Analysis of ESP Courses Profile: Bridging the Gap Between ESP Challenges and 21st Century Skills

Abstract

English has the status of a global language and nowadays, it is “a must tool“. In order to be successful in any field of study you need to know the language that is spoken or known worldwide. Therefore, English should be included in any fields of study or disciplines. English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Courses have been offered at the public universities in Kosovo as an elective or compulsory course at many departments, at least for two semesters. Teaching English courses in higher education should be designed based on students’ needs by analyzing their level of English and study disciplines, concretely, English for specific purposes courses. Even though, ESP looks as an “easy peasy” issue, in this study has been involved the challenges that ESP teachers and students come across during the complexity of teaching and learning process. In general, this paper also presents an overview of the current situation of ESP courses profile at three public universities in Kosovo. The study has been carried out using three different evaluative research instruments, concretely, has been included a quantitative questionnaire with students and ESP teachers, a qualitative questionnaire (interview) with ten ESP teachers, currently teaching English specific courses at the three universities and also a class observation at three main public universities in Kosovo (Prishtina, Peja and Prizren). Based on the findings, the course content affects directly beliefs, motivation and interests of the students. Hence, ESP courses should be designed based on students’ specific language and professional needs in each discipline, while studying at Higher Educational Institutions.