Challenges in teaching english for specific purposes in estonian universities

Abstract

Due to the growing importance of globalization, the English language has acquired an even more influential role, and at the tertiary educational level it has provoked the necessity of teaching not just general English, but also English for Specific Purposes (ESP), which meets the demands of students' field of study. Moreover, the preparation of undergraduate students for both entering the labour market or continuing their academic path has prioritized the significance of ESP. This paper aims to investigate how ESP teachers working in Estonian state-funded HEI with General English teaching background perceive their work in the field of ESP. Specifically, this abductive qualitative research seeks to obtain a deeper insight into the challenges posed by teaching ESP and to detect problematic issues to better support university teachers to improve their work. The results highlight three major challenges: coping with changes through the lenses of professionalism; insufficient collaboration, and instability in conducting ESP courses.