A topical methodology research subject in the European area of higher education: ELF, EFL or ESP?

Abstract

The European “ecosystem” of higher education seems to have been affected by the global pandemic in a number of ways. Some of these impacts may well be viewed as negative; some others, as giving a new impetus to the development of the entire educational system. It is evident, for instance, that the dire necessity to “go virtual” has created new avenues for the intensification of contacts between educators who previously were less motivated to do so (Magomedov et al. 2020, Melnyk et al., 2020). That clearly manifests the fact that the ongoing process of transformations taking place in national higher education systems across Europe has not slowed down at all, which has made some of the current cultural and educational challenges even more pressing. One such challenge is the necessity to effectively use ELF (English as a lingua franca). Researchers working in post-communist countries have made valuable contributions to linguistic studies, especially in the area of EFL studies, as these countries clearly belong to the so-called Expanding Circle. However, the social and cultural realities of today call for more focus not on EFL studies but on research in the field of ELF and ESP (English for Specific Purposes). It is explained by the fact that the ability to use ESP is now a highly desirable skill for the majority of professionals working in the post-communist part of Europe.