5

CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1 English for Specific Purposes
English for Specific Purposes (henceforth, ESP) which is
studied as a learner-centred approach to teaching English as a foreign
or second language (Yildiz, 2004:1), is a term which refers to the role
of English in a language course or programme of instructions in
which the content and the aims of the course are fixed by the specific
needs of a particular group of learners by separating solid particles
from the parent (Richards, et al., 1987:94).
The purpose of teaching English is usually defined with
reference to some occupational requirements, e.g., for international
telephone operators, civil airline pilot etc., vocational training
programmes, e.g., for hotel and catering staff, technical trades, etc.,
or some academic or professional studies, e.g., engineering,
medicine, law, etc. (Mackay and Mountford ,1978:2).
The word “special” or “specific” in ESP is used to mean that
the focus is on certain features of language that are immediately
associated with the restricted use of the target language which the
learner needs to achieve a particular purpose (Munby, 1978:2).
Special language and specialized aim are two different notions
(Gatehouse, 2001:7), as a specialized aim usually refers to the
purpose for which learners learn a language and not to the nature of
language they learn (Mackay and Mountford, 1978:58).
Purposefulness and learner-centredness, of ESP mean that
ESP is aimed at a successful merit of occupational or educational
roles, and to increase the linguistic capabilities of the graduate

5
 6

students in their attempts to make use of up-to-date knowledge in

their specialization.
Bahloul and Bahloul (2001) had pointed out that “ESP in
Tunisia, and in many parts of the world seems to be of flavour of the
moment, and that, most people, whether they are in business or
politics, can put forward a number of well-seasoned arguments in
favour of great diffusion of ESP in education, economic and
vocational training sectors.”
Nevertheless, it has been stated that quite a few academics
experience some difficulty in accepting the idea of “ESP” out of the
context of current English in spite of having a fairly long history
(Cunha, 2001). For them “English is English and that it is” (Olivera,
2002).
According to Olivera ( ibid.) “teachers of ESP have to be
sensitive enough to have the ability to extract from the current
language the particular aspects of the scientific, technological or
academic discourse that mainly characterise it.”

2.1.1 Definitions of ESP

One of the most important phenomenon of ESP in language
teaching is that it has laid too much weight on the ends the trainers
and teachers seek to achieve (Kerr, 1977:11).
A broader definition of ESP is presented by Hutchinson and
Waters (1987:19), who theorize, “ESP is an approach to language
teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on
the learner’s reason for learning.”
ESP, as seen by teachers is a “practical enterprise in which the
problem is ‘how’ to identify the ‘what’ to the ‘how’ and to match
 7

those in such a way to ensure that learning takes place” (Graham,

1987:13).
It has been known that “different human activities require
different communication skills, which in turn require mastery of
different linguistic items (Wright, 1992:4).
Accordingly ESP is defined basically as “language learning
which has to focus on all aspects of language pertaining to a
particular field of human activity, while taking into account the time
constraint imposed by the learners (ibid.).
What is special about ESP is that it is pertinent to a restricted
repertoire of words, expressions, sentences, structural forms and
passages which are deliberately selected from the whole
repertoire of language. Accordingly, Wilkins (1976:73) defines ESP
as “a restricted kind of language where the vocabulary items may
often have their specialized character and the grammar may usually
be limited in range and may have unusual distribution.”
Cunningsworth (1984:88) defines ESP as “courses which are
designed for people who are learning English, so that they will be
able to use it in particular situations such as on a holiday in their job,
in their training or in academic courses.”
It is clearly evident that forms which are commonly found in
general English with high frequency for instance may be completely
or partly absent in the specific use of language in certain
specialization and vice-versa ( Wilkins op. cit.).
ESP is considered “an approach rather than a syllabus or
specific course of study, distinguished from other approaches to the
teaching of English in the choice of vocabulary, grammar, rhetorics,
situations and type of activities” (Al-Hamash, 1978:2).
 8

Strevens (1978) defined ESP through identifying its absolute

and variable characteristics and made a distinction between four
absolute and two variable characteristics:

I. Absolute characteristics: ESP consists of English language

teaching which is:
— designed to meet specified needs of the learner;
— related in contents (i.e., in its theme and topics) to
particular disciplines, occupations and activities;
— centered on the language appropriate to those activities in
syntax, lexis, discourse, semantics, etc. and analysis of
this discourse;
— in contrast with general English.

II. Variable characteristics: ESP may be, but not necessarily:

— restricted as to the language skills to be learned (e.g.,
reading only);
— not taught according to any predetermined methodology.

At the 1997 Japan conference on ESP, a modified definition

to that of Strevens was suggested by Dudly-Evans and St John
(1998:4-5), the revised definition identifies three absolute and six
variable characteristics as follows:

I. Absolute characteristics: ESP is designed to meet specific

needs of the learner; it makes use of the underlying
methodology and the activities of the discipline it serves;
centred on the language, skills, discourse and genres
appropriate to these activities.
 9

II. Variable characteristics: ESP may be related to or designed for

specific discipline; it may be used in specific teaching situation,
in a different methodology from that of general English; it is
likely to be designed for adult learners either at tertiary level
institution or in professional work situation; it is generally
designed for intermediate or advanced learners; it could, however
be designed for learners at the secondary level; most ESP courses
assume some basic knowledge of the language system, but it also
can be used with beginners.

Anthony (1997) notes that it is not clear where ESP courses

end and general English courses begin; as numerous non-specialist
ESL-instructors are using an ESP approach in constructing their
syllabi according to the learner needs analysis and their own personal
specialist knowledge of using English for real communication.
ESP has also been viewed as a cover term for teaching and
learning English for multiple specific purposes: EAP, EOP and others
(Johns, 1991).
Zizi (2001) defines ESP as “the teaching of English within a
specific subject matter, and that ESP teaching is based on students’
needs analysis.

2.1.2 The Development of ESP

EST has played an important role in the development of ESP.
Swales (1985) used the development of EST to illustrate the
development of ESP in general.
 10

Five main stages of ESP development were summarized

by Hutchinson and Waters (1987:9-15), which include the
following:
Stage I: Register Analysis
(The Concept of Special Language at the Sentence Level.)
The basic principle of this stage which started mainly in the
1960s, and 1970s is that the English of different disciplines has
different registers with various specific grammatical and lexical
features.
Stage II: Rhetorical or Discourse Analysis
(Beyond the Sentence Level.)
The emphasis in this stage was shifted from the sentence level
and register analysis of the first stage to the field of discourse and
rhetorical analysis.
In the second stage, a consideration was given to
understanding how sentences were combined in discourse to produce
meaning. Rhetorical process chart and Text-diagramming were
considered as a representative and as a good example of this stage
(Trimble, 1985 and Hutchinson and Waters, 1987:11,12,36).
Stage III: Target Situation Analysis
(Needs Analysis); the language analysis is closely related to
learner’s reasons for learning.
A consideration was directed here towards establishing
scientific procedures for relating language analysis more closely to
learners’ reason for learning in order to enable learners function
adequately in a target situation (Hutchinson and Waters ibid.:12).
At this stage, the ESP course design process could best be
performed through identifying the target situation and then
undertaking a careful and accurate analysis of the linguistic features
 11

of that situation, such identified features will, then form the syllabus
of the ESP course.
Stage IV : Skills and Strategies : ( Skills – Centered approach )
In the fourth stage , the emphasis was directed to look below
the surface forms of language , and to consider not the language itself
, but the thinking
process that underline language use . The principal idea
behind the approach of this stage is that :-
" underlining all languages use , there are common reasoning
and
interpreting processes which regardless of surface form ,
enable
us to extract meaning from discourse "
( Hutchinson and Waters , 1987 : 13 )
In this stage the attention was directed towards helping the
learner to deal successfully with the listening and reading strategies
where they are capable of guessing the meaning of words from
context ( ibid ) . Here the language learners are considered as a
thinking beings who can be able to observe and verbalize the
intereptive process they perform in language use ( Ausbel et al ,
1987 , Hutchinson and Waters , 1987 , Jhons , 1991 ).
Stage V: A Learning-centred Approach
All the stages mentioned above have been considered
basically incomplete or flawed, because of their emphasis on the
description of language use, i.e., describing what people do with
language. The consideration at this stage is directed towards
language learning (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987:14). The learning-
centred approach as a truly valid approach to ESP must be performed
through understanding the process of language learning, rather than
 12

concentrating on the description of language use. Describing and

exemplifying what people do with language will not be helpful in
learning it (ibid.).
2.1.3 The Origins of ESP
Three reasons have been reported to be common to the emergence of
all ESP which include the following (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987:6-
8):

1. The demands of a Brave New World

This has happened as a result of enormous and
unprecedented expansion in scientific, technical and economic
activity on an international scale, following the end of the second
world war and the oil crisis of the early 1970s . Both had shown up
their effect on the language teaching profession to distribute
the required goods which best meet the wishes, needs and the
demands of people (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987: 7 and Gatehouse,
2001: 2 ).

2. A revolution in Linguistics
The revolutionary pioneers in linguistics began to focus were
focusing on the ways in which language is used in real
communication, rather than on the description of the features of
language (Gatehouse, 2001:3).
Hutchinson and Waters (1987:7) mention Ewer and Lattore
(1969), Swales ( 1971 ), Selinker and Trimble (1976) as a few of the
first prominent descriptive EST pioneers (Op. cit.:3).

3. Focus on the Learner

 13

The new developments in educational psychology is

responsible for shifting the focus from emphasizing linguistic
principles and the method of language delivery to emphasizing the
way in which learners acquire language, and the differences in the
ways language is acquired. Designing specific courses, i.e., taking
texts from the learner specialist area-texts about biology, agriculture,
etc. was considered the standard way to meet learners’ need, interest,
improve their motivation and to make learning better and faster
(Hutchinson and Waters 1987:8 ). Learner-centred or learning-
centred approach has been considered the catchword in ESL circles
up to this day (Gatehouse, 2001:3 ).
ESP and EST had been considered at some time as being a synonymous
terms, and that EST is the area of activity particularly important in the
development of ESP in general (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987:9).The guiding
principles of ESP might well be understood through the following:

Tell me what you need English for and I will

tell you the English you need.
(Hutchinson and Waters, ibid.:8)

As a matter of fact, the forces discussed so far to be

responsible for ESP emergence are the need, new idea about language
and new idea about learning (ibid.:14).

2.1.4 General Characteristics of ESP Courses

Most of ESP courses have the following common features .

1. Authentic Material
An authentic text has been defined by Morrow (1979:3) to
mean:
 14

a stretch of real language produced by a real

speaker or writer for a real audience, and
designed to convey a real message of some
sort.

The presentation of an ESP course at either an intermediate or

advanced level entirely justifies the use of authentic material
(Dudley-Evans and St John ,1998). An authentic material is usually
written to specific audience (not language learner to be helpful in
communicating subject content rather than language form and to deal
with information and ideas rather than teaching the use of language
(Flavell, 1984).

2. Purpose-related Orientation
This feature of ESP is usually presented to deal with the
simulation of the communicative tasks required for the target setting.
The student simulation of such tasks may imply conference
simulation, where a preparation of papers, reading and note-taking
and writing should be performed (Carter, 1983).
In ESP courses, especially English for business, students are
expected to participate in the design and presentation of an effective
business project, including market research, pamphlets and other
related topics (Gatehouse, 2001:7). Students are expected to present
all final product to invited ESL classes during a poster presentation
session.
For Health Science Programme , students attending ESP
course to improve their listening skills are usually asked to practice
listening skills, such as listening with empathy, and to employ
their newly acquired skills during a fieldtrip to a local community
 15

centre where they are partnered up with English-speaking residents

(Ibid.).

3. Self-direction
This characteristic of ESP course is concerned with
transferring students as learners into users (Carter, 1983:134). In
order for self-direction to occur, the learners should possess a certain
degree of freedom to decide when, and how they will study (Ibid.)
Gatehouse (2001:7) has rejected Carter’s attitude of “teaching
the students how to learn by teaching them about the learning
strategies”, suggesting that “what is essential for those learners is
learning how to access information in a new culture.”
Other characteristics of ESP courses have also been
summarized to include the following ( Salman,1981) .

I. The language in an ESP-course is not an end in itself, rather is a

means to an end, such courses aimed purposefully at teaching
the communicative use of language and/or any of the most
required study-skills.
II. Prior to designing an ESP-course material, there should be clear,
accurate and careful analysis of the learners’ needs, as ESP-
courses may be used in different educational situations and that
a big diversity of such courses may also be needed to fulfill the
different needs of the learners.
III. A well defined time factor, the students competence levels of
language differences and the construction of special preparation
 16

and training of ESP-teachers could be considered crucial

characteristics of most of ESP-courses.

2.1.5 The Benefits of ESP

In TESP, it is important to have clear idea about the purpose
behind language teaching, the end we seek to achieve and the ways in
which we hope to achieve this end (Kerr, 1977:11). It is worthwhile
distinguishing between different purposes for which a student
requires English and the different skills he will require to satisfy his
needs (Ibid.). Threefold benefits of ESP have been reported (Wright,
1992:6):

[1] ESP is important in achieving a learning speed as it helps

accelerating the acquisition of the required linguistic items,
through employing the pattern of native speaker acquisition of
language for specific purposes, in which speakers learn what
they need, when they need it, in an authentic, content-based
context.
[2] ESP is needed for improving learning efficiency, when an ESP
course trainees performing a maximum use of their learning
resources, all of which are brought to bear on acquiring specific,
pre-identified linguistic items and skills.
Needs analysis has been considered to be of vital
importance, as far as learning efficiency is concerned
(ibid.).
[3] The role of ESP in increasing learning effectiveness, this is
clearly evident on the completion of an ESP course, when the
trainees are capable of using language appropriate and correctly
in job related tasks, which have been identified prior to the
 17

course by means of needs analysis. After the completion of an

ESP course English can be made usable immediately in the
employment context. Furthermore , trainees are eligible to
undertake further job-related training in English. Such
eligibility will result in greater academic performance of the
trainees, as no time is wasted in acquiring the necessary
language.

ESP courses whether, EAP or EOP or EVP and other

multiplying sub-branches of it, have been expected to play an
important role in helping the learners to equip better with their
studies and their specific professional or vocational environment and
to make them more efficient and motivated students with greater
communicative competence and to acquire the receptive and the
perceptive academic skills parallel to developing learning strategies
and study skills (Price, 1977:29; Jordan, 1977:26; Jordan, 1997 and
Kuter, 1999:1).

2.1.6 Types of ESP

It is widely accepted that ESP as an approach that is meant
to teach English to those who need a strictly or limited range of
expression, lexis and function to use in their specific professional
or vocational environment, has been subjected to multitude of
divisions and sub-divisions. Accordingly an ESP teacher should be
greatly affected by such diversity and need to be able to cope with
the “breeding” situation of new branches of ESP emerged day after
day.
 18

Mackay and Mountford (1978:2) suggest three kinds of ESP

as to represent the purposes behind ESP courses as can be shown in
the following figure:

ESP

EOP EVP EAP

(English for (English for (English for
Occupational Purposes) Vocational Purposes) Academic Purposes)
e.g.: civil airline pilots e.g.: technical trades e.g.: Agriculture,
Engineering

Figure (1) ESP Classification According to

Mackay and Mountford (1978:2)

Hutchinson and Waters (1987:16) stated that there is not a

clear-cut distinction between EAP and EOP:

People can work and study simultaneously; it is

also likely that in many cases the language
learnt for immediate use in a study environment
will be used later when the student takes up, or
returns to a job.
Hutchinson and Waters statement mentioned so far explains
Carter (1983) rationale for classifying EAP and EOP under the same
type of ESP, as can be seen from Carter’s classification of ESP shown
in the following figure:
 19

ESP

ERL EAP & EOP EST

(English as (English for (English with
Restricted Language) Academic and Specific Topics)
Occupational Purposes)

Figure (2) ESP Classification According to

Carter (1983)

Examples of ERL are the language used by air traffic

controllers or by waiters. The difference between restricted language
and language has been stated to rest on the fact that the restricted
language could be regarded as “special in the sense that the type of
language required by a dining-room waiter or an air traffic controller,
for example is strictly limited and can be accurately determined
situationally (Mackay and Mountford, 1978:4-5). Nevertheless, such
restricted repertoires are not languages, just as a tourist phrase book
is not grammar, knowing a restricted language would not allow the
speaker to communicate effectively in novel situation, or in contexts
outside the vocational environment (Mackay and Mountford: ibid.)
The second type of Carter’s classification is EAP and EOP,
the end purpose of both are one in the same: employment. But the
means to achieve the end is very different in terms of focusing on the
notions of cognitive academic proficiency versus basic interpersonal
skills (Gatehouse, 2001:6). The final and the third type of ESP
mentioned by Carter (1983) is English with specific topics. This type
of ESP deals with the anticipated future needs of, for example
scientists requiring English for postgraduate reading studies,
 20

attending conferences or working in foreign institutions. According

to Gatehouse (2001), this type could not be considered a separate
type of ESP, but an integral component of ESP courses or
programmes which focus on situational language, that has been
determined as a result achieved through the needs analysis of
authentic language used in target workplace setting.
Strevens (1978:156) identifies two types of ESP courses :
occupational and educational, besides he further classifies these
branches into three-way distinction according to the timing of courses
producing the following diagram:

SPLT
Special Purpose Language Teaching or ESP

Occupational Educational
Post experience
Pre-experience

Simultaneous

Post-study
Pre-study

In-study

Figure (3) ESP Types According to Strevens (1978:156)

Strevens’ diagram has been considered a more realistic one
and made an improvement on that devised by the Ministry of
Overseas Development (Robinson, 1980:7) which can be represented
in the following diagram.
 21

ESP

EOP EEP
English for Occupational English for Educational
Purposes Purposes
Before entry

in a specific
occupation

In-Service

discipline

At school
For study
into the

subject
Pre-study

In-study

Figure (4) ESP Classification of the Ministry of Overseas

Development (MOD) Cited in Robinson (1980:7)

English for Science and Technology (EST) has been

considered an essential division of ESP. Strevens (1978:92)
presents a classification of ESP in which he gives a greater emphasis
on EST-courses that need the inclusion of much of the contents of the
scientific English, required in learning the ways in which different
skills of various kinds are expressed in English and the control of
the international vocabulary as they are used in English and the
incorporating of communicative purpose special to science and
technology. Strevens’ diagram can be shown as follows:
 22

ESP

EST Others

Occupational Educational
Post-experience
Pre-experience

Conversion

Discipline-
Teacher’s

School-
subject
based

Independent
Post-study

Integrated
Pre-study

In-study

Figure (5) ESP-Classification According

to Strevens (1978:92)
McDonough (1984:6) considered the classification of ESP-
courses to different categories to be useful in the sense that it could
be treated as a framework and a set of entry points to a range of
inter-linked issues. The McDonough classification can be shown as
follows:
ESP
 23

EAP EOP

EST

Figure (6) ESP Classification According to

McDonough (1984:6)

In the “Tree of ELT” (Hutchinson and Waters (1987:17), three

large categories of ESP are identified:

a) English for Science and Technology (EST).

b) English for Business and Economics (EBE).
c) English for Social Sciences (ESS).

Each of these subject areas have been further divided into two
branches:

a) English for Academic Purposes (EAP).

b) English for Occupational Purposes (EOP).

At the topmost of branches of Hutchinson and Waters’

tree, there appeared the level at which individual ESP courses
occur.
At the second top level ESP branches are differentiated
according to whether the learners require English for academic study
or for work training. At the next third top level, the main three large
categories are identified.
Hutchinson and Waters (1987:18) have also stated:

We can see that ESP is just one branch of

EFL/ESL, which are themselves the main
branch of English Language Teaching in
general. ELT, in turn is one variety of the many
possible kinds of language teaching.
 24

The tree diagram mentioned above is shown in the following

figure:
 25

English for English for English for English for English for English for
Medical Studies Technicians Economics Secretaries Psychology Teaching

EOP
English for
Occupational EOP EAP Courses EAP
Purposes often have a study
EAP
English for (EOP) skills component
Academic
Purposes
(EAP)
EOP is also known as EVP
English for (English for Vocational English for
Business and Purposes) and VESL Social
Economics (Vocational English Sciences
English for
(EBE) as a Second Language) (ESS)
Science and
Technology
(EST)

English for
Specific Adult Tertiary
Purposes GE is usually Secondary
(ESP) studied for (US. High School)
Various Branches exam purposes Primary

General English
English as a (GE)
Mother Tongue
(EMT) ESL can be
divided in the
same way as EFL
English as a
Foreign Language English as a
(EFL) Second Language
(ESL)

English Language
Teaching
(ELT) In American ELT
the dominant
branch is ESL
Language Teaching

LEARNING COMMUNICATION

Figure (7) Tree of ELT from Hutchinson and Waters (1987:17)

As a matter of fact, Sutherland (1995:6) response to the diversity of
ESP courses has been stated as:
 26

An ESP teacher must master more than a specialized vocabulary.

Thinking styles, problem solving methods, and communication
strategies within professional groups differ as well.

Hutchinson and Waters (1987:19) have also concluded that:

ESP should properly be seen not as any

particular language product, but as an approach
to language teaching which is directed by
specific and apparent reasons for learning.

2.2 Scientific English

Scientific English has been presented to deal with three
interrelated topics; science, technology and technical services.
Each of the items mentioned above has a different distinctive task as
follows:

Science is concerned with understanding

describing, and explaining the nature of the
universe. Technology is concerned with how to
design, operate, and control machines, devices
and instruments. Technical services are
concerned with how to construct and maintain
the devices invented by technology.
(Strevens, 1973:228)

Scientific English as needed by most of the students of

science and technology, especially for the students of agricultural
sciences doesn’t indeed use a special grammar or considered a special
form of English language. Scientific English and Literary Language
are not considered different forms of English but rather they are two
different ways of using the same language and both are kinds of
communications that might employ certain syntactic and lexical
 27

features more frequently than others (Ewer and Lattore, 1967:224;

Widdowson, 1974:283 and Crystal, 1987:380). Scientific English
employs more general scientific and linguistic concepts, depending
on the school curriculum, programme objectives and students levels
and careers. It usually uses scientific terminology based on Latin and
Greek (Widdowson, 1979:19 and Fathman, et al., 1992). In scientific
English, there is a dominant concern for impersonal statement,
logical expression, and accurate description (Crystal, 1987:380).
Besides emotional comments, humor, figurative expressions and
other aspects of personal language are avoided (except in writing for
lay audience) (Ibid.).
Teaching English for science is not only to teach the language
of science, but scientific thinking as well (Zaki, 2001).

2.2.1.Features Beyond Sentence Level:

2.2.1.1. The Rhetorical Features of EST/ESP
Crystal (1987:70) has pointed out that the field of rhetoric is
“the study of persuasive speech or writing, especially as practiced
in public oratory.” Several hundred rhetorical figures were
suggested by classical rhetoricians, many of them were restricted to
the pattern found in Latin and Greek, but some achieved a broader
currency, especially after the Renaissance, in the study of poetry
(ibid.).

Selinker et al. (1976) have claimed that in EST, rhetoric is

concerned with organizing information and related concepts such that
the concepts are the most functional for the purpose of discourse and
for a particular kind of reader. Rhetorical features usually affect
 28

grammatical decision to be made in selecting a specific construction

in a certain sentence (Al –Jubouri,1977;148).Discourse or rhetorical
analysis which has been considered the central feature of a large
number of ESP textbooks is usually concerned with developing a
knowledge regarding the ways of generating the meaning between
sentences, i.e., how sentences are combined in texts in order to
produce a particular meaning (Allen and Widdowson, 1974 ;
Hutchinson and Waters, 1987:33-34).
The emphasis given to teaching the language on the supra-
sentential level is aiming at helping the student understand the total
meaning of the conceptual paragraph and to develop the capacity to
discover how sentences are used in the performance of acts of
communication and to be familiar with the rhetorical functioning of
language in use (Selinker et al., 1976:282 and Widdowson, 1981:25).
As most ESP learners lack the merits to understand properly the
conceptual meaning (i.e., the implicit rhetorical functions), they need
to possess the ability of learning how grammatical sentences are
constructed to perform certain rhetorical functions.
The following classic example of the discourse or rhetorical
analysis presented by Hutchinson and Waters might well fulfill the
two factors responsible for meaning changes, i.e., the sociolinguistic
contexts and the discoursal meaning (Hutchinson and Waters,
1987:33-36).
 29

A. Can I go out to play?

It’s raining.
(parent talking to a child_ refusal of the request).
—
Have you cut the grass?
It’s raining.
(husband/wife_reason or an excuse)
—
I think I’ll go out for a walk?
It’s raining.
(friends_advice or mild warning).
(reason against going for a walk)
B. It’s raining.
I think I’ll go out for a walk
(reason in favor of going for a walk)
2.2.1.1.1 The Rhetoric of Referencing
The word “referencing” has been introduced to deal with the
cohesive devices which are used in all kinds of texts. According to
Nuttal (1982:83) “the reader who does not know what a pronoun
refers to will not be able to establish its signification.” Also, Levin et
al. (1988:29) say that “words and sentences are related to each other
in the text so that there is clear identity between what is being said
and what has been said.”
Reference, demonstrative and substitution words such as it,
its, these, this, they, them, those, that, which and where are some
examples of the pronoun references which have some salient features.
One feature for example, is the use of a plural pronoun reference such
as these to refer to an insect in the singular. Here the writer is in face
 30

referring to every insect of this kind, i.e., Onion eel worm and
Asparagus bettle (Mohammed, 2005).
2.2.1.1.2 The Rhetoric of Definitions
Definitions in scientific discourse may be introduced to
include the following (Mountford, 1985:6-24):

I. The definition of parts of plants

II. The forms of definition
III. Definitions of process
IV. Definition and description of process

Different parts of a plant can be defined by the following

procedure:

a. Naming them,
b. Stating the class they belong to,
c. Describing their function.

Using the preceding procedure, we can define stem as

follows:
Name : stem
Class : part of plant
Function : support the shoot system
Definition : The stem is the part of a plant which supports the
shoot system (Ibid.:6).

In scientific writing, two forms of definitions can be used

which are:
is/are
1. [A] [ B ] which [ C ]
may be defined as
 31

e.g.: [A (the embryo) is, may be defined as

[B the part of a flower] which [C will develop into
another plant].
The embryo is the part of a flower which will develop
into another plant.
or The embryo may be defined as the part of a flower
which will develop into another plant.

2. [B] which [C] is/are called

is/are known as [A]

e.g.: [B the part of a flower] which [C will develop into

another plant] is called, is known as [A the embryo].
The part of a flower which will develop into another
plant is called the embryo.
known as

( See also Swales, 1971:66-80 ).

According to Mohammed and Al Rawi2005;16)definitions

could best be arranged in the following order:

1 2 3 4
Thing to be is a/an family to characteristics
defined which that distinguish
belongs the defined object
However, in some scientific and technical writing, especially
in some medical leaflets a definition for the drug is not performed but
 32

a consideration is given to the substance that exerts an effect on the

patient’s health (Ibid.).
Processes can be defined using the following technique:

(1) Name of Process

(2) Description
(3) Definition

e.g.:
photosynthesis (process)

water and carbon dioxide are built up to form sugar

and other carbohydrate in the presence of light
(Description).

photosynthesis is the process whereby/by which

water and carbon dioxide are built up to form sugar

and other carbohydrates in the presence of light
(Definition).

(Mountford, 1985:16)

Definitions of processes are usually followed by statements

describing the various stages of the processes, however the
description has to be accompanied by a labelled diagram.

2.2.1.1.3 The Rhetoric of Description and Identification

Descriptive work in technical and scientific writing,
especially in agricultural sciences plays an important role in making
general statements regarding functions of different parts of plant
and about what happens during the course of action of processes
 33

like transpiration, germination, pollination, fertilization and osmosis

… etc.
Students of science and technology need to cope with the way
of writing description through employing good command of linking
and sequencing words and of the pronoun system as used for
anaphoric reference (Kennedy and Bolitho, 1984:94).
However, in scientific description a consideration should be
directed towards a “cumulative system of functional building blocks”
through performing a progressive fitting together of the components
of scientific description, i.e., the properties, locations of both the
parts and the overall structure of a system and to arrange in order
sentences and/or statements of processes according to their various
stages (Bates, 1978:88 and Mountford, 1985:18-24).
Identification may be well understood from both the
description and/or definition and is found to be attached to
description rather than to definition as will be shown from the
following example (Mountford, 1985:50):

A B C
Name of Process Agent(s) Mode of Operation
Dislocation Water and ice Separate solid particles from the
parent rock

A+C: Definition: Dislocation is the process whereby solid particles

are separated from the parent rock.
B+C: Description: Water and ice are used to separate solid particles
from the parent rock.
B+C+A: Description + Definition:
 34

Water and ice are used to separate solid particles form the
parent rock. The mechanical process used for separation is
known as dislocation.
C+A+B: Description + Identification:
Solid particles are separated from the parent rock by the
mechanical process of dislocation. Water and ice are (the
chief) physical agents of weathering process.
B+A+C: Identification + Description:
Water and ice are (the chief) agents of the physical
weathering process of dislocation. In this process solid
particles are separated from the parent rock.

2.2.1.1.4 The Rhetoric of Classification

Classification is often used “to put into a group sb/sth with
other people or things of a similar type.” (Worn, 2000:129).
Classification may be performed through employing three
criteria including classification according to defining characteristics;
classification in diagrams and paragraphs and classification in
paragraphs and tables (Johnson, 1982:76-82 and Mountford,
1985:48-53).
The most important part of classification is the subject which
consists of three stages with five paragraphs starting with
introduction, three paragraphs for each stage, and the conclusion.
Examples or performing classification according to defining
characteristics are as follows:

(i) We may (or can) classify soils according to climatic factors

in their development.
 35

(ii) Soils may (or can) be classified according to the climatic

factors in their development.

(i) and (ii) may be followed by examples of special type

together with a statement regarding their defining characteristics
(Mountford, 1985:53):

A B C D
Object Principle of classification Examples Characteristics
Soils Climatic factors in their Pedalfers Develop in humid
development region
Pedocals Develop in
arid and semi-
arid regions

= Soils may be classified according to their development. For

example, pedalfers develop in humid region, but pedocals
develop in arid and semi-arid regions.

According to Johnson (1982:176-182) and Mountford

(1985:48-49), the three stages of classification mentioned so far can
be expressed as follows:

Stage I:
(1) Soils may be classified according to …
(2) There are four types of weathering process.
(3) Those dislocation and abrasion which are known as
physical weathering process.

Stages II and III are concerned with the linguistic means that
are used to classify, analyse, construct a classification coherently and
 36

to give more information using tables/diagrams and paragraphs

through implementing any of the sentence patterns.

2.2.1.2.Contextual Features:

2.2.1.2.1. Discourse Markers (Link-words)

Contextual features are usually used to represent the ways of
referring to the relationships between expression and content .They
include referential values attached to cohesive devices , cataphoric
and anaphoric language items and the communicative functions of
sentences(AL-Jubouri,1779;145-146).
Linking words (cohesive devices) are very often used to
show the type of discourse relationship between statements, i.e.,
contrast, consequence, exemplification, explanation, reinforcement,
similarity, expression, justification, expansion, justification,
conclusion, etc.
Grellet (1981:47) has pointed out that “it is extremely
important to be able to recognize connective words. Not only are
they essential to the understanding of the ideas and facts mentioned
in the passage, but they also indicate the rhetorical value of what
follows.” Similarly Nuttal (1982:83) has also affirmed that “they are
extremely useful signals to the readers.”
In their textual analysis of medical leaflets, Mohammed and
Al-Rawi (2005) have pointed out that linking words such as: thereby,
if, because, since, although, nevertheless, therefore, so that, but …
have been widely used in all medical leaflets they analysed.
 37

2.2.1.2.2. Cohesion and Coherence

Cohesion as a grammatical expression has been introduced to
refer to “the way in which certain rhetorical devices are used to join
sentences or parts of sentences syntactically together in the context.”
(Halliday and Hassan, 1976:17),the following example shows such
grammatical relationships:
A: Is Jenny coming to the party?
B: Yes She is (Richardsad Schmidt,2002:86)
Cohesive devices as stated by Abbot and Wingard (1981) are
those devices which are “used in a more controlled and deliberate
way in written text than in speaking.” Examples of rhetorical
(cohesive/connective) devices have been mentioned in our treatment
of the discourse markers of the preceding section.
Anaphoric (i.e., the pronoun and demonstrative) and
cataphoric items represent the second type of the rhetorical devices
that have been extensively used in EST/ESP (Mahmood, 2005:13-
15 ;Mohammed and Al-Rawi, 2005:15).
Anaphoric process is a process where a word or a phrase
refers back to another phrase or word which was used earlier in a text
or conversation as in:
I like ice cream, but
Ahmed can not eat it
On the other hand, cataphoric process is the process where a
word or a phrase refers forward to another phrase or word which will
be used later in the text or conversation as in:
When I met her,Mona looked ill
(Richards and Schmidt,2002:25-26 and 65)
 38

some,connectors representing the cohesive devices include,

“therefore consequently, as a result of, furthermore, hence, moreover,
nevertheless” etc.
Other linking words such as, consequently, thus, for example,
as a result of, whereas, in addition, in the same way, moreover, also,
similarly, hence, subsequently, finally, furthermore, and so on, as
consequence, for instance have also been widely used in scientific
English, especially in agricultural sciences (Allen and Widdowson,
1974 and Mountford, 1985).
Linking words have also stated to be of paramount
importance as far as the communicative functions of sentences are
concerned (Mohammed and Al-Rawi, 2005:15-16).
Coherence, on the other hand, can be defined as “judgement
about the order of the presentation of information, within the single
paragraph and within the total piece that constitute the paragraph
itself, and judgement of clarity and precision of exposition
(Lackstrom et al., 1975:250).
The following example is illustrative:
A: Could you give me a lift home ?
B: I am sorry ,I am visiting my sister.
(Richards and Schmidt.2002:85)
It is evident that we can have a passage which is not correct
semantically, i.e., the meaning in unclear (I have eaten an old car)
even if the syntax is very reasonable or vice versa.
The relationship between the rhetorical features regarding
judgement on clarity of expression and the grammatical and lexical
choices can best be illustrated by the following three sentences
(Lackstrom et al.1975: ibid.):
 39

(i) The horizontal top surface of the burner emits uniform flax
of fuel gas at velocity u.

This sentence can be followed by either of the following two

sentences:

(ii) Its temperature is maintained near ambient….

(iii) The temperature of this surface is maintained near
ambient …

The possessive “its” in the second sentence is ambiguous for the

word “temperature” can refer to that of surface or gas. Whereas
sentence (ii) is ambiguous, sentence (iii) is not since it clearly
specifies the element whose temperature is being maintained.
As a result, one can conclude that the trainee has to learn how
to write in a coherent way so that he/she can produce passages in
which the sentences are linked and understood on both the semantic
level and the grammatical level. Incoherence might also be arisen
due to the differences between the mother tongue and the foreign
language (Mahmood, 2002:35). Furthermore, the skill of writing in a
coherent way has been considered an organizational ability which
many native speakers may not possess (ibid.).

2.2.1.2.3 Text Organization

Trimble (1979:2) defines scientific and technical rhetoric as
“the process a writer writing a scientific or technical English employs
to produce a desired text.” In technical guides (Manuals) the
rhetorical feature of text organization is the same as the one that is
used in scientific and technical writing yet to a different degree
 40

(Trimble and Trimble, 1977:87 and Mohammed, 2005:12). In

general, text organization, in technical manuals depends on physical,
function and process description.
In his textual analysis of a guide on plant protection,
Mohammed ,2005(ibid.) has shown that text organization in the guide
analysed is performed through employing three criteria:

1) Identification and description of diseases.

2) Statements describing the symptoms.
3) Statements recommending particular control measures.

Examples of the above aspects have been presented as

follows (Ibid.: Appendix-II).

Carrot fly: Leaves turn red, then yellow and

wither, and the roots are infested with
maggots….. If carrot fly is prevalent, sow early
or late. Use a seed dressing. Protect
established plants by watering a spray-strength
solution of diazinon or trichlorophon along the
rows, two or three times in August and
September.

2.2.1.2.4 Relationships Between Statements

In some cases , cohesive devices ( i .e however ,
consequently , for example ) may give no explicit indication
of the communicative function of sentences . Here the
writers are trying to present sentences to be understood with
out the assistance of such devices .
In his review of '' The General Features of English
for Science and Technology '' . Al – Jubouri ( 1979:146 –
147 ) mentions :- statement , justification , exemplification ,
expansion , counter assertion and conclusion as some of the
communicative functions of sentences .
 41

2.2.2 Features at the Sentence Level

2.2.2.1 Syntactic Features

It has been widely documented that the scientific English
does not employ a special grammar, but it might employ certain
syntactic and lexical features more frequently than the general or
literary English does to express certain communicative functions.
According to Widdowson (1974:282):

it is preferable to think of basic scientific

language on the one hand, and the general
literary language on the other hand, only as
different way of using the same language.

Scientific English also contains the general concepts which

are expressed in English by the use of certain lexical items such as
unless, because, nevertheless and some other “logic-grammatical”
items which are used to express the logic, the rhetoric and argument
as well as having grammatical consequences
(Strevens, 1973:225-226).
It has also been stated that

The scientists who cannot handle items of this

kind, together with grammatical features such
as subordination, relativization, co-ordination
…. etc. in English cannot handle the science in
English; but he cannot handle any other
discipline either.
(Ibid.)

Each academic subject area has its own language register, i.e.,
particular lexis and syntax, accordingly a consideration should be
given to some of the language forms and functions (Jordan, 1977:24).
The language function commonly used in scientific English (i.e.,
 42

features of communicative activities) are: description of form and

process,definition,generalization,classification,assumption,
deduction, induction, instruction, prediction, measurement of linear
dimension such as length,hight,thickness and depth; measurement of
mass,area,volume and capacity; measurement of quantity,
measurement of proportion such as relative size ,percentage and
ratio ; measurement of frequency,tendency and probability ( Al-
Jubouri,1979:149-157).
The common language and syntactic forms frequently utilized
in EST/ESP are: Tenses (present and future simple active verb tenses,
present and past passive verb tenses); conditionals; comparatives;
noun modification; relativization; time statements; imperatives;
articles and preposition; modals; locative words (nouns, prepositions
and adjectives); passivization; phrasal verbs (Jordan, 1977:24-25;
Al-Juboury, 1979:127-138; Mohammed, 2005:13-14; Mohammed
and Al-Rawi, 2005:7-8).
2.2.2.2 Morphological (Lexical Features)
It has been known that the lexical (morphological) items such
as nouns, verbs, affixes, abbreviations, compounding, prepositions,
and adjectives play an important part in scientific English (Swales,
1976;Al-Jubouri,1979,:139-145;Mahmood,2002:15-16; Mohammed,
2005:3-5; Mohammed and Al-Rawi, 2005:4-6).
According to Swales (1976), “the lexical items that occur
most frequently in scientific English are not themselves scientific;
they are part of the ‘general’ or ‘common core’ English.” One
common method has been suggested to deal with the problem of
operationalizing a definition for the scientific lexical items, which is
 43

the word-counts of the reading material (Al-Jubouri, 1979:139).

2.2.2.2.1 Prefixes and Suffixes
Prefixes and suffixes play an important role in scientific
English. A list of the most common prefixes that are widely used in
EST has been reviewed by Al-Juboury (1979:142-144 ), to include
the following:

Prefix Meaning Example

Counter (= against) counteract
de- (= cause not to be) decarbonise
dis- (= the opposite) disjoin, discharge
en-, em- (= forming a verb from a enable, enclose
noun or adjective)
im-, in-, ir- (= not) impure, inanimate
inter- (= between or among) interheat
mis- (= badly) misuse, misapply
non- (= not being) +( nothing ) non-available , non -
effective
over- (= too much) overcharge
over- (= above) overhead
re- (= again) re-use
sub- (= beneath, less than) sub-surface, sub-standard
super ( = above , more than ) super heat
un- ( = not ) unstable
under ( = too little ) under load
under ( = below ) underline
In his textual analysis of a guide on plant protection,
Mohammed (2005) revealed that the prefixes, dis-, ir- and over-, have
appeared with the same frequency, whereas any one positive prefix
(en-) has appeared.
 44

Savory (1967:42) states that the negative prefixes a-, in-, non-
and un- are the most common and the frequently used in technical
words. Nevertheless Mohammed and Al-Rawi (2005:6-7) have
found that, heper-, dis-, anti-, supra-, intra-, sub-, over-, inter- and
contra- have appeared in their textual analysis of English medical
leaflets. Locative prefixes such as supra- (above), intra- (inside),
inter- (between), and sub- (below) have also recorded in the same
leaflet (Ibid.).
Suffixes are mostly used to give clues to the grammatical
function of a word (Kennedy and Bolitho, 1984:16).
The main suffixes that are mostly used in EST could best be
classified to include the following:

A. Suffixes which form adjectives:

-able, -al, -ant, -ian, -ible, -ive, -ful
B. Suffixes which form nouns:
-age, -ance, -ence, -er, -ist, -ity, -ment, -or, -tion, -ness,
-ation
C. Suffixes which form verbs:
-en, -ify, -ise, -ize, -en
(Al-Juboury, 1979:144; Mohammed, 2005:3;
Mohammed and Al-Rawi, 2005:7)

It has also been stated that the number of prefixes in the

medical leaflets outweighs that of the suffixes (Mohammed and Al-
Rawi, Ibid.) whereas, the number of suffixes completely outweighs
that of the prefixes regarding the plant protection guide (Mohammed,
2005).
 45

2.2.2.2.2 Compounding
Compound nouns are defined as “a series of words (two or
more) which represents a single concept.” (Trimble and Trimble,
1977:4). The importance of compounds has been attributed to three
major reasons which are nominal compounds frequency, rarity in the
reader L1 and complexity (Williams, 1982:1). In their textual
analysis of English medical leaflets, Mohammed and Al-Rawi
(2005:3-4) stated that compound nouns have been used to express
various types of relations:

1. Location, such as bone infections, liver damage.

2. Those that express cause, such as hay fever and anxiety
states.
3. Those B of A such as plasma proteins, maintenance
therapy.
4. Those that express purpose such as nose drops and eye
drops.

Three-string compound nouns such as peak serum

concentration and plasma potassium chloride solution, have been
rarely used in medical leaflets (ibid.).
The following are some of examples of the forms and
structures of the compound nouns presented after the textual analysis
of a Guide on Plant Protection (Mohammed, 2005:4):

Structure Form Example

1. vegetable + cause N+N Asparagus beetle
2. colour + part affected + state or Adj + N + N Violet root rot
 46

process
3. adv+pp+ve + vegetable Adv + PP + N Loosely knitted support
4. veg. + part affected + cause N+N+N Cabbage root fly
5. place of planting + name of insect Cd + Cd Glasshouse white fly
6. condition + part affected Adj + N Split roots
7. veg. + cause ( name of worm ) N + Cd Onion eelworm
8. state + cause ( name of fungus ) Ad + N Downy mildew
9. veg. + different colours + cause N+N+N Cucumber mosaic virus
10. shape + shape N+N Whip tail

2.2.2.2.3 Verbs
Lexical items such as nouns, verbs, adjectives and
prepositions are usually carried out on grammatical bases rather than
on semantic analysis (Huddleston, 1971). Word-counts and
frequency of scientific reading material is the common method that
has been used in the operationalizing of isolation and definition in
EST and ESP (Spencer, 1975 and Swales, 1976).
Swales (Ibid.) working on verb frequencies in scientific
English presents a table of the most common and frequent verbs
which include the following: be, have, find, show, call, give, use,
make, produce, form, know, contain, develop, grow, suggest, study,
account for, report, add, heat, measure, remove, weigh, differentiate,
emit, rotate, penetrate, absorb, possess, appear, consider, indicate,
apply, assume, involve, etc.
It has been suggested that “it is useless to predict lists of
lexical items to be assigned to the student for memory work
beforehand, since these will be taught in the technical lessons and in
laboratory workshops” (West, 1958:121). West’s opinion has also
been emphasized through the work of other experts including
Strevens (1973), Cowan (1974), and McDonough (1984).
 47

The following features of the common verbs of science are

suggested by Swales (1976):

(1) Some verbs describe in a more formal style, actions, events and
relationship that are commonly encountered in every day life ,
such as rotate , penetrate , absorb , posses , etc .
(2) Another group consists of verbs of general (academic) discourse
which has been called “organization of knowledge” verbs , such
as consider , indicate , apply , assume and involve .
(3) Some verbs describe natural process , especially in biology , such
as produce , develop and grow .
(4) There are some verbs that describe scientific operations , such as
heat , add , measure , remove and weigh .
(5) Other verbs reflect article writers’ references to previous work ,
such as suggest , study , account for and grow .

( 6 ) Commonplace verbs , such as be , have , find , show , call ,

give , use , make , produce , form , know , contain , etc .

Analysis of the scientific lexis according to West’s opinion

presents a shift in focus towards the teaching of scientific discourse.

2.2.2.2.4 Abbreviations, Acronyms and Symbols

These are common features in EST, which are used frequently
for the sake of economy in time and space and for brevity. Examples
of some of the abbreviations used in EST, as well as in general
English are: abbrv (abbreviation); masc (masculine); fem (feminine);
c (centigrade); ft (feet); m (metre); sq (square), vs (versus); yd (yard);
ref (reference); med (medium); temp (temperature) (Al-Juboury, 1979
: 144 and Worn, 2000).
 48

Acronyms, i.e., “the formation of words from the initial

letters of words that make up a name” (Crystal, 1987:90,414), has
also been frequently used in EST, especially in medical, biological
and agricultural sciences, examples of such features are: ACTH
(Adreno Cortico Trophic Hormone; AIDS (Acquired Immune
Deficiency Syndrome); TDN (Total Digestive Nutrients); SHS
(School Health Service); FCE (Feed Conversion Efficiency) … etc.
The following are examples of some of the symbols and other
short forms which are used in EST:
e.g.: for example;
etc.: and so on;
i.e.: that is to say (in other words)
i.g.: the same as;
= : equals/mean the same as;
 : does not equal/mean not the same as;
: therefore; thus , as a result
b : but , however , on the other hand
: normally distributed;
: male; female … etc.
:'causes' 'results in' 'leads to'
:'is caused by' 'results from'
:'raises' 'causes a rise in'
:'lowers' 'causes a reduction in'
: is approximately equal
: correlates with , is proportional to
: does not correlate with
: includes
: is a member of
( Dakin, 1972 ; Dudley – Evans, 1977 : 39 ; Mountford , 1985 : 2 )
 49

2.2.3 Non-Verbal Features

These EST/ESP features are dealing with the ways, scientific
information are presented in non-verbal para-linguistic forms, i.e., in
the form of tables, diagrams, maps, pictures, charts and some other
non-verbal communication systems such as hand movements, facial
gestures, signs, symbols as well as operations and formulae (Sesnan,
1964:14-15; Al-Jubouri, 1979:156-157; Fortune, 1977:45;Dudley-
Evans, 1977:39 ;Mahmood, 2002:23-24).
In some circumstances these non-verbal devices are used to
fulfill two functions:
(1)They are the sole source in the text to give information
(2)They serve as a visual aid to clarify or illustrate the
information that is verbally mentioned in the text(Al-
Jubouri,1979:157)
Tables and diagrams usually present information by collecting
facts and arranging them in an orderly way to provide adequate
practice in both the listening and the reading skills needed by the
students to be performed during their university career (Fortune,
1977:44 and Al-Juboury, 1979:156). Comparing and contrasting
things have been considered an essential part of the work of scientists
of all disciplines, besides language exercises based on the most
simple table can be of great value in teaching various comparative
and contrastive structures.
The following tables can be presented to serve as examples
of teaching such structures (Fortune, 1977:46 and Mountford,
1985:37, 38).

Table (1): Non – Verbal Features After Fortune (1977 : 46 )

 50

Male Volume of semen Number of Approximate

Species from one service females inseminated time the sperm
from one service stay fertile
Stallion 100 cc. 8 mares 12 hours
Bull 5 cc. 200 cows 7 days
Ram 1 cc. 40 ewes 5 days
Pig 200 cc. 12 sows 1 day

Table (2) : Non – Verbal Features After Mountford ( 1985 : 37 )

Soil particles Diameter (mm)

gravel 2.0 or more
coarse sand 2.0 – 0.2
fine sand 0.2 – 0.02
silt 0.02 – 0.002
clay 0.002 or less

Table (3) : Non – Verbal Features After Mountford ( 1985 : 38 )

Top Soil Sub Soil

Colour dark light
particle size coarse fine
living organisms many few
elements for plant food rich poor
2.2.4 Usage and Use
It has been widely recognized that linguistic competence is
more connected to language usage rather than language ‘use’, as it
refers to “what the grammarian for methodological reasons represents
as language knowledge: it does not refer to the language user’s mode
of knowing” (Widdowson, 1984:23). Similarly ‘usage’ is a term
introduced to refer to the grammatical structure of a certain language
 51

system, and therefore refers to linguistic competence i.e., “the ability

which depends upon the knowledge of the grammatical rules of the
language learned” (Widdowson, 1979:6).
The aim of ‘usage’ is to develop the linguistic competence of
the learner, it is meant that “aspect of performance in which the
language user shows his knowledge of linguistic rules” (Ibid.:3).
It is of crucial importance to know that “the knowledge of
language” is not the same thing as “the ability to ‘use’ the language,
and consideration should be given not only to the nature of
“knowledge of language” but rather to the psycho-linguistic aspects
of the communicative processes involved in its ‘use’ (Brumfit and
Johnson, 1983:198).
‘Use’ of language is aiming at developing the communicative
competence of the learners. In other words, ‘use’ can be defined as
“that aspect of performance in which the language user shows his
ability to communicate effectively through the use of his knowledge
of linguistic rules (Widdowson, 1979:3).
It is recommended that attention should be given to the
appropriate use of language in social situation rather than
concentrating on aspects of usage, i.e., mastery of grammatical
structure alone (Widdowson, 1978:79; Yalden, 1985:20). Widdowson
(1979:39) has pointed out that “even though focus is on ‘use’, the
students are, of course, being given practice in ‘usage’ at the same
time: that is to say, they are exercising their ability to compose
correct sentence in the process of performing appropriate acts of
communication.” According to Hymes (1972:275) “there are rules of
‘use’ without which the rules of grammar would be useless.”
Communicative competence illustrate how could we adapt our
linguistic competence to our social use competence, as the two
 52

systems of knowledge are interrelated (Breen, 1987:88).

Communicative competence has also presented to deal with the
underlying capacity to mobilize “linguistic competence” in socially
appropriate ways (Ibid.:157).
Widdowson (1978:11) has made a distinction between the
meaning expressed through the arrangement of words into
certain sentences, and that expressed through their ‘use’ in certain
situation by introducing the term “signification” to the name of the
former which results from ‘usage’ and the term ‘value’ to the latter
which is the result of ‘use’. However language ‘use’ is also
introduced to refer to ‘usage’ in a social context, i.e., the
relationship between a certain form and the social situation in which
it is used (Ibid.:3).
Discarding the rules of ‘use’ of both structuralism and
cognitivism caused a failure to develop the ‘communicative
competence’ of the learner (Krashen, 1981:16).