The effectiveness of an ESP program in developing some language skills for students of nursing institutes

الملخص EN

English Language is an international Language.

It is widely used by several people; the number of people who use English Language is increasing in recent years and is steadily fast, because it helps to reach an important professional status and scientific mission in every sphere of daily national activities of life such as politics, international relations, media, communications, education, scientific and technological innovations.

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is one type of English courses designed to meet the specific academic or professional needs of learner.

Each curriculum is centered on the language and culture specific to the field, while teaching grammar, vocabulary, and study skills.

ESP is broken down into branches; English for Science and technology, English for Business and Economics, English for Medicine and English for Nursing.

ESP is defined in different ways; Celik (2003, p.16) defined ESP as "an approach that uses needs assessment as the foundation for curriculum development and differs from general English in terms of the students themselves, the nature of students' needs, the instructional objectives, and syllabi".

Another definition is introduced by Harding (2007, p.6) who defined ESP as "an approach in which the purpose for learning the language is paramount and relates directly to what the learner needs to do in their vocation or job".

Also, Hutchinson and Waters (1987: p.2) defined ESP as "an approach rather than a product, by which they meant that ESP didn't involve a particular kind of language, teaching, material and methodology".

They suggested that ESP is centered on the language (grammar, lexis, and register), skills, discourse and genres appropriate to these activities.

For a relatively long time, students are studying for different professions more or less General English, which was not always very helpful when used in real-life situations of different areas of specialty, such as engineering, tourism, science, medicine, nursing, and so on.

With time, developments in language theory indicated the need for paying more attention to individual learners.

This realization together with a growing demand for English courses tailored to students' specific needs led to the emergence of English for specific purposes(ESP) in the late of 1960s (Hutchinson&Waters, 1994).

This area proved to be fertile ground, and so ESP has undergone rapid development in recent decades.

Similarly, Hutchinson & Waters (1994: p.6) noted that "two key historical periods breathed life into ESP.

First, the end of World War two brought with it “an age of enormous and unprecedented expansion in specific, technical and economic power activity on an international scale… for various reasons, most notably the economic power of the United States in the post-war world, this role of international language fell to English”.

Second, "the Oil Crisis of the early 1970s resulted in western money and knowledge flowing into the all-rich countries.

The language of this knowledge became English".

Nowadays, ESP is still a distinguished part of EFL teaching.

Respectively, the importance of the ESP for the international communications can be based on the consideration of English as the language of science, technology, politics, nursing, and so on.

(Johns& Dudley-Evans, 1991).

As a result of English has been the main language of international communication, which has become an integral part of most modern professions.

To be able to communicate successfully in English, students of different professions are thus taught ESP, whose overriding characteristics are “the sense of purpose and the sense of vocation”, Harding (2007: p.6).

These characteristics predominantly focus on what students will need in their working environments, or as Harding (2007: p.6) puts it: “ in ESP-English for Specific Purposes- the purpose for learning the language is paramount and relates directly to what the learner needs to do in their vocation or job”.