In contrast to a General English course, which is language-centred and has to try and contain all the essential building blocks for any learner of English as a foreign language, ESP courses are entirely learner-centred.

They cover a defined lexis, register and grammar, and teach functional language skills relating to situations arising in particular contexts.

English for Specific Purposes is often said to contain two main sub-sets : EAP (English for Academic Purposes) and EOP (English for Occupational Purposes). Within the EOP sub-set, there are numerous branches, ranging from courses which cross functional roles in numerous industries (e.g. the ever popular Business English), to those which relate exclusively to certain jobs or professions, such as Aviation English or Medical English.

Both these cases highlight a profession’s recognised need for minimum language competency levels in a number of defined situations. As a result, government bodies and regulators in those sectors have attempted to set down in a framework the English language skills required by non-native speakers working in the profession - and reputable training providers have then built their own curricula and courses in line with these broad language frameworks.

What happens, however, where the language needed is even less predictable, and instead of a course designed for a specific category of employee,  language needs are entirely context-driven?  How do suppliers who teach ESP every week to students from all sorts of different nationalities, industries, and every job imaginable, succeed in designing appropriate tailor-made courses for all their learners?

The first essential step is a comprehensive Needs Analysis, which is the starting point for all ESP course design – everything else follows from this. Information from the learners, including their needs and wants as well as an assessment of their current language level, feeds into the creation of suitable Learning Objectives, syllabus design, evaluation and selection of teaching materials, selection of appropriate trainers, and decisions about progress assessments, feedback loops, and adjustments to the course.

The degree to which a supplier will be successful in creating tailored ESP courses depends greatly on their willingness to engage fully in each of these processes, and to engage with the client in a meaningful dialogue.

Many overseas students come to the UK to take an ESP course to try and give a “quick boost” to their business English needs. However, ESP is delivered in many formats, and in a great many parts of the world. In many cases I have been involved in personally, companies and organisations around the world who started off by delivering General English training to their staff have found that developing this into more tailored,  English for Specific Purposes programmes has increased motivation amongst the learners, with faster results achieved and lower costs incurred as a result

The ground rules for successful delivery of ESP are in fact the same, whether that be for a 2-week immersion course in London, or a 2-year integrated programme of workforce development in Khazakstan or  Kuwait, or any other country. Clients who ensure that their training providers apply these ground rules and respond accordingly with a genuinely tailor-made programme will undoubtedly see the rewards in terms of staff satisfaction and skills development.

About the author:

Crispin, our Group Managing Director has set up and overseen large-scale, multi-year ESP programmes in numerous countries across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.

PLS is a language training provider based in London who are currently providing online lessons to a variety of corporate and government clients. Get in touch today to discover how we can help you or your colleagues reach your language learning goals.