ESP Teaching in the Context of Ukrainian Higher Education: Challenges and Solutions

Abstract

Identifying transformational change in English teaching to non-English majors is number one priority in the HE sector in Ukraine. It has resulted in dramatic changes made by Ukrainian universities in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and the British Council in Ukraine. In Ukraine, at tertiary level there are no universally agreed standards of teaching English to non-English majors. As a result, both the status of English and the number of contact hours allocated to it vary considerably across Ukraine and even across faculties within the same educational institutions. A variety of English courses taught include English for General Purposes, English for General Academic Purposes and English for Specific Purposes. Recent tendencies brought about by the British Council’s English for Universities Project (2017) are indicative of a shift towards teaching ESP. Our study deals with ESP teachers’ practical skills, capabilities and problems within the context of two universities: Uzhhorod National University and Odessa I.I. Mechnikov National University. Research findings reflect three major problems ESP teachers are facing in our context: most ESP teachers have no or very little practical training in ESP teaching; the legacy of grammar-translation method has led to teaching mostly decontextualized English having no relation to students’ professional needs and students’ low motivation. The study provides a reflection on the steps to be taken in order to improve the ESP course delivery in Ukrainian educational institutions and presents the transformations that have already been made in these two universities.