Exploring the Major Challenges that Instructors of English for Specific Purposes Encounter when Designing an ESP Syllabus The Case of Instructors of English for Specific purposes

Abstract

The current study strives to investigate the major challenges that instructors of ESP encounter when designing an ESP syllabus. To address the focal research issue, a qualitative approach was adopted to seek out worthwhile insights through two tools: a semi-structured questionnaire and an interview. The former was distributed online to twenty two (22) instructors of ESP from different Algerian universities while the latter was held with three (3) teachers of ESP and specifically of English for medical purposes (EMP). Accordingly, the attained outcomes indicated that instructors of ESP regard the task of designing an ESP syllabus as a daunting task due to a set of obstacles, such as the insufficient knowledge of the target domain, the absence of instructional materials and documentations, the lack of proper needs analysis and teaching experience. Ultimately, collaboration and training were highly recommended in order to eliminate the barriers that hamper the process of designing ESP syllabuses.