Theory and Practice of ESP

Author: Cheng Shilu / et al.
Editor-in-Chief: Hu Chundong / et al.
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1998-05-01
Features:
Editor's Note: Preface to the Series Since the publication of the first edition of Mathematics Learning Theory in March 1991, this series has now been in circulation for six years. If we count back from the initial planning of the mathematics teaching theory series in early 1988, it has spanned nine years. Today, teaching theory series for five major subjects—mathematics, physics, chemistry, Chinese, and foreign languages—have been fully developed, with each subject comprising six books, totaling 30 volumes, titled Modern Educational Theory Series for Disciplines. With tens of millions of words, it has not only formed the theoretical foundation of basic disciplines but also established the core publishing project and distinctive educational theory publishing feature of our press. It has taken nearly a decade to construct a comprehensive educational theory series with Chinese characteristics. The twists and turns, joys and sorrows along the way are beyond words. However, in terms of reflecting teaching reform achievements and serving teaching reform, it is our bounden duty. From the perspective of building the publishing personality and culture of our press, it holds profound significance and great value. In the new historical period of reform and opening up, what can sustain a publishing house? What can it compete with? What can drive its development? What can it offer? There are many answers and strategies, but the fundamental pillars should not be lacking these two: one is the core project, and the other is renowned premium products. The core project is the strategic layout of a publishing house, while premium products are its soul and lifeblood. Their perfect integration constitute the quality, credibility, reputation, and cultural taste of the press. It is the foundation of its existence, the means of competition, the driving force for sustainable development, the core of cultural accumulation, and the fundamental guarantee of offering outstanding culture to the people. With this understanding and pursuit, we have published this series. Of course, there are also several other series. We look forward to the readers' judgment. We welcome the test of the market. We also long for the support of the educational and theoretical communities. We will continue to strive as always, employing every effort to offer more premium products to education, the nation, and the future.
Guangxi Education Press
Book Description
"English for Specific Purposes (ESP)," an emerging discipline that developed in the 1960s, aims to meet the needs of diverse learners. Due to its clear objectives, strong focus, and high practical value, it has been widely welcomed by English learners at all levels, ESP practitioners, and linguists. Research on ESP abroad has yielded rich results, and ESP is increasingly gaining popularity in China. This book introduces the brief history, linguistic features, and stylistic characteristics of ESP. It theoretically discusses major issues such as ESP syllabus design, curriculum development, textbook selection and evaluation, as well as theoretical and methodological approaches to ESP vocabulary, reading, and writing instruction. It also explores multidimensional dimensions in constructing a Chinese ESP system. This book serves as a reference for teachers and students engaged in ESP teaching, faculty and students of intermediate and university public English programs, as well as linguistic researchers and enthusiasts.
Excerpt:
Section 3: The Necessity of Constructing a Chinese ESP System
The Current State of ESP in China
With China's reform and opening up, the nationwide English fever has been on the rise, with each wave surpassing the last. College English is the main battlefield for ESP in China. The current English teaching syllabi for liberal arts and sciences and science and engineering students divide college English teaching into a foundational stage and a professional reading stage, accompanied by vocabulary lists, grammar structure tables, function-negotiation tables, and language skill tables. All this indicates that the college English teaching syllabi are designed based on communicative approaches, and college English teaching falls under the category of English for Academic Purposes (EAP). In 1994, China enrolled 51,000 graduate students, 900,000 undergraduate and associate-degree students in regular universities, and 1.017 million in adult education programs, adding approximately 2 million people to China's formal ESP ranks each year. The implementation of the college English teaching syllabus and the establishment of the College English Test Band 4 and 6 exams have pushed ESP teaching in Chinese universities to a new stage with remarkable achievements. In addition to national mandates, many universities have launched various types of English classes to meet the demand for English talent in different sectors of the market economy while also considering institutional benefits. Among these, foreign trade and tourism English, Chinese-English secretarial studies, international finance, foreign-related accounting, business certificate programs, TOEFL, and GRE classes are the most common and popular. Besides universities, many research institutes, administrative agencies, academic organizations, democratic parties, and other social forces have targeted market demands by organizing various ESP-oriented training programs, thereby significantly expanding the ESP workforce. Additionally, industries and trades have also established flexible and diverse English training programs to meet their own needs. Some organizations conduct foreign language training for their employees based on practical needs, while others send employees to universities for training, entrust universities to train staff, or collaborate with universities for joint training. These ESP-oriented foreign language training programs have spread across the country, with an astonishing number of participants. Recently, Jiangsu Province and Guangzhou City have made decisions requiring all cadres and staff under the age of 50 in government agencies to participate in foreign language and computer training and to take English proficiency exams, with the results serving as one of the criteria for selecting and promoting civil servants. Recently, Mayor Guan Yongguang of Jinzhou City in Liaoning Province proposed that all government officials under the age of 45 in Jinzhou City must study and master microcomputers and foreign languages, setting an example himself. These policies will strongly promote the development of ESP in China.
Let's also look at the trends in foreign language teaching in higher education. Since the 1970s, some science and engineering universities in China have established foreign language departments or departments of science and technology foreign languages. The foreign language department of Changsha Railway University, which started early, has already gone through a glorious 20-year journey, training thousands of high-quality foreign language graduate and undergraduate students for the railway sector. The former Science and Technology Foreign Language Department of Shanghai University of Mechanical Engineering, the Science and Technology Foreign Language Department of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the Foreign Language Department of Tsinghua University, the Foreign Language Department of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, the Foreign Language Department of Xi'an Jiaotong University, the Foreign Language Department of Zhejiang University, the Foreign Language Department of South China University of Technology, and the Foreign Language Department of Hunan University have all grown to considerable scales and gained fame both domestically and internationally. In addition to enrolling English undergraduates, they also admit English graduate students and organize teaching assistant programs. Most undergraduate universities have established foreign language departments or college English teaching divisions to organize and implement college English teaching. Provincial universities have established college English teaching committees, and a national college English teaching guidance committee has been formed to organize, research, and examine college English teaching. In Guangzhou, the "Guangzhou Association for Applied Foreign Languages" has been established, with the Guangzhou Normal University as its base, bringing together a group of universities, foreign-related departments, and teaching and research staff from various sectors to engage in ESP research, promotion, and popularization.
Finally, let's examine the trends in foreign language majors. Reform and the market economy have posed severe challenges to foreign language majors. For decades, nearly all foreign language majors in universities across the country have focused exclusively on foreign language or literature courses, producing "one-trick ponies" in foreign language and literature who are severely disconnected from social development and economic construction. Students and society have expressed dissatisfaction with this model of foreign language talent cultivation. The fact that over 80% of applicants to a southern foreign language college in 1994 chose to apply for its international trade department, while less than 20% chose the other four departments, is clear evidence of this. In the tide of the economy, the vast majority of employers now demand versatile, adaptable, compound, and applied foreign language talents. It is imperative for foreign language majors to align with ESP.