials

– important first stage in the selection of content

– basis of ESP materials esp. areas of materials that

are language-focused E.g. exercises on word
formation, collocations (i.e. words that tend to occur
together), abbreviations, and the linguistic forms
associated with the expression of rhetorical functions
and discourse moves or stages
Link between Language and Content (cont’d…)

5. Language descriptions are not explicit in

communicative activities:
• part of “language focus” stage, not
“content focus” stage
• knowledge of typical genres is useful for
the teacher or materials-writer as a basis
for structuring communicative activities
• Units of materials structured according to
Topics and Tasks
Link between Language and Content (cont’d…)

6. Structure of a unit of materials

(Hutchinson & Waters, 1987):
 Starter
 Input
 Language Focus and Content Focus
(alternating)
 Tasks (pedagogic tasks leading to
‘real world tasks)
 Projects (optional)
Text and Tasks
7. Authentic tasks are devised, based on
authentic texts:
• Authentic tasks resemble the actions
learners need to do in real life situations
• Authentic texts are those which are
similar to actual texts found in those
situations
• Authenticity of text and task is therefore
a key consideration in ESP materials
Using Authentic Texts
1. Properties of authenticity with regard
to ESP materials include the following:
• the texts were not produced for language
teaching/training purposes
• the texts are relevant for the target
context of language use
• the texts should be what the learners
would do in their specific area of
study/work activity
Authentic Texts (cont’d…)
2. If authentic texts are linguistically too
difficult for the learners, simple or
simplified texts can be used.
• ‘simple’ = specially written for the
language class
• ‘simplified’ = the original text is modified
to make it simpler
3. In simplified accounts, two features that
are usually changed are:
• lexis, or vocabulary
• syntax
Authentic Texts (cont’d…)
4. Two textual features that one should be careful
to preserve unchanged in simplified accounts
are:
• rhetorical structure
• information structure
5. Two other ways of making difficult texts more
accessible to the learner are:
• grading by information density (i.e. controlling
focus on content from less to more)
• grading by task complexity (i.e. arranging tasks
from easy to more difficult)
Language-focused and
Authentic Activities
1. TALO (Text as Linguistic Object) - texts that
focus on language
2. TAVI (Text as Vehicle of Information) - texts
that are used to stimulate authentic activities
3. Procedure for application of concepts:
• Selection of text i.e. principles whereby the
text is chosen – what the teacher looks for
• Working with text
• Classroom interaction i.e. teacher and
learners – who is talking, and to whom?
• Follow-up activities i.e. in class or as
homework
Using Textbooks
Advantages Disadvantages
• good quality, from expert • irrelevance of topics for group
authors and editors
• wrong language level for group
• good appearance
• wrong level of subject knowledge
• convenient to have a book for group

• the book provides a syllabus and • not suitable for learning style(s) of
a course shape group

• accountability, control and co- • not meeting their particular

ordination in a large-scale course language difficulties
with several student groups
taught by different teachers • students may have used the book
before

• book may be culturally

inappropriate

• not enough copies for students

Using In-house Materials
Advantages Disadvantages
• relevance and appropriacy • very time-consuming to
for particular group of produce
learners, with regard to:
– topic • variable quality
– level of subject
– knowledge
– language level
• difficult to coordinate across
– language difficulties
teachers – they tend to want
to use their own only
– learning style
– cultural acceptability
• lots of bits of paper
• inconvenient for students,
flexibility – responding to and also teachers
needs as they arise, or
keeping up-to-date with
topical subjects • a syllabus and course plan
must also be drawn up
• materials writing is
professionally prestigious • difficulty in finding suitable
source material, especially fro
listening
UNIT 6: METHODOLOGY FOR
ESP
Sub-topics:
• ESP Methodology and EGP
Methodology
• Activities in ESP
• Using Students’ Knowledge of the
Specialism
• Problem Solving Tasks
• Review
ESP/EGP Methodology
Differences between ESP/EGP
teaching/learning:
• teacher roles in the ESP classroom,
• teacher and student knowledge of
the specialism,
• the relationship between the
specialism and ESP methodology,
and
• tasks for the ESP classroom
ESP/EGP Methodology…

Dudley-Evans and St John (1998, p. 187):

“We [suggest] that ESP teaching can be
very different to EFL [EGP] teaching …
mainly from two factors associated with
the learners:
• the specialist knowledge that they bring
– both conscious and latent;
• the cognitive and learning processes that
they bring with them from their
experience of learning and working
within their specialist field.”
Roles of the ESP
teacher/instructor
• Empathiser
• Consultant
• Course designer and administrator
• Diplomat/Negotiator
• Analyst
• Materials writer
• Evaluator and tester
• Report writer
• Collaborator with content specialists
• Classroom researcher
Activities in ESP
– Role Plays
– Simulations
– Case studies
– Project work
– Oral presentation
– Information transfer
– Information gap
– Jigsaw listening/reading
Using Students’ Knowledge of their Specialism

Appropriating students’ knowledge of:

• the world,
• their mother tongue, and other
languages
To carry out:
• Problem Solving Tasks
• Using a ‘deep-end’ strategy
UNIT 7: EVALUATION AND
ASSESSMENT IN ESP

Sub-topics
• Assessment vs. Evaluation
• The Design of Evaluations
• Guidelines on Evaluation
• Evaluation Methods: Data Gathering
• Evaluation of Process and Product
• Programme-Fair Evaluation
• Evaluation Criteria
• The Evaluation of Projects
• The Realities of Evaluation
• Evaluation in ESP
• Testing in ESP
Main differences between
assessment and evaluation
Assessment
• Assessment = measuring
or judging the progress,
achievement, or
proficiency of students
• The focus is on student
learning, the outcomes of
instruction
Evaluation
• Evaluation is a broader
concept than assessment
– value-adding process
• Assessment may be one
part of an evaluation. But
evaluation may focus on
many other aspects of a
course apart from student
learning; e.g. quality of
the teaching or the
materials, the
appropriateness of the
objectives, the classroom
climate and so on.
Evaluation
• “The process of determining to what
extent the objectives are actually being
realised.”

• “Evaluation is the systematic collection

and analysis of all relevant information
necessary to promote the improvement
of a curriculum and assess its
effectiveness and efficiency, as well as
the participants attitudes within the
context of the particular institutions
involved
A practical perspective on
evaluation
Collecting educational information
about:
• the achievement of learners
• the teachers
• the materials
• the teaching methodology
• the syllabus, etc.
Design of Evaluations

• Why evaluate?

• Who evaluates?

• For whom
Formative evaluation vs.
summative evaluation
Formative Summative
• Gathers information • Appraisal of a completed
about an on-going program
program
• Asks if objectives have
• Periodic – aims to check been met
on progress and suggest
improvements to • Serves the accountability
program. Focus on function. Informs
improvement decisions on renewal or
abandonment of the
• Usually internal agents of program
evaluation
• Usually external
evaluator
Evaluation Methods: Data-
Gathering
• questionnaires
• interviews
• classroom observation
• study of documents
• tests
• ratings
Testing Purpose and Test
Types
• Achievement test.
• Proficiency Test
• Placement test
• Diagnostic test
• Progress test.
The Interpretation of Test
Scores
• Norm-Referenced testing
• Criterion-referenced testing

Scoring Tests
• Objective scoring.
• Subjective scoring
Test Validation
• Reliability issues
• Validity issues

Test Methods
• Direct tests
• Indirect tests
• Performance tests
• Competence tests
Thank you for listening…
Best of luck with your studies!
PM Dr. Faiz Abdullah
E-Mail: mfaiz@fbmk.upm.edu.my
H/Phone: 012-9789764
FBMK Room No. 212
(2nd Floor, Language Studies
Block, Faculty of Modern
Languages and Communication
UPM)