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Teacher’s Training High School - Bouzareah

-Algiers -

Department of English

The Use of English of Specific Purposes to Teach English Vocabulary

In the Algerian High School( 3rd year students case)

Submitted by: Supervised by:

Beldaha Fatima Zahra Dr Benamazal Farid

Academic Year: 2017/2018

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Acknowledgement

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Dedication

I dedicate this work to:

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Abstract

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Table of Contents

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 Introduction

Vocabulary represents a crucial component in teaching English syllabus; that’s why it should be taught in a

well-planned and organized method. A good mastery of words knowledge is essential for English learners to

produce and communicate effectively, especially for those who learn for specific purposes. Thanks to the

emergence of new approaches that highlight the learner’s needs and autonomy in the process of acquiring

English language in relation with their field of study, ESP has gradually developed to facilitate vocabulary

learning in each targeted field. “It is wise to direct vocabulary learning to more specialized areas when

learners have mastered the 2000-3000 words of general usefulness in English”( Nation….citation needed.

Accordingly, language acquisition would be most effectively mastered if it could be embedded with the

learners’ field of study. To help ESL improve their comprehension, it is very essential to teach these primary

specialized vocabularies and their meanings in a way that allows them to retain them for a long time.

Accordingly, the students’ poor comprehension of their English test is due to the lack of specialized

vocabulary knowledge. The reason why; teaching vocabulary especially in ESP courses is becoming a

challenge for both English Language Teachers and learners. Though ESP has known a great launch in

English teaching sphere, nowadays teachers still encounter some difficulties in teaching vocabulary to high

school students in conformity with their specific fields of study. That’s the case with the most of English

learners in the Algerian high school who know very little about many core words which are frequent and very

important in their discipline. Otherly stated; The Algerian high schools ‘curriculum lacks diversity in topics

that may activate their knowledge linking it with vocabulary acquisition especially in scientific stream

classes. Most of the texts involved in the English textbooks are limited with certain topics that don’t meet all

learners’ needs, preferences and learning styles. Likewise, they find themselves limited to certain subjects

such as history economy and education in a way that makes them less enthusiastic and active in classroom

when acquiring the same general words. This deficiency of technical vocabulary in the texts provided by the

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textbooks makes the learners unable to grasp the new items from a specific context related to their major. The

purpose of this research paper is to highlight the importance of implementing ESP terminology in Algerian

high school textbooks in accordance with the students’ mainstreams and areas of interests so as to pave the

way for future studies in their chosen technical major. In addition, this study aims to give a prompt to

curriculum specialists and stakeholders to design suitable instructional materials, learning strategies and

appropriate techniques to facilitate the acquisition of ESP vocabulary. To achieve our aim form carrying out

this study, I put forward the following research questions:

What is the importance of using ESP vocabulary to teach English in high schools according to the

students’ mainstreams?

How ESP vocabulary benefits the students in their English classes and their future studies in university

where they will have a definite major?

How can English teachers implement ESP vocabulary in their courses, lesson plans and activities?

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 Chapter One:

 Literature of review:

 Part One:

 English for Specific Purposes:

This chapter presents the literature review of the importance ESP vocabulary teaching in high schools. We

will first define ESP, state its importance and history and explain how it comes to be considered as one the

main fields in nowadays courses, then talk about both vocabulary as a skill and teaching vocabulary to ESP

learners as well. The shift in teaching English from the traditional trends and methods to the modern ones like

CLT (communicative language teaching) led to the emergence of ESP. Accordingly, ESP has become one of

the substantial areas of English teaching, and has received increasing attention during these years. Almost all

educational institutions all over the world have ESP courses with the aim of teaching the kind of English

vocabulary that the students may confront in their field of study.. In the literature of ESP, many scholars have

pointed out the importance of vocabularies for ESP learners and suggested the ESP teacher to use different

strategies to handle this issue. For instance, Akbari & Tahririan (2009) have asserted that students in an ESP

context frequently encounter unknown words in text material and they urgently need to adopt some deliberate

strategies to facilitate long-term retention of word meaning.

 Definition of ESP:

Defining ESP has proven to be problematic to most of the researchers and “producing a simple

definition of ESP is not an easy task”(Strevens,1987:109). The reason why many definitions of ESP were

provided by many scholars. According to Mackay and Mountford (1978: 2) “ESP is generally used to

refer the teaching of English for a clearly utilitarian purpose.” That is to say, English language is being

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taught in real situations so as to give the learners a chance to link what they acquired with their needs in

their profession by helping them to acquire new specific skills in language. Anthony (1997: 9-10) argued

that “some people described ESP as simply being the teaching of English for any purpose that could be

specified. Others, however, were more precise describing it as the teaching of English used in academic

studies or the teaching of English for vocational or professional purposes”. This indicates that, ESP main

goal is to help EL to build up and promote the necessary skills and capacities related to their field of

inquiry, profession; occupation and workplace. Hence in ESP, “language is learnt not for its own sake or

for the sake of gaining a general education, but to smooth the path to entry or greater linguistic efficiency

in academic, professional or workplace environments” Basturkmen (2006: 18).

 ESP Movement Origin:

According to Hutchinson and Waters, there are three reasons that led to the emergence of ESP

movement. After the WW1 an enormous expansion of technology, economical progress and commerce

necessitated people around the world to acquire English language for the sake of getting access to technology

products in commerce fields especially.(Hutchinson & Waters 1987,p 06).Later on , after the outburst of the

economy and technology ,a shift emerged from describing language usage including grammar and simple

rules to exploring the context in which language is being used to communicate. As a result, new

characteristics of English use evolve among various group of learners that started using English for specific

needs that differ from one situation to another (Widdownson, 1978).Besides, a great emphasis on learners

needs came into light causing English for specific purposes courses to develop in relevance with learners

‘interests and preferences so as to motivate them and facilitate learning English. (Rodgers,1969). To sum up,

the combination of those three paramount factors led to the emergence of ESP in order to cope with the late

progress in economy, linguistics and psychological education.

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 ESP Characteristics:

Stevens (1988) identified ESP characteristics as follows:-

ESP consists of English language teaching designed to meet specified needs of the learner.

Related in content to particular disciplines, occupations and activities.It is not taught according to any

preordained method.

Evans and John (1998) modified Strevens’ characteristics to form their own, they offered a modified

definition as follows:-

1. ESP is defined to meet specific needs of the learner.

2. ESP is centered on the language, skills, discourse and genres appropriate to these activities.

3. ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines.

4. ESP may use a different methodology from that of general English.

5. ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners either at a tertiary level institution or in a professional work

situation. It could, however, be for learners at secondary school level.

6. ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students.

 Types of ESP:

According to Carter (1983), there are three types of ESP:-

1. English as a restricted language: The language used by air traffic controllers or by waiters are examples of

English as a restricted language.

2. English for academic and occupational purposes: English for science and technology(EST), English for

Business and Economics(EBE), English for social studies(ESS), English for academic purposes(EAP), and

English for occupational purposes (EOP).

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3. English with specific topics: This type concerned with anticipated future English needs of, for example,

scientists requiring English for postgraduate reading studies, attending conferences or working in foreign

institutions.

 ESP Importance:

“The difficulties which the students encounter arise not so much from a defective knowledge of the system of

English, but from unfamiliarity with English use, and that consequently their needs cannot be met by a course

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which simply provides further practice in the composition of sentences, but only by one which develops a

knowledge of how sentences are used in the performance of different communicative acts.”(Allen and

Widdowson,1974). From this passage we deduce that ESP main concern is not only

language use description but also language learning processes descriptions in different contexts and

situations. So, it’s crucial to distinguish between language use at the level of the sentences and language

different interpretations according to the context in which it is used.

Conclusion:

In a nutshell, ESP has been proven to be so crucial that it became a necessity to make it part of the English

teaching curriculum for EFL.It evolved gradually throughout history due to the growth of English learners

needs which became the center of designing methods and techniques that best work to cope with it effectively

by making use of ESP field.

 Part Two:

 Vocabulary Teaching:

Basically, vocabulary learning and teaching represents a great challenge for both the teachers and the

learners due to the minimum focus put into the importance of regular instructions and tasks that may lead to

enhancing its knowledge.In this chapter, we will be discussing the way vocabulary should be taught and

learned using some applicable methods and strategies both as a skill in general and as a crucial component in

ESP field.

Widdowson points out that every language learner should start first from the primary stage which is

represented by the whole words gathered to form meaningful grammatical utterances by stating ;« The more

one considers the matter,the more reasonable it seems to suppose that lexis is where we need to start from,

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the syntax needs to be put in the service of words and not the other way round.»( Widdowson to

Lewis,1993,115).

McCarthy (1990, p. viii) also mentioned , “No matter how well the student learns grammar, no matter how

successfully the sounds of L2 are mastered, without words to express a wider range of meanings,

communication in an L2 just cannot happen in any meaningful way” (McCarthy 1990, p. viii).

From the two definitions mentioned above, we can assume that vocabulary has become a indispensable

sphere in teaching English language for both general use and specific purposes ;as a result a wide variety of

techniques and methods based on specific approaches has emerged.As a result,linguists have developed some

techniques and methods to teach first English vocabulary in general then for specific purposes in the targeted

field chosen by students in high schools.However, we need first to classify the ESP vocabulary into

categories to facilitate the process of choosing the right techniques that best match with the learners ability of

grasping and preferences linked with their field of studies. According to Hatch and Brown (312) special

lexical items are found in every field chosen by learners ,and abstract concept are being covered by particular

vocabulary in each profession.To put it another way, Kennedy and Bolitho (56-58) identified three distinct

categories of ESP vocabulary that differs from one field to another as follows:

 Technical Abbreviations, Symbols and Formula – they represent a challenge for teachers to

explain. Teachers start often with their form and they move on to their meaning ;and students should practise

them in both speaking and writing.

 Sub-technical vocabulary – words which are not directly a part of specific technical branch,

but they occur generally in scientific and technical texts – e.g. lava , ultra violet rays,homoeostasis..etc.

 Highly technical vocabulary – words that have a close thematic relationship and belong to a

certain technical field.

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 Selecting Vocabulary:

The initial step to start teaching vocabulary is selection of words that teachers or instructors want their

learners to acquire and that best match with the unit they are dealing with.This process of selection according

to Gairns and Redman (59) depends on some cultural reasons,learners needs and levels since these criteria

pave the way to explore the inalienability of learners and teach-ability for the instructors.The reason why,

most of teachers start with concrete words that are easier to be learned by students especially when being

illustrated or found in their educational setting like chair,copybook,board ...etc.Then later on , they move to

more complicated words called abstract items and that require some extra efforts, teaching materials or visual

aids that suit the words meaning.For instance, the word ‘resistance’ signifies in medicine the immunity of the

human organism against diseases while it refers to opposition in military context as it refers in physics to the

material opposition to an electrical current.The best way from which teachers can start to teach new items is

to prepare a words list that cover all the items that they are expected to teach to their learners in relation with

the unit they are studying.Accordingly,learners will have a systematic reference that illustrates the main

academic words they need to grasp and use in a relevant context.Teachers may also use concordances;i,e, the

context of the words that learners may cross in real life situations outside the classroom such as : collocations

idioms ,words family members, homonyms, synonyms and grammatical patterns. «The use of concordances

can challenge the learners to actively construct generalizations, note-patterns and exceptions» ( Nation,

2001:111).

 Presenting Vocabulary : Teachers and instructors tend to introduce new vocabulary to English

learners using myriad of techniques to insert not only the form and the meaning of the new lexis but also

its usage in different contexts.Choosing the right method to do so is up to the teacher first who must be

aware of his students ‘learning styles and their preferable acquisition way.Moreover, the topic is

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necessary when it comes to learn new words since they should be presented within a given context that

helps the learners to both learn and use the words inside and outside the classroom.

According to Gairns and Redman (73), there are some traditional methods and techniques used to present

new vocabulary:

 Visual techniques:

Visuals – photographs, flashcards, blackboard drawings, pictures, videos, wall charts, pictogram and real

objects; they are useful for teaching concrete words.

Demonstrating: mime/facial expression and gesture – useful for teaching action verbs.

 Verbal techniques:

Illustrative situations (oral or written) – this technique is helpful when the words are more abstract using for

instance role play games or situations of integration.

Synonyms and antonyms – using the words students have already acquired to insert them in their memory

and learn other words that are closed in meaning.

Definitions and explanations – appropriate for intermediate learners. To make definition of words can be

difficult, especially at elementary levels.

Scales – if students know 'wide’ and ‘vast’', for example, other steps could be to teach ‘stretched’ and

‘magnificent' etc.

Examples of the type – give examples of words you want to introduce.

Translation – it is a common activity used for presenting the meaning of a word in classes.

Guessing from the context, matching/labelling – learners match words to words or sentences or pictures. It

belongs to so called discovery techniques; they activate the learner’s background of a previously acquired

language terms and initiate the activity given with the new vocabulary.

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 Vocabulary Practice:

The vocabulary practice is divided into two categories controlled and free .The teachers make a

decision first whether they want to focus on accuracy(controlled practice) that requires the learners to

produce certain structures in a given pattern or fluency(free practice) used by teachers to ensure that the

learners will be able to use the new vocabulary to communicate in the classroom using some situations of

integration from real life.The vocabulary practice is best exemplified by a sum of activities that not only

foster fluency but also promotes pronunciation and give the learner the opportunity to retrieve the words he

learned and stored in his memory so as to communicate properly.These practice activities are divided into

two main groups: receptive and productive.

 Receptive practice (the learner does not really produce the target words) includes these types

(Thornbury 94-99):

1) Identifying – means finding words in a text or listening script, e.g. underline specific words or expressions

in the text, or tick, put in the correct column or list items that you hear.

2) Selecting – means recognizing words and making choices among them, e.g. circle the odd word in the line.

3) Matching – includes recognizing words and then finding their synonym, antonym, definition, pictures to

words etc. It can be intended to matching parts of lexical items to create collocations (there is a very popular

memory game based on matching called Pelmanism).

4) Sorting – putting the lexical items into different categories, e.g. put these adjectives in two groups –

positive and negative.

5) Ranking and sequencing – putting the lexical items in some kind of order, e.g. ordering items

chronologically, ranking items according to personal preference etc.

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 Productive practice: (the productive skills – writing or speaking – are incorporated in the vocabulary

teaching,) it involves (Thornbury 100) both completion and creation.

- Completion tasks (context is given), often called gap-fills, are widely used not only in practice but also in

revision stages. They include open gap-fills or closed gap-fills (multiple choice activities),

crosswords,

- Creation tasks: the learner uses the word in a sentence or a story, in writing, speaking or both forms, he

may also use affixes to build new naming units from given words.

 ESP Vocabulary Teaching:

According to Hutchinson and Waters, (1987) ESP should be seen as an approach to language teaching to

facilitate the learning process of the technical words that English learners need in their future majors.

Likewise,the prior researches have propelled to the forefront ESP vocabulary necessity to develop a wide

range of academic skills like analyzing research papers, thesis or dissertations in some specific fields,writing

academic papers and giving oral or written presentations about many different areas of research. Frequently,

instructors focus on both academic and semi technical vocabulary which are both given a certain priority.

According to Dudley-Evans and St John (1998:83), this type of vocabulary not only is used in general life

contexts but also has a higher frequency of occurrence in scientific and technical descriptions and

discussions.For instance we have some general vocabulary on which teachers should focus since they may

be encountered by learners in some particular scientific contexts such as:

. academic: experiment, study, standard, ethics ,period and order

. medicine: overload, immunity, chronic, treatment, fluid and therapy.

. verbs: report, control, convert, receive, give and randomize

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.collocations: carry out, overtake.

- computer science:browser, program, log, hypertext and internet.

 Conclusion:

ESP has become a widely used and necessary sphere in teaching English.The reason why;the demand for

the teaching of English for clearly stated purposes necessitate from language teachers to take into

consideration the specific demands imposed by the learner’s personal needs and special study fields.

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 Chapter two:

 Methodology:

In this part of the research paper, i will be suggesting some texts taken from ESP vocabulary in use books

from different fields to be implemented in the third year high school textbook.I will also provide some extra

activities accompanied with the text that best cover myriad of skills and vocabulary related to the units of the

textbook.

 The method of collecting data:

I have chosen the method of evaluation in order to collect data and analyze the given texts and activities in

the third year secondary school textbook.(Provide a definition of evaluation.

 The textbook Description:

The third year textbook of the Algerian secondary school “New Prospects” has six units that cover different

topics according to the students streams.Concerning the scientific stream, there are three units as follow:

Ethics in business, Safety first and advertisement and finally astronomy.My aim is to suggest other texts from

In use series of the global books Cambridge that target the different scientific subjects so as to motivate

learners to acquire technical ESP vocabulary in accordance with their areas of study.First i did an analysis of

the textbook and i found some sections that are not that interesting in terms of the vocabulary they cover that

should be directed toward strengthening their technical words knowledge about the main theme of the unit.

2.1. Linguistic objectives :

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Business / Physics / Computer S / Engineering vocabulary in Use is a combination thematic/topic-based

and semantic syllabus. I have chosen to use the texts provided with some activities in these books to present

the technical vocabulary in the topics related to the units of the textbook for the branches available in the

secondary school.I have also designed some activities that provide the learners with the different words

interpretations in both general and technical use keeping the same reading passages in the textbook. These

practical exercises provide a better understanding of the basic meaning of unfamiliar new words and how to

use them in appropriate contexts and collocations and easy-to-understand definitions. They will also help

students o extract information from the written texts including a variety of skills connected, above all, with

the content of a reading course. Among the most important skills is the capability to understand the main

idea of a passage (skimming). Further skills involve the ability to find quickly specific information (scanning)

and intensive reading to get details.

 The suggested text:

In Unit 02 Ethics in Business: Page 57 Take a break: omit this part and replace it with the text and the

activities below.

An Extract from Business vocabulary in use (Cambridge professional English). I suggest to

add it on unit two named Ethics in Business page 59 instead of “Take a Break” in order to foster and cover

the unit vocabulary about the different issues in the domain of business.In addition to the this text below the

activities that come with it help the teacher to engage the students in the learning new technical vocabulary

that help them to guess the different contexts in which they are used.

Fraud and Embezzlement:

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'I'm Sam Woo. I've been a fraud squad detective for 20 years and I've seen a lot! Once, a gang counterfeited

millions of banknotes in a garage. We found US$10 million in counterfeit notes. They were very good

quality. Counterfeiting or forgery of banknotes was a problem, but now all the forgers are in jail. Faking

luxury goods like Rolex watches was also a problem, but we're working hard to close workshops where fakes

are made. There have been bad cases of fraud where someone offers to lend money, but demands that the

borrower pays a "fee" before they get the loan. People can be stupid. And there's embezzlement, a type of

fraud where someone illegally gets money from their employer. One accountant sent false invoices to the

company he worked for, and paid money from his company into bank accounts of false companies he had

"created". He embezzled $2 million - quite a scam. There used to be a lot of racketeers demanding

"protection money" from businesses. If they didn't pay, their businesses were burnt down. Money

laundering, hiding the illegal origin of money, is common - gangsters buy property with money from drugs.

When they sell the property, the money becomes "legal". But banks now help by telling us when someone

makes a large cash deposit.'

 Activities provided with the text:

1/ Read the text and find synonyms of the words written in bold.Try to guess from the context using one

word or a sentence.

Fraud Squad= police department that investigates fraud Embezzlement= theft of funds

Forgery= fraud

Goods= products Banknotes= money cash Invoices= bills

Racketeer= a person who engages in fraudulent business Money Laundering= concealing the source of

illegally gotten money

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2/ Read the words given in the table below and find their collocations:

Words Usage Collocation Nouns Adjectives Verbs

Preposition

Quality Goods/Service Of Control Redeeming Maintain enhance

Audio/Food assurance elusive great good improve affect

standards

Origin Species/nature Of / In / by / Common ancient Trace investigate

industry economy unknown share

Property Economy biology Of Market price Physical personal Hold own value

chemistry boundary
Medicinal Buy acquire

 Interpretation:

The text given begins with a presentation of vocabulary from a given topic related to the unethical

practices in business( Fraud and embezzlement) . The important words are selected and identified by bold

type. After the text, i added some key definitions that may help the learners to grasp the general issue of the

text. Likewise,.students are expected to take notes of the vocabulary relevant to their technical area which is

business here. In this way a student is actively involved at this presentation phase.For this reason,i used

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collocations activity.It is highly recommended to train students to use correctly strong collocations that shows

an excellent command of English language for Specific Purposes. Collocations are very common in business

settings when certain nouns are routinely combined with certain verbs or adjectives. For example, draw up a

contract, set a price, conduct negotiations, etc Not knowing collocations may lead to wrong word

combinations that may not be understandable.

 Section Two:

Unit Three Safety First: Page 115

Suggested After Reading Activities: ( How is your Energy Balance?

Activity one: I suggest to use the words semantic maps activity.This activity induces the learners to

activate their previous words knowledge and make efforts to link them with the word that generalizes all of

the suggested items.The instructions of this activity can be formed as follow: Read the words in bold type in

the text then suggest some others that have relationship below.

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•Capacity
Energy •Fuel/ Electricity /radiations/Gas
• Environement sun wind water biomass

•Security
Security •Safety

• instructions
System • scheme
•Rules

 The same unit:

 Activity Two:

 Page 117 :the passage Health warning

In this activity students are supposed to fill in the blanks with too much, too few and too many.The key terms

in this text are diabetes, sun rays, polio disease, overweight,radiations,skin cancer,beriberi disease,B12

vitamin,immunity,Anaemia , poor eyesight and blood cells.My concern is to focus on these terms so as to

teach the learners how to make use of these technical words in the other scientific subjects they study.I

suggest to supplement an activity where students have to classify the words mentioned above according their

own categories after guessing each word definitions using synonyms explanations,examples ...etc.

Diabetes → a condition or disease where the body can’t use glucose normally.

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Polio disease →infantile paralysis where the muscles suffer from a hard weakness that the body cant

move.

Skin Cancer →you can mention skin cancer types (Carcinoma, Basal cell....)

Anaemia → lack of hemoglobin red blood cells

Beriberi disease → caused by Vitamin B1 deficiency.it caused inflammation if nerves and heart failure.

Immunity →the ability of the organism to resist again infections and diseases.

Red blood cells → transfer oxygen and nutrients

B12 vitamin →it maintains healthy nerve cells and it helps to produce DNA

 Interpretation:

The two activities above are one of the most favourable clues to help learners to acquire the different

technical meanings of one word.The learners will be able to cover the different glossary items of one single

word.Sometimes they can not guess each word’s definition ;that is why, it is necessary to use the glossary

words that have relationships with the word provided instead of giving directly its meaning.Accordingly they

will cover most of the technical words related not only to the unit but also to their specialized field of study.It

helps them also to imagine the different concepts and items that can be put under each word cluster.For

example the word “energy” is often encountered by students in different fields ;the fact that will help them to

deduce its miscellaneous uses in various areas of research.Coming to the second activity,sorting or

categorizing can also support the teacher’s aim to use ESP to teach vocabulary.When they do so using the

technical words they will able to grasp more than the word itself but also its category, type,use ,function and

so on forth.

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Section Three:

Unit Four: Keep Cool!

Description of the unit:

In this unit learners are expected to distinguish between facts and opinions and raise their awareness about

the negative effects of the different interpretations of humour. The learners should be able to discriminate

,contrast and compare the different ways in expressing emotions and feelings in different cultures.A closer

look to the reading passages however, reveals a number of gaps and shortcomings concerning the scientific

stream side.The unit content is more suitable to the literary stream students since the subjects being tackled

are more about culture,myth and history.The first reading passage is about feelings in both British and

American culture while the second reading passage is about a story called a unicorn in the garden.After

reading them and analyzing the whole vocabulary covered in this unit, i suggest two other reading passages

related to the engineering and physics subjects that students encounter in their courses.

 Alternative suggestion:

I suggest to replace this unit topic with another which targets the civil engineering students in high

school.Regarding the fact that the whole content of the textbooks lacks such variety of subjects that attract

civil engineering students, it is necessary to take their area of study into account.To begin with, i looked over

the third year engineering program in secondary school so as to suggest reading passages that have

relationship with the subjects their curriculum covers.

Professional English in use Engineering:

Motion and simple Machines: Page 78

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Getting started:

Before reading:

1- Look at the pictures below and describe what you see

2- What is acceleration according to you from the pictures?

3- How do you know that a person or a vehicle is accelerating?

4- Does force or mass influence the speed of a moving solid? and how?

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Acceleration and motion

If an object is at rest (not moving) and is free to move (not fixed), an external force-a force from outside -

will make the object accelerate. This means the velocity of the object (the speed of its movement in a given

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direction) will increase. Velocity is measured in metres per second (m/s). If acceleration is constant-that is, if

the rate of acceleration remains the same-it is measured as the increase in velocity (in metres per second) that

is achieved each second. The unit of acceleration is therefore metres per second per second - stated as metres

per second squared (m/s2).

If an object is in motion (moving) and is subjected to an opposing force-that is, one acting on it in the

opposite direction-the object will decelerate. As with acceleration, deceleration is measured in m/s2• If

something moves in a straight line, we say its movement is linear-a car accelerating and driving along a

straight road is an example of linear acceleration and linear motion.

On earth, acceleration due to gravity is roughly 10 m/s2• In other words, if an object is dropped and left

to free fall, its velocity will increase by 10 m/s every second (not allowing for air resistance). Acceleration

and deceleration, such as that generated by aircraft and cars, can be compared with acceleration due to

gravity. This relative measure is called G-force (G stands for gravity). An acceleration of 10 m/s2 is

measured as 1 G, 20 m/s2 as 2 G (or 2 Gs), and so on.

 Activities associated with the text:

1- Complete the table below then check you answers with your classmate. You can use the dictionary

Noun Adjective Verb Meaning

rest restful rest Not to move

acceleration accelerating accelerate Move faster

Motion motional move Change position

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linearity linear No verb Move in straight line

generation generative generate Create/bring forth

drop dropping drop To fall vertically

Resistance resistible resist Opposing force

2- Match the words in the left with their associated words on the right.Then use them to form illustrative

sentences

1-Velocity A - change of position

2- Acceleration B - Friction acting in the opposite motion of any object

3- Gravity C - Speed = Distance / Time

4- Air Resistance D - measured by meter per a second

5- Motion E - an earth force that alter any body speed and trajectory

3- Read the text again and summarize it in few sentences using some words from the two activities above.

 The second reading passage:

Concrete

Concrete mix design:

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Cement a key material in construction. It consists of a very fine powder. When water s added to cement,

a chemical reaction occurs, and the cement begins to set - it starts to become solid. The most widely used

cement-based material is concrete, which is made from cement, fine aggregate (sand), coarse aggregate

(gravel) and water. After concrete has set, it needs time to reach its structural strength - the strength needed to

perform effectively.Generally, engineers consider that this strength is reached after 28 days - a point called

28-day strength.

Concrete mix designs, which are specified by engineers, state the proportions of cement, fine aggregate

and coarse aggregate to be used for specific structures. For example, a 1:2:4 (one-two-four) mix consists of

one part cement, two parts fine aggregate and four parts coarse aggregate. For mixing precise quantities-

known as hatching-proportions are measured by weight. Mix designs also specify the water-cement ratio -

the amount of water added relative to the amount of cement used. Excess water reduces the strength of

concrete, so the quantity of water is kept to a minimum. But as drier concrete is more difficult to work with,

an additive (added chemical substance) called a plasticizer is often used. This helps the concrete to flow more

easily. Other additives can also be used-for example, a retarder may be added to delay setting, which gives

workers more time to pour (place) the concrete.

 Activities associated with this text:

Find words and expressions in the text to match the descriptions (1-10).

1 -gravel used in concrete = coarse aggregate

2 -sand used in concrete = fine aggregate

3 -powder that enables concrete to set = cement

4- mixing concrete accurately = batching

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5 -Move steadily and continuously= to flow

6-affects the wetness and strength of concrete= water cement ratio

7 -different types of chemical put in concrete = additives

8- allows concrete to stay wet for longer = retarder

9- makes drier concrete easier to work with = plasticizer

10-Turns to hard and solid or semi solid state= to set

Interpretation:

The practical exercises I designed aim to revise, consolidate, exploit and reinforce the main features of

the unit that cover most of the technical vocabulary that students are expected to acquire. I tried to make the

texts suggested diverse in terms of the technical topics that students tackle in other subjects.That’s why after I

analyzed the last unit “Keep Cool” , i suggested to replace It with another unit related to engineering and

physics fields.the first text target initially physics subject that is about acceleration and motion.All of the

words mentioned in the text are encountered by students in their main field of study.Likewise they will be

more engaged and familiar with the processes in texts that they have already seen in their current or previous

curriculum.The second text is about Concrete ;that matter used in construction which is one of the most

prominent subjects that engineering students deal with in third year secondary program.The objectives i set

for activities suggested with the texts are mainly about draw the attention of students towards the different

technical meanings and signification of English vocabulary.

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 Language functions:

I focused on two functions that third year students of English are intended to learn through the

different types of activities that aim to teach both general and technical meanings of vocabulary.

Static description:includes the use of language to describe properties, characteristics or attributes of

materials, devices, theories,diseases, phenomena..etc.Ex: “If an object is in motion (moving) and is

subjected to an opposing force-that is, one acting on it in the opposite direction-the object will

decelerate.”

Dynamic description:involves the description of relationships between a series of events or

processes.Ex: Polio disease →infantile paralysis where the muscles suffer from a hard weakness that the

body cant move.

The following points provide examples of some functions (types of exercises) covered in the texts suggested

with the activities provided.

 Defining: “ Cement a key material in construction”

 Exemplifying: Acceleration and deceleration, such as that generated by aircraft and cars,

 Expressing function: a retarder may be added to delay setting, .

 Expressing purpose: which gives workers more time to pour (place) the concrete

 Describing measurements: The unit of acceleration is therefore metres per second per second.

 Teacher’s role:

The teacher´s role should be eminent in teaching vocabulary using ESP.The teachers should give the

learners a chance and space to figure out words ‘meaning and lexis by allowing them to be part of the

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appropriate learning materials,aids and initiating activities. However, because of the students levels in terms

of the technical words meanings and their use , there are mostly expected situations when teacher-centered

learning has to be given priority. Firstly, in situations when the new vocabulary is expected to be extremely

difficult for students, or when the meaning of key words cannot be deduced from the context, selected items

should be presented and explained through the pre - teaching activities before students start to read the given

technical text. It is also necessary for the teacher to do a summary/revision of the unit to cover the main

vocabulary or other main points learners are expected to see ; e.g. technical meaning or definition. In

addition, teachers can think out further examples or exercises to explain some problems or practise

vocabulary.

 The student´s role:

Since most of the students would not be familiar with all of the topics technical terms , teachers have

to make sure that students grasp both new vocabulary and new technical information. Besides, students

should be stimulated to raise their curiosity and interest about information from the branch they study or

prefer. The tasks are designed to involve the students actively in the process of gaining the new information.

This corresponds with the idea that they are reading texts for the sake of learning both general vocabulary

technical terminology. The aim of using ESP is also to teach students how to work with the technical texts

in order to reach a high level of understanding and vocabulary luggage to manage different tasks in their

future careers.

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 Sample Lesson Plan:

Sample lesson plan is made for Unit four which i suggested to replace with another unit that targets

engineering and physics students in high school. The text is Acceleration and Motion.

Lesson Plan

Topic of the text: Acceleration and Motion

Date: 04/ 09/2018 Length: 1 hour´

Class: 3rd year secondary school students Target level: intermediate

School/course: Algerian high school - English -

Material used: Syllabus Topic 4, whiteboard + markers, , bilingual and monolingual dictionaries (e.g.

Oxford Advanced Learner´s Dictionary of Current English)

Skills: Vocabulary and reading

Aims:

 to present and study new technical vocabulary.

 to introduce vocabulary in connection with pictures and realia (tapes)

 to practise the pronunciation of the new technical words..

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 to practise the new vocabulary in reading, writing and speaking activities.

 to develop both: ESP vocabulary and knowledge about the field of physics.

 Assumptions:

- Students are ready to share and co-operate.

- Students have some experience with physics phenomena, laws and rules.

- Students have some experience with doing practical activities in the textbook (matching, filling in the

gaps and labeling pictures.

- Students are technically minded.

- Students should be encouraged by the topic which is known to them.

- Students´ knowledge of physics laws f motion and measurement will be boosted through English

vocabulary.

Stages and Procedures:

Stage 1: Warm up

Aim:

- introduce the unit using a video or pictures from which students are expected to deduce the main

concepts.

- Ask students question about Newton physics laws of motion.

Stage 2:

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Pr-reading phase:

- Ask them to look at the pictures provided before reading the text.

- Ask them to write some notes about the pictures subject individually then exchange drafts to work in

pairs.

Stage 3: Vocabulary Introduction

Aims:

- introduce new technical vocabulary and activate their previous background about physics laws.

- Introduce also both general and specific meaning of some words.

- Present the new vocabulary with reference to the unit main theme

- Explain these words without giving the exact word that refer to their meaning

- Ask the students to guess their meanings from the teacher’s explanation or use the dictionary.

Stage 4:

Post Reading Phase:

Aims:

- Ask students to read the text silently

- Students extract the new difficult terms that they could not understand

- Teacher explains those words in context related to the technical theme of the unit.

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- Students check their answers of the arm up questions.

- Students complete the table with the appropriate words

- Teachers check their answers and correct in the board.

Stage 5:

Practice:

Aims: Consolidate ESP vocabulary by practising new words in context and use these words in

appropriate sentences to write a good summary.Activate both general English knowledge and its technical

use.

Procedures:

- Students summarize the texts using the new words they acquire or their synonyms.

- Teachers asks students to suggest any other physics law or theory they know and matches it with

pictures if available.

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