Challenges and Predicaments in Teaching “English for Science” in an ESP Classroom: A Research Study to Pinpoint Problems and Solutions

The age-old methods of English Language Teaching (ELT) have been taken over by new approaches of language teaching which quest for relevance and reality in a language. This quest and the demand for novel trends give rise to the English for Specific Purpose (ESP). ESP is an approach to delivering content knowledge and equipping the learners to perform effectively in a target situation. This study aims to investigate the challenges and the obstacles in the English for Science classroom at King Khalid University (KKU), Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). This paper explains the historical overview of ESP and suitable methods of teaching ESP courses. A quantitative research methodology has been applied to obtain data from 20 English language teachers who have been teaching English for Science for the past five years or more on different Science campuses at KKU. The detailed analysis of the data reveals that there are numerous crises and issues faced by the ESP teachers. The most common of them is motivation on the part of the students, constructive prerequisite courses, lack of learning skills, and an interactive classroom. The researchers have explored these challenges in detail and finally suggested some guidelines to overcome the crises.