Motivation is one of the important factors to all learning, especially learning a language. Dornjei (2001) agreed that “motivation has a very important role in determining success or failure in any learning situation” (p.2). He also added more ideas about motivation. “Motivation explains why people decide to do something, how hard they are going to pursue it and how long they are willing to sustain the activities” (Dornjei ,2001). David Nunan (1999) described that motivation refers to the combination of effort plus desire to achieve the goal of learning the language plus favorable attitudes toward learning the language. Actually, motivation is one of the key factors influencing the rate and success of language learning in general and ESP learning in particularly. If the learners do not know why they have to
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study ESP and they do not have any desires for learning ESP, they will not gain any success for learning the ESP course. Lack of motivation from students also brings a big obstacle to ESP teachers and administrators. When students do not get knowledge from a course, especially at a vocational school, they cannot work well to meet the demands of employers and they will be unemployed. Therefore, teachers and administrators have to know the nature of motivation to find the best ways to motivate their students. Harmer (1991) classified motivation into two kinds: extrinsic motivation and intrinsic motivation. According to Harmer, considering the foreign language as a means of finding a good job or getting a higher position or status is a character of extrinsic motivation. In contrast to extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation is affected by four factors: physical conditions (i.e. facilities in classroom), teaching method (i.e. how the lesson is carried out), the teacher (i.e. teachers’ competence, personality and attitude towards learners) and success (i.e. students’ achievement in doing tasks). Harmer assured that “intrinsic motivation plays a vital part in most students’ success or failure as language learners”. First, clearly not many students come to class with recognition of extrinsic motivation “the foreign language as a means of finding a good job or getting a higher position or status”. Meanwhile, during the lessons, when students are made to do something for fun or challenge and they feel the learning tasks are interesting and challenging enough, they will feel satisfied in learning and they will be willing to learn. Thus, the language teachers in ESL and ESP have to consider the roles of intrinsic motivation in designing teaching and learning activities and delivering lessons.
In common, motivation is a very important and necessary element in teaching and learning ESL in general and ESP in particular. Motivation is diversity but “whatever kind of motivation students have, it is clear that highly motivated students do better than ones without any motivation at all” (Harmer, J, 2001, p.8).
Therefore, course designers have to consider when designing activities to help learners equip motivation in learning.
13 2.2.2. ESP teaching methodology
ESP teaching methodology is one of the factors that contribute to the success of ESP courses. In teaching ESP, teachers not only teach linguistic knowledge but also subject knowledge. Therefore, choosing a suitable method in teaching ESP is a difficult duty of ESP teachers. Some authors have a clear viewpoint in using translation in ESP. Laviosa & Cleverton (2006) have suggested a translation-based methodology for learning ESP vocabulary and grammar through real life mediating communicative activities. Pham (2011) also agreed with above authors when she stated that “With this methodology (translation), ESP students are provided with a methodology for guiding them in producing, to the best of their abilities, a target text which meets the quality criteria of terminological accuracy and stylistic fluency, and is also effective in terms of the communicative situation it is intended for. Besides giving a clear method for ESP teaching, other authors offer some common ways in choosing ESP teaching methods. In the tree of ELT of Tom Hutchinson & Alan Waters (1987), ESP is one branch of ELT. So there is nothing specific about ESP methodology. The principles which underline good ESP methodology are the same as those that underline sound ELT methodology in general. Thus, any ESP courses might suitably be taught with a wide range of methods and materials. Nowadays, ELT owns many different methodological possibilities so ESP can select and choose suitable methods from ELT methodology. Peter Strevens (1988), cited in Nguyen (2002) also had the same viewpoint with Hutchinson and Waters when he said that there will be no direct answer because there are so many different kinds of ESP and the method and materials in use for a particular kind of ESP must be appropriate to that kind. However, regardless of what methods used, teachers should not separate four language skills when teaching ESP as Far (2008), cited in Pham (2011) stated that the focus of ESP teaching is on the context which means that English is not taught as a subject separated from the student’s real world.
In conclusion, ESP teaching methods affect the success of ESP courses. In fact, there are many different methods. Thus, choosing suitable ESP teaching methods for an ESP course requires ESP teachers’ flexibility and responsiveness.
14 2.2.3. ESP textbooks
All teaching activities have to be conducted based on materials. Dudley – Evans & St John (1998) have suggested four reasons for using materials which seem significant in the ESP context including: as a source of language, as a learning support, for motivation and stimulation and for reference. As a source of language, materials then plays a crucial role in exposing learners to the language, which implies that the materials need to present real language, as it is used, and the full range that learners require. In some situations where the learners need to extract information from English- medium subject textbooks, a reading- only course could be suitable. In other situations, where the classroom is the primary source of language, the materials also need to maximize exposure to the language, for instance, by providing additional material: not everything needs to be studied in details. As a learning support, materials need to be reliable, that is, to work, to be consistent and to have some recognizable pattern. To enhance learning, materials must involve learners in thinking about and using the language. The activities need to stimulate cognitive not mechanical processes. The learners also need a sense of progression. For stimulation and motivation, materials need to be challenging yet achievable; to offer new ideas and information whilst being grounded in the learners’ experience and knowledge; to encourage fun and creativity. For reference, materials need to be complete, well laid out and self- explanatory. The learners will want explanations, examples and practice activities that have answer and discussion keys. When designing or choosing ESP textbooks, educators have to consider carefully following checklist for ESP materials by Cunningsworth, A. (1995, p.135):
• Is the material based on a careful analysis of learner needs?
• Are objectives specified?
- in content terms - in performance terms
• Is the content appropriate to learners’ needs? Does it have credibility (face validity)?
• Is there a body of ‘core’ specialist language related to the subject area?
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• Are learners equipped with skills and strategies which will allow them to operate effectively in English in the professional/ occupational situation?
• Is there a balance between subject-specific language items (grammar, vocabulary, discourse structure) and operational skills and strategies in language use?
• Does the material consider the relationship between teachers and students?
If so, is a collaborative approach encouraged?
• Is the material sufficiently flexible to meet the constraints often found in ESP work, eg by having a modular structure of non-sequential units?
• Can the material be used for individual study? If so, are learners given guidance on how to use the material in this way?
• To what extent do the learning activities mirror real-life situations, eg through task-based and skill-based activities?
• Do leaning activities have outcomes or products which will help learners to evaluate their performance?
In ESP materials, textbook is important. No one can deny that good ESP teaching methods are ineffective if they do not base on suitable textbooks and ESP course books are really important. Cunningsworth, A.(1995) emphasized that
“textbooks are best seen as a resource in achieving aims and objectives that have already been set in terms of learner needs”. Clearly, textbooks and teachers’
methods both seek to meet the needs of the learners to the highest degree and have a dominant role in deciding the success of a course. However, teaching materials for ESP tends to be viewed as distinct and separate from general textbooks in spite of the same roles. This may be because of the emphasis on content and the unfamiliarity of the content to many teachers. Textbooks bring several advantages.
For teachers, textbooks help to reduce their lesson preparation time and supporting their teaching process. For students, textbooks provide the requirements for what skills and knowledge they have to prepare before they begin their lessons.
Richards (2001) stated that textbook may provide the basis for the contents of the lessons, the balance of skills taught and the kinds of language practice in which students take part. Haycroft (1998) suggested that one of the primary advantages
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of using textbooks is that they are psychologically essential for students since their progress and achievement can be measured concretely when we use them. In ESP courses, a textbook can hold an important role since it contains knowledge, concepts, principles and career guidance. From the textbooks, students can equip some basic knowledge about their major by English. That is good for them in their future work. However, it is hard to find a complete ESP textbook for an ESP course. Cunningsworth, A. (1995) stated that it is rare to find a perfect fit between learner needs and course requirements on the other hand and what the course book contains on the other hand. Thus, materials can nearly always be improved by being adapted to suit the particular situation where it is being used. Adaption is a frequent technique of teachers in teaching in order to “maximize the appropriation of teaching materials in context, by changing some of the internal characteristics of a course book to suit our particular circumstances better” and this could “improve the effectiveness of the learning experience (McDonough and Shaw, 2003).
In brief, textbooks take an important role in teaching and learning activities.
However, we cannot find any perfect ESP course book that combine the students’
needs and course requirements. Therefore, adaption is an important and necessary step in designing and choosing a suitable ESP textbook for an ESP course.