by Dr Salbiah Seliman

Does UTM offer only English for Science and Technology? Is the English you learn in UTM only the English of science and technology?

THESE TWO QUESTIONS MAY BE familiar to you but that is from your own perspective. Would you like to know how I look at the answers to these two questions?

     If your answer is no, you can skip my article, if yes, continue reading.

     If you ask me whether UTM offers only English used in science and technology, my answer is no. First, what is English for Science and Technology? How does this differ from EST (English for Science and Technology)? EST is a branch of ESP (English for Specific Purposes) and ESP is a branch of ELT (English Language Teaching). The difference between EST and English for Science and Technology is this: EST is a field of study and English for Science and Technology concerns our intention, i.e. English for science and technology which will be dealt with slightly later. Highlighting only our concern, I would put the hierarchical arrangement of EST, ESP and ELT as follows:

     Categorised under ELT is also, in my own term, NSE (Native Speaker English) from which we could gather innovative insights in our battle to acquire and assist to acquire English. ESL (English as a second language) and ESOL (English and other speaker of English) are only variants and are essentially the same. Maybe you have not heard of EGP. You may guess what it is now! Right! It is English for General Purpose. EGP is any other than ESP and we are actually concerned on this difference. Now, what could come under ESP? EST of course, but what else? Right, other than EST, we also have English for legal purposes, English for medical purposes and other varieties with specific purposes as the motivating factor. EGP on the other hand, are those with no pre-set goals, thus they practice their reading, speaking and writing for unspecified goals.

     You may expect, being a scientific and technological university, UTM offers EST which is a branch of ESP. Let us try to reason out our �specific� purposes and the question of English for science and technology.

     Referring back to what we asked earlier in the article, we asked whether UTM offers only English for Science and Technology and whether the English you learn in UTM is only the English of science and technology. I have said no for both questions and we have said we want to examine our specific purposes including our intention.

     Let us begin with the first question. The answer is obviously no. Of course UTM does not offer only EST because it offers also other subjects and courses in various fields. This question was used only to confuse you as how Dr. Noor Abidah did in Volume 1 Issue 1.

     The second question is actually the one we should have been paying attention to all this while. Would you say the English you learn in UTM is only EST or that UTM offers English only for science and technology?

     The first concept in the second question says the English you learn in UTM is only EST. What is EST? EST is the English used in domains of science and technology. For those involved in faculties which have obvious correlation with science and technology such as Engineering (Mechanical, Civil, Electrical, etc.), Science (Physics, Biology, Chemistry) and Geoinformation, there is no doubt about it. But those who belong to the Management and Education faculties are always questioned on their relevance of being in UTM. If you belong to the Management faculty the English you learn is geared towards the domains involving the management of science and technology. If you belong to the Education faculty, the English you learn is geared towards the domains involving the inculcation of values related to the domains of science and technology. Although the domains of Management and Education might be more diluted compared to those in the case of Engineering, there would still be such tailoring, and so I would say yes to the first concept in the second question.

     The second concept is more interesting. It is on the fact that UTM offers English only for science and technology. I am sure your answer is like mine: no. It is not our intention. We do not offer English only for science and technology. We offer English to you for the sake of humankind/development, etc. in the name of our Creator.

     This actually includes everything we do that should be carried out in the name of our Creator, not in the name of fame or money, for fame and money without the Creator�s blessing will only take us further towards destruction. If we have this type of motivation as our energy, we will become a human with novel intention and marvelous personality, as depicted in the following verse which describes the personality of someone in charge of a counter:

Make the first thirty seconds count Greet the customer immediately Give the customer undivided attention Be natural not phony and mechanical Be energetic and cordial Be the customer�s agent Think Use your common sense Use your discretion Be alert Love your work and your customer Know your job Don�t pass the buck Make the last thirty seconds count (Adapted from: a notice board at a Telekom office.)

     Such values are what we would like to see in our graduates. Remember, being concerned and not mechanical, using common sense and using one�s own discretion are good values. Try them. You may change the words the customer or the customers to English and see what the concept means. You can change this same word to other words and see what inspiration you can get. Keep trying until you become a person who can use ESP/EST in UTM or outside CREATIVELY. If you want to share your explorations with me, drop a line at the pocket outside my door at D05-328. Keep in touch.

Dr Salbiah Selima has been a lecturer of English in UTM since 1989. Prior to that, she taught English at MSM (Maktab Sains Mara), MRSM (Maktab Rendah Sains Mara) and UKM. Her present interests are genre, genre approaches, writing, children education and marketing. Those who have common interests are welcome to have discussions especially at UPSP (Unit Perkhidmatan Sokongan Pelajar). This semester her contact hours at UPSP are Tuesdays and Fridays 9-12.