Types of ESP

There are many different terms for types of ESP, although, in reality, many of these overlap. Thus an
English for science and technology (EST) course could be a pre-experience course at university for
engineering students so could be classed as an EAP course. If the EST course was designed for post-
experience engineers then it could be classed as an EOP course. The following section presents a few
of the types of course commonly referred to in the field of ESP.

English for science and technology (EST) This branch of ESP was the first area of ESP to evolve.
Generally, the focus of EST is on the technical and semi-technical vocabulary of scientific texts, the
commonly found grammatical structure in them and their genres – for example, a laboratory report.

English for academic purposes (EAP): English for academic purposes focuses on students’
communicative needs at university. Students at English-language universities need to learn the
appropriate forms, lexis and genres relevant to their discipline and academic level. So, for example,
English for undergraduates will be different from English for research students; English for chemistry
students will be very different from English for social-work students.

The emphasis of a large amount of EAP in many countries is on preparatory courses. These courses
prepare students for entry to university and may be delivered in the student’s home country prior to
departure or in the destination country prior to commencing academic study. Such preparatory
courses prepare students to pass university language entry requirements – for example, IELTS and
TOEFL.

Business English

English for business purposes (EBP) is often referred to today as business English (BE). EBP is distinct
from other types of ESP in the extent to which English is used to facilitate intercultural
communication between non-native English speakers. English is the global language of business
communication and transaction. The use of English in the business world is so prevalent today that it
has become a necessary tool for international business professionals. A similar distinction in terms of
specificity is drawn with BE as with EAP. English for general business purposes (EGBP) refers to
courses that usually aim to instruct in business as well as language and can be classed as pre-
experience. Many universities feature such courses as part of their curriculum. Cambridge English
Examinations offers a series of Business English Certificates targeting pre-experience students.
English for specific business purposes (ESBP) is more likely to be aimed at experienced or inservice
professionals who need English to do their job. English for occupational purposes English for
occupational purposes (EOP) covers a broad range of types of ESP, some of which are explored below
(other terms are ‘English for vocational purposes’ (EVP) and ‘English for professional purposes’
(EPP)). EOP is likely to be very specific and quite narrow in focus. Where an EGBP course for general
business may mirror a general English course, presenting a full range of grammatical structure and
vocabulary, EOP is likely to offer only those structures and vocabulary relevant to the communicative
needs of the occupation. For example, Gordon (2002) presents an ESP course for entry-level
manufacturing workers. The workers’ course enabled them to talk about their work processes,
complete orders, understand safety measures and communicate with other workers and supervisors.
English for work and the workplace (E4W and E4WP) sees the workplace as being the curriculum and
classroom (Roberts, 2005).
English for medical purposes

While English for medical purposes (EMP) may be considered as a branch of EOP, it represents a large
sector of ESP. There are two main considerations in EMP research. The first focuses on English as the
international language of medical research. In this respect, it shares some features of EAP. For
example, the teaching focus may be on the generic structure of a medical-journal article or on
presenting research at a conference (Ferguson, 2013). The second consideration stems from the
large numbers of migrant medical workers needing English to execute their work. This includes both
clinical communication concerning medical procedures and treatments, and doctor–patient
interactions, such as adopting an appropriate ‘bedside manner’. In addition, EMP may provide pre-
experience for medical students or for experienced doctors – for example, the case of a migrant
doctor taking up employment in an Englishspeaking country. EMP course design tends to be
localised. Typically, the discourse in a given clinical setting is analysed and courses developed on this
basis (Shi et al., 2001). English for nurses Within EMP, English for nursing is a somewhat recent
phenenomen, which contrasts the use of English of doctors and other healthcare professionals with
that of nurses. Recent years have seen a growing demand for nurses in Western countries, resulting
in large numbers of international students enrolling in nursing degrees in native-English-speaking
countries and an increase in the recruitment of nurses from non-English-speaking backgrounds, such
as South America. Cultural understanding is very important in nursing. Differing cultures have
different norms concerning death, illness and sexuality. It is important nurses understand the norms
of the target community, be these academic norms of supervisors or those of patients (Bosher,
2013).

English for legal purposes

English for legal purposes (ELP), or legal English (LE), is another expanding area of ESP and worthy of
a separate category. As is the case with occupational types of ESP, it may be divided, into English for
academic legal purposes (EALP), English for occupational legal purposes (EOLP) and English for
general legal purposes (EGLP). EALP focuses on the communicative needs of students of law, while
EOLP focuses on the needs of practitioners. EGLP focuses on very general legal language, and it may
focus on legal texts that require specialist knowledge. The issues in ELP reflect the distinct features of
legal language (Northcott, 2013). Legal language poses problems for ESP teachers and translators
because of the specificity and complexity of the use of language (Northcott & Brown, 2006). English
for socio-cultural purposes The final section in this chapter concerns English for socio-cultural
purposes. It should be remembered that all ESP benefits from a sociocultural focus. This means
taking into consideration the social and cultural setting in which the communication occurs. This is
the central tenet of an academic-literacies approach to EAP (Lea & Street, 1999).
Types of ESP course

What type of ESP course do you think each of the following is? Think about whether the
course is general or specific, pre- or post-experience.

1. A course for a group of ten Swiss mountain guides who need English to take groups of
tourists into the mountains. They are being released for half a day per week to study English.

2. A course for a group of recently arrived refugees, from various countries, in Australia.
Ultimately, they want to find jobs. The government provides English classes for 10 hours per
week.

3. A group of students who will be studying for various Master’s degrees at a UK university.
They study English full-time at the language centre attached to the university. They need to
pass the English course to continue with their studies.

4. A group of 10 international education undergraduates who are at risk of failing their

teaching practice because of poor oral skills. They only have two available hours per week for
an English class.

5. A group of newly recruited doctors at a UK hospital. The doctors are from non-English
speaking backgrounds. They have a four-week intensive English course before they take up
their positions.

ESP teaching takes place in a number of differing contexts as shown in the following
scenarios. What type of ESP course do you think each of the following is?:

Alison

Alison began her teaching career teaching French in the secondary school sector in New
Zealand. A number of years later due to falling enrolments in European languages in
secondary schools, Alison started teaching English as a Second Language in a Tertiary
College. She taught intermediate level learners there for some years and then began to also
conduct classes for immigrants focusing on ‘settling-in skills’, such as job applications,
dealing with administrative enquiries, and so on. One day her director of studies called her in
to tell her that the college was to introduce a course called English for Medical Doctors. The
students would be recently arrived immigrant doctors who needed to appear for medical
registration examinations and English language tests to enable them to work as general
practitioners in the country. Alison was asked to prepare and teach the course.

Derya

Derya graduated in teaching English as a foreign language in Turkey and almost immediately
gained employment in one of the large state universities in which English is used as the
medium of instruction. Most students at Derya’s university spend a year in the preparatory
school studying an intensive English language programme prior to starting study of subjects
in their departments. Derya has taught on the intensive programme for a number of years.
Recently, the Engineering faculty at the university expanded its doctoral programme. The
faculty however realized that the doctoral students’ lack of English was hampering their
studies and it was decided that a special English language programme to help the postgraduate
students with reading and writing engineering research reports needed to be set up. Derya,
whose brother is completing his doctoral studies in the Engineering faculty, was requested to
set up a suitable ESP course for the engineering students on the doctoral programme.

Albert

Albert is bilingual and was brought up in a French-speaking home in the UK. After studying
French and Business at university, during which he did some part-time English for Speakers
of Other Languages (ESOL) teaching, he was offered a job with a computer software
company based in Paris. His brief was to track the daily work practices of a number of key
employees at the company and offer English language assistance to them when they had
difficulties using English in their work. The aim was that these key employees should
eventually become independent in using English for their workplace needs. At present Albert
is tracking and providing language support for one of the company lawyers, whose work
involves correspondence with companies in the UK and US, and the head of finance
responsible for strategy policy in both the French and UK divisions of the company.

Cathy and Louis

Cathy and Louis were completing postgraduate degrees in Teaching English to Speakers of
Other Languages (TESOL) when they responded to a job advertisementcalling for teachers to
work at a military defence training facility in the US. The facility trains military personnel
from various countries and aims to improve their technical and English language skills. Cathy
and Louis’ students were pilots. Having begun teaching at the facility, Cathy and Louis
realized that the students’ interest in English for its own sake was limited but they were
deeply enthusiastic about their specialist areas, such as helicopter piloting. Cathy and Louis
quickly set about devising content-based teaching of English in which the primary focus of
instruction is on texts and activities related to the students’ specialist military areas.

John

John studied law at a university in Australia. In his final year he began teaching ESOL part-
time in order to supplement his income. He found he enjoyed it more than law and on
completing his law degree, he taught ESOL full-time for three years before doing a masters
degree in TESOL. For his thesis topic he decided to investigate discourse in ‘problem-answer’
essays’ – an academic legal genre common in legal studies. After receiving his degree, John
got a job teaching academic reading and writing skills in the English Language Support centre
at an Asian university. Sometime later, he was transferred from the centre to the ESP Unit at
the same university in order to work in an established small team that designs and teaches
English courses for students in the law department. Here John feels able to combine his
interest in language teaching with his knowledge of law and legal discourse.
Estelle

Estelle found that after teaching primary school in New Zealand for a number of years, she
needed a change of direction. She wanted to work abroad and teach adults. She studied for a
diploma in TESOL during which she took a course in ESP. Following her graduation, Estelle
found a job in a two-year vocational college. The first course Estelle was assigned to teach
was ‘English for Office Management’. The course had only been running one year and Estelle
was told she would need to prepare new instructional material as there was insufficient course
content. The students on this course were between 18 and 20 years old and were hoping to
gain employment in international companies after their return to their home countries.
Alongside English, the students were studying word processing, spreadsheet and office
administration.

Task

Select a sample of job postings for English teaching positions at academic institutions on the
internet. What qualifications, experience, and job expectations are described? From this
analysis, how many positions have a clear ESP focus? If you find any, are the conditions of
the job better, worse, or the same as those for other teaching positions?