BRIDGING THE GULF: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF ESP CURRICULUM ALIGNMENT WITH WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION NEEDS IN PAKISTANI ENGINEERING AND BUSINESS SECTORS

Abstract

This research project is a critical examination of the congruence between English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses taught in Pakistani institutions of higher learning and the communicative skills that predominate in engineering and business workplaces. Even though English is a hindrance to economic mobility, existing empirical evidence indicates that systemic shortcomings in ESP provision continue to create skills gaps. This qualitative research was based on semi-structured interviews with 72 participants who represent four categories of stakeholder students, graduates, professionals, and instructors in major urban centres, as well as a critical discourse analysis of curricular documents and workplace texts.
Findings show that there is a multi-layered type of detachment where: (1) there is still dominance of decontextualized, accuracy based pedagogies as opposed to fluency, based strategic communicative competence required in professional interactions; (2) there is neglect of Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) in the curriculum; (3) there is no systematic teaching of local relevant workplace texts; and (4) there is enforcement of social-educational inequalities where curricula favours graduates with elite English achievement.
It proposes a participatory, progressive model of ESP reform, grounded in critical ESP, equity-oriented pedagogy, and authentic problem-based learning, comprising three stages and an institutionalised Teacher-Industry-Academic Collaborative process.