Revue Maghrébine des Langues
Volume 11, Numéro 1, Pages 44-52
2020-12-31

Esp As A University Course To Prepare Degree Students For The Workplace"

Authors : Belambri Roukaya .

Abstract

ESP as a university course was first introduced into Algerian higher institutions after the national LMD reform in 2004. It aims at bringing in students to use English in a variety of fields such as medicine, law, economy, journalism, engineering, business etc, by the end of the course; they are supposed to be able to apply for a job, write a business letter, report a scientific experiment or name the parts of the human body or a car or any other invention. Unfortunately, only few universities all over Algeria are carrying to offer ESP courses to their students, claiming that students of English are generally directed to teach in middle schools and secondary schools after they finish their degrees, therefore; ESP is not really essential for them. Our investigation aims at looking at the roles of ESP in preparing these graduates to use English for Academic or / and professional purposes. To answer the following research question: which ESP course materials do prepare degree students best to the use of English for academic and / for professional purposes? Testimonies of five former students of ESP who are currently actively engaged in different teaching, academic research and business would be exploited to check whether ESP as a university course is necessary for the workplace after graduation. Finally, a set of implications for ESP as university course for a better preparation of brand new majors in English would be presented.

Keywords

ESP – Academic / Professional Purposes – Materials