Enhancing Communicative Competence Through English for Specific Purposes (ESP): A Comparative Study of ESP and General English Approaches in University Language Programme

It is generally observed that the communicative performance of the students in English language is below average. It is disheartening that a large percentage of students and graduates of Nigerian higher institutions cannot express themselves freely in both written and spoken forms of English language. Whereas, communication is central to the field of teaching and learning. Thus, there is a need to take measures through research, to improve the communicative competence of the students. This research is conceived to examine the competence of the students of Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and Technology Ikere-Ekiti, Nigeria in the use of English Language for interpersonal, official, academic and professional communicative purposes; design English for specific Purpose (ESP) language learning programme for teaching English language in the University to enhance the communicative competence of the students. This study set out to experiment how the use of ESP as a teaching approach can immerse the learners with the required communicative ability for all communicative situations. The study compares the traditional approach of General English with ESP. Empirical evidence from the study suggests that the ESP approach is more effective in enhancing students' communicative competence compared to the traditional General English approach. Significant differences in communicative competence have been observed between students who undergo ESP-based education and those following the conventional General English approach. Based on the significant findings of the research; it is recommended that educational institutions in Nigeria consider incorporating the ESP-based language teaching method into their curriculum.