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68THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS IN TEACHING ESP Mustafayeva M.A.
Mustafayeva Mavlyuda Anvarovna - Teacher of the English Language, "ENGLISH LANGUAGE" DEPARTMENT, BUKHARA ENGINEERING-TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, BUKHARA, REPUBLIC OF UZBEKISTAN
Abstract: ESP focuses on the specific needs of the learners, concentrating more on language in context functions. This article, consequently, focuses on identifying the current challenges that teachers and students may encounter in the process of teaching and learning English for Specific Purposes.
and on the students" need to acquire a set ofprofessional skills and particular job-related Keywords: English for specific purposes, Textbooks, Learners' needs, Legal English, Labor market, Subject-Content Knowledge.
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. An ESP program, might, for example, emphasize the development of reading skills in students who are preparing for graduate work in business administration; or it might promote the development of spoken skills in students who are studying English in order to become tourist guides. As a matter of fact, ESP combines subject matter and English language teaching. Such a combination is highly motivating because students are able to apply what they learn in their English classes to their main field of study, whether it be accounting, business management, economics, computer science or tourism. Being able to use the vocabulary and structures that they learn in a meaningful context reinforces what is taught and increases their motivation.
The term "specific" in ESP refers to the specific purpose for learning English. Students approach the study of English through a field that is already known and relevant to them. This means that they are able to use what they learn in the ESP classroom right away in their work and studies. The ESP approach enhances the relevance of what the students are learning and enables them to use the English they know to learn even more English, since their interest in their field will motivate them to interact with speakers and texts.ESP assesses needs and integrates motivation, subject matter and content for the teaching of relevant skills.
A teacher that already has experience in teaching English as a Second Language (ESL), can exploit her background in language teaching. She should recognize the ways in which her teaching skills can be adapted for the teaching of English for Specific Purposes. Moreover, she will need to look for content specialists for help in designing appropriate lessons in the subject matter field she is teaching. You have to set learning goals and then transform them into an instructional program with the timing of activities. One of your main tasks will be selecting, designing and organizing course materials, supporting the students in their efforts, and providing them with feedback on their progress.
People learn languages when they have opportunities to understand and work with language in a context that they comprehend and find interesting. In this view, ESP is a powerful means for such opportunities. Students will acquire English as they work with materials which they find interesting and relevant and which they can use in their
professional work or further studies.[1] The more learners pay attention to the meaning of the language they hear or read, the more they are successful; the more they have to focus on the linguistic input or isolated language structures, the less they are motivated to attend their classes. Various attempts have been made at sketching out, as comprehensively as possible, a definition of this complex subject. In their book Developments in English for Specific Purposes: A multi-disciplinary approach, Tony Dudley-Evans and Maggie Jo St John [2] define ESP in terms of absolute and variable characteristics.
In the conclusion we should mention that ESP is increasingly important to the future development of English language teaching . We have attempted both to provide an overview of the challenges confronting the profession, and to examine some of these challenges in more detail. Perhaps the most significant challenge in this context is the change of the teacher's role from expert authority to a collaborator with subject-specialist colleagues and with learners. The success of ESP is dependent upon a new, evidence-based and practically-oriented approach to the training of English teachers.
References
1. Lorenzo F. 2005 Teaching English for Specific Purposes.
2. Dudley-Evans T and St John M J 1998 Developments in English for Specific Purposes:
A multidisciplinary approach, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
