Teachers of specialist varieties of English really need to get above the level of vocabulary and consider the functions for which the varieties are used. Methods of functional and linguistic analysis are discussed on the PREVIOUS PAGE. Below this listing are some notes on SELECTING &/or CREATING MATERIALS FOR ESP.
Dictionary of Accounting [ 23rd August, 2001 ]
9,000 terms defined, including personal finance and investments, company accounts, balance sheets and stock evaluations. British and American terms.
Dictionary of Aeronautical English [ 24th September, 1999 ]
5,500 terms defined [phonetic pronunciation given] including the language of aviation: terms used by pilots, cabin crew, ground staff and aeronautical engineers.
Dictionary of Agriculture [ May 1996 ]
6,500 terms defined [phonetic pronunciation given]. Topics include breeds of animals, varieties of crop plants, diseases, soils, fertilisers, agricultural methods (e.g. irrigation), crop sales and commodity markets.
Dictionary of American Business [ 7th December, 1999 ]
11,500 terms defined [phonetic pronunciation given]. The entries cover all aspects of business life from the office to the stock exchange to conventions.
Check Your Vocabulary for American Business
A companion workbook to help improve specialist business vocabulary.
Dictionary of Automobile Engineering [ September 1996 ]
7,500 terms defined [includes line drawings and British and American terms]. The subject matter includes cars, lorries, motorcycles, engines, maintenance, panel- beating, welding, sales, design and development.
Dictionary of Banking and Finance [ 1st June, 1999]
9000 terms defined [phonetic pronunciation given]. Entries cover both British and American English. Topics range from personal bank accounts to international money markets.
Check Your Vocabulary for Banking & Finance
A companion workbook to help improve specialist banking vocabulary.
Dictionary of Business [ 7th February, 2001 ]
12,500 terms defined [phonetic pronunciation and both British & American English given]. Terms cover all aspects of business life from the office to the stock exchange and international trade fairs as well as e-business and new business technology.
Longman Business English Dictionary [ 8th March, 2000 ]
13,000 entries. Use is made of the Longman Corpus Network in compiling this dictionary. This helps to base the entries on frequency of use and to provide the best examples.
Check Your Vocabulary for Business
A companion workbook to help improve specialist business vocabulary.
Dictionary of Computing [ 6th December, 2002 ]
10,000 terms defined. Topics include networking, hardware, software, PCs, minicomputers and mainframes, Internet, multimedia and programming.
Check Your Vocabulary for Computing
A companion workbook to help improve specialist computing vocabulary.
A Dictionary of Economics (Oxford) [ 22nd August, 2002 ]
2,500 terms covered.
Dictionary of Ecology and the Environment [ 17th August, 2001 ]
8,000 terms defined [phonetic pronunciation included]. Topics include pollution, climatology, endangered species, waste disposal and environmental protection.
The Cambridge Illustrated Dictionary of Natural History [ 6th August, 1987 ]
8,000 entries.
Longman Dictionary of Environmental Science [ May 1998 ]
12,700 entries.
Longman Dictionary of Geography: Human and Physical Geography Terms Explained [ 25th January, 1988 ]
Dictionary of Government and Politics [ 22nd September, 1997 ]
7,500 terms defined [phonetic pronunciation included]. Coverage includes national legislatures, elections, local government, parliamentary and council procedure, international affairs and political parties and theories. Supplements cover the political and legislative systems in Britain and the United States.
Dictionary of Horticulture [ to be published: 1st June, 2003 ]
5,000 terms defined [phonetic pronunciation included]. Subjects covered include soil, botany, plant species and genera, cultivation techniques, propagation, common garden plants and indoor pot plants. Notes on cultivation, tools, implements, fertilizers and pesticides are included where relevant.
Dictionary of Hotels, Tourism and Catering Management [ April 1994 ]
9,000 terms defined. Topics include travel, tourism, ticketing, hotels and staff, restaurants, kitchens, table-settings, service, cooking, general business accounting and personnel terms.
Dictionary of Human Resources and Personnel Management [ 21st February, 1997 ]
7,500 terms defined [phonetic pronunciation given]. The entries cover terms from recruitment and selection assessments, payment systems, dismissals and terms of industrial relations. Specimen documents (e.g. contracts of employment) are also included.
Check Your Vocabulary for Human Resources and Personnel Management
A companion workbook to help improve specialist HR vocabulary.
Dictionary of Information Technology [ 26th November, 2001 ]
12,500 terms defined. Coverage of all communications, technology and IT fields including computers, programming, telecommunications, electronics, graphics, desktop publishing, print media, radio, television and film & video terms used in multimedia presentations and applications.
Dictionary of Law [ 3rd March, 2000 ]
7,500 terms defined [phonetic pronunciation given and both British & American law covered]. Subject matter includes criminal, civil, commercial and international law, with situations as different as the solicitor's office and prison. Language varies from formal (e.g. Latin & French terms) to prison slang.
A companion workbook to help improve specialist legal vocabulary.
Dictionary of Library and Information Management [ September 1997 ]
4,500 terms defined [phonetic pronunciation included]. Coverage of all aspects of libriarianship, library management and information management, including computer systems, dial-up databases as well as terms related to the Internet and world wide web.
Dictionary of Marketing [ June 1996 ]
6,500 terms defined [phonetic pronunciation included]. Topics include presentation, market research, packaging and publicity. Tables of socio-economic groups are also given.
A companion workbook to help improve marketing vocabulary.
The Dictionary of Medicine [ 29th March, 2000 ]
12,500 terms defined [phonetic pronunciation given]. British and American medical practice is covered, with terms from surgery, general practice, hospitals, clinics, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry and other specialisations.
Check Your Vocabulary for Medicine [ 29th March, 2000 ]
A companion workbook to help improve medical vocabulary.
Dictionary of Military Terms [ September 1999 ]
5,500 terms defined [phonetic transcription given]. Coverage includes British, American and international military terms, military personnel, manoeuvres, equipment, vehicles, weapons, tactics and commands.
Check Your Vocabulary for Military English [ September 1999 ]
A companion workbook to help improve military vocabulary.
Dictionary of Printing and Publishing [ September 1997 ]
9,000 terms defined. Coverage of terms for all stages of bookk, magazine and newspaper production including editing, design, printing and distribution. Specific areas include printing machines, paper, ink, binding, typesetting, DTP, commercial publishing and bookselling, proofreading, layout, commissioning, contracts and rights. Also covers electronic publishing and publishing on the internet, including the programming languages, file formats and standards used in electronic publishing.
Dictionary of Science and Technology [ to be published 1st July, 2003 ]
10,000 terms defined. Coverage includes many specialist fields: chemistry, engineering, automobile engineering, architecture, electrical engineering and physics. Newer technology-based fields such as television, radio, electronics and computing are also given. Differences between British and American terms are highlighted.
The Cambridge Illustrated Dictionary of Scientists [ 20th June, 2002 ]
1,500 key scientists. The entries cover their life and work.
Dictionary of Shakespeare [ 13th September, 2000 ]
1,500 entries covering the terms used in theatre and in stagecraft, together entries for all of Shakespeare's plays (including the main characters) and poems.
Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture [ 30th November, 1998 ]
80,000 words and phrases; 150,000 cultural and encylopedic entries covering people, places and events from politics, history, geography, science, the arts and popular culture. Feature pages on topics including Festivals, Special Days, and Shakespeare's Plays, with full-colour illustrations. Covers both American and British terms.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church [ 14th September, 2000 ]
6,000 entries. Covers the Eastern Churches, issues on moral theology, and developments stemming from the Second Vatican Council. It includes Black Churches, Christian attitudes to Jews, Feminist Theology, Holiness Movement, Liberation Theology, and ordination of women; full coverage of theology, patristic scholarship, churches and denominations, the church calendar and organization, and the Bible; and entries on theologians, philosophers, painters, musicians, and writers of religious works.
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If you are taking up a teaching position where learners require practice in
occupational English, then it may take a few months to get to know their job
descriptions and work environments. It would be unusual to find a set of tailor-made
materials reflecting the language functions which learners are required to perform in
their work. In my first ESP post, I spent several months working through A. P.
Herbert's "The Structure of Technical English", before I realised that a functional
approach to lesson design, based on what my learners actually did, was going to prove
more productive. Françoise Grellet's excellent Developing Reading Skills, published in September 1981, came
to my rescue during my second year. This work is full of practical examples of
exercise-types linked to content which has been supplied by adapting or selecting
authentic materials. My learners from different departments in the steelworks were
able to supply me with plenty of authentic texts, ranging from topics such as credit
control to the design of high speed cutting tools.
Adapting company
brochures, memos and documents for use as teaching material requires a great deal of
time and commitment, and unless teachers are based in one company setting, it is
doubtful whether that time will be available.
It is important to bear in
mind that many of the materials offered to learners of English for specific purposes
are intended for independent study. The use of class-time for word-level study is
questionable, especially when vocabulary exercises lack a functional framework and
when vocabulary learning is not integrated with other skills.
Nevertheless,
it is handy that the reference dictionaries listed above cover so many specialist fields.
The companion workbooks may offer some homework opportunities.
I
would always advise non-native speakers of English to choose reference dictionaries
which include the phonetic spellings to the right of each entry. Pronunciation practice
is often neglected both by learners studying on their own and in the teaching of
English for Specific Purposes. Words are much more likely to be remembered if they
become part of a learner's spoken repertoire.