The role of ESP courses in general English proficiency

Abstract

The purpose of the present paper is the study of the interaction between learning English for Specific Purposes (ESP), in particular, English for the Financial Sector, and general English proficiency. The research examines the effects of an ESP course being taught for a year on the students' general English proficiency.Two sets of tests were prepared for that purpose and administered to 30 first-year students of finance and law. The students took the placement test twice, at the beginning and at the end of the school year. To monitor test performance over a research period, a parallel form measuring the same competences was administered at the beginning of the second semester. In the test development process a special consideration has been paid to the level of difficulty and its relation to the students' prior educational context. Drawing on the National State Matura exams the test is set at Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) Level B2. As regards its content the test is comprised of reading comprehension tasks (multiple matching, multiple-choice cloze, gapped text) and grammar tasks aiming to examine lexical and grammatical competence.There were two major assumptions in this study: 1) Learning ESP can improve students' general English proficiency, and 2) There is a more substantial improvement in lexical competence as compared to the improvement in grammatical competence.There is strong evidence in support of the first hypothesis, whereas for the second one the results were ambiguous. After major findings are presented and discussed, implications for ESP teaching are given in closing.

The English Language Needs of Hospitality and Hotel Management Students at a Saudi University: Integrating Agile Philosophy into ESP

“…(As cited in Zahedpisheh, Abu bakar, & Saffari, 2017, p.86) There are two types of English teaching -general English for general purposes (GE) and English for specific purposes (ESP). GE learners are distinct from ESP learners as illustrated by Cigan and Kordić (2013) that GE learners are trained in English language proficiency; ESP learners are also aware and familiar with English, but they are still required to learn the language to perform job-related functions, look at Table 1 for further detail.…”

“…As shown in Table 1, Cigan and Kordić (2013) have briefly discussed the main characteristics of ESP and EGP which were: learners' (nature, previous knowledge, proficiency level), learners' needs, the aim of instruction/teaching, grammar, vocabulary, register, and target (situation, proficiency level). Thus, recognizing these characteristics contributed as a guideline to facilitate teaching and designing the appropriate English curriculum for target students.…”

The concept of the English language for specific purposes (ESP)

“…Posebna terminologija se koristi u određenim uslovima i kontekstu uslovljenom grupom ljudi koja pripada datoj profesiji. Učenici koji su dobro "potkovani" znanjem iz opšteg engleskog jezika, posebno u pogledu fonda reči, ne moraju nužno da poznaju i specifičan vokabular koji dato polje struke koristi (Cigan & Kordić, 2013).…”

Indonesian and Malaysian Nurses in English for Specific Purposes Course: A Multicultural Perspective

“…ESP aims to to help language learners to cope with the linguistic aspects or to develop the competencies needed to function in a discipline, profession or workplace for which they wish to master English [5]. However, the use of general English has provided a foundation and development of four language skills [6]. General English can continue to serve its function as long as nurses have good self-efficacy in using their English in their professional settings.…”