ABSTRACT
This
study examined an investigation of special language needs analysis of
workplaces in Lagos State. The
descriptive survey design was used to carry out the study. The population of
study comprised of all the workers in all the selected industries located
within Oshodi and Agege Local Government Area of Lagos State. The sample of study consisted of one-hundred
and twenty (120) workers from five (5) industries located within Oshodi-Isolo
Local Government Area of Lagos State.
The study adopted the use of questionnaire as the instrument for data
collection. The data collected were analysed using the frequency counts and
simple percentage to complete the demographic data of the participants and to
answer the research questions while all the research hypotheses were tested
using the chi-square (x2) method at 0.05 level of significance. The
findings of the study revealed that the special language needs of Lagos State
workers are on English language communication skills (listening, speaking,
reading, writing). Writing and speaking skills have been found as the most
special language skills needed in the Lagos
State workplaces. And that workers from Afriprint are mostly in need of
training in these special language skills among others. Based on the findings
of the study, the following recommendations were made by the researcher. There
is need for industries to organize periodical in-service training especially in
terms of their workers communication skills. Since English language is the
official language in Nigeria and the major medium of communication in the midst
of a multilingual population, English proficiency of workers need to be
facilitated by organizing seminars and workshops aimed at enhancing workers
English language skills.It is also important to conduct periodical assessment
on the workers special language skills in order to ascertain the particular
area of weakness and design the remedial programmes to assist the workers among
others.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pages
Title page i
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgements iv
Abstract v
Table of content vi
Chapter One:
1.0 Introduction
1
1.1 Background
to the study 1
1.2 Statement
of the problem 7
1.3 Purpose
of the study 9
1.4 Research
Question 9
1.5 Research
hypotheses 10
1.6 Significance
of the study 10
1.7 Theoretical
framework 13
1.8 Scope
of the study 22
1.9 Operational
definition of terms 22
CHAPTER
TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 The
concept of (ESP) English for specific purposes 24
2.2 English
for occupational purposes (EOP) 29
2.3 Problems
with English for occupational purposes (EOP) 34
2.4 English
for vocational purposes (EVP) 36
2.5 Importance
of ESP to education on the society 37
2.6 Needs
analysis (NA) 39
2.7 Approaches
to needs analysis 41
2.8 English
in the workplace (EWP) 47
2.9 Workplace
and oral communication 50
2.10 Empirical
researches on English for occupational purposes (EOP) in the
workplace 51
2.11 Summary
of literature review 53
CHAPTER
THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research
design 55
3.2 Population
of study 55
3.3 Sample
and sampling techniques 55
3.4 Research
instrument 56
3.5 Validity
of the instrument 56
3.6 Reliability
of the instrument 56
3.7 Method
of data analysis 56
CHAPTER
FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF RESULT
4.0 Introduction
57
4.1 Demographic
distribution of participant 57
4.2 Responses
to research questions 59
4.3 Testing
of hypotheses 65
4.4 Discussion
of findings 68
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS, SUMMARY,
RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION
5.1 Discussion
of findings 72
5.2 Summary
of the study 76
5.3 Recommendation
77
5.4 Conclusion 79
References 80
CHAPTER ONE
1.0
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
There is urgent need for every industry to
begin to take precautionary steps towards developing the proficiency level of
their employees for maximum productivity. There is a strong apprehension that
the current global employability will be only for graduates who are proficient
in the language needed for the job particularly in countries like Mexico,
Angola,, Nigeria among others. For an establishment to continue to make productive
impact on its immediate environment, there must be adequate communication skill
among the workers in the workplace.
Communication is an indispensable activity
in the workplace. Within industrialized nations like Nigeria; the expectation
of fluency in speech is omnipresent. Understanding the interaction dynamics of
the workplace is vital to a successful business enterprise. No rapid progress can be made in the absence
of effective communicative skill. The
success of any form of establishment is hinged on proper communication skill
and the right choice of words in delivering duties in the workplace.
Language is defined according to Maduekwe
(2007) as the most sophisticated communication tool of life and a vehicle for
communication in the workplace. Special
language use in the workplace refers to situations where a worker needs
language to perform all or part of his occupational duties. English, which is
the official language inNigeria can never be overemphasized. Language of
business, education, technology, judiciary, job interview, communication etc.
Today, millions of Nigerians speak in English language.
This English language is developed in
England and now used throughout the
British commonwealth of nations, in the United States of America and in other
parts of the world.
The first attempt is to establish the use
of the English Language in Nigeria dates back to 19th century when
industrial revolution started in Europe and there was quests for raw materials
and market for the finished goods produced in these industries. The British and Portuguese merchants invaded
the West African Coast to trade with Nigeria businessmen and since business
transaction cannot be thrive in the absence of a common Language, a Language of
communication (English) gradually emerged as a medium of transaction.
Much later, some shrewd Nigerian Businessmen
in Calabar sent their children to England to learn English while some others
had their children taught English to enable them establish a strong trade link
with the Europeans (Njoku and Izuagba, 2014).
Importance of communication in the
workplace is enormous. Within industrialized nations like Nigeria; the
expectation of fluency in speech is omnipresent. Understanding the interaction
dynamics of the workplace is vital to a successful business enterprise.
According to Nwachukwu (2008), the most common means by which human beings
communicate with one another is language. Language is used to create, reinforce
and maintain social structures at and beyond workplace. Any workplace where the
line of communication is free and open, there are development and any
misunderstanding is easily settled. But where the line of communication is
clogged, there are bounds to be prejudice, bias and suspicion, business is
static and progress is hampered.
It is expected that every worker in
Nigeria should at least be literate in English language especially in Lagos
state where companies are always in the increase having workers of diverse
backgrounds. Instead, what is being experienced is the continued growth of
limited English proficient workers that make up the entire workforce. The
statistics of the department of Labour (2004) and the census Bureau (2006) indicate that, the need for
school drop-out workers will continue to rise and that by the year 2020,
43%(24.7 million)of all prospective job openings will be for people with
minimum education level of which many have limited English proficiency.
To investigate the effectiveness of the
interaction between employers and pre-dominantly monolingual at the workplace,
a needs analysis research must be conducted. Needs are not things to be
determined by a pre-constructed checklist or by mere looks .It is determined by
the process of analysis .Needs are wants, desires and goals. It represents the
gap between what the learner wants to get out of his working experience and his
current state of knowledge, skill and enthusiasm (Noessel, 2003). This need
could be language needs, financial needs, intellectual needs, psychological
needs or two put together. To determine this need, a researcher has to conduct
a research to identify a particular need through the process of needs analysis.
Needs analysis is known to be the primary
component of ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIG PURPOSES (ESP). It is the systematic
collection and analysis of all subjective information necessary to define and
validate defensible curriculum purposes that satisfy the language learning
requirement of workers within the context of a particular workplace that
influences work effectiveness (Brown, 1995).Needs analysis is the core of every
successful ESP program. It determines the need for which a worker requires a
language and arranging the needs according to priorities. It involves fact
finding and data collection.
Needs analysis was first emerged in
language teaching in the 1960s.It was closely associated with English for
specific purpose (Brindley, 1989). The importance of language needs analysis in
the workplace lies in the fact that the outcome should be a list of goals and
objectives of the worker’s need for language which serves as the basis for
developing test, materials, teaching activities, and evaluation strategies etc.
It is a well-known fact that, the process
of a standard needs analysis is said to be the most important step to course
development, material design as well as in determining vocational, workplace
language and communication needs of workers.
English for specific purposes (ESP) on the
other hand is an approach to the teaching of English as a second language (ESL)
that focuses on determining the linguistics needs of a specific group of
learners and then design course to satisfy the needs in the most efficient manner.
Because ESP addresses a specific group of learners, with similar
characteristics, its course design usually focuses on the topics and language
of a specific discipline, occupation or activity (Strevens, 1988; in
Dudley-Evens and st. John, 1998).
The need for ESP arose from General English.
As the name implies, general English is the English we study in school for
general use.
However, the emergence of ESP was not a
planned and coherent movement, but rather a phenomenon, which grew out of a
number of converging trends;
First, the demand of a new world created
after the Second World War in 1945 which later dominated by technology and commerce.
As a result, there was demand for an international language for business
promotion and the demand fell on English language. This promoted English
language to the international standard. Prior to this development, English
language was regarded as a sign of well-rounded education. And was no longer
learnt for pleasure or prestige but created a new generation of learners especially
businessmen and women who wanted to sell their products, mechanics who had to
read instruction manuals and doctors who needed to keep up the development in
their field as well as students whose courses and texts are available in
English.
Second, the oil rise of the early 1970s (oil
exploration). According to Huchinson and Walters (1987), English suddenly
become a big business and the constraint of time and money led to the need for
creation of cost effective courses with clearly defined goals.
Third, was as a result of new ideas in the
study of linguistics. Instead of the formal traditional ways of describing the
formal features of the language, the new studies shifted attention to
discovering the ways in which language is actually used in real communication(Widdowson,1978).There
become an important difference between the language of a particular field of
study which led to the argument by
Linguist saying that, if language differs from one situation to another,
it is then possible to determine the features of specific situations and then
make those features the basis of learners’ course. The notion that, English
needed by a particular group of learners could be identified by analyzing the
linguistics characteristics of their specialized areas of work or study then
gained ground.
“The guiding principle became; tell me what you need English for and I
will tell you the English that you need”(Huchinson and Walters,1987)
Forth, was the new development in
educational psychology which emphasized the central importance of learners and
their attitude of learning (Rogers,1969).Learners were seen to have needs and
interest which would have an important influence on their motivation to learn
and therefore, on the effectiveness of their learning. This led to the creation
of learner-centered curriculum design.
It is worthy of note that, the first
conference on ESP was convened in the year 1969 (Mackey, 1976) when its
original name was changed from the term “Language for special purposes” to its
present name “English for specific purposes” due to the notion that, attention
for this course is not only on the learners but also on the language resources
of the learners like; English for law, English for medicine, English for
engineering, English for business etc.
Furthermore, ESP is divided into two broad
areas according to Kennedy and Bolitho (1984) namely; English for Occupational
Purposes (EOP) and English for Academic Purposes (EAP). EOP is taught in
situations where learners need English for work. while EAP is taught generally
within educational institutions to students using English in their studies.
EOP is divided into two; English for
professional purposes(medicine, law, business, etc) and vocational purposes(priest,
mechanics, artisans, etc) and is further divided into pre-vocational and
vocational English. Pre-vocational English is concerned with finding a job and
interview skills while vocational English is concerned with language of
specific trades or occupation.
It is pertinent at this point to state
that this research work is to investigate the special language needs of
workplaces in Lagos State..
1.2
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Commutation is an indispensable activity
in the workplace. The most common means by which human beings communicate with one another is
language. Workers’ ability to
Communicate with their employers and
acquire sufficient language skills to function in the workplace are two of the
key points to their success and the success of the business as well.
In recent years, language-related problems
at workplaces have been at the center of controversy surrounding workforce. The
statistics of the department of Labour (2004).
Bureau (2006) indicate that, the need for
flawed English workers will continue to rise and that by the year 2020, 43%
(24.7 million) of all prospective job ‘openings will be for people with
effective communication skills of which many graduates have limited English
proficiency. www.cambridgeenglish.or/roly-cambridge-english found that;
in every industry, there is a gap between the English language skills required
at work and the English skills that employees have.
Moreso, an analysis of speech error on English
for occupational purposes (EOP) at the International Islamic university
Malaysia (IIUM), (2014) examine that, workers make wrong use of grammatical
words frequently e.g. wrong use of nouns, use of uncountable nouns, nouns use
as verbs, wrong use of preposition in phrase, wrong addition of
preposition, wrong use of verbs, wrong use of phrasal verbs,
wrong of adjective ending in — ed and — ing and redundant expression. It was concluded that preposition was the
most frequent type of grammatical error made by the learners. In addition,
intra lingua transfer was found to be the most prominent source of error. It
has also be found in a study conducted by Nita Falizee Selamant on EOP students
(2014) that, the difficulty in communication among workers is actually the low
English proficiency and the most difficult communication task is public
speaking. Word Applied Science Journal (2015) indicates that Lagos employers
have considerable reservations when it comes to graduates’ employability skill,
particularly their flawed English Language competence. Given the challenges faced
by scarcity of work in Lagos to match employers’ requirements.
Therefore there is need for a deeper
understanding of how language in the changing workplace is related to the
operations of companies in Lagos State.
13
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this study is to investigate the special language
proficiency level of Lagos State workers. Specifically, the study is designed
to:
1. Identify
the level of English proficiency of Lagos Workers.
2. Determine
the particular language problems workers are experiencing in Lagos State.
3. Determine
the nature of language skills a worker needs order to perform well in the
workplace.
4. Determine
which workers from a particular workplace are most in need of training in a
particular language skill.
5. Determine
if an existing ESP course designed adequately addresses the language needs of a
potential worker.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTION
This study aims at the following research
questions;
1. What
is the level of English proficiency of a worker in relation to the work tasks
assigned to him?.
2. What
are the particular language problems workers are experiencing in Lagos State?
3. What
are the nature of language skills a worker needs in order to perform well in
the work place?
4. What
type of ESP training course design adequately addresses the language needs of a
potential worker?
5. Which
workers from a particular workplace are most in need of training in a
particular language skill?
1.5
RESEARCH HYPOTHESES:
1. The
level of English proficiency of a worker does not have significant effect on
task assigned to him.
2. The
existing ESP course design does not significantly address the language need of
potential workers.
3. Workers
do not have a significant need of training in a particular language skill.
1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The importance of language in our
workplaces can never be over emphasized knowing that English language is a must
for workplace communication especially in Lagos State that is populated largely
by people of diverse ethnic groups. However,
interpersonal communication skill is the key to every successful business
venture and the ability of a worker to speak fluently is advantageous towards
the development and progression of the
work.
This study will be useful to the following:
Workers:
It will benefit workers who need to improve on their language skills both and
outside the workplace knowing that English is essential for work and survival
society. It will improve work efficiency and enhances worker’s self-esteem and
ns instrumentally and intrinsically motivated to learn more there will be no
more hesitation in complaining of any observation, or giving instructions to
junior workers, taking part in decision making etc. also instructional manuals
will be easily interpreted since an operator can comprehend the instruction.
Hence, mistakes are avoided and stress is reduced.
Moreso, the learner will meet EOP needs
like reading and writing work related faxes and emails using information
sources, communicating with foreigners about work1writing work related reports
using tactful language with people especially customers, and understanding
basic principles in work correspondences. Moreover, since English has become a
necessary tool for job employment, EOP learners stand the opportunity to obtain
a lucrative job, get promoted and perform effectively in the working world.
Curriculist: as suggested by many studies
in the literature of this study, Dudley-Evans and St John (1998 60) assert that
analysis of workers’ special language needs is a crucial step towards designing
the curriculum, since it determines all course components. Also, it will help
them to plan and improve Nigerian education by conducting the educational which the skills and competency gaps of EOP
learners in Nigeria educational sector before drawing recommendation on how
will be resolved. As such, the outcome workers’ needs which serve as the basis
for evaluation strategies. etc.
Moreso, it will equip the curriculist with
the knowledge of guidelines to be followed in planning programmes for EOP
learners such as;
• Knowledge on the part of employees, on
the communicative function of EOP’
• Understanding on behalf of employees of
the expectations of those who need English in order to carry out a job.
Knowledge, on the part of the employees,
the theory and practice of EO.
Moreover, sensitizes the curriculist that
one of the most important characteristics of EOP is material writing and
communicative competence which could intrinsically interesting since they focus
mainly on course design approach idea and course objectives. Perhaps, subscribe
to the idea that an effective syllabus must attempt to overcome the
deficiencies of the workers’ commutative competence under which they are
operating (Brian 1998).
The
Teacher/EOP Tutors
Dudley Evans and St. John (199895) state
that the teaching process of any kind of language for occupational purposes
should take as a starting point the analysis of the four traditional skills
(listening, speaking, reading and writing) within an appropriate context, that
being, as far as possible, the conditions in the workplace. The study will help
the LOP tutors or teachers to take cognizance of the above assertion.
Nevertheless, sensitizes them that the most important argument regarding
selective learning is that adults need to obtain information they can apply
outside the academic world. It will help them in the selection of authentic
materials, contents and activities relevant to the LOP learners. The Study will
also create job opportunities, investment opportunities and natural education
growth to the EOP teachers by the government/foreigners (tourists or experts)
e.g.
Chinese, Arabians, Indians, Portugese etc.
when seeking their services in nation building.
The
Researcher
The study will aid the researcher to the
understanding of the basic phenomenon on the second language needs of workers
in the workplace. It will give the researcher the knowledge on how to best
address the world’s problem. Also Researchers had data in which they can base
their discussions for policy making.
The
Stakeholders
The Study will provide an insight to
parents and guardians on the type of language skills their ward need when face
with language related problems in workplace. Finally, it will be of benefit to
all the stakeholders such as policy makers, managers of businesses, government,
education educators etc. on their perception of EOP programmes for improvement
and development of workforce in the larger society. Therefore, to cope with the
advanced worlcl4one must increase his/her level of English proficiency.
1.7 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
This study will look at the following
theories:
1. Theories of motivation
2. Theory of communicative competence
THEORIES
OF MOTIVATION
Psychologists have studied human
motivation extensively and have derived a variety of theories about what
motivates people. This section briefly highlights the motivational theories
that are regularly discussed in language Learning.. These include theories that
focus on motivation being a function of (1) employed5needs of various types,
(2) extrinsic factors, and (3) intrinsic factors. Each set of theories will be
discussed below.
Needs-Based
Theories of Motivation
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need—Maslow (1954)
postulated a hierarchy of needs that progress from the lowest, subsistence-
level needs to the highest level of self-awareness and actualization once each
level has been met. The theory explains how an individual will be motivated and
strive to progress to satisfy’ the next higher level of need. The five levels in
Maslow’s hierarchy are .
·
physiological needs—including food, water,
sexual drive, and other subsistence- related needs
·
Safety needs—including shelter, a safe
home safe work environment, employment, a healthy and safe worker environment.
access to health care, money, and other basic necessities.
·
Belonging needs – including the desire for
social contact and interaction, friendship, affection and various types of
support.
·
, Esteem needs—including status,
recognition, and positive regard; and,
·
.Self-actualization needs—including the
desire for achievement, Personal growth, development, and autonomy.
The movement from one level to the next
was termed satisfaction progression by Maslow, and it was assumed that over
time individuals were motivated to continually progresses upward through these
levels. ‘While useful from a theoretical perspective, most individuals do not
view their needs in this way, making this approach to motivation a bit
unrealistic.
Alderfer’s ERG Theory—the three components
identified by Alderfer (1972) drew upon
Maslow’s theory, but also suggested that
workers were motivated to move forward and
backward through the levels in terms of
motivators. He reduced Maslow’s levels from
Five to the following three:
·
Existence—which related to Maslow’s first
two needs, thus combining the physiological and safety needs into one level;
·
Relatedness—which addressed the belonging
needs; and,
·
.Growth—which pertains to the last two
needs, thereby combining esteem and self- actualization.
Alderfer also added his frustration-regression
principle, which postulated that individuals would move in and out of the
various levels, depending upon the extent to which their needs were being met.
This approach is deemed by students of management to be more logical and similar
to many individuals’ world views.
Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory—Herzberg
(2003) further modified Maslow’s needs theory and consolidated down to two
areas of needs that motivate employees. These were termed;
·
Hygiene’s—these were characterized as
lower level motivators and included, for example, “company policy and
administration, Supervision, interpersonal relationships, working conditions,
salary, status, and security.
·
Motivators—these emphasized higher level
factors and focused on aspects of work, such as achievement, recognition for
achievement ,the work itself, responsibility and growth or advancement”
Herzberg’s is an easily understood
approach that suggests that individuals have desires beyond the Hygiene’s and
that motivators are very important to them.
McClelland’s acquired Needs Theory— the
idea here is that needs are acquired throughout life. That is, needs are not
innate, but are learned or developed as a result of one’s life experiences
(McClelland, 1985).This theory focuses on three types of needs:
·
Need for achievement— which emphasizes the
desires for success, for mastering tasks, and for attaining goals;
·
Need for affiliation— which focuses on the
desire for relationships and associations with others; and,
·
Need for power— which relates to the desires
for responsibility, for control, and authority over others.
All four of these theories, from different
Perspectives are helpful in understanding workers motivation on the Basis of
needs. However, other theories of motivation also have been posited and require
consideration.
Extrinsic
Factor Theories of Motivation
Another approach to understanding
motivation focuses on external factors and their role in understanding workers
motivation. The best known of these is: Reinforcement• Theory— B.F. Skinner (1953)
studied human behavior and proposed that individuals are motivated when their
behaviors are reinforced. His theory 1s comprised .4’ four types of
reinforcement. The first two are associated with achieving desirable behaviors,
while the last two address undesirable behaviors:
·
Positive reinforcement—relates to taking
action that rewards Positive behaviors;
·
Avoidance learning—occurs when actions are
taken to reward behaviors that avoid undesirable or negative behaviors. This is
sometimes referred to as negative reinforcement;
·
Punishment— includes actions designed to
reduce undesirable Behaviors by creating negative consequences for the
individual; and, Extinction— represents the removal of positive rewards for
undesirable behaviors.
The primary criticism of the reinforcement
approach is that it fails to account for employees’ abilities to think
critically and reason, both of which are important aspects of human motivation?
While reinforcement Theory may be applicable m animals, it doesn’t account on
the higher level of cognition that occurs m humans.
Intrinsic Factor Theories of Motivation
Theories that are based on intrinsic or
endogenous factors focus on internal thought processes and perceptions about
motivation. Several of these are highlighted below:
·
Adam’s Equity Theory— which proposes that
individuals are motivated when they perceive that they are treated equitably in
comparison to others within the organization (Adams, 1963); 1
·
Vroom’s Expectancy Theory—which addresses
the expectations of Individuals and hypothesizes that they are motivated by
performance and the expected out comes of theft own behaviors (Vroom,1964);
and,
·
Locke’s Goal Setting Theory— which
hypothesizes that by establishing goals individuals are motivated to take
action to achieve those goals (Locke & Latham, 1990).
While each of these theories deals with a
particular aspect of motivation, it seems unrealistic for EOP instructors to
address them in isolation, since these factors often determine workers interest
to course improvement.
Theory
of communicative competence
The theory of communicative competence
will be discussed here using the communicative teaching method approach which
lays emphasis on the need for course designers to study the needs, interest and
aspirations of learners and use the data got from such studies as a basis for
syllabus and instructional materials design. The communicative approach to
language teaching was proposed by the council of Europe team led by Trim
(1978:9) assert that the method:
Set out to identify a number of
coherent but restricted goals relevant to the communicative needs of the
learners. We then attempt to work out in details the knowledge and skills which
will equip the learner to use the language for the communicative purpose
defined. In the light of this characteristics and resource we have, then
established feasible learning programmes and skills, and a means of testing and
evaluation to provide feed-back to all ponies concerned as to the success of
the programme.
The above assertion clearly explains the
focus of the method which extend beyond linguistic competence to communicative
competence. The most important contribution of the curriculum to the
communicative language teaching method is its use of the language needs of the
target audience in planning the language syllabus as this is considered an
innovation in the language teaching curriculum.
The implication is that, the communicative
teaching language method is learner-centred as it uses the needs of the learner
as a basis for all language learning activities. Munby (1978) adds that in
preparing a syllabus for teaching using this method the course designer should
find out answers to these questions?
1. What is the learner’s purpose for
learning a language?
2. In what kind of setting is he likely to
use the target language?
3. What kind of social relations is he
likely to engage in?
4. What language medium is he likely to
use more often?
When solutions to these questions are
found, the curriculum designer would then organize learning activities
according to communicative acts such as asking questions, giving orders;
apologizing; contradicting someone; welcoming a customer; giving directives;
explaining a process etc. in other words, the traditional lesson topics like
nouns, tenses, adjective do not feature when this method is use in teaching
language.
To utilize the method in teaching, the
teacher thinks of:
1. How to create a relevant setting for
learners to interact. This is made possible through the use of stimulation,
role play which are used extensively in order to make the interaction resemble
real life situation.
2.
Roles are assigned to learners and they are expected to play out the role
realistically.
From our discussion so far it is obvious
that the communicative language teaching method is quite relevant for FOP
learners. This is because the method aims at equipping learners with the
ability to communicate in the target language situations. Other areas of. Emphasis
of the communicative language teaching are;
- Linguistic competence
- Socio linguistic competence
- Discourse competence
The different dimensions ensure the leaner
is addends equipped to communicate in the target language. Linguistic
competence ensure that he masters the grammar of the target language, while
socio-linguistic competence enables him use the target language appropriately
vis-ã-vis and informal situation among others. Strategic competence refers to
learner’s ability to use certain strategic device to keep discussion going in
the workplace.
This Lyons (1977:574) confirms when he
says that there are certain elements that must be considered to make one’s
speech appropriate in different contexts. Each participant in a communication
process should know his “roles and status”, “where they are in time and space”
the medium that is “appropriate to the situation” and how to make their
“utterance appropriate to the subject matter”.
The importance of theory of communicative
competence for EOP Learners can never be overlooked, because of the following
reasons;
i. The use
of needs analysis in determining the language needs of the leaner as a basis
for curriculum design has a lot of advantage to the learners. This is because
it makes content relevant thereby motivating the learners to participate
actively in class activities.
ii. Because
the syllabus content is centered on the learners needs, they are very active
all through the lesson, while the teacher’s role is that of a mediator or
facilitator.
iii. The
method tries to break the barrier created by the classroom as it tries to make
language learning look like real life language use.
iv. The
method is appropriate in teaching adults, and specialist who need a working
knowledge of a language. For example teaching a Japanese engineer English to
enable him work in Nigeria.
v. It makes
the learners sensitive to the appropriateness in language use. This is because
classroom activities help them to realize the distinction between rules of
grammar and rules of (language) use.
In summary, the communicative language
teaching syllabus is built on end-means approach to curriculum design. It
emphasizes communication through the use of stimulation, role play in order to
ensure that an effective learner participate in the communicative language
teaching of the EOP course.
1.8 SCOPE OF THE STUDY:
The scope of this study was limited to two
selected industries in Oshodi -Ageg Local Government Area in Lagos State. It
focused on the workplace language needs of workers in Lagos State.
1.9 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS:
ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES (ESP):
English course designed for a particular group of learners with similar
characteristics.
ENGLISH FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES (GA): The
use of English for studies in the school / for general use.
ENGLISH FOR OCCUPATIONAL PURPOSES (EOP): A
branch of ESP that needs English to do work.
ENGLISH FOR VOCATONAL PURPOSES (EVP): A
division of EOP that needs English for specific work situations.
ENGLISH IN THE WORK PLACE (EWP): The use
of English for specific language function necessary for on-the-job communication.
NEEDS ANALYSIS (NA): Identification of
learners’ needs to determine objectives for course design.
TARGET SITUATION ANALYSIS (TSA): Analysis
of the workplace where English is supposed to be used.
LEARNING SITUATION ANALYSIS (LSA):
Analysis of the learners’ previous learning experiences, sociocultural factors
and motivation.
PRESENT SITUATION ANALYSIS (PSA): Analysis
of the present knowledge of the learners to determine lacks or deficiencies.
SECOND LANGUAGE: The second language a
child acquired or learnt after his first language or mother tongue (English
Language is regarded as the child’s second language in Nigeria)
TEACHING ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE
(TESOL): Course designed for the teaching of English as a second language.
ORAL COMMUNICATION: Conversation
/interaction by the word of mouth (spoken English).
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