The Dimension to the ESP Writing

 

 

Anik Nunuk Wulyani

Erna Iftanti

 Hamamah

 

 

For years, the writing skill in EFL context in Indonesia is depressing phenomenon. Students commonly have unpleasant thought in their minds: I don’t have any ideas to write and I don’t know how to write well. Especially for ESP, the students do not find the relationships between learning to write in English with what they are going to face in their field of study as well as with their future job field. They write merely to get the writing assignment done and obtain score. More to the point, in most ESP writing classes, teacher becomes the center of attention and the students have to struggle individually in doing the tasks.

In addition, many English teachers are aware that teaching writing is more difficult than teaching other language skills, especially to ESP students. First of all, ESP students have limited knowledge of the target language. Second, they have little experience reading it. Still, there is cultural interference owing to the difference in the style of literary and rhetorical patterns of expression in their native language and the target language. Consequently, when writing English, students do no only produce the piece of writing themselves; they simply translate their thought word for word from their native language to the target language, often times with grammatically incorrect result.

We realize that the English curriculum for the junior and senior high schools are mainly to improve students’ reading skills. Tjokrosujoso (1993) mentions that the ever-changing curriculum of senior high schools has one main objective that is to enhance the students’ reading abilities. Due to this reason, it is very likely that, later on, the students in higher education (universities) are not able to express themselves in writing. Attempts have been made by English teachers to improve students’ awareness of writing well. However, the result is far from satisfying.

Competency Based Language Teaching (CBLT) is the recent trend in EFL in Indonesia. It focuses on the outcomes or outputs of learning in the development of language programs. The focus on outputs rather that on inputs to learning is central to the competencies perspective. In this paper, we try to offer solution to the problem of ESP writing by recommending genre approach, which is in line with CBLT in terms of the ability to apply the skill of writing in English in situations that are commonly encountered in the students’ majors and work fields. It addresses at the ways in which language is used for particular purposes in particular contexts. This paper also presents a method of teaching and assessing writing for ESP classes. It involves such process as planning, drafting, revising, and editing. The discussion also covers the method to gear the students’ to give feedback to their peer.

 

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Wulyani, A. N., Iftanti, E., & Hamamah. (2003, August). The dimension to the ESP Writing. Paper presented at the NUESP [Network of University ELT Service Providers] National Conference, Jember, Indonesia.

 

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