Improving college English to function to the full

By A. Chaedar Alwasilah

BANDUNG (JP): Education is tailored to prepare students to survive modernization, where the division of labor is more specialized and the knowledge base is larger and more complex.

To be modern to a great extent is to specialize in a certain field of expertise. It is in professional or occupational circles that expertise and specialization develops. Thus, to compete professionally one has to be proficient in the language of the profession.

It is common to distinguish English for general purposes (EGP) from English for specific purposes (ESP), which comprises English for professional and occupational purposes. We recognize English for science and technology, law, banking, mathematics, Islamic studies and journalism, to mention just a few. The question is, is there a difference between EGP and ESP in terms of teaching and learning?

EGP, like math and Indonesian, is part of a general education, i.e., an education to provide citizens with the basic skills to survive and function in society.

English is included in the curriculum as a mandatory school subject, for it is believed that without EGP skills, one would not be able to function to the full. English in elementary and secondary schools is designed to equip students with basic English skills for surviving daily life. Theoretically, high school graduates should have developed enough survival English competence.

At the college level, students use the acquired EGP skills for digesting textbooks and general references as an integral part of developing professionalism and the specialization of their choice. That is to say, English skills are part of academic or study skills for college success. On entering college, students begin their exposure to a professional or specialized discourse of knowledge mediated by a special variety of English.

On completion of their college education, they are already members of communities which demand professional engagement. By this is meant not only keeping abreast of relevant information, but also contributing to the profession. Both of these activities are mediated by ESP. It is through this mechanism that ESP is established and expands.

In Indonesia, college English is popularly called mata kuliah dasar umum Bahasa Inggris (general English course) and is commonly offered to freshmen in the first two semesters. The course is designed to meet the following functions:

* The continuation of EGP acquired in the precollege years. Any repetition squarely indicates a failure in teaching EGP. In professional private courses, the distinction between EGP and ESP is obvious in terms of syllabus, time allocation, teaching materials and expected outcomes.

* Development of professionalism. College students are no longer to learn English as a language per se. Rather, the emphasis should be on the substance or field of study which is mediated by ESP. Understandably, physics students would be engrossed in texts about atomic energy as much as medical students in those about heart attacks. Designed correctly, ESP would be more attractive and challenging than EGP.

* Building academic or study skills. Different from high school students, college students are supposed to be independent learners. Study skills such as note taking, effective reading, summarizing, research reporting, how to use a dictionary and other reference tools, and how to take a test are to be developed early in college life. It is reasonable then to incorporate these skills in ESP in the first semester.

* Meeting adult learners' expectations. Adult learners develop a greater awareness of self-esteem, profession and personal expectations than younger learners. They are often characterized as advanced in reasoning yet intermediate in English. This is a paradox in ESP that should be coped with tactfully and professionally. ESP instructors may use various teaching techniques where overcorrection is avoided, accuracy is emphasized over fluency and students' cognition is promoted through debates, discussions and problem solving, among other methods.

* Satisfying learners' needs. Needs analysis is the most notable characteristic of ESP. It is career-oriented and often scheduled for a relatively short period of time. Without needs analysis, an ESP program will only offer general English with the indeterminate flag of ESP.

Over 30 years, ESP has developed with the aforementioned characteristics. According to my observations, the teaching of college English is not promising. A survey involving 111 students from major universities in Bandung revealed their perceptions about ESP. The survey results are shown in the following table (tabulated under "Expectations and perceived weaknesses of college English" and "Percentage of respondents"): It does not meet students' expectations 65.8%; Students do not know the syllabus 56.8%; There is no consultation with instructors 60.4%; No needs analysis is conducted 63.1%; Students know how evaluations will be conducted 55.0%; Themes are relevant to field of study 60.4%; Class should be four to six credit hours 45.9%; It should be offered in first or second semester 57.4%.

As the table shows, college English, which is often called an ESP program, is still far from being professional. The only criterion of ESP fulfilled by the system is the relevance of themes of selected readings to the respondents' fields of study. However, the readings alone do not qualify the program as an ESP program. Unfortunately, many believe that ESP is simply a matter of presenting, say, readings about banking to economics students. This text-oriented interpretation of ESP has resulted in an overemphasis of the linguistic analysis of texts to the neglect of major principles of ESP.

From textual analysis, for example, we know that scientific English tends to use the present tense, avoid personal pronouns and use a passive voice instead of an active one. Such superficial analysis does not contribute much to the attainment of the goal of ESP, namely to provide students with a working knowledge of English to enable them to function maximally in their professions.

From the above elaboration, the following suggestions are worthwhile for improving the teaching of college English:

* ESP is an approach to teaching where the expected outcome is clearly identified well in advance. It is then absolutely necessary to conduct a needs analysis at the beginning of an ESP program. Surveys, interviews or observations could be used as instruments of the analysis.

* To provide students with the ability to read in content areas, college English instructors should be knowledgeable about reading and how to teach it. Reading materials should be selected in consultation with experts in the content areas, so that the accuracy of information and soundness of argument is assured.

* Most of us are aware that our high school graduates mastery of general English is not advanced enough to go ahead with college English. As the respondents propose, the course should be allocated more hours, probably up to four to six credit hours.

In the final analysis, the success of college English, like other college courses, is not a one-man show on the part of the English instructors. It requires the collective commitment of non-English instructors, curriculum developers, textbook writers and policy makers.

The writer is a senior lecturer at the graduate school of the Bandung Teachers Training College (IKIP).