EGP and ESP syllabuses

            EGP means English for General Purposes and ESP means English for Specific/ Special Purposes. In the first, English is studied for general purposes as we see in English learnt / taught in high schools and colleges. Here, the main purpose is to learn the language and literature in that language. However, in ESP, English is learnt / taught for specific vocational purposes. For example, English for medical courses, engineers, law, journalists science students etc. ESP is mainly related to 'Needs Analysis,' So, it is natural that syllabuses for EGP and ESP are / should be different.

          The primary aim of an ESP course would be to provide students with the language they require to pursue their scientific studies. For example, as Widdowson has suggested, English for Science and Technology must be concerned with developing the ability for scientific and technological communication. However, an EGP course has much wider and general objectives. Here English is considered as a 'good thing' to learn as a part of education as a whole.

          In EGP, there is no immediate and specific requirement to use the language in any communicative situation. On the other hand, an ESP course would restrict its objectives to immediate and utilitarian needs of the students. So, the syllabus should provide the students with language they can put to immediate practical uses. In ESP, students have to utilize English in real life communication. Therefore, they need to be taught language use (communicative form) and not language usage (grammar). In other words, in ESP, communicative compentence is more important than linguistic competence. The syllabus for ESP, consequently, is of communicative type.

           ESP has specific purposes and so the nature of the situation which the students will have to face is predicted. For example, scientific language, report-writing, note-making and such other presentation skills would be included in an ESP syllabus. On the contrary, an EGP syllabus has wider and general objectives. So it would not be relevant to the learners with specific purposes.

          The EGP and ESP syllabuses are different regarding the four skills of language too.

In EGP, reading and writing skills are given more importance. On the contrary, in ESP syllabus, all the four skills - listening, Speaking, Reading and writing are emphasised though with varying degrees. The emphasis is given on the basis of the communicative needs of the students needed for their profession. In the ESP course, skills will be taught at the level of communication. On the other hand, in the EGP course, the segmental or sentence syntactic (grammar) level will be given more importance. ESP course will be concerned with teaching micro-skills only. For example, a journalist may not need to write a composition. He/she would rather want only to be taught how to write good summaries in English. Similarly, a policeman would need training in writing traffic accident reports.

          EGP and ESP syllabuses differ in their emphasis on grammar and vocabullary as well. For example, ESP syllabus will emphasise scientific English uses of certain constructions of language such as the passive voice, imperatives and tenses. This does not mean that other structures of language are neglected. ESP syllabus entails all the main structures. However, those items of language which are widely used in the professions receive more attention and concentration. Such variation is not found in EGP Sylla-buses. As for as Vocabulary is related, ESP syllabus emphasises Vocabullary of scientific concepts. For example, the students of Zoology will refer to the concepts like respi-ration, reproduction, water-relations etc. In ESP syllabus, attention is paid to Latin stems too.

          An ESP syllabus differs in approach from an EGP syllabus too.  An ESP syllabus should have an essential aim i.e. fulfilment of the students' requirements. Such require. ments are immediate, concrete and practical. So, an ESP sylabus necessarily includes communicative approach.

          An EGP syllabus does not focus on specific uses of the language. So, it will be more structural. It will be more concerned with usage rather than use. On the contrary, an ESP syllabus aims to equip the students to function in specific situations. So, it will need to focus on use. It will show how scientists and technologists use the language to commu-nicate. They are not taught only what linguistic elements are commonly used. Widdowson rightly comments :

"Communicative competence does not automatically follow mastery of usage and system of language." Thus, an EGP syllabus would be of little benefit to the students of science and technology.

           An ESP syllabus needs to be functional in approach as science students often fulfill the functions like description, classification, giving instructions etc. Here, grammar will be taught but only as a tool to work. This approach enhances students' interest and motiva-tion. It also shows them how they can use their knowledge of language to serve their scientific communicative needs. For example, the conditional tense ('lf Patterns') may be taught as the means of expressing scientific hypothesising e.g. If the temperature rises more than two degrees the ice will melt.

          An ESP syllabus is concerned with teaching communicative uses of the language.

So, it should adopt a rather tolerant approach to student's mistakes than an EGP sylla-

bus.

          An ESP syllabus has to adopt a positive approach to the use of the first language and translation as useful tools. This is because the process and procedures of science are the same in all languages. Students of various branches of science are already familiar with the process and procedures of their fields, the task of an ESP course is to take advantages of the knowledge found in the first language. It becomes easy to show how these procedures can be expressed through English. An EGP course would not do this as it does not focus on specific area of knowledge.

          Finally, students of an ESP course want the target language to express their needs.

English is now established as the principled international language of science. So, without it their success and development in their profession would be restricted. These students also need English to communicate with English-speaking scientists and experts whom they would meet during their study or profession.