Stephen van Vlack

Sookmyung Women`s University

Graduate School of TESOL

English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

Spring 2006

Week 8 - ESP Chapter 12 & Johns (1997), pp. 363-366 & Kasper (2000), pp. 3-25 - Answers

1. Why is evaluation seen as being so important in ESP and how is it different than in general English instruction? (ESP 12)

Evaluation is seen as being very important in ESP to a large extent because it may very well be easier to evaluate in ESP than in general English. Because everything in ESP is centered around the specific goals and needs of students, it is therefore somewhat easy to create evaluation, more effective evaluation, based on those goals and needs. Effective evaluation is a real possibility in ESP. This is in striking contrast to general English courses were evaluation is present but we can always check on or be somewhat wary about the effectiveness of evaluation in general English simply because teachers will not know what to evaluate or how to evaluate it. This is due to the glaring absence of specific goals or needs set for the course. Tests tend to emulate (and there is reason or believe that they actually should, provided the class is well constructed) the things which are done in the classroom. This observation leads to the possibility of better testing in ESP classes because ESP focuses on doing things in the classroom and not just being exposed to presentation is easier and more possible to set up evaluation which is more meaningful and which is more closely tied, 1. to the classroom and 2. to the outside world. In ESP we can design tests which more closely emulate things done in the classroom while retaining authenticity and validity.

2. How is evaluation in ESP to be conducted? What are the main means of doing so?? (ESP 12)

According to the text there are three different types of evaluation which are generally conducted in relation to ESP courses. These are, placement tests, achievement tests, and proficiency tests. Each of them is used as a different stage in the course and as a result may be constructed, or composed of different material and with certainly with different concerns and goals in mind. Despite these differences they might also contain similar formats as well as content. Rather than the tests themselves which might be different it is the way we interpret and user the tests which should be different.

3. What are some of the potential problems with placement tests? (ESP 12)

Placement tests are a little bit weird because there's really kind of the Catch-22 situation about them. The main purpose of placement tests is to try to decide whether a given applicant should be allowed into the program or not, or (in more complex multi-level programs) where within the program a given applicant should be placed. In order to do this, then, when you to try to design a placement test which will allow us to predict whether the student will be able to keep up with what is going on in the classroom. Basically, we need to find out of the student has high enough level to do what is expected of them in the course. This is done buy having them do what we think they will need to do in the classroom. Now, here's the problem. One of the basic tenets of ESP is that courses need to be designed according to students` wants and students` needs as well as goals and they should be a specific as possible. This means that we really can't set the specific syllabus for the course until we have already gathered the students and found out from them what is they want and need. Therefore, it is going to be very hard to create a placement test if it focuses specifically on the goals and need to the students since we probably don't know specifically what the goals and needs of the students are yet. In the period when the placement test is being made it might not be very clear what the class will actually covered and what may be required of the students. It is therefore, important to keep in mind that often placement tests will need to be constructed specifically from somewhat generalized versions of goals and needs. It might be very hard to tie a placement test to a specific ESP course. Don't expect too much from your placement tests. Yes, they are necessary and certainly useful, but we can't expect them to be completely accurate simply because we really don't know who the students or who will be taking the test.

4. Hutchinson and Waters (1987) claim that achievement tests are probably the most common test in ESP circles, but do we really need to have them? (ESP 12)

As I mentioned in class I am a bit leery of achievement type tests. It is not that I question their effectiveness or their need, it is just that I think they're better ways of dealing with the same problem than through formalized testing. For the most part, achievement tests are used to determine whether the students have learned what they should have learned in class up to that point. A good achievement test should provide guidance for the teacher in determining what needs to be reviewed or redone and for the students as well to know where they are lacking certain knowledge or skills. A good achievement test lets the teacher know that they can continue with their intended program and how well they are doing, or how well the students re doing on both a group and an individual level. This is important stuff. The thing that bugs me about achievement tests, however, is that they seem too official and can be disturbing to the class both as regards time and affect. Here in Korea we know how hyper students can be about tests. As soon as most Korean students hear the word test they begin to panic and worry. This can often have a detrimental effect not only on the achievement test itself, but also on the entire class. A better solution would be to give what the teacher think something as achievement tests without actually telling the students that they are being tested or evaluated. In this way, continuous assessment would seem to be a better way than by getting a lot of achievement type tests in the course of a program. The same results can be attained, but hopefully the effect on the students will be less. Be creative in the ways you can keep tabs on your students` progress in less obtrusive ways.

5. Why are proficiency tests so well suited to ESP? (ESP 12)

Proficiency tests are generally seen as being very well suited to ESP type courses. This generally comes from the fact that proficiency tests are, too a large extent, designed around performance in actual task situations. Because proficiency tests, like ESP courses, are both centered around tasks they seem to go very well together. As I mentioned in class, the MATE exam is an example of a proficiency test that you know about and some of you have taken. Like the MATE, most proficiency exams are as general or specific in their tasks as the design allows. For example, in the MATE test which students take as an entrance exam for this TESOL Master's program, at least some of the tasks are created around the content area of TESOL and students need to perform tasks which they might need to perform in the real world as English teachers. Looking at this example, we can see how well adapted proficiency tests are for ESP purposes. It must, however, be borne in mind that proficiency exams are based on wide scales which show proficiency in a wide variety of different levels within a particular concern. Therefore, they can be used to test people across a wide range of different proficiency levels effectively. They will not necessarily tell your students whether they have passed the course are not unless a certain level a proficiency on the test is deemed passing. Rather, but they will tell your students where they fit along a certain continuum of proficiency. It is up to you to make sense of this to the students. Explain what it means.

6. What are some of the more striking similarities and differences between ESP and CBI? (Johns)

While there are many similarities between ESP (including EAP) and CBI and these are interesting as away of reviewing of what we have done to date, it is the differences which are more interesting for us. Both are similar in that they try to use real world sources as a way of generating skills and behavior which can be and will be used by the learners in the real world. In order to do this content plays an important role in both models. Both were created as a sharp response to what Johns calls TENOR and as such try to have a real purpose. Despite these similarities, however, there are a larger number of compelling differences. One of the main differences refers to where they are used and who they are used with. CBI is generally used in English speaking countries at a variety of levels form young learners, grade 1, all the way up through university. ESP, on the other hand, is often used where English is a foreign language or a second language at best and primarily to adults at or above the university level/age. Another major difference is that ESP does not necessarily integrate all four skills, but rather either treats one to the detriment of the others or simply does not integrate all fours skills holistically, as is the case in CBI. The CBI classroom is purposely set up to try to get many different linguistic skills together and in a more holistic way. Another difference is the specific interest of the practitioners of each. ESP practitioners are interested in the specific vocabulary and structures in the area they are teaching. They are discourse analysts first and foremost and research much more on the discourse they will be teaching as opposed to teaching itself. CBI, is, though, all about teaching. It is actually somewhat hard to find much written about some hard and fast theory of CBI. Little research has been done to date on the effects of CBI because the people who do it are busy teaching it.

7. What are some theoretical underpinnings of CBI? (Kasper 1)

Kasper mentions three main theoretical underpinnings of CBI. They are:

Krashen`s comprehensible input hypothesis

This one is easy. We all know the power and necessity of comprehensible input, but in CBI it is much more important. The content/input is the basis for everything. We cannot do anything is the content is not understood. Thus, a lot of what is done in a CBT classroom (the repetition, the summarization and paraphrasing) is done to make sure that the students do understand the content. Remember, we can`t alter the content, which is generally quite challenging. Instead, we need to alter what we have the students do with it and we have to find ways of sheltering content so as to make it comprehensible.

Cummin`s two-tiered skill model

This model revolves around that idea that there are two tiers in language learning. The first of these tiers is mastering the functions necessary for communication. The second tier involves mastering functions necessary for academia; i.e., cognitive functions. The CBI approach is designed to develop the second tier. Easy. In Korea, however, we can`t take anything for granted because there are many people running around who skipped the first tier and jumped right into the second, but they are not good users of the language on any tier because, as Hamers and Blanc (2000) tell us, development of cognitive functions is based on and related to communicative functions.

Cognitive learning theory

This involves three stages of development. The first of these is the cognitive stage and this involves developing an awareness of a task and its requirements which results in a rough representation being created. The second stage is the associative stage and this involves taking that rough representation and making it stronger and more specifically defined buy anchoring it to other pre-existing information in the brain. The third and final stage is one of autonomy. In this autonomous stage the student has fine-tuned all the specific details of the task at hand so that she/he can clearly distinguish from all other similar knowledge and in doing so is able to fully control her/his performance on the task. These stages are remarkably similar to the descriptors used in assessing a learners proficiency in relation to a single feature of the TL; awareness, partial control, and full control.

8. How does content interact with the cognitive aspects of language? (Kasper 1)

In the CBI model the content is seen as the fuel which fires learning. This can be seen by talking a closer look at each of levels in the model called cognitive learning theory.

Cognitive stage

In this stage the learners has some vague idea about the existence of something, but they have no real cognitive structure to support this knowledge. They are aware that this thing exists and they can sometimes recognize it, but they do not know how to use it.

Associative stage

It is at this stage that the new information, the ideas about the thing are beginning to be associated with pre-existing information. This allows the learner to be able to actually do something with the knowledge, but as the knowledge is still incomplete, they often make mistakes. Their control is partial.

Antonymous stage

In this stage the information gas been completely integrated into a cognitive structure and is completely useful to the person. Once more, they are able to use the information automatically without wavering and for a multitude of purposes correctly.

Reading in the CBI model works by integrating new information in old, preexisting cognitive structures. The idea is this: in CBI, the content forms a kind of continuum. The subject simply builds up slowly. The details might change slightly, but it all builds up on the same subject. This is very important because it means that the student can go into the reading with a pre-existing cognitive structure to use. Before they even start to read they will have a schema (a whole wealth of ideas and concepts already formed about the topic because they have been learning a lot about it lately). This schema is used to make a scaffold. A scaffold is a cognitive grid. It is a collection of related ideas organized in a certain fashion. As the student reads they will be able to use the scaffold to support their understanding as they read and as they acquire new bits of information the information is inserted right into the scaffold in the right place (hopefully) and then more quickly internalized.

      Writing forces students to elaborate or expand upon new information so that it is better organized and ultimately more integrated with a potentially vast range of old information. The idea is that to write a writer needs to take all they know (the old information) and use that as the base for their writing, but they also need to pepper that old information with examples that come from new information. In this way, writing is a very good practice for reinforcing strongly the new information the students has just gotten in the reading or the class.

      Dual coding is presenting information in both visual (diagrams, pictures, reading) and verbal auditory (listening, speaking) form. The idea behind doing this is that it will make the information more accessible to the students. This is following the idea that different learners have different styles: auditory or visual. It is also based on the idea that repetition is essential for comprehension, but the repetition must be natural and meaningful. Using different codes allows the teacher to approach and give similar information in different and interesting ways, thus ensuring comprehension.

9. How is CBI taught? (Kasper 1)

There are two types of courses in the interdisciplinary collaboration model: intensive and linked courses. Both are good in that they allow for a large amount of reinforcement and overlap from different perspectives. At the same time, however, they are somewhat difficult to set up as well as very time-consuming to operate and they almost always require specially trained teachers. If there is no need for a strong interdisciplinary collaboration, then one person alone can run the entire class, but that person needs to know the content as well as how to teach it.

The main advantage of the interdisciplinary model is that students learn how to tailor their writing/speaking to a certain purpose or a specific discipline. Think of the different content areas, different subjects or disciplines, as simply being different contexts. That is what they are on a basic level different contexts. We all know that one sign of a good writer is that they need to be able to tailor their writing to various contexts. That is what this kind of approach seeks to do by using concrete examples. The only problem is that all the student might not find all the different contexts interesting because they are concrete and have a direct representation in the real world. A physics major might only care about physics and will not want to write papers in biology or literary criticism and this will result in a diminished performance.

      An alternative to the collaboration model is self-contained CBI. Since most of what we will probably be doing here in Korea is self-contained CBI it is important that we are most familiar with this. As the name implies, in the self-contained model one teacher handles everything. This may be interdisciplinary as in WAC/WID or might just revolve around one type of content area, such as mathematics. In any case, the teacher needs to play the dual role of content teacher and English teacher in the self-contained CBI classroom. This can be hard in that it requires further study and knowledge on the part of the teacher, but also means that she/he is not reliant on some content expert who may or may not be particularly cooperative.

      Arranging and keeping the integration going between the content and language sides is one big challenge. The main challenge, though is trying to find the right balance between content. Most CBI courses end up as a kind of tug-of-war between these two forces and this is a good thing. The content side is pulling for as much content as possible and the language side is pulling for as much and as diverse a language practice as possible. This is how it should be, but the also needs to be some give and take and each side should make concessions to the other. In reality, however, it is the content which usually takes precedence, the argument being that the student can go off and practice on their own, or we can simply give them more home assignment for dealing with the content.