American Journal Of Philological Sciences
86
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajps
VOLUME
Vol.05 Issue05 2025
PAGE NO.
86-95
10.37547/ajps/Volume05Issue05-26
English For Specific Purposes (ESP) Course Project
Khaitova Alokhon Ilyosbek kizi
Senior teacher of English of Andijan Technical, Institute academic lyceum, Uzbekistan
Received:
16 March 2025;
Accepted:
12 April 2025;
Published:
14 May 2025
Abstract:
This article aims at investigating the ways of teaching ESP to EFL learners focusing on needs analysis
according to learners’ needs of engineering field learners and it highlights the usage of two model frameworks to
design ESP course project.
Keywords:
ESP course project, model framework, needs analysis, engineering field, authentic materials,
triangulation approach, Target Situation Analysis (TSA), Present Situation Analysis (PSA), step by step course
design, content objectives, language objectives.
Introduction:
Currently, ESP is regarded as rapidly
developing sphere in teaching the English language.
ESP focuses on a particular needs of learners in terms
of the language related to a specific context. Prioritizing
to improve learners’ communicative competence as
well as their ability to utilize the language they learnt,
ESP courses create opportunities for learners to master
the language appropriately and designing a relevant
ESP course meeting learners’ needs is a way to assist
learners to achieve their goals.
METHODS
For designing my ESP project, I selected engineering
field learners whose aim is working abroad in the
engineering area. The information about the number of
participants, their gender and how gender affects their
field will be illustrated below.
To write my final ESP project, I utilized two frameworks
as examples and these models include valuable insights
on how to conduct ESP course. Northcott (2018) offers
to teach specialized vocabulary and to improve
communication skills by using authentic materials.
Cutting (2018) suggests familiarizing learners with daily
used language, grammar structures with the help of
materials and activities. I can integrate these two
models into my final ESP course. Using authentic
materials can benefit for learners in terms of deeper
understanding of the topic and I tried to clarify the
connection between selected modes and engineering
in terms of grammar structure and authentic materials
usage.
Framework course 1 - English for Lawyers by Jill
Northcott
The aim of the course is teaching specific language skills
integrating authentic materials and focusing on legal
sphere. Efficiency of the model as a framework is that,
the model course illustrates key aspects of the
language that can be used in the engineering English
course as well.
For adapting Lawyers’ English course to Engineering
English course, I integrated some aspects of the model
course. Firstly, when terminology related to legal field
is used in Lawyers’ course, specialized vocabulary can
be used in Engineering English course. Secondly,
communicative skills can be improved in both of the
courses like conveying oneself or making explicit the
arguments in the Lawyers’ course and communication
for the technical reports or documentation in the
Engineering course can be integrated. Thirdly, referring
to the authentic material usage, legal documents, court
proceedings, legal contracts as well as manuals,
projects and standards of industry can be used in
English for Lawyers and Engineering English courses
respectively.
Framework 2
–
Airport English by Joan Cutting
The aim of the course is teaching particular context in
which airport communication is used. Efficiency of the
model as a framework is that, the course outlines the
key features of language learning based on the specific
American Journal Of Philological Sciences
87
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajps
American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
–
2771-2273)
field. The course can be adapted to engineering field
considering some language aspects. Firstly, when
Airport English covers the usage of basic vocabulary
and the language for future employment in the aviation
area, it can be integrated to engineering English as daily
language in making proposals on project-based
industry or producing technological devices. Secondly,
in Airport English frequently used grammar structures
to use in the formal register can be taught whereas
grammar structures for doing technical presentation
and writing technical reports in formal settings can be
taught in Engineering English. Thirdly, integration of
activities and materials can be adapted to Engineering
English course where grammar structures are used to
do technical presentations and write technical reports
in formal settings.
Participants of the Engineering English course
Participants of the Engineering English course are adult
learners whose ages are 25-30 and are preparing to do
ESP course in order to work in the engineering field in
the English-speaking country. The learners of this ESP
course are adults as ESP can be taught to adults whose
goals are mastering English related to a specific field.
Johns and Dudley-Evans (1991) suggest conducting ESP
course from at least undergraduate degree as it is a
little complicated and this requires having language
proficiency level. The number of participants is 18
consisting of only males. As engineering field requires
mostly the representatives of this gender due to
domineering factors related to their gender such as
power, strength and more ability to understand
technology rather than females, basically male genders
are able to work in this field. According to their social
background, these learners vary in their ethnicity and
social backgrounds including Russian, Tajik and Uzbek
people. They have to collaborate in the field where they
are going to learn ESP course. Their workplace factors
include the location of the workplace that is,
engineering factory in Canada and job requirements as
well. To meet the job requirements these learners have
to master the English language related to their filed at
a certain level. Apart from that, they should be able to
communicate either in oral or written form. When it
comes to current language skills, they have B1
Intermediate level of the English language proficiency
and their strengths and weaknesses in terms of the
language skills are various. Language skills are vital for
engineering sphere. They are vocabulary - to produce
clear reports and technical documents as well, speaking
- to participate in the technical discussions, do
presentations as well as communicating effectively,
reading skill - to comprehend technical articles and
manuals, listening skill - to understand and respond
effectively to the information on their engineering field
and writing
–
to write manuals and technical
presentations.
RESULTS
In order to develop an effective and relevant ESP
course for engineering field, needs analysis is
investigated thoroughly. I would like to conduct needs
analysis making use of multiple approaches outlined in
the course readings. Needs analysis is the initial step
for conducting ESP course as it is essential to identify
where the course will go towards and what learners
should be taught. I will use both qualitative and
quantitative methods to conduct needs analysis
considering that gathering data to design my ESP
project is essential to tailor ESP course syllabus. Serafini
et al (2015) offers triangulation approach to use to
conduct needs analysis. As triangulation approach
requires combining multiple sources of the data it
ensures learners’ needs to be understandable. For my
ESP project of engineering English, I can use the
following methods:
•
Identifying stakeholders
can benefit me to be
aware of whom I am going to teach
•
Proficiency test results
are helpful to gather
quantitative information on their language levels.
•
Standardized proficiency test framework
: To
identify my learners’ levels, I will use proficiency test
framework IELTS. Vianna et al (2019) suggests using
language proficiency test to identify learners’ levels.
IELTS mock exam shows their language levels of 4.5
–
5.
•
Interviewing or informal conversations
can be
beneficial to investigate their exposure to the target
language.
•
Observing
target learners in classroom
conditions can be beneficial to conclude on their
communicative skills in their contexts.
Woodrow (2018) suggests using present situation
analysis (PSA) and target situation analysis (TSA) to
conduct needs analysis. Target situation analysis (TSA).
TSA emphasizes understanding the communicative
needs of engineers in future in their target context. In
this needs analysis responsibilities and roles in their
jobs, types of communication that are required as well
as target level of English should be considered to collect
data for ESP course. By identifying target learners,
information about their age, educational background,
language proficiency, future intentions on the career;
•
Identifying target learners
. Information about
their
age,
educational
background,
language
proficiency, future intentions on the career;
•
Analyzing the target context
. Specific
communication demands;
American Journal Of Philological Sciences
88
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajps
American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
–
2771-2273)
•
Particular language skills
. Vital language skills
that they need
Present situation analysis (PSA)
. PSA investigates
learners’ current abilities in terms of language
proficiency and knowledge. This includes collecting
data about learners’ current levels of English, the
language skills they possess, the amount of exposure to
English they have as well as the skills that they struggle
currently.
•
Measuring current abilities
. Placement tests
can help to assess their language level.
•
Identifying weaknesses and strengths
. Tests
measuring language skills can be beneficial.
•
Identifying
preferred
learning
styles
.
Observations within the classroom.
By using all these qualitative and quantitative
methodologies to conduct needs analysis, I will benefit
in terms of identifying my learners’ needs towards the
target ESP course as well as tailoring the course syllabus
appropriately. Additionally, Vianna et al (2019) point
out that using data collection method to conduct needs
analysis is considered to be an efficient way to design
ESP course. In alignment with this perspective, I can
utilize informal conversations, proficiency test results,
document analysis methods to design engineering
English course. TSA, PSA and Triangulation are model
methodologies to help me conduct needs analysis in
engineering English context. By taking present and
target situation into account and utilizing multiple data
sources, I can develop ESP course design effectively.
DISCUSSION
Approach to ESP course design.
To design ESP course
for Engineering English I selected Genre analysis.
Vianna et al (2019) claim that effective usage of genres
help learners to have active participation in the
discourse communities in their context. Thus, I have
selected Genre analysis approach to maintain both
effective written and spoken interaction for my
engineering learners where they are going to work.
According to my instructor’s feedback on the approach,
I addressed step-by step course design. For this, I
created the purpose of my ESP course and this includes
course aims. The steps of genre-based course design of
my ESP project include - Purpose (course aims);
Audience; Available time; Language skills; Course
structure.
Woodrow (2018) suggests some possible steps for
genre analysis including purpose, audience, skills,
structure, grammar and vocabulary as well mentioning
these steps can be beneficial for ESP practitioners to
design genre analysis course. Following Woodrow’s
suggestion, I provided genre analysis based course
design and added sections such as “available time”,
“language skills” and “course structure”. According to
this, available time includes 6 weeks, 12 sections, 2
classes per week, two-
hour’s classes. Audience that
they might interact consists of engineers, designers,
technicians, clients and the public as well. Because
engineers might communicate with these people due
to the requirement of their profession. Referring to the
language skills that they have to master are, vocabulary
–
terminology related to the field, speaking
–
communication phrases to collaborate in the team,
grammar - imperatives, infinitive of purpose, adverbs
of time and manner, passive voice, etc., writing -
writing technical reports, presentations, manuals and
instructions to use.
Engineering English Course aims
Each language course whether it is EFL course or ESP,
should have course aims to navigate the course
appropriately. Particularly, ESP courses must contain
language objectives and content objectives separately
due to learners’ needs. Content objectives focus on
goals of the course related to their context whereas
language objectives address specific language skills of
the learners to improve and learners should be able to
use these skills effectively at the end of the course.
Arnό
-Marcià and Mancho-Barés (2015) offer to plan
ESP course design with content and language
objectives integration to
meet learners’ language
acquisition needs. Following their recommendations, I
developed course aims including content objectives
and language objectives separately to succeed in my
genre-based ESP course pertained to engineering field.
Content objectives:
•
Learners will have deep understanding of main
genre types to use in engineering field
•
Learners will enhance their ability to generate
effective and accurate written genres to align
engineering field
•
Learners will improve their communicative
skills to work in teams effectively in their workplace
Language objectives
•
Learners will be able to use various technical
vocabulary
•
Learners will use a number of grammar
structures for writing such as passives, imperatives,
infinitives, adverbs
•
Learners will be able to communicate
effectively conveying themselves
Assessment for the ESP course
Assessment is the key factor to measure learners’
progress in terms of language skills as well as their
American Journal Of Philological Sciences
89
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajps
American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
–
2771-2273)
performance. Assessment can be either ongoing or at
the end of the course according to course design.
However, unlike EGP courses ESP course emphasizes to
assess learners’ performance ability more. O’Sullivan
(2012) claims that the assessment of ESP mainly
emphasizes assessing practical performance of the
learners, as they will have to utilize the learnt or
developed skills in the specific target contexts.
Woodrow (2018) states that assessment in ESP course
can incorporate various assessment types similar to
EGP, that is, they can be used to identify language
levels, monitor the progress and measuring the
achievement. To conduct my assessment plan, I focus
on more measuring my learner’s progress in
engineering English course. I used three types of
assessment for assessment section of the ESP course
project and made attempt to weigh the assessment
section as 5% for diagnostic tests, 45% and 50% for
formative assessment and summative assessment
respectively. Cumming (2001) claims that assessment
should follow some standards having portions of each
assessment.
Diagnostic assessments
can include placement test
and vocabulary quiz. This type of assessment can be
organized at the beginning of the course to identify the
weaknesses and strengths of learners and help to
identify learners’ language proficiency
levels.
Diagnostic tests assess leaners’ language skills and
vocabulary exposure related to the field as well.
Weighing can be 5% out of the total percentage 100 %.
Cumming (2001) offers to use initial assessment to
identify learners’ needs and this is eff
icient for grouping
the students. Other language skills that they possess
should be measured to tailor the instruction
appropriately.
Formative assessments
can include ongoing feedback,
group work presentations, ICQs and CCQs, peer review,
case studies and constructive feedback as well. This
assessment can be organized frequently to assess how
the learners are making progress. Measuring learners’
continuous progress over the course, this assessment
type can weigh 45% out of the total grade amount.
Cumming (2001) points out that, assessment should be
ongoing and should emphasize learners’ performance
on relevant and appropriate tasks. Thus, I consider the
above-mentioned types of formative assessment can
be relevant to measure engineering English learners’
development.
Summative assessment
can contain project-based
assessment, making questionnaire, writing report, and
oral presentation. The assessment type is normally
organized at the end of the course and measures
learners’ achievement of language skills tha
t they have
to improve in the course. Weighing can be 50% out of
the total percentage. Cumming (2001) suggests
conducting summative assessment as an achievement
assessment measuring learners’ overall progress and it
can be organized due to the ESP course design.
Therefore, I will use writing assessment as summative
assessment to measure my learners’ achievement.
Course materials for Engineering English ESP course
project
The materials of the ESP course should be selected
carefully considering ESP course lea
rners’ needs.
Bocanegra-Valle (2010) mentions that, course
materials have a vital role in creating ESP course design
to maintain real-life related effective classes.
Comprehensive variety of course materials will ensure
learner’s development in terms of co
mmunicative and
linguistic skills in their context. Authentic and adapted
materials can be integrated into the classes and it will
be efficient for learners as this promotes high learner
engagement. Carrier content should be supported as
well in developing materials for ESP course. Bocanegra-
Valle (2010) claims that, informative content is vital to
engage learners in materials according to their interest.
Authentic materials can include technical reports,
manuals and articles or videos that can be watched to
maintain authenticity and better engagement. I can use
videos on YouTube or Ted Talks to provide my learners
with authenticity. Woodrow (2018) suggests utilizing
journal articles, textbooks as well as online materials as
authentic materials. The authentic material I can use as
online source is a video with subtitles on YouTube
about a manual.
The
link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id6ZQzPbY1I
I can use the video as a selection without changing any
part of it, as the video is completely relevant to my
engineering field learners. The video covers the
information about how to use vacuum cleaner and
includes subtitles as well. The manual is mentioned by
native speaker both in written and in oral form. By
watching the video, engineering learners will be aware
of what manuals should include.
American Journal Of Philological Sciences
90
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajps
American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
–
2771-2273)
Textbook usage can also be integrated and materials in
the textbook could be selected, adopted or adapted.
Stoller (2016) offers adapting materials from a
textbook in some steps and mentions that, texts can be
converted from one skill into another. I used the
textbook namely “Everyday technical English” by
Valerie Lambert and Elanie Murray. The textbook
covers valuable information on engineering field and
contains wide range of vocabulary, passages, activities
related to this field. I adapted a material from the
textbook.
American Journal Of Philological Sciences
91
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajps
American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
–
2771-2273)
The activity is listening activity accompanied with
vocabulary and it is devoted to improve listening skill
and vocabulary range. However, I adapted the material
to speaking activity. Role-play is conducted between a
manufacturer and a client who is going to purchase a
product. Learners should provide the manual on how
to use the product to enhance their communicative
competence.
The flow of the activity:
Pre-task:
•
The instructor presents the vocabulary related
to the topic with the help of multi-media resources
•
The learners write down the vocabulary
•
The instructor models some sentences using
the vocabulary
•
The instructor will provide the real audio of the
dialogue
While-task:
•
The instructor divides the whole class into pairs
and sets time for learners to generate their own
dialogues and provides learners with role cards
•
Learners will be creating their dialogues in pairs
•
When the time is over learners will play roles
presenting dialogues that they made. Each pair must
contribute actively
Post-task:
•
The instructor gives constructive feedback on
each oral product
•
Learners will reflect on other pairs’ role plays
Syllabus outline for Engineering ESP course
American Journal Of Philological Sciences
92
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajps
American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
–
2771-2273)
Engineering ESP course is aimed to last about 6 weeks
and each week contains two sessions continuing two
hours. Below, I will provide a syllabus outline and a
sample of weekly plan of my Engineering ESP course.
Darvin (2023) offers to have steps for each class while
conducting genre based course design. In alignment
with Darvin’s perspective, I divided the course like a
session for per class from introduction to summative
assessment which is relevant to my engineering
learners’ language levels. Northcott (2008)
offers a
weekly plan timetable for English for Lawyers course
including exact time, days as well as the rationale for
each session. Thus, I used Northcott’s sample plan as a
model and designed ESP course structure for
Engineering field learners.
Course structure:
Sample plan of Engineering ESP course
Session time
The topic
Language skills
Materials
Session 1
Tuesday
16 p.m. – 18 p.
m.
Introducing the course,
needs
analysis,
icebreaker activity.
Speaking, writing
Proficiency test
samples, cards,
worksheets
Session 2
Friday
16 p.m. – 18
p.m.
General overview of
written
and
spoken
genres
Speaking, writing
Multimedia
resources,
online
materials,
textbooks
Session 3
Tuesday
16 p.m. – 18 p.
m.
Communicative phrases
with guided practice
Speaking, writing,
reading,
vocabulary
Worksheets,
multimedia,
online
materials,
textbooks
Session 4
Friday
16 p.m. – 18
p.m.
Communicative
activities to consolidate
(dialogues
with
the
instructor)
Speaking,
vocabulary
Online
materials
including
engineering job
interview
Session 5
Tuesday
16 p.m. – 18 p.
m.
Formative assessment 1.
Case
study,
communicative activity
Speaking,
vocabulary
Online
materials
including
engineering job
interview
American Journal Of Philological Sciences
93
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajps
American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
–
2771-2273)
Session 6
Friday
16 p.m. – 18
p.m.
Grammar
focus,
infinitive of purpose
Grammar
(Focus
on form)
PPT
slides,
worksheets,
online materials
Session 7
Tuesday
16 p.m. – 18 p.
m.
Guided
practice
on
writing manuals and
instructions using learnt
grammar
and
vocabulary
Grammar, writing,
reading
Worksheets,
textbooks,
online
materials,
an
original manual
Session 8
Friday
16 p.m. – 18
p.m.
Grammar
focus,
infinitive of purpose,
adverbs of time and
manner
Grammar
(Focus
on form)
Worksheets,
PPT slides
Session 9
Tuesday
16 p.m. – 18 p.
m.
How to write a technical
report, passives, related
vocabulary
Grammar, writing,
reading,
vocabulary
Textbooks,
online
materials,
original
technical
reports
Session 10
Friday
16 p.m. – 18
p.m.
Formative assessment 2.
Writing a manual
Writing
Online
materials,
an
original manual
Session 11
Tuesday
16 p.m. – 18 p.
m.
Guided
practice
on
writing
a
technical
report
using
learnt
grammar structures
Grammar, writing
Technical
report samples,
worksheets,
online materials
Session 12
Friday
Summative assessment:
Communication based
Writing, grammar,
vocabulary
Learners’
manual project
sample
American Journal Of Philological Sciences
94
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajps
American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
–
2771-2273)
16 p.m. – 18
p.m.
manual
introducing
project
CONCLUSION
This ESP course has been valuable and insightful
learning experience for me. Particularly, the course
remarkably enhanced my comprehension of ESP
rationale and I learnt how to design a specific ESP
course considering learners’ needs by means of this
course. With the help of course readings, I have been
able to understand the meanings behind the key
concepts of ESP c
ourse. Vianna et al’s (2019) Teaching
English for Specific Purposes covers valuable insights on
key features that should be addresses when designing
ESP course. In each chapter from introduction to
conclusion, invaluable perspectives have been
provided and these perspectives have been effective
for me to design my ESP course project. Specifically,
Chapter 1 helped me to go deeper into the rationale of
the ESP course and taught me the difference between
ESP and other English courses. Chapters 2 and 4 cover
the information about how to conduct needs analysis
and using these chapters, I have been able to conduct
needs analysis for my engineering learners.
Additionally, Woodrow (2008) and Serafini et al (2015)
provided me with the information about TSA, PSA
methods and Triangulation approach respectively.
Using these course readings, I have been familiar with
the ways of conducting needs analysis for ESP course
project.
Referring to example courses by Northcott (2018) and
Cutting (2018), I utilized both courses, English for
Lawyers and Airport English respectively as model
courses for my Engineering ESP course project. These
course examples and the data they covered helped me
effectively to realize what I should integrate into my
project.
When it comes to assessment criteria, I addressed
O’Sullivan (2012) and Cumming (2001) to be aware of
organizing assessment types related to engineering
field and I took the insights in these readings into
account while creating assessment part of ESP project.
These course readings really helped me to weigh the
amount of percentage according to assessment types
as well.
As for the approach that I focused on in my ESP project,
it is worth mentioning that, Chapter 3 by Vianna et al
(2019) have been effective tool for me to address.
Genre based approach provided in this source forced
me to consider what to teach appropriately over my
ESP course. Using this approach, I have been able to
target the productivity of my project in terms of genre
analysis based course design.
Mentioning the course materials, Woodrow (2018)
have been rather effective for me to select and to adapt
the materials. Aligning with Woodrow (2018), I selected
and integrated online materials as authentic ones into
my course project to maintain better engagement of
learners. I adapted the activity from the textbook as
well modifying the activity into communicative activity
to be efficient for my learners to enhance their
communicative competence. All these above-
mentioned course readings provided me with valuable
insights and using them, I will manage to design
Engineering ESP course project.
In addition to this, not only course readings, but also
the activities conducted by the course instructor during
the sessions were quite effective and equipped me with
the ways of designing ESP course project. With the
supportive environment created by the instructor and
comprehensible input that the instructor provided
helped me to grasp the meanings behind the concepts
of this course. By understandable explanations of
assessments, I navigated my ESP course project
appropriately. Apart from that, this project allowed me
to gain knowledge on various key terms assisting me to
tailor my own ESP project on engineering field in future.
Vianna et al (2019) suggests doing research on ESP
field, as it might be better language learning experience
for learners. Aligning with this recommendation, I have
an intention to do research in ESP sphere expanding my
knowledge and implement my insights into linguistic
field.
REFERENCES
Arnό
-Marcià, E., & Mancho-Barés, G. (2015). The role
of content and language in content and language
integrated learning (CLIL) at university: Challenges and
implications for ESP. English for Specific Purposes. 37.
Bocanegra-Valle, A. (2010). Evaluating and designing
materials for the ESP classroom. In M. F. Ruiz-Garrido,
J. C. Palmer, & I. Fortanet-
Gόmez (Eds.), English for
professional and academic purposes (pp. 141-165).
Brill.
Cumming, A. (2001). ESL/EFL instruct
ors’ practices for
writing assessment: specific purposes or general
purposes? Language Testing. 18(2).
Cutting, J. (2018). Airport English. In L. Woodrow (Ed.),
Introducing course design in English for specific
purposes. (pp. 212-219). Routledge.
American Journal Of Philological Sciences
95
https://theusajournals.com/index.php/ajps
American Journal Of Philological Sciences (ISSN
–
2771-2273)
Darvin, R. (2023). Moving across a genre continuum:
Pedagogical strategies for integrating online genres in
the language classroom. English for Specific Purposes.
70.
Johns, A., & Dudley-Evans, T. (1991). English for specific
purposes: International in scope, Specific in purpose.
TESOL Quarterly. 25(2).
Northcott, J. (2018). English for Lawyers. In L.Woodrow
(Ed.), Introducing course design in English for specific
purposes. (pp. 206-211). Routledge.
O’Sullivan, B. (2012). Assessment issues in languages
for specific purposes. The Modern Language Journal.
96, 2012.
Stoller, F. (2016). EAP materials and tasks. In K. Hyland
& P. Shaw (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of English
for academic purposes. (pp. 577-591). Oxford;
Routledge.
Vianna, V., Bocorny, A., & Sarmentoa, S. (2019).
Teaching English for specific purposes. TESOL Press.
Woodrow, L. (2018). Introducing course design in
English
for
specific
purposes.
Routledge.
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315143279
