The status of ESP in Algeria : the need for highly specialized courses of English

Abstract EN

ESP courses are necessary to serve learners' and professionals' specific needs within predefined target situations.

In the Algerian university context, it is not the case, giving that the current courses students attend do not meet their needs since they are EGP classes.

A descriptive method was implemented for the sake of collecting data of a quantitative and qualitative nature through a semi-structured interview and a non-participant observation process.

The analysis of the data shows the respondents' interest in the tentative project.

Moreover, the respondents who are specialized in both the language and different fields show that having specialized classes will save them more time and effort and will help them fulfill specific requirements of the target situation, either professional or academic.

The observation process revealed interesting data, precisely related to course design and ESP teachers.

The former is one of the weighty weaknesses in these courses, as they are not tailored according to learners' needs as no needs analysis process was carried.

The latter shows that no teacher among the ones observed has been trained to be an ESP teacher or has executed any procedure related to ESP course design.