This document summarizes and analyzes various approaches to studying skills for language learning, including:
1. The need to teach thought processes alongside language to develop students' ability to perform required tasks.
2. The development of functional-notional approaches in line with communicative language teaching and needs analysis.
3. The learning-centered approach aims to maximize learning potential by considering student learning needs and motivation. It emphasizes using skills gained outside class and group/pair work.
1. Analysis of Study Skills
Why is there a need to study these skills?
Teaching the language itself isn’t sufficient to develop
the ability to perform the required tasks of ESP
students, in addition of language work – thought
process should also come along.
Developed from functional-notional in line with
communicative language teaching, the growth of
needs analysis
Priorities one particular skill in a given situation.
Example:
1. A class when the medium of instruction is not
English
2. International students embarking a study in UK
3. Business people conducting international
negotiations
2. Problem solving The aim of the lesson is
activities where stated clearly in the
thought beginning – here the
processes are focus of study is on
implemented getting the meaning
from the context
Each activity makes
use of group work /
pair work, which is in
line with the ideas of
communicative
teaching.
Skills are Excerpt
taught using
general from “Skills
carrier
content for
Learning”
(University of Malaya ESP
Project)
3. Analysis of learning needs
Early 1980s saw the period of consolidation of ESP, some
thought that ESP was dead and needed something that set
it apart from General English.
Hutchinson and Waters gave some thought to the
consolidation of ESP work, particularly in their definition of
what ESP should not be:
1. ESP is not just a matter of teaching ‘specialized
varieties’ of English
2. ESP is not just a matter of science words and grammar
for scientist or hotel receptionists
3. ESP is not different from any other language teaching
where effective and efficient learning process are sought
after.
They also argued that ESP had concentrated too much on
the end product rather than the process itself, with this in
mind came the concept of learning-centered approach.
4. Learning centered approach:
Is an approach with avowed aim of maximizing
potentials of the learning process. (Hutchison and
Waters, 1987)
Considered the process of learning and student
motivation very fully and working out what is
needed to reach the end target.
Exploited learning skills students may have
gained outside the class.
Emphasis on groupwork or pairwork
5. Identify Target
Situation Relationship
Language-centered
approach s involved in
Analyze Target
Situation the learning
centered-
Analyze Learning
Situation approach
A skilled-centered
approach (Hutchinson
Write Syllabus and Waters,
1984)
Write Materials
Teach Materials
Evaluate learners’ A Learning-centered
achievement
approach
6. Excerpt from
‘Interface’
(Hutchinson and Waters,
1984)
The starter activity provides
the context / background
knowledge and stimulates
interest so that students are
engaged into the topic
The next activity focuses on
language use in a particular
context, in this case it’s
language related to English
for technical communication
The rest of the activity
typically ask students to draw
their own personal experience
based on the topic given.
7. Authenticity
During its course of development, there was a
great deal of controversy for using authentic text.
Its unclear meaning – what is meant by authentic
text?
Authenticity in terms of the material
Authenticity in terms of the tasks
Authenticity in terms of the level