students attitudes towards ESP ONLINE LEARNING

Abstract

The increasing importance of universal English has led to the rise of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) teaching in Algeria. With the spread of Coronavirus pandemic, particularly in universities, the teaching-learning process shifts from the traditional to the online mode. The present study attempts to investigate students’ attitudes towards ESP online learning; by shedding light on the challenges and the struggles that ESP learners encounter during online learning. Besides, this study seeks to improve the online teaching of ESP methods. Accordingly, within the remit of this study, three questions are raised: (1) what are the challenges and struggles that encounter ESP learners during online learning? (2) What are the attitudes of ESP learners towards the online methods used by ESP teachers? (3) Does online learning meet ESP learners' needs and enable them to achieve their academic needs? In response to the questions, a quantitative research method is used to collect and analyze the required data. Thus, a questionnaire is administered to sixty 60 third-year economics students at the Department of Economics at Mila University Center. The preliminary research results show that most students have a negative attitude towards online learning of ESP. They prefer traditional classes since the methods used do not facilitate their learning process and make them face several struggles. Eventually, the current research suggests a set of recommendations for teachers, learners and university administration to adopt more effective online methods and strategies and improve the online ESP teaching –learning process.