Introduction
The objective of this literature review is to understand how English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses offered within an Academic Intensive English Program (AIEP) can help students in their language studies while further preparing them for academic success in their specific major at an American university. A large population of international students come to the United States in order to continue their studies in a particular field. The majority of these students already know what they want to study or have already completed undergraduate university in their particular field and are pursuing graduate school in the United States. Many times they are sent by their company, university or country to study. Their first stop in the United States is at an AIEP where they can improve their English language skills and obtain acceptance to an American university, where they will then be able to advance in their academic career. It is here in an AIEP that students learn words from the Academic Word List, reading skills to help them examine academic literature fully with a greater understanding of the content, listening skills to prepare them for understanding lectures and academic conversations, and speaking skills which allow them to communicate their ideas in a coherent and comprehensive way.
My interest in ESP was sparked when I asked myself how I could better help my university students. I teach in an AIEP preparing students for university in the United States. The program is academically geared, and therefore is under the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) umbrella, a subset of ESP. In an AIEP, instruction is content-based in that it is focused on language skills specifically related to general academia; therefore, readings and listening and speaking activities are focused on many different subjects and not just one future major. Students learn general English language skills in tandem with academic language skills and vocabulary to increase their chances of succeeding in their university studies in the United States. I began to wonder about the integration of a different type of class, an ESP class, into the general AIEP classes that would be even more specific to students majors (i.e. architecture, engineering, law, science, etc.). I thought that if students were given the opportunity to study English in their general academic English classes as well as in an elective dedicated to English in their specific field, they would be much better served and prepared for what is to come once they reach university.
It is true that programs like this do exist in universities, especially at universities abroad in the first year (Alibakhshi, Ali & Padiz, 2011; Ghahremani-Ghajar, Mirhosseini & Fattahi, 2009; Porcaro, 2013; Tsou & Chen, 2013). What is not as common is to find these courses offered to students before their studies begin at university, in the preparation phase, when international students are studying at AIEPs awaiting their acceptance to university in the United States. I believe that it is here that ESP courses should be offered to students in an AIEP once they have reached an upper-intermediate level of English.
In order to understand the potential benefits of integrating these specific academic courses in an AIEP for university preparation, we must first examine content-based language instruction, ESP and all of its facets, EAP and its shortcomings, and finally ESP and how it could be integrated into AIEP to better serve students.
My interest in ESP was sparked when I asked myself how I could better help my university students. I teach in an AIEP preparing students for university in the United States. The program is academically geared, and therefore is under the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) umbrella, a subset of ESP. In an AIEP, instruction is content-based in that it is focused on language skills specifically related to general academia; therefore, readings and listening and speaking activities are focused on many different subjects and not just one future major. Students learn general English language skills in tandem with academic language skills and vocabulary to increase their chances of succeeding in their university studies in the United States. I began to wonder about the integration of a different type of class, an ESP class, into the general AIEP classes that would be even more specific to students majors (i.e. architecture, engineering, law, science, etc.). I thought that if students were given the opportunity to study English in their general academic English classes as well as in an elective dedicated to English in their specific field, they would be much better served and prepared for what is to come once they reach university.
It is true that programs like this do exist in universities, especially at universities abroad in the first year (Alibakhshi, Ali & Padiz, 2011; Ghahremani-Ghajar, Mirhosseini & Fattahi, 2009; Porcaro, 2013; Tsou & Chen, 2013). What is not as common is to find these courses offered to students before their studies begin at university, in the preparation phase, when international students are studying at AIEPs awaiting their acceptance to university in the United States. I believe that it is here that ESP courses should be offered to students in an AIEP once they have reached an upper-intermediate level of English.
In order to understand the potential benefits of integrating these specific academic courses in an AIEP for university preparation, we must first examine content-based language instruction, ESP and all of its facets, EAP and its shortcomings, and finally ESP and how it could be integrated into AIEP to better serve students.