Students’ perspective of ESP in IT classroom: challenges and opinions

Abstract

ESP has become a crucial part of every EFL curriculum. Hence, there are numerous challenges that both students and teachers encounter during their classes. This paper deals with potential problems that students face in ESP classroom, their attitudes towards the content and perspective of ESP classes and materials, as well as implications and recommendations for future methods and resources used in ESP classrooms. For the purpose of the study, we conducted a survey among students to examine their attitudes and to investigate their perspectives of ESP classes and materials. The paper presents the results of a survey conducted among IT students. The main research instrument used in our study was a questionnaire combined with a semi-structured interview and a small-scale needs analysis. The results show that students are aware of the importance of ESP and are motivated to improve their level of professional English in order to be successful in their future careers. The findings also show that most of the students’ value authentic materials and speaking activities, which were both evaluated as positive aspects of ESP classes. These findings can help us design future ESP curricula and overcome difficulties and challenges in an ESP classroom.