Abstract:

The demand for English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) is deemed to grow proportionally to the universal demand for employees, who can function in the lingua franca English, in their fields of specialisation. Therefore, training in higher education institutions, which aim to produce students with a vocational skills set, should ideally include the teaching and learning of EOP. The focus of this presentation is on the recognition of the role of EOP in institutions of higher education, specifically in the South African context. A study was conducted on curriculum development of EOP, for which a pragmatist approach was used, utilising both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. Wants and needs of stakeholders, which would form the basis of an EOP curriculum, emerged as themes from the data analysis. A disjuncture was highlighted by the data, between the feedback from stakeholders and current curricula, regarding the role and recognition of EOP in institutions of higher learning.

Keywords:

English for Occupational Purposes, wants and needs analysis, role in higher education, Curriculum, feedback from stakeholders.