ESP AS THE WAY TO DEVELOP LANGUAGE COMPETENCY OF FUTURE COMMODITY EXPERTS

автор **Дмитрий** Вт Бер 10, 2015 9:48 am

ESP as the way to develop language competency

of future commodity experts

V. I. Voskobojnyk

Associate Professor, Candidate of Philological Science, Associate Professor

V. L. Ishchenko

Head of Business Foreign Language Chair, Candidate of Philological Science, Associate Professor

Poltava University of Economics and Trade, Poltava

To meet the European educational standards, professionals in commodity research should have good professional knowledge and skills. Much attention should be paid to developing language skills of future commodity exports. In order to teach students to communicate in a language and to perform particular job-related functions, higher school teachers should develop their ESP (English for Specific Purposes) teaching strategies.

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 – commodity research. The students' knowledge and abilities in commodity research, in turn, improve their ability to acquire English. Subject-matter knowledge gives them the context they need to understand the English of the classroom. Students are shown how the subject-matter content is expressed in English.

ESP concentrates more on language in context than on teaching grammar and language structures. Its focal point is that English is not taught as a subject separated from the students' real world; instead, it is integrated into commodity research which is important to the learners. The process of integrating language skills to reflect their major involves linking them together in such a way that what has been learned and practiced through one skill is reinforced and extended through further language activities which bring other skills into use. Though listed as separate core objectives for Bachelor’s language proficiency level B2, these skills are integrated incorporating professional communicative competence developed with the performance of academic and job-related tasks. Teachers’ techniques would include simulations, role plays, research projects, and hands on projects, i.e. a variety of highly motivating task-based and communicative activities to practice skills effectively in an integrated manner. Besides using an integrated approach for developing macro-skills (reading, listening, spoken interaction, spoken production, and writing), teachers should also use the applied skill-based approach where students acquire such skills as generic job-related ones (writing e-mails, CV, business letters, orders; filling in application and registration forms; giving presentations; socializing etc.), reflection, self-study, self-assessment, self-evaluation, and others.

To make teaching ESP effective, teachers should pay much attention to the aspects mentioned below.

1. Organizing the subject material. A teacher has to adopt her/his skills to teaching ESP. Besides, it is necessary to look for content specialists for help in designing the appropriate material in commodity research. The knowledge of the subject area enables a teacher to identify a real context for the vocabulary and structures of the ESP classroom. Learners should take advantage of what they already know about the subject matter to learn English.

2. Organizing classes or courses. Teachers have to set learning goals and then transform them into an instructional program with the timing of activities. Teachers’ tasks will be selecting, designing and organizing course materials, supporting students in their efforts, and providing them with feedback on their progress.

3. Setting goals and objectives. Teachers arrange the conditions for learning in the classroom and set long-term goals and short-term objectives for students’ achievement. The knowledge of students' potential is central in designing a syllabus with realistic goals that takes into account the students' concern in the learning situation.

4. Creating the learning environment. Students acquire language when they have opportunities to use the language in interaction with other speakers. An English teacher may be the only English speaking person available to students, and although his/her time with any of them is limited, he/she can structure effective communication in the classroom through careful listening, understanding, and responding. Teachers should create the atmosphere of support in the language classroom. Learners must be self-confident in order to discuss professional topics in English.

5. Evaluating students. A teacher helps students identify their language learning problems and find solutions to them, find out the skills they need to focus on, and take responsibility for making choices which determine what and how to learn. Teachers are also the source of information to the students about how they are progressing in their language learning.

6. Developing students’ interest for learning. Students will acquire English as they work with the materials which they find interesting and relevant and which they can use in their professional work or further studies. ESP teachers should pay much attention to the authentic context which can challenge students. The more learners pay attention to the language they hear or read, the more successful they are; the more they have to focus on the linguistic input or isolated language structures, the less they are motivated to attend their classes.

7. Students’ learning strategies. Although teachers usually work with students whose English is probably quite limited, their language learning abilities in the ESP classroom are potentially immense. An ESP teacher must inspire students for continual learning behavior, since language learning continues throughout our lives. Students are constantly expanding vocabulary, becoming more fluent in their fields, and adjusting their linguistic behavior to new situations or new roles.

So, teaching ESP for students majoring in commodity research and other specific fields should be well-structured and logical with consideration of the content material, its organization in the classroom, students’ evaluation and learning strategies in order to develop students’ language competency necessary for their future activities.

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