ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSE VERSUS GENERAL ENGLISH

ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSE VERSUS GENERAL ENGLISH

English Education Program of Teacher Training and Education Faculty Muhammadiyah University of Purworejo

Jl. KH. Ahmad Dahlan 3 & 6 Purworejo 54111
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INTRODUCTION

Human being always need to interact with other to full fill their needs. To achieve that, they use means called language. Every country has its own language, which is different from the other. So we must have same language to communication with other people with different language. English, as one international language, is used to communicate among countries in the world. By mastering english, we can communicate with other people from other country who speak english.

English is very important. Nowaday, many jobs use people who be able to contac in English, at least They are able to understand about written english and spoken english. Because of that English has become one of the important subject in indonesian school. English also has become one of compulsory subject taught at school. It is given from elementary school up to colledge. Now, English is urgently required to learn.

In learning english, the student is expected to master the four basic language skill, namely listening,writing, reading, and speaking.when we speaking we create a text. When we listening we listen text. Among the four basic of language writing is the easiest because it is always use for every one, such as send message to friends, write novel, write article and many other.

Learning english can be presented by some activities, for example write diary, make a story by their imagination, practicing something and writing through practicing something. The students is challenged to be able to express what they feel, what they think, and what they want to do. By expressing writing and practicing something, they are trained to be able to write freely based on their experiences and their think. Moreover, The students can do something based on the instruction and their imagination, especially to write narrative text. Narrative text has a social function to amuse, entertain and to deal with actual or various experience in different ways.

In this research paper, the researcher tries to teaching writing narrative text using flashcard. A group of flashcard or flashcard series can be used to make the story interesting. A group of flash card or series of flashcard consist of several picture and word hoped can proccess their imagination especially to make narrative text. In education field especially learning activity, teacher has to plan to implement, and to evaluate the program using scientific and systematical explanation to get a good result and so that in teaching writing teacher sould make a plan to gain the aim of study.

In this case the researcher chooses the topic “The Effectiveness of Using Flashcard to improve students’ English Narrative Text Writing” because many students do not like english because of most of teachers only use the textbook on teaching. They think that learning english is very difficult and learning english is bored. So the researcher want to change their mind with innovative learning.

Flashcard is small card consist with a beautiful picture. Combination a group of flashcard to guide the students imagination in writing narrative text hoped can make them interested in English.

Discussion

a.      Definition of Flash Card

Flashcards are cards printed with words and pictures that can be handled easy by the teacher. They are separated pictures about 20x23 cm in size.

Flash cards are picture cards are equipped with words in the form of a card that was introduced by Glenn Doman. Method Glenn Doman learning is done in stages by using tools flash media card that is the word that was written on white cardboard with font size 10 x 12.5 cm, the letters written in red capital letters.(Minanur Rohman, 2010: 19-20)

(Team Repository UPI, 2012: 14) argues that the flash card is  media learning in the form of picture cards measuring 25 x 30 cm is a series of messages are presented with a description of each picture There on the back.Azhar Arsyad (2011: 119-120), suggests that the flash card is small cards containing images, text, symbols or signs that remind and guiding students to something related to that picture. Flash cards typically measuring 8 x 12 cm, or can be customized to the size facing class.

Ahmad Susanto (2011: 108), suggests that the Flash card is picture cards that include words. The pictures on the flash card grouped among others: the series of animals, fruits, clothing, color, shapes of numbers, and so on. This card is played by shown to the child and was read quickly. The goal of this method is to train the right brain to remember images and words, so that vocabulary can grow and increase.

Based on expert opinions above, it can be concluded that flash card is a card that contains a word or an image. Flash media cards can be used for the development of vocabulary on aspects of language development. This card is played by shown to the child and read out rapidly. The size of the flash card can be customized to the needs of the class, meaning the size of the flash media card to a narrow class will vary with the size of the flash media card on a broad class and protege lot.

b.      Definition of Writing

Writing is an activity where the students write and share what they think.The students usually use writing as a tool to record the teacher’s explanation, tomake notes, to do the assignment or exercises, to summarize the lessons, and to write their diary. Urquhart and McIver, (2005:23) defines, “writing is about expressing knowledge and you want your students express their knowledge as thoughtfully and clearly as they can”.

“Writing is functional communication, making learners possible to create imagined worlds of their own design.”

Writing as one of four language skills is considered as a difficult skill because the writer should make some aspects in writing such as content, organization, purpose, vocabulary, punctuation, and spelling in a balance way.

Writing is the activity or occupation of writing, for example books, stories, or articles. We can take more times to think and choose words in order to express our idea, thought, and feeling. We still can make editing or revision if it is not so clear to express what intends to write.

Writing is aprogressive activity. This means that when you first write something down, you have already been thinking about what you are going to say and how you are going to say it. The after you have finished writing, you read over what you have written and make changes and corrections.

Therefore, writing is never a one step actions; it is a process that has several steps. Writing is a discovery process that involves discovering ideas, how to organize them and what that you want to put over to your order, so a lot of what a writer does as a writer doesn’t actually appear on the page. It is a means of communication. Whenever the writer want to write, he has to knowing the audience or reader, it will help in reaching the the goal of communicating clearly and effectively. Communication in writing tends to involve a thinking process because writing requires the process of selecting and organizing ideas into coherent and logical whole, so in this case writing is undeniably based in thought. Finnochiaro says that writing has been characterized as written thinking. It means that writing is a way to produce language that comes from our thought. In the writing process, the writer tries to developing their ideas and feelings to produce into a good sentence, in order to inform the other.

c.       Definition of Genre

“Genre is used to refer to particular text-types, not to traditional varieties of literature. It is a type or kind of text, defined in terms of its social purposes; also the level of context dealing with social purpose”. The meaning of the genres intended is that students are able to understand the concept and they would be able to identify a kind of texts that students will have to write.

d.      Kinds of Genre

There are two catacories of genre, those are story genre and factual genre. Story genres included narrative, news story, exemplum, anecdote, recount, and spoof. While factual genres included procedure, explanation, report, exposition, discussion, description, review, news item, and commentary.

e.       Definition of Narrative

Narrative is to tell a story or tale that orderly account of events in speech of writing (Hornsby, 1974:561 ). It is a piece of the text which tells story and, in doing so, entertains or informs the reader or listener.

Nuning Pumamawati ( 2011:5) states that narrative text is an account of a sequence of events, usually in choronological order. Relating to kinds of text, which has students complete studying in high school narrative is a text which retells the story or previous the experiences.

The purpose of a text is to amuse, entertain the reader or listener about the story. Narrative deals with problematic events which lead to a crisis or turning point of some kind, which in turn finds a resolution.

f.       Generic Concepts of Narrative

Climax

According to Wardiman (2002:98) the steps for constructing a narrative text are:

 

1.      Orientation

It is about the opening paragraph where the sets, the scane and the character of the story are introduced. It usually answer the questions Who?When?Where.

2.      Complication

It is a series of complication or where the problems in the story developed.

3.      Resolution

Where the problems in the story is solved. The problem maybe resolved for better or worse happily or unhappily.

1. Definition of ESP and GE

First we will find what is ESP. “English for specific purposes is a term that refers to teaching or studying English for a particular career (like law, medicine) or for business in general”. (International Teacher Training Organization, 2005). According to Hutchinson and Waters, 1992, p 19, “In which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learner´s reason for learning”. He defines ESP as an approach not a product. Means that ESP is the English that will be learned based the students’ interest subject.

There is a specific reason for which English is learned. Pauline C. Robinson (1989) describes ESP as a type of ELT (English Language Teaching) and defines it as: “Goal oriented language learning. “ (Robinson, Pauline C.ed. Hywel Coleman, 1989, p 398).

Then, ESL or General English is English as a second language refers to the teaching of English as a foreign language to people who are living in a country in which English is either the first or second language (oxfordlearnersdictionaries). “English for General Purpose (EGP) refers to contexts such as the school where needs cannot be readily specified”, (Hutchinson and Walter (1987:53). General English is a common English that learned by student as the foreign language.

General English aims to achieve a high standard of everyday English communication skills. It covers the four main skills of:

• Reading
• Writing
• Listening and
• Speaking

The Differences between ESP and GE

As Hutchinson (1987:57) explain to answers this question simply by saying “in theory nothing, in practice a great deal”. If in the General English the grammar, pattern is included as the main point of the learning, in English for specific purpose the main point is practice. English for Specific Purpose concentrates more on language in context than on teaching grammar and language structures. Some of the subject in General English learned only for the knowledge. The ESP focal point is that English is not taught as a subject separated from the students' real world (or wishes); instead, it is integrated into a subject matter area important to the learners.

2. Characteristic of English for Specific Purpose

            Based on Dudley and St John (1997) in Valeria (2010:49) there are two kinds of ESP characteristics.

Those are: Absolute Characteristics and Variable Characteristics.

The Absolute Characteristics of English for Specific Purpose are as follows:

1.      ESP is designed to meet specific needs of the learner;

2.      ESP makes use of the underlying methodology and the activities of the discipline it serves;

3.      ESP is centered on the language, skills, discourse and genres appropriate to these activities.

Variable Characteristics of English for Specific Purpose:

1.      ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines;

2.      ESP may use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology from that of general English;

3.      ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at a tertiary level institution or in a professional work situation. It could, however, be used for learners at secondary school level;

4.      ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students. Most ESP courses assume basic knowledge of the language system, but it can be used with beginners.

Characteristic of English General English

            There are some characteristic of General English:

1.                  The focus of the learning process is often on education.

2.      Course content is more difficult to select.

3.      The future English needs of the students’ are impossible to predict.

3. Kinds of ESP

David Carter (1987:20) identifies ESP in to three.

1.      English as a restricted Language ex: Pilot or AC, Waiter

2.      English for academic and occupational purposes

This kind of ESP divided again in to two (While Bracaj, 2014:4), those are:

English for Occupational Purposes (EOP)

EOP is taught in such a situation where learners need to use English as part of their work or profession (Kennedy & Bolitho, 1984:4) in Bracaj (2014:4).

English for Academic Purposes

EAP is generally taught within Educational institutions to students requiring English in their studies.

3.      English with specific topics

The third and final type of ESP identified by Carver (1983) is English with specific topics

Conclusion

Based on the explanation on this paper, we can conclude that of ESP and GE is the part of the English Language Teaching. We can follow example ELT as the body of the tree, then both ESP and GE are the brunch of the tree. The goal of the ESP and GE is different. The ESP for specific training fields then the GE for education and knowledge. ESP divided to some kinds by the experts.

REFERENCES

Dudley-Evans, Tony (1998). Developments in English for Specific Purposes: A multi-disciplinary approach. Cambridge University Press. (Forthcoming)

European Scientific Journal, January 2014 edition vol.10, No.2 ISSN: 1857 – 7881 page: 40-44

Hutchinson, Tom & Waters, Alan (1987). English for Specific Purposes: A learner-centered approach. Cambridge University Press.

Johns, Ann M. & Dudley-Evans, Tony (1991). English for Specific Purposes: International in Scope, Specific in Purpose. TESOL Quarterly 25:2, 297-314.

Strevens, P. (1988). ESP after twenty years: A re-appraisal. In M. Tickoo (Ed.), ESP: State of the art (1-13). SEAMEO Regional Language Centre.

Taken from http://www.laurenceanthony.net/abstracts/ESParticle.html accessed on October 7, 2015 at 20.30 pm

Taken from http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/teaching-english-for-specific-purposes-esp.html accessed on October 9, 2015 at 14.30 pm

Taken from http://www.ask.uwa.edu.au/app/answers/detail/a_id/1530/~/difference-between-general-english-and-english-for-academic-purposes accessed on October 9, 2015 at 16.15 pm