American International Journal of Social Science

ISSN 2325-4149(Print), ISSN 2325-4165(Online) DIO: 10.30845/aijss

Challenges Facing Students Learning ESP in Arab Universities
Bilal Zakarneh (PhD)

Abstract
English for Specific Purposes (ESP) plays a significant role in the today’s increasingly globalized world yet students undertaking the ESP courses experience unique challenges that have not been explored. This study investigated the challenges facing Arab students in Arab universities learning ESP. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using Microsoft Excel. Results revealed that key challenges experienced by Arab learners of ESP in Arab universities are vocabulary problems; grammatical problems; problems with organizing ideas; and spelling problems. Specific VP problems were identified as register (VR), general (VG), capacity (VC), paraphrasing (P), and expressing ideas (EI). While specific grammatical problems were identified as articles and tenses. These challenges were linked to various causes: methods of teaching English, lack of practicing writing skills in educational institutions, the use of Arabic in English classes, mother tongue influence, and lack of motivation. These challenges can be solved by teachers providing more discipline-specific reading material to improve students vocabulary depth and size; using discipline specific writing material; using multiple teaching techniques; offering extra classes; encouraging students to read extensively and fostering learner autonomy.

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