Kristine Fae E. Torralba Sherrie Lyn M.

Diño

BSE 4-English August 19, 2019

Difference between ESP, ESL, and EFL

English for Special Purpose (ESP)
 English for Special Purposes includes
students who are learning English in
context of a certain field, profession,
or topic. For example, when a teacher
is teaching legal English in China and
she is teaching English in context of
law, his/her students are learning
English in preparation for studying law
through an American university where
the professors were all native English
speakers.
Conclusion
English as a Secondary Language (ESL)
 English as a Second Language is
learning English in a country where
English is dominantly spoken or where
English is the official language. For
example, students from non-native
English-speaking countries who come
to the U.S. and Canada for an
extended period of time learn English
as a Second Language. They acquire
English as a means to communicate
in the dominant language spoken in
the community where they reside.
 ESL classroom is far more likely to
have students from many different
countries, all with different native
languages.
English as a Foreign Language (EFL)
 English as a Foreign Language is
learning English in a non-English-
speaking country. For example,
students in China who are learning
English are considered EFL students
because English is not the official
language of the country. But if those
same students were in the U.S.
learning English, they would be
considered ESL students.
 A classroom of EFL students will
usually all be from the same country.
They will have the same culture and
make similar mistakes in the target
language. Therefore, these mistakes
can be rectified by the teacher as a
whole rather than individually with the
ESL learner.

ESP, ESL and EFL has different roles in learning English language. It is very important for us future teachers to know the differences between
the three in able for us to give what the students really need and we can clearly share our knowledge to them. In learning their differences, we
are also able to know what teaching strategy we are going to use when we are already in the teaching field.