ESP and Proficiency Levels at Work

CEF, ELT, ESP, Language Competences 0 comments

ESP and Proficiency Levels at Work

5 reasons to improve our workers’ English Performance

After reading the article ‘Los dudosos “English language Proficiency Benchmarks”’ by Gerardo Barboza (2012) on Semanario Universidad, a local weekly publication in Costa Rica, and mulling over his concern about the levels of English achieved nationwide, part of the answer to why Costa Ricans have not accomplished a higher level of English based on the CEF is related to the lack of serious ESP [English for Specific Purposes] training –for students and teachers- and the lack of student commitment to learn the target language to succeed in their work fields.

ESP is goal directed (Robinson 1991), but it looks like teachers and students alike do not envision the ultimate goal. If our students need to use English at work, this extrinsic motivation may drive them to achieve a given CEF level. However, if students are just studying their major, -at a university level here in Costa Rica-, students see English as a subject to pass rather than a subject to learn the language to succeed in their future jobs. Have we overtly stated what our ESP/CEF expectations are for students and prospective professional workers? I’d say “nope!”

ESP is based on needs analysis (Robinson 1991; Guillet 2000). ESP, if compared to regular English classes, must specify exactly what it is that workers have to do through the medium of English at work. Our students are now mostly trained in “regular” English away from a previous needs analysis containing the language and skills we want them to have in a given work position. To help students get a given ESO/CEF level, courses must be designed to really fulfill the set of language competences required in accordance with university major exit profiles and company jobs, something is not exactly happening today.

ESP learners are (young) adults (Robinson 1991; Guillet 2000), but the target group many transnational enterprises have in mind to recruit down here in Costa Rica is the students graduating from high school. If university students ignore the crucial decision to work in an English medium company, they are making the wrong one. If university majors do not include ESP courses in their curricula, they are overlooking the fact that professional workers do not need regular conversational English but specific language skills and competences. The same applies for language learners with governmental scholarships who study in language schools.

ESP (prospective) workers may need specialist language. Have student/workers been trained to acquire specific specialist language skills and/or competences? I do have deep doubts concerning this issue; then learners apply for jobs they can’t perform since they lack what is needed –languagewise-. Commercial school or university curricula should engage students/workers in learning (or being trained in) what they will face at their “future” workplaces.

And what about the ESP metrics at work? Although ESP language courses exist, companies requiring EFL/ESL-speaking workers should have a more open communication with universities and schools who “train” them. It is no secret that to succeed in one of these companies a high level of proficiency is needed, but if workers are not previously trained, how can they aim at getting good reviews in their metrics? The equation is rather simple, ESP language competences = good metrics!!!

To sum up, and as stated by Metsheng (2009), “I have observed that university students do not invest as much time in learning English as they do in learning their specialist subjects.” English is just a subject to pass and not to profit from envisioning the future. On the other hand, peer pressure to not use English outside the classroom has always been an issue out of ignorance and lack of language empowerment to achieve real language competences for one’s workplace scenarios.