Episodes in ESP

Septiyani Wafda                                109014000077                                                VB

Book Response Form

Book title                    : Episodes in ESP

Publisher                     : Pergamon Press

Date Published            : 1985                                                  Number of pages         : 214

Genre                          : Proceeding

CHAPTERS

Episode One               : 1962 C. L. Barber, ‘Some Measurable Characteristics of Modern Scientific Prose’

            The largest issue in this chapter is about the investigation of the use of English as an auxiliary language. This use of English as an auxiliary language is especially important in those countries where a great deal of university-teaching is carried out in English (e.g. India); but it is also important in many other countries, which rely to a great extent on textbook written in English, especially at the university level.

Episode Two              : 1965 A. J. Herbert, The Structure of Technical English.

            This chapter mostly told about the engineering texts. Steam which is admitted to a cold engine cylinder is liable to be partially condensed by contact with the cylinder walls. That part of the steam nearest to the wall is cooled and condenses as a film of water. The volume of steam in the sylinder is thereby considerably reduced, and more steam must be admitted in order that the pressure is sufficiently high to drive the piston along the cylinder.

Episode Three           : 1967 John J. Higgins, ‘Hard Facts (Notes on Teaching English to Science Students)’

            This chapter told about an actual teaching situation. In ESP significant innovation have taken place in a wide range of countries and a wide range of institution, and indeed, very often in countries and institution that have lesser reputations for research output or for educational quality. Thus is that the most successful ESP textbook so far, Nucleus General Science was developed in the isolated and mountainous province of Azerbaijan in North-West Iran. And thus it is that Higgins here relates developments at the University of Chiengmai in Northern Thailand.

Episode Four             : 1971 John Swales, Writing Scientific English

            The largest issue form this chapter is about the description of how things work. This types of description usually requires a diagram. A diagram makes the explanation easier to follow. A diagram can also be used to avoid the problem of vocabulary.

Episode Five              : 1971-2 J. R. Ewer and E. Hughes-Davies, ‘Further Notes on Developing an English Programme for Students of Science and Technology’

            The mainly issue in this chapter is about the main linguistic features of scientific literature and into the preparation of an introductory course for students of science at the University of Chile. Further work in this field has since been carried out, and a brief account of this may be useful to the rapidly growing number of teachers involved in this relatively underdeveloped branch of ELT.

Episode Six                : 1972 John E. Lackstrom, Larry Selinker and Louis P. Trimble, ‘Grammar and Technical English’

            This chapter mostly told about the four areas of English grammar is used in technical and scientific writing. A common complaint about American approaches to the teaching of English as a second language holds that American ESL textbook materials and methodology are sentence oriented and lack important relationship to uses terms of syntax and semantics.

Episode Seven            : 1974 J. P. B. Allen and H. G. Widdowson, ‘Teaching the Communicative Use of English’

            This chapter mostly told about the thinking of Henry Widdowson, who has been the single most influential voice in the development of English for Science and Technology over the last fifteen years. It also offers comprehensive illustration and commentary on the first of the volume in the focused series, of which the two authors teaching language in The Algerian National Institute of Electricity and Electronics (INELEC). The writer said that the instructor in INELEC are working on the of the Episode were the general editors.

Episode Eight                        : 1976 Martin Bates and Tony Dudley-Evans, Nucleus General Science

            The main issue of this chapter is about the remaining organizing principle that would lie within the basic scientific concepts. First, concept was not tied to either discipline or subject matter; the concept of structure could be applied equally well to the cell in biology and to the atom in physical science. This in turn, meant that a single syllabus outline could be produced which could then be applied to a whole range of scientific and technological disciplines. Second, a concept would have a wide range of linguistic realization and these could be selected and ordered as seemed most appropriate. Thirdly, the key concepts had within them features that lead to their sequencing in a more or less convincing way.

Episode Nine              : 1978 M. K. Phillips and C. C. Shettlesworth, ‘How to Arm Your Students: A consideration of Two Approaches to Providing Materials for ESP’

            The main largest issue in this chapter is about writing ESP teaching materials. It told about the teaching materials and classroom discourse, problems in ESP material design, authentic materials, two methodology for ARMS (Authentic Resource Materials), and a parting shot in the ARM: or resources for a courses.

Episode Ten               : 1978 Karl Drobnic, james Herbolich, Paul Fanning and Phil Skeldon, ‘Teaching and Learning Materials’

            This chapter told about courses in English for Science and Technology (EST). It has been found that a problem common to many students taking courses in English for Science and Technology (EST) who by traditional university standards are proficient in English is that ‘they often seem unable to comprehend the total meaning of the EST discourse even when they understand all the words in each sentence and all the sentence that make up the discourse.’

Episode Eleven          : 1979 James B. Herbolich, ‘Box Kites’

            This article concerns itself with one aspect of course 221, manual writing, and will describe the box kite project, which was successfully carried out by the English 221 students. Accepting that, in order to write a manual one must ’understand the mechanism’, it was decided the students should actually construct something, which had to be simple, because only two and half weeks were allotted to the Manual component of the course.

Episode Twelve         : 1980 T. F. Johns and A. Dudley-Evans, ‘An Experiment in Team-Teaching of Overseas Postgraduate Students of Transportation and Plant Biology’

            This chapter serves as an example of the work of the small Association of Lecturers and Tutors in English for Overseas Students. More particularly, however, it takes up a number of the issues and offers a very different type of resolution to them.

Episode Thirteen       : 1980 John Moore et al., Reading and Thinking in English – Discourse in Action

            This chapter told about reading and thinking in English. This article discuss several point such as the introductory unit that include; contents, preparation, reading and discourse (what we read), exposition, enquiry, argument, putting a passage in its context, prediction, and abstract.

Episode Fourteen      : 1980 Tom Hutchinson and Alan Waters, ‘ESP at the Crossroads’

            This article mostly told about an approaches to selecting materials for ESP classes and with the roles of those materials in the development of communicative and educational competence.

QUESTION AND ANSWER

1.      How the book organized?

The book organized properly. Every chapter have the same explanation begin with the setting, text and commentary, activities, evaluation and related readings. And I think the field of article is related to the chapter of the article and overall the book is organized well.

2.      Were the topic presented grouped properly based on the interest or field?

Yes, the topic presented grouped properly based on the interest or field. The chapter is divided into several explanation based on the subject of the chapter.

3.      How the writers’ background (origin, education, job) differ from each other?

Actually, I don’t find the writers background in this book. This book only told the name of the writer of article without giving the background of the writers.

4.      Who is/are the editor(s)? Have you ever hear the names?

The editor is John Swales. Actually I never hear her name before, but I think she is a good editor. Because the book is organized properly and the font of the book also suitable and make us enjoy to read it.

5.      What is the book best for? Why?

The book best for them who want to teach English for Special Purpose. Because this book give us some ways to teach it. And this book also gives us an example how to face the real situation in job or etc. in order to make the students feel in the real situations.

6.      Which article/s you like best from the book? Why?

The articles I like best from the book is the episode thirteen is about reading and thinking in English. Because this article give a brief explanation how to read and thinking in English

7.      Which article/s you like least from the book? Why?

The article I like least from the book is the episode fourteen is about ESP at the crossroads. Because I think the chapter of the article is different with the field of its article. And that make me confuse.

8.      Would you recommend this book to a friend? Explain.

No, I would not recommend this book to my friends, because it is too difficult to understand. But I would recommend this book to the teacher who teach in the course that using English for specific purpose.

9.      On a scale of 1-10, how difficult was this book for you? (1 = easy, 10 = difficult) Why?

On a scale of 1 – 10 this book is around 8, because I got many new words that I don’t know the meaning of it. And it makes me difficult to understand the field of each article in this book.