ESP Curriculum Development: Current Challenges and Future Directions

Ayşegül Daloğlu

Middle East Technical University

Over the last decades, scope and role of teaching English for specific purposes (ESP) has developed rapidly to make it a major domain of language instruction and research. ESP research findings highlight the importance of needs assessment regarding both learning and target needs, the significance of prerequisite language proficiency to engage in ESP studies, and the relationship between ESP and English medium instruction in academic contexts. This strengthened emphasis on ESP has led to widening the roles of the ESP practitioner to include diverse competencies such as course development, and materials and assessment design. This presentation will focus on the current challenges faced in ESP programs and discuss future directions regarding curriculum development and teacher education.