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      TeachingEnglish
      Teaching ESP
      Submitted by TeachEd on 9 August, 2010 - 12:04

      Hello everybody. I am a teacher interested in branching out into ESP teaching, perhaps in universities or in-company.

      I was wondering how you get started in this area. I already hold a DELTA and an MA in TESOL, so I'm not sure whether I should do a short course in ESP or not. Is there a list of training courses out there? My internet search is proving fruitless.

      Should I approach universities/businesses directly or should I do it through a central government body?

      Any advice will be very much appreciated!

       

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      cmftrier's picture
      cmftrier
      EAP
      Submitted on 10 August, 2010 - 06:25

      For EAP (academic puporses) there are lots of books about for teachers about how this differs from general English etc, so I'd suggest having a look at one of them.I don't know of any courses exactly, but if you've done a degree you'll know the kinds of things they'll have to do: writin essays, reading academic texts, following lectures, making notes, researching and referencing, etc. Depending on where you (want to) work, they may also need special instruction in the specialist language of the field they're studying.

      I don't think you need to go through government bodies to apply for jobs at universities, as they're mainly in charge of their own recruitment. I would suggest looking at university's websites, and maybe contacting the head of the EFL departments, etc. With your qualifications, you should be able to find something :-)

       

      CMF

      rolandgill's picture
      rolandgill
      The most important difference
      Submitted on 9 September, 2010 - 09:24

      The most important difference lies in the learners and their purposes for learning English. ESP  students are usually adults who already have some acquaintance with English and are learning the language in order to communicate a set of professional skills and to perform particular job-related functions. An ESP program is therefore built on an assessment of purposes and needs and the functions for which English is required .

      ESP concentrates more on language in context than on teaching grammar and language structures. It covers subjects varying from accounting or computer science to tourism and business management. The ESP focal point is that English is not taught as a subject separated from the students' real world (or wishes); instead, it is integrated into a subject matter area important to the learners.