ESP at tertiary level: traditional ESP or integrated ESP?

Abstract

The course of literature which explores the thematic approach in teaching second or foreign languages to replace pure language teaching has some influences in ESP field. ESP practitioners invariably find themselves in a dilemma situation, of whether to do away with language focused traditional ESP or should take a step forward to integrate content and language in ESP. Such issue is particularly important in Malaysian university context, a non-English-speaking country with its deteriorating English standard. This paper presents the differences between traditional ESP and integrated ESP learning. It further discusses the possibilities and inherent limitations of the approaches. This article also provides some recommendation in which limitations can be addressed and finally concludes that learners’ needs and competency should determine the approach used.