THE ORIGINS OF ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES (ESP)

Certainly, a great deal about the origins of ESP could be written. Notably, there are three reasons common to the emergence of all ESP: the demands of a Brave New World, a revolution in linguistics, and focus on the learner (T, Hutchinson & Waters, A., 1987).

T. Hutchinson and Waters, A., (1987 : 6) note that two keys historical periods breathed life into ESP. First, the end of the Second World War brought with it an " ... age of enormous and unprecedented expansion in scientific, technical and economic activity on an international scale · for various reasons, most notably the economic power of the United States in the post-war world, the role (of international language) fell to English". Second, the Oil Crisis of the early 1970s resulted in Western money and knowledge flowing into the oil-rich countries. The language of this knowledge became English.

The general effect of all this development was to exert pressure on the language teaching profession to deliver the required goods. Whereas English had previously decided its own destiny, it now became subject to the wishes, needs and demands of people other than language teachers (T. Hutchinson & Waters, A., 1987 : 7).

The second key reason cited as having a tremendous impact on the emergence of ESP was a revolution in linguistics. Whereas traditional linguists set out to describe the features of language, revolutionary pioneers in linguistics began to focus on the ways in which language is used in real communication. Point out that one significant discovery was in the ways that spoken and written English vary. In other words, given the particular context in which English is used, the variant of English will change. This idea was taken one step farther. If language in different situations varies, then tailoring language instruction to meet the needs of learners in specific contexts is also possible. Hence, in the late 1960s and the early 1970s there were many attempts to describe English for Science and Technology (EST). T. Hutchinson and Waters, A., (1987) identify Ewer and Latorre, Swales, Selinker and Trimble as a few of the prominent descriptive EST pioneers.

The final reason T. Hutchinson and Waters, A., (1987) cite as having influenced the emergence of ESP has less to do with linguistics and everything to do psychology. Rather than simply focus on the method of language delivery, more attention was given to the ways in which learners acquire language and the differences in the ways language is acquired. Learners were seen to employ different learning strategies, use different skills, enter with different learning schemata, and be motivated by different needs and interests. Therefore, focus on the learners' needs became equally paramount as the methods employed to disseminate linguistic knowledge. Designing specific courses to better meet these individual needs was a natural extension of this thinking. To this day, the catchword in ESL circles is learner-centered or learning-centered.

Why ESP become such an Important?

We can identify three main reasons common to the emergence of all ESP.

a. The demands of a Brave New World

The end of the Second World War in 1945 popularity an age of enormous and unprecedented expansion in scientific, technical and economic activity of an international scale. This expansion created a world unified and dominated by two factors: Technology and Commerce.

The effect was to create a whole new mass of people wanting to learn English, not for the pleasure or prestige of knowing the language, but because English was the key to the international currencies of technology and commerce.

b. A revolution in linguistics

Traditionally the aim of linguistics had been to describe the rules of English usage that is the grammar. The formal features of language usage to discovering the ways which is language that actually used in real communication (Widdowson, 1978). In English language teaching this gave rise to the view that there are important differences between, say, the English of commerce and that of engineering. These ideas grew up naturally with the development of English courses for specific groups of learners.

c. Focus on the learners

New developments in educational psychology also contributed to the rise of ESP, by emphasizing the central importance of the learners and their attitudes to learning. This program supported to the development of courses in which ‘relevance’ to the learners’ needs and interests was paramount. In short, “tell me what you need English for and I will tell you the English that you need” became the guiding principle of ESP.

The growth of ESP, then, was brought about by a combination of three important factors: the expansion of demand for English to suit particular needs and developments in the fields of linguistics and educational psychology.