ESP, Need Analysis

Introduction

Of all the languages in the world, English is considered to be the most widely used language in all over the world. In this modern era, English is considered to be a world language because most of the world knowledge is enshrined in it. As English is more importantly a language of science & technology and economic development so it opens up a number of opportunities for its competent users regardless of their nationality, color and ethnicity etc.

The denouement of the second world war in 1945 quirked the trends of English language learning and learners. Such an anomaly grew the demand of tailored courses according to the specific needs of English language learners as the learners motivation for learning English was no more for pleasure and prestige of the language. The world had identified a room for an international language which could prove to be a passport to scientific, technological and economic gains and this language was English. English language heralded prosperity while catering the specific needs of people in different regions of the world.

This research project focuses on English for occupational Purposes which is another narrowed form of English for Specific Purposes. The researchers have handpicked a group of hotel receptionists as a population and receptionists of Pearl Continental Lahore, Pakistan as their sample. The researchers decided to consider this group because it is their job requirement to be good at English as they have to deal with multinational guests everyday being employed in a five star hotel.

English for Specific Purposes

English for specific purposes is a multidisciplinary approach. English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has become a very popular subject in the recent years. Research has discovered that ESP is an indispensable and advantageous field, with ever more people studying it around the world. .Since 1960 ESP has become imperative and innovative activity within teaching ESL or EFL. "Tell me what you need English for and I will tell you the English that you need," became the guiding principle of ESP (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987: 8).

Definitions of ESP

ESP is: “the teaching of English, not as an end in itself but as an essential means to a clearly identifiable goal” Mackay (1978:163).

Robinson (1991 ) defines ESP as ‘’ normally goal directed ‘’, and that ESP courses develop from a needs analysis , which “aims to specify as closely as

possible what exactly it is that students have to do through the medium of English”

“ESP must be seen as an “approach to language learning (not as a product) which is based on learners need and directed by specific and apparent reasons for learning”. (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987 (Robinson, 1991:3)

Emergence of ESP

Huthinson &Waters enlisted three reasons common to the emergence of all ESP:

 the demands of a brave new world

 a revolution in linguistics

 focus on the learner . Classification of ESP

ESP has been divided into the following major areas: 1. English for Academic Purposes ( EAP ) 2. English for Professional Purposes ( EPP ) 3. English for Occupational Purposes ( EOP )

ESP deals with situations in which real world objectives require specific linguistic competencies. There is a strong focus on language as “situated language use”. In ESP , the specific needs of learners are distinguished as :

1 .Target Needs (Necessities + Lacks) 2. Learning Needs

Significance of ESP

ESP is highly cost-effective and a common denominator must be found . Strevens summarizes the advantages of ESP with the following four points:

 Being focused on the learners’ need, it wastes no time

 It is relevant to the learner

 It is successful in imparting learning

ESP shows a dedication to the goal of facilitating language instruction that prefers learner’s own specific learning purposes. It emphasizes learning by practicing and verifies Hutchinson &Waters words, “In theory nothing, in practice a great deal” Course Design

Course designing is a process which entails three steps: interpreting the raw data about learning needs, producing an integrated series of teaching-learning experiences and leading the learners to a particular state of knowledge.

Approaches to Course Design

There are three main approaches to course design: language-centered, skills-centered and learning skills-centered.

1. Language-centered Approach

This is one of the most familiar approach to English teachers which is particularly prevalent in ESP. It draws a direct connection between the analysis of the target situation and the content of the ESP course yet learner restricted not learner centered.

2. Skills – centered Approach

This approach aims at helping learners to develop skills and strategies which remain continued after the ESP course by making learners better processors of information. The skills-centered approach has two basic principles: one theoretical, and one pragmatic:

1. Theoretical hypothesis is that underling any language behavior are certain skills and strategies, which the learner uses in order to produce or comprehend discourse. 2. The pragmatic basis for the skills-centered approach derives from a distinction made by Widdowson between goal-oriented courses and process-oriented courses. This approach focuses on competence at high level.

Learning-centered Approach

This approach is based upon the principle that learning is totally determined by the learner who uses his knowledge and skills to make sense of new information and it is not just a mental process but a process of negotiation between individuals and society.

Syllabus Design

In Wilkins' (1981) words, syllabuses are "specifications of the content of language teaching which have been submitted to some degree of structuring or ordering with the aim of making teaching and learning a more effective process." A syllabus can also be seen as "a plan of what is to be achieved through our teaching and our students' learning" (Breen, 1984a) while its function is "to specify what is to be taught and in what order" (Prabhu, 1984). Hutchinson and Waters (1987:80) definesyllabusas at its simplest level “as a statement of what is to be learnt”. They further add that it reflects of language and linguistic performance. Yalden (1987: 87) also refers to syllabus as a "summary of the content to which learners will be exposed". (What to teach) and linguistic matter (how to teach

Types of syllabuses 1. Procedural 2. Cultural 3. Situational 4. Skill Based 5. Task Based 6. Structural 7. Multi-Dimensional 8. Content Based 9. Process 10. Learner – led 11. Functional Notional 12. Proportional 13. Lexical

Course Design for Hotel Receptionists

The domain of this course comes under the realm of English for Occupational Purposes (EOP). The essay particularly caters to the professional requirements of hotel receptionists in Pearl Continental Hotel, Lahore.

In the 21 century , tourism has prompted the hospitality industry to soar rapidly. . English is the most commonly used language of hospitality industry and lingua franca of tourists all over the world. Hospitality industry gives ample importance to effective communication skills.

A hotel receptionist performs crucial role within hotel by being the first person a client encounters. He can have a tremendous impact on guests and represents the true face of the hotel as an ambassador. The hotel receptionists require a specific language to communicate properly with the guests while performing different functions . Furthermore , they have to master the variation in English in terms of word choice , grammar , pronouns, spelling and register varieties They communicate with guests who are from different cultural backgrounds . This particular scenario demands for learning specific English language.

There has been a rapid growth in English courses aimed at specific disciplines which emphasize the importance of the learners and their learning attitudes (e.g. English for Hospitality instead of the more traditional 'General English' courses). Harun and Blue ( 2003 ) in their study on the language needs of hospitality students concluded that the hospitality industry entails a specific type of language that is the ‘hospitality language’. According to research carried out by the Educational institute of the American hotels and Motels association in 1996 , “training could improve the reception department most effectively” . Thus , the receptionists should be exposed to apt methods of having good interpersonal skills . Guests who encountered problems will become more irritated when communication is another added issue to their problems. To ensure the success of the hotel's mission statement of achieving “zero complaints,” there is thus the need to ensure that communicative issues should run smoothly. Moreover, the guests bring different backgrounds, needs, and value to the communication setting (Richard, 1981 p.87). According to Mehta & Mehta (2007) recent research on communication skills suggested that good communication skills are the ‘keys to unlock the doors of successes.

Need Analysis

Need analysis is the keystone of ESP and leads to a much focused course .It is the process of establishing the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of the course. It results in the awareness of target situation. In ESP, each course is preceded by need analysis which makes it exclusive .Needs can be classified as:

 Necessities: What the learner needs to perform effectively in the target situation.

 Lacks: The gap between the target proficiency and the present performance.

Munby (1978 ) , Mackay (1978) , Richterich and Chancerel ( 1980 ) , Chambers (1980 ), and Hutchinson and Waters (1987 ) refer to needs analysis as target situation analysis ( TSA ). A needs analysis can be defined as the systematic collection and analysis of all subjective and objective information necessary to define and validate defensible curriculum purposes (Robinson, 1991, p.36) used for understanding the target situation in which ESP teacher will operate within a particular institutional context. “ Need analysis is also used for analyzing the discourse of the target situation, determining student learning strategies and devising syllabus, courses, materials that happened in certain institution” (Krismawanti, 1993 ) . Another researcher, Mc Donugh (1984:34) and MacKay (1978: 75) said that a needs analysis is very important to ‘find out what language skills and specific purposes in terms of operational skills that are needed for successful performance of task”.

Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 99) and Robinson (1991) divided the types of needs into ‘subjective needs’ and ‘objectives needs’ .Subjective needs includes affective factors, expectations, wants, cognitive styles, and learning strategy. Objective needs include information about learners needs such as personal data, pattern of language and language proficiency, and Language problems. The need has two basic distinctions; target needs and learning needs. Based on Hutchinson and Waters (1984), ‘target needs’ means what the learner needs to do in the ‘target situation’ and ‘learning needs’ means what the learner needs to do ‘in order to learn’.

Hutchinson and Waters argued that if the learners, sponsors and teachers know why learners need English, that awareness will have influence on what will be accepted as reasonable content in the course and what potential can be exploited. Target need analysis and Present situation analysis were conducted to determine the needs of hotel receptionists in Pearl Continental Hotel, Lahore.

Methodology

The technique of triangulation was employed for this research. The questionnaires were floated amongst receptionists of Pearl Continental Hotel, Lahore. The participants were interviewed by the researchers to investigate the recurring problems, while performing different functions during their jobs. The researchers visited the hotel thrice to observe their daily routine meticulously without disturbing them and held informal conversation with them after their duty hours. Population

All the hotel receptionists from five star hotels in Pakistan comprise the population of this study.

Sample

Twenty four hotel receptionists from Peal continental Hotel, Lahore were selected for this study by doing convenient sampling. Most of them were graduates. They belonged to middle class socio-economic back ground and enjoyed intermediate level of their English proficiency along with their mother tongue i.e. Urdu.

Research Tools

The following research tools were used for data collection by employing triangulation technique.

i- Questionnaires

Twenty four questionnaires were administered amongst them to get objective data by asking multiple choice questions. The results of collected data were analyzed statistically.

ii- Interviews

The researchers conducted the interview of four receptionists. The data was collected by conducting in-depth structured interviews, going for 5-10 minutes privately. During interview, open ended questions were asked to extract maximum information. These interviews were recorded with the consent of participants to assure reliability and avoid controversies. The confidentiality of responses was assured. The participants talked about the linguistic barriers faced by them during job. These interviews were later transcribed for better understanding.

iii- Observation

The observation was also rendered as a significant technique to get unbiased information. It proved to be a significant tool for gathering data. The researchers enlisted their findings on the basis of these three tools. In the light of these findings, some recommendations are made. These recommendations served as starting point for designing this ESP course.

Data Analysis

Data analysis plays significant role to determine findings. The data obtained from questionnaires was analyzed statistically and demonstrated by graphs. The interviews were tape recorded and then transcribed later.

Q 1: How often do you need English in the following Situations? 1- Never 2-Rarely 3-Often 4-Usually 5-Always

This question focuses the usage of English by hotel receptionists while performing different functions during their job. Most of the participants (83.33%) considered that greeting customers always demands optimum use of English.50% of receptionists thought it necessary while registering check in check outs and cancelations, whereas 54.16% responded that giving directions always needed English.66.66% respondents were of view that they always had to use English while answering telephones. Answering complaints was not mentioned as a major function to be performed by participants and mixed response was recorded.

Greeting Customers

Check ins, check

outs Giving directions

Answering the phone Answering complaints Never 0% 25% 0% 0% 0% Rarely 0% 0% 8.33% 0% 12.50% Often 0% 0% 8.33% 16.33% 12.50% Usually 16.66% 25% 29.16% 16.66% 25% Always 83.34% 50% 54.16% 66.66% 25% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

33% of hotel receptionists responded that they always used English for resolving complaints, while 37% usually used it for the same purpose. English was not considered as primary means for taking messages as only 25% realized it’s all the time usage during their job. Use of English while managing front desk was

mentioned by majority (66.66%) and its usage for managing payments was

accepted by 50% and other 50 % declined its importance. Organizing paper work was considered as an activity which required relatively less English use.

Do you speak English with local guests?

1- Never 2-Rarely 3-Often 4-Usually 5-Always Resolving

Complaints Taking messages

Managing front desk Managing payments Organizing paperwork Never 0% 16.66% 0% 50% 25% Rarely 12.50% 8.33% 8.33% 0% 16.66% Often 16.66% 25% 12.50% 0% 8.33% Usually 37.50% 25% 12.50% 0% 16.66% Always 33.33% 25% 66.66% 50% 33.33% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Most of the respondents (50%) answered that they often speak English with local guests.

Do you have to identify various accents?

1- Never 2-Rarely 3-Often 4-Usually 5-Always

Most of the receptionists (45.83%) realized that identification of various accents is essential the part of their job description.

0%

0%

20.83%

33.33%

45.83%

Never

Rarely

Often

Usually

Always

Identifying various accents

Do you have problem in identifying various accents? 1- Never 2-Rarely 3-Often 4-Usually 5-Always

Majority of respondents (62.5%) realized that they always faced great problems in identifying various accents

Which language skill is used the most at your position? 1- Never 2-Rarely 3-Often 4-Usually 5-Always

In response to this question most of participants admitted that speaking (75%) and listening (50%) are the mostly used skills during their jobs, on the contrary reading and writing are less focused skills.

0%

0%

12.50%

25%

62.50%

Never

Rarely

Often

Usually

Always

Problems in identifying accents

Listening Speaking Reading Writing

Never 0% 0% 4.16% 0% Rarely 0% 0% 66.66% 70.83% Often 16.66% 0% 8.33% 4.16% Usually 33.33% 25% 12.50% 12.50% Always 50% 75% 8.33% 12.50% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

For language training which skill would you prefer to improve, tick the appropriate option:

1-Speaking 2-Listening 3-Readin 4-Writing 5-Listening and Speaking 6-Reading and Writing 7- All four

In response to this question most of respondents showed their preference for improving speaking and listening skills simultaneously, whereas no one showed inclination for reading or writing skills.

Tick the appropriate option(s) which matches best with your abilities/problems in the given situation

I can speak English:

1- Fluently 2- With hesitation3- With pauses 4- With long pauses to search for suitable word 0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00%

Percentage %

With pauses With long pauses to search for suitable words

I can speak English

45.83% respondents claimed that they could speak English with hesitation and25% were confident that they can speak English fluently, rest of them could speak

English with pauses.

While speaking English, I have problem in:

1-Pronunciation 2-Accent 3-Fluency 4-Searching for correct expression

Most of the respondents (50%) considered fluency as a greatest obstacle in speaking English and searching for correct expression was identified as second most important factor with 20.83%.

While listening to English, I have difficulty in:

1-Understanding the fluent speakers 2-Understanding the speakers, who speak at normal pace 3 -Understanding the slangs 4- Identifying the specific information required

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00%

While speaking English, I have problem in

While speaking English, I have problem in

Understanding slangs was mentioned by most of the participants (54.16%) as the greatest hurdle while listening to English and understanding the fluent speakers was identified as second major problem.

While writing English, I have difficulty in:

1-Grammar 2-Spelling 3-Vocabulary 4-Punctuation

Most of the receptionists (58.33%) faced difficulty in grammar and vocabulary was considered as problem area by 25% respondents.

While reading English, I have difficulty in:

1-comprehension of the text 2-getting the overall meaning of the content

(skimming) 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Understanding the fluent speakers Understanding the speakers, who speak at normal pace Understanding the slangs Identifying the specific information required

While listening to English ,I have problem in:

0.00% 10.00% 20.00% 30.00% 40.00% 50.00% 60.00%

Grammar Spelling Vocabulary Punctuation

While writing English, I have difficulty in

While writing English, I have difficulty in

3- Taking out the specific piece of information 4- Guessing the meanings of un familiar words

Guessing the meaning of unfamiliar words was main hurdle while reading for 33% and 25% did not comprehend the text.

Findings

1-It was observed that most of the receptionists use Urdu with local guests. 2-They consider speaking as the most pivotal skill to be used during their job. 3-Listening is the second most significant skill for them.

4-There is no writing involved except filling the forms?

5-They face much difficulty in differentiating various accents. 6- They find it very difficult to communicate with Chinese guests.

7-Most of them can’t speak fluently .They showed inhibition when they were asked for an interview.

8-They speak English in pure Pakistani accent and mispronounce words. 9-Use of slangs by native speakers hampers their understanding mostly. 10-Sometimes they can’t express themselves adequately due to lack of right expression and appropriate register.

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

While reading English, I have difficulty in:

While reading English, I have difficulty in:

13-They use very basic vocabulary and are not familiar with wide range of courteous expressions.

Recommendations

1-They should be taught hospitality registers for performing various tasks. 2-They should be exposed to wide range of polite expressions for greeting customers and answering queries.

3-They should be trained in telephonic communication skills. 4-They should be taught different functions through simulations.

5-They should be exposed to different varieties of English and various accents i.e., American, Canadian, and British to tune their ears. IELTS / TOEFL Listening comprehension passages can be used for that purpose.

6-Different videos displaying target situations can be exploited to teach the learners how to use appropriate vocabulary and expressions.

7-Role plays can b used to create interesting situations and teach situational vocabulary.

Structural Functional Syllabus

On the basis of the findings from need analysis, the researchers find a narrow angled structural functional syllabus the most suitable syllabus for their targeted students. Functional notional syllabus is organized around communicative functions such as: requesting, complaining, suggesting, and agreeing. In other words, the content of the language teaching is a number of the functions that are performed by using different structures. Functions and structures compliment and enrich each other. They can be expressed by this equation:

Course Title : English for Hotel Receptionists Course Participants : Five star Hotel Receptionists Number of Participants : 24

Timing : 5-7 pm

Duration : 8 weeks (twice)

Venue : Pearl Continental Hotel, Lahore

Objectives of the Course

 To develop communicative skills.

 To use vocabulary, phrases and expressions at the appropriate level of politeness.

 To be fluent in the customary and routine expressions used in service.

 To comprehend and respond to the basic needs of guests and perform spontaneous face-to-face interaction.

 To understand protocols in hospitality and tourism.

Learning Outcomes of the course

 The learners will be able to communicate to the guests fluently and effectively.

 They will be able to make use of the learnt vocabulary items and expressions.

 They will be able to understand the customers’ requirements and fulfill them.

 They will be able to use polite expressions.

Course Outline for English for Hotel Receptionists 1 15-16 April Greeting s Listenin g & Speakin g 1-Welcoming guests 2-Exchanging discourse through formal/infor mal expressions

Simple Present Tense with ‘‘Be verb’’. Expressions for greetings like Hi! , Hello, Good

morning/afternoon/eve ning How are you this morning? What’s up? How’s it going? etc

Role play between receptionist and the guest. 2 22-24 April Requests Reading & Speakin g 1-Making requests 2-Answreing requests Modal Verbs:

can, may, could, would etc with “please” for emphasizing requests Transcript of a dialogue between receptionist and the guest. 3 29-30 April Complai nts Listenin g & Speakin g 1-Registering complaints 2-Handling complaints

Present, Past and Future tense

(for listening to the complaints,

understanding the time when the problem rose and then appropriate auxiliary verbs for responses) Video recordings of guests making complaints and the receptionist resolving it. 4 06-07 May Permissi on Listenin g & Speakin g 1-Asking for permission 2-Granting permission Modal Verbs:

can, could, may ,would …. If…. & do you mind …?etc

Games in pairs and groups using Verb cards and actions

Role play 5 13- Hospitali Reading 1-Using Phrasal Verbs, Nouns 2 Lists of

14 May ty Register , Listenin g & Speakin g situational vocabulary 2-Listing jargons2 3-Pronouncing the words correctly

& Adjectives and their functions

hospitality vocabulary can be provided to the students and there can be a quiz between two groups. Games: Odd one out Hangman Making word maps etc. 6 20-21 May Accent Different iation Listenin g Identifying various accents

Stress & intonation patterns

IELTS/TOEFL recordings played in the class for focusing on various accents 7 27-28 May Common Slangs Listenin g & reading Introducing slang language Process of Conversion & Derivation in slang formation.

Real life situations language. Video of teenagers’ informal gathering can be played or samples of teenagers cyber language can be brought to the class

be asked to create a dialogue using these slang words. 8 03-04 June Telepho nic Commun ication Listenin g , Speakin g & Taking Notes/ message s Describing telephonic communicati on skills Greetings and Farewells

Introducing self and organization

Modal Verbs for requests, offers & permissions Simulation of receptionists making reservations can be done in the class.