EXPLORING THE CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES IN TEACHING ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES (ESP) TO MEDICAL STUDENTS AT THE FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF ABOMEY-CALAVI, BENIN

Authors

  • Hugues Agounse Laboratoire du Groupe de Recherche sur l’Afrique et la "Diaspora" (GRAD), University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin
  • Pédro Marius Egounleti Laboratoire du Groupe de Recherche sur l’Afrique et la "Diaspora" (GRAD), University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.46827/ejel.v11i3.6748

Keywords:

English for specific purposes, needs analysis, medical education, curriculum redevelopment, learner motivation

Abstract

This research explores the challenges of teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) to medical students enrolled at the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Abomey-Calavi. It assesses how the current ESP course matches students' linguistic and professional needs and how teaching professional practices can be improved. A mixed methods approach was used to conduct the research and involved collecting the data using questionnaires distributed to 20 students and 2 ESP instructors, structured interviews with 2 teachers, and observations of classes. The analysis revealed apparent weaknesses in the delivery of ESP and the pedagogic decisions made, including a lack of needs assessment before the course design, inappropriate materials in use, no or poor attempts to embed communicative skills, and low levels of student motivation. These findings have shown a pressing need to redesign the ESP course to better meet the specific language needs of medical students and demonstrated that the teaching context existed, according to our outcomes. Recommendations were communicated to ensure that competencies and student engagement would be put at the forefront of developing ESP courses or modules, that the instructional time be increased from 30 to 90 hours, and access to teacher development specifically tied to training in ESP pedagogies.

Author Biographies

  • Hugues Agounse, Laboratoire du Groupe de Recherche sur l’Afrique et la "Diaspora" (GRAD), University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin

    Agounse Hugues is a doctoral researcher at t the University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin. His research focuses on adapting English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses to the professional and linguistic needs of medical students. He obtained his Master’s degree in 2022 from the same university of Abomey Calavi. Mr. Agounse has presented papers at national and international conferences and works as an EFL teacher in public secondary schools in Benin. He has also participated in several professional vocational programs.

  • Pédro Marius Egounleti, Laboratoire du Groupe de Recherche sur l’Afrique et la "Diaspora" (GRAD), University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin

    Dr. Egounleti Marius Pédro is a senior lecturer in English language didactics. He is currently the scientific secretary of the English language coordination unit at the doctoral school of the University of Abomey-Calavi, Benin. He supervises numerous students in their research projects and is the author of several articles published in international journals. His research focuses on English for Specific Purposes (ESP), the use of artificial intelligence to teach English language, and teacher motivation and professional development.

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Published

2026-05-26

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 3 (2026)

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