The Importance of Materials Development in Teaching English for Specific Purposes

Abstract

English for Specific Purposes has become very necessary in the last decades. This research paper aims to show the importance of materials development in English for Specific Purposes, since there is a lack of textbooks for this course aimed for students at the Faculty of Public Administration and Political Sciences at South East European University, Republic of Macedonia. When students graduate they should use written and speaking English language according to protocols and rules related to Public Administration in the country. English Language is a core subject at the university level and students take the ESP course in the third and fourth semester, after they have finished with their Basic English skills. In this research, qualitative and quantitative approaches were used for the data collection. The evidence for the paper was gathered by interviewing the students and preparing the target vocabulary in order to select materials. Students were also given a questionnaire to answer on their preferences where would they prefer to work after they graduate. The University data was also used to show the percentage of the already employed graduate students and according to the results new syllabi and materials were compiled to motivate students, engage and give assignments on topics that will be used on a daily basis. Course readers were designed for both ESP 1 and ESP 2 courses and other additional materials were selected that will prepare students for their future career.

Keywords: materials development; ESP, Public Administration; Political Sciences;