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Discussions and Research Notes

ESP Textbooks: Do They Really Exist?

Gary M. Jones

The place of textbooks in ESP teaching has been the source of much debate within the profession. Wiis (1981) suggests that such textbooks frequently originate in a particular teaching institution and are subsequently modified to meet the wider requirements of publication. He concludes that “a globally available course emanating from a specific local teaching situation is in a sense of contradiction in terms” (1981: 156). More recently, the exchange between Robinson (1988) and Dudley-Evans (1988) appears to speak to the same issue.

Nevertheless, books are marketed and, judging by the ever burgeoning publishers’ catalogues, are selling profitably. Given that there is debate about their application and usefulness, is it morally defensible that authors should claim to be writing and publishers marketing a package which might only be nefariously described as an ESP textbook?

Nine years ago Swales (1980) indicated that there had been no fully articulated challenge to the content of ESP textbooks. Since then Robinson (1980) and Arthur (1983), among others, have discussed materials, but there has been no direct questioning of the basic composition of the ESP textbook. In order to do so I think we must remind ourselves of the basic premises on which ESP has been established.

Mackay provides us with a definition that many ESP teachers would accept:

It (ESP) is generally used to refer to the teaching/learning of a foreign language for a clearly utilitariao purpose of which there is no doubt (1975: 37).

Robinson (1980) provides us with a whole chapter on ESP definitions, but it would seem unnecessary to reiterate any of them here in that they all have the same central theme as Mackay’s. The needs of one particular group of students at any particular time or place will be different, no matter how slightly, from any other group. Though some ESP course designers may not equate ESP with specialist materials development projects (see Cracker (1984), for example), the actual teaching materials should be nontransferable per se: Thus, the idea of an all-embracing textbook for an ESP course is a contradiction in terms. Admittedly, books piloted within a center for eventual wider regional use should perhaps be excluded from such castigation. However, the majority of ESP texts are not regionally based but are distributed globally, often as a panacea for all ills, and it is the market for these that deserves closer attention.

Address correspondence to: Gary M. Jones, English Department, Universiti Brunei Damssalem, Bander Seri Begawan 3186, Brunei.

89

G. M. Jones

People working within ESP come in a variety of guises, with distinct types occupying the pole positions. At the one end are practitioners for whom a textbook of any description is anathema to their professional ethics. These are those who write all their own materials. At the other extreme are those who rely solely on published texts for teaching material. The middle ground is occupied by instructors whose preferences are less extreme, writing more or less of their own material depending where they fall on the continuum.

The market for ESP textbooks can be identified in relation to this continuum. Those teachers writing all their own material are very likely to work in establishments where, as Swales has observed, ESP textbooks often lan- guished “in their pristine laminate covers on staff room shelves and in departmental cupboards (1980: 11). However, the titles were persuasive enough to ensure purchase, if only to be used for occasional reference or inspiration. Other teachers, less confident in their own materials for a variety of reasons, are using ESP textbooks either as a central bastion supplemented with materials of their own design, or as the supplement to a central course designed and written by themselves. Lastly, the group using only published material may be doing so either due to lack of materials preparation time, uncertainty about what they should be teaching, or simply lack of experience and confidence in their own ability to write and produce teaching materials.

All three of the different types of ESP practitioner I have described are buying textbooks, but for different reasons. It is only the last group, however, that is likely to be buying the books as class sets and thus providing publishers with their largest market. Therefore, to understand how the demand for ESP textbooks has been created we need to appreciate the needs of those teachers who rely on them as almost their only source of class teaching material.

Teachers who are unable or unwilling to write some or all of their teaching materials are likely to be new to ESP and to have graduated into the subject from EFL, where they were most probably in the habit of relying on textbooks. While still feeling their way such teachers are more likely to resort to a textbook, and restrict the number of texts to which they make reference, than experienced teachers. Inexperienced teachers are wary of departing from published material and of writing or adapting material of their own. To some extent their past dependency on EFL texts tacitly encourages them to rely on ESP textbooks. Indeed, Phillips and Shettlesworth (1987) observed that most ESP materials are an attempt to insert a specific subject content into an EFL framework, thus perpetuating a link between general EFL and ESP which, perhaps, should not exist.

Another category of teacher likely to rely heavily on published material includes those who are expected to teach English for a specific purpose, but who have no confidence in their ability to grasp the subject intricacies of that purpose. It is the role of the ESP teacher to teach either English or language skills associated with a subject or both, but not the subject itself. Naturally, however, if ESP teachers are faced with a subject that they find totally baffling then they are likely to question their self-confidence and ability to teach the specific English of that subject.

Do ESP Textbooks Exist? 91

In many cases, though, the role of the ESP teacher is misunderstood. Our employers include ministries, education authorities, tertiary education insti- tutes, private language institutions, and multinational companies. The list is long and each has its own expectations about how it would like its ESP teachers to perform. As Phillips and Shettlesworth noted, teachers in the average ESP situation are expected to “meet an immediate demand with existing resources” (1978:25). One has only to compare this observation with the following quote from %-evens to realize that problems and misunderstandings are bound to occur:

As a rough guide, a new ESP course of , say, 10 weeks duration, will require between 3 and 5 weeks of preparation by roughly the same number of people who will be teaching on the course. (1980: 120)

Very often ESP teachers find themselves in a situation where they are expected to produce a course that exactly matches the needs of a group of learners, but are expected to do so with no, or very limited, preparation time. In such circumstances it is hardly surprising that ESP teachers resort to published material which, although not exactly matching their learners’ needs, is not too far removed from what is needed and can often be given to pacify the class while the teachers root through their own resources or create something which does match class needs.

Whether due to inexperience or pressure of work, teachers may turn to publishers’ catalogues to find a book to fulfill their needs. ESP textbooks are almost universally publisher-led and market-inspired. It is the business of publishers to ensure that the textbooks they commission will make money for their company. Their prime objective is to question whether a book will sell, not whether the book is pedagogically sound or even if it will be of much use to the prospective buyer.

Given this impasse, it is only fair to suggest an alternative to both consumer and supplier alike. However, it would be unrealistic to suggest that existing publishing be replaced completely. Therefore, the following proposals would be expected to coexist with the existing paradigm of ESP textbooks and not replace it. To quote an off-the-cuff remark of a publisher acquaintance: “ultimately the profession gets the publishing it deserves.” As a profession, therefore, we should be questioning what we are getting when we buy an ESP textbook.

The ESP teacher does not so much need an ESP textbook-cum-course book but rather a bank of material from which to draw inspiration. Of course, such a concept is hardly new. Most teaching institutions, worthy of the name, have “banks” while both Robinson (1980) and Phillips and Shettlesworth (1987) among others argue the same case. Hutchinson and Waters (1982) even make suggestions about the sort of material that might go into a bank, arguing in particular for a greater variety of text types. They suggest the classroom use of such things as advertisements, consumer information leaflets, cartoons, etc. However, the concept of a bank of materials can be taken a step further.

G. M. Jones

In addition to the sort of material Hutchinson and Waters suggest, there is also a need for material to fulfill the function now being performed by the textbook, that is, to focus attention on a topic and relate language practice to that topic. Clearly, Trimble and Trimble (1977), are correct in saying that the linguistic features of ESP texts are of interest only insofar as they enable the learner to grasp the content more fully and accurately. However, most practicing ESP teachers are not in a position to undertake a detailed needs analysis to ensure that their themes and subsequent teaching materials cover all their learners’ needs. Instead they must often work by inspired guess and select material which they hope will be appropriate. They will therefore wish to know that features of language are covered during the course and will seek out material which is labelled as structural, notional, functional, or whatever, as the various needs arise.

This does not necessarily mean that materials need to be specially prepared to fall under such categories, only that the material in the bank be cross- referenced so that the teacher can immediately see all the uses to which the material might be put. A consumer information leaflet may provide some inspiration to a teacher, but if that leaflet is accompanied with a cross-indexed list of ideas for its uses, together with the sort of language that might be practiced using it, then it becomes of far more use to the teacher and is much more likely to be used. It should also be possible to produce local overseas guides suggesting how to substitute locally relevant material for material included in the pack that might be inappropriate or culturally unacceptable. If this were done, the pack would initiate further materials production and would be of value in countries where classroom sets of published material are prohibitively expensive.

The resulting package would more closely resemble a file rather than a book. Like a file, the user would be able to select from an index and choose what is appropriate. Materials of the user’s own creation could gradually be added to the commercial package, as indeed could supplementary material from the publishers themselves. The end mix should prove to be a highly marketable product useful to all ESP practitioners, no matter what their experience and background. And, most important, the publishers would be satisfying a need identified by the ESP profession itself.

To conclude, it is in the interests of all of us involved in the ESP profession to ensure that publishers are producing packages that are both useful and commercially viable. This can best be done by knowing what sort of product to encourage and by ignoring those that are inadequate as either core or supplementary ESP material. Publishers must also play their part. Expansive titles such as “English for Business” are deceiving. Although they may appear to be the all-embracing answer for some hard-pressed director of studies, no single textbook can possibly live up to such a title, and the end result must be frustration for the classroom teacher and disillusionment for the learners.

(Received June 1989)

Do ESP Textbooks Exist? 93

REFERENCES

Arthur, L. (1983). Business English materials. ELT Jouwtal, 37, 166-175. Cracker, A. (1984). Method as input and product of LSP course design. In John

Swales and Hassan Mustapha (Eds.)Engli.sh fir speciFc purposes in the Arab world. (pp. 129-150). Birmingham: Language Studies Unit, University of Aston in Birmingham.

Dudley-Evans, T. (1988). Reply to Bill Robinson. EngZishfir Specify Purposes, 7, 69-72.

Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (1984). How communicative is ESP? ELT Journal, 38, 108-113.

Mackay, R. (1975). Languages for special purposes. Edutec 3, 37-41. Phillips, M.K., & Shettlesworth, C.C. (1978). How to ARM your students: A

consideration of two approaches to providing materials for ESP. ELT Documents, 101, 23-29.

Robinson, P. (1980). ESP (English forspecajicpurposes). New York: Pergamon Press.

Robinson, W. (1988). Review: ‘Writing laboratory reports.’ English for Speczjic Purposes, 7, 64-68.

Strevens, P. (1980). Teaching English us an international language. Oxford: Pergamon Press.

Swales, J. (1980). ESP: The textbook problem. The ESP Journal, 1, 11-23. Todd Trimble, R.M. & Trimble, L. (1977). The development of EFL materials

for occupational English. British Council English for Specify Pu$oses International Seminar, pp. 5241 Bogota, Colombia.

Williams, R. (1981). A procedure for textbook analysis and evaluation on teacher education courses. The ESP Journal, 1, W-163.

Gary Jones has an MA in English Language Teaching from the University of Warwick. His research interests include bilingualism and language planning, the topic of his PhD thesis, as well as language teaching methodology and ESP on which he has presented a number of papers. At present he is a lecturer in English at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam having previously taught at a university for Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka, established a language teaching unit for a Middle Eastern oil company and worked as a language consultant in Britain, West Germany, and Abu Dhabi.