The Need for ESP Curriculum in Polytechnic Colleges

Abstract

Today’s professional world seeks a combination of technical, conceptual, cognitive, managerial and human skills in the job seeking engineers. Aspirants to engineering positions may have the expertise and competence in the areas of their specialisation, but it is generally observed that they seem to show a marked deficiency in interpersonal communication skills in English. This places the challenge before language educators: how to develop and implement a new set of English language skills in place of the current practices, focussing on the needs of their workplace situations. The success of the modern diploma engineering professional depends to a great extent, on his ease and fluency with the register specific to his profession. This need-based English study leads us to an English language teaching environment which involves equipping the students with the “ability to use the language to receive and convey information associated with specialist studies” (Allen and Widdowson, 8). This study details the basic tenets of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and explores the need to implement it in the English curriculum of the diploma courses in Polytechnic education.