ESP materials: self-made or commercial?
O. Borysenko
(Donetsk)
Huge changes have been taking place in all spheres of life. Thanks to modern technology, distances disappear; countries and peoples are being united by various political and economic processes. A united Europe is a reality. Ukraine responded to global changes with joining the Bologna Process and becoming a member of the European Higher Education Area. The process implies mobility of Ukrainian students and academics, their participation in international projects, exchange programs, and, as a result, their competitiveness on the international market of labour. All these things are impossible without a proper command of the language of international communication.
Thus, ELT in Ukraine has to adapt itself to the changing needs and demands which, in their turn, require adequate teaching and learning materials.
For years there have been discussions and arguments among teachers about the actual role that materials play in ELT, whether to use textbooks or refuse them completely [1:81]. There are quite a few teachers who design their own materials for each class, the DIY approach. It seems to be dynamic, motivating, flexible and easily adaptable to learners’ precise needs. Course books are said to be straitjackets [8:1991] as they “impose learning styles and content on classes and teachers” [6:181-182]. On the other hand, the vast majority of teachers all over the world “reject a course book-free approach and instead use them to help their learners and … to give structure and direction to their own teaching”. They use it “as a springboard for their lessons and reserve the right to decide when and how to use its constituent parts” [Op.cit.].
It sometimes happen that when Ukrainian EFL teachers, as participants of exchange programmes, have an opportunity to observe English classes at colleges and universities abroad, they experience a kind of a shock because of the absence of textbooks in the classroom. Instead, native teachers bring numerous handouts and hand them in to students. They give explanation: when teaching is based on scrupulous needs analysis, it is impossible to have a single textbook for each and every specialism.
In spite of the fact that EFL in Ukraine has undergone dramatic changes, and today teaching is preceded by a kind of needs analysis, large academic loading, limited Xerox facilities, high ratio of teacher-student correlation, and the influence of the traditions of the grammar-translation past make Ukrainian teachers use textbooks. At the same time, additional materials are always added to connect classes with students’ major subjects and to make teaching and learning more interesting and motivating. In this case, teachers have to design materials (although formally they have never been trained for the job) which are added to an appropriate course book selected from the ones available on the market.
About 15 years ago English and American EFL-ESP course books came to Ukraine. As a rule, they contain authentic information; they are bright, accompanied with CDs, DVDs, Internet support, a guide for teachers, developed tests, games, role-plays, case studies, supplementary material, etc. They are adapted to particular levels of students’ proficiency and contain valuable cross-cultural, academically and professionally relevant information. More than that, they develop all language skills and are really communicative – aimed at communication and at doing communication tasks similar to those that people do in real life [5:23-24].
Today there is a wide range of high-quality general English course books, e.g. Inside Out, New English File, Headway, etc. It is not a problem to find international examination preparatory textbooks (for IELTS, CFE, FCE, TOEFL). There is a great choice for those who study business and economics. The market is overwhelmed with books for those in business, however, other specialisms deserve attention too. Recently Cambridge University Press has published a textbook on legal English - International Legal English. A course for classroom or self-study (Krois-Lindner, 2006). Despite the fact that the textbook is primarily aimed at training for the ILEC examination, it may be used to perfect legal English for work in international legal community. The textbook consists of fifteen units that allow mastering live English in legal contexts. It contains authentic material the samples of which are encountered by lawyers in their everyday professional communication. The texts, exercises, and tasks, oral and in writing, are of communicative nature and are aimed at the development of all language skills: reading, writing, speaking and listening. The course book is supported by the Internet. Each unit contains tasks that require online legal research – a very important skill for modern lawyers. Besides that, there are law case studies that make it possible to apply language skills to solving real legal problems. There are CDs, the glossary of legal terms, a sample ILEC test and tips how to get ready for the test and pass it successfully. The presence of keys to tasks and exercises make it possible to use the book for self-study.
Whereas there have appeared interesting ESP textbooks for doctors, computer people, engineers, journalists, regretfully there is nothing for mathematicians, historians or political science students. Moreover, course books published abroad do not take into account local Ukrainian factors and specific students’ needs. That is why, to fill in the gap, teachers, when they have accumulated some experience, want to share it with others and try their hand in writing course books.
Ukrainian EFL material developers have gained some success. An interesting and useful book was developed by T. Yakhontova – English Academic Writing for students and researchers [9:2002]. Its aim is to develop writing skills through the introduction of the specific features of rhetoric, stylistics, and genre peculiarities of modern English academic discourse. Another national ELT achievement is Business Project by O.B. Tarnopolsky [7:2007], the book which is praised and employed by Ukrainian BE teachers.
However, on the whole, course books designed by Ukrainian teachers have a number of weak points. They are inferior in quality when compared with their foreign counterparts. They are, as a rule, a compilation of texts accompanied by some questions, grammar and vocabulary exercises. They are based on the grammar-translation method and are mostly aimed at developing analytical reading skills, learning vocabulary and analysing grammar. They are not based on students’ needs analysis and do not meet their academic and professional requirements. Students’ specialism is indicated only in specific vocabulary though, compiling them, their authors never take words frequency into consideration. These course books lack communicative, task-solving exercises. More than that, they are intended for average students, students in general, without any specific level of proficiency. There is neither teacher’s guide nor audio support [4:23-24].
When choosing, evaluating, or designing an ESP coursebook, some practical criteria may be taken into consideration (compare 2:150). The book should
Besides, it is desirable to develop coursebooks as joint projects with native speakers.
The time of traditional “metodichkas” seems to have passed. Though designing a course book is difficult, time and effort consuming, and many substitutes are produced by respectable international publishing houses, there is a need to develop national high-quality course books for various specialisms and different levels of students’ proficiency. There should be a choice of materials for teachers to choose from and help their student master the language of international communication.
Literature
Summary
ELT in Ukraine has to adapt itself to changing needs and demands of the society which, in their turn, require adequate teaching and learning materials. The article analyses some probles connected with ESP material design and presents the ways of solving them.
Key words: ESP, ELT, course book, specialism, material design.
Аннотация
Преподавание английского языка в Украине претерпевает изменения, приспосабливаясь к изменившимся потребностям общества. Это требует разработки учебных материалов. Статья анализирует некоторые проблемы, связанные с разработкой учебных пособий по английскому языку для студентов ВУЗов, предлагает пути их решения.
Ключевые слова: преподавание английского языка в ВУЗе, учебник, специальность, разработка учебных материалов.
Анотація
Викладання английської мови в Україні потерпує змін і пристосовуєтся до потреб суспільства на сучасному етапі. Цей процесс потребує розробки навчальних матеріалів. Стаття присвячена аналізу деяких проблем, пов’язаних з розробкою навчальних матеріалів з англійської мови для студентів ВНЗів, та пропонує шляхи їх усунення.
Ключові слова: викладання аенглійської мови в ВНЗі, підручник, спеціальність, розробка навчальних матеріалів.