Extended reality (XR) has increasingly been adopted to support complex, task-based learning environments that foster the development of domain-specific competencies, including those required in English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Even though XR has been advocated as an adequate environment to improve language acquisition, its integration within the language teaching process mostly remains limited and exploratory. Therefore, there is a need to investigate which language learning components can be most effectively enhanced by XR technologies, and how this enhancement can take place. The objective of this study is to develop a theoretical framework to meet that aim, thus helping ESP teachers and learners to integrate XR-based technology within the language learning process at the university level. To address this research objective, the following steps have been undertaken. First, a literature review has been conducted both to compile relevant background knowledge on XR in language learning and establish pedagogical criteria. The methodology used is bibliometric analysis. Second, a semi-structured questionnaire has been administered to 22 university ESP teachers to identify teaching needs addressed by XR technologies. A grounded theory methodology has been used. Based on these steps, a theoretical framework has been developed to guide the implementation of XR technologies in ESP.
The integration of immersive technologies, particularly virtual reality (VR), into English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is reshaping higher education through personalized, experiential, and collaborative learning in metaverse-ready environments. This study examines the impact of VR-based video production on speaking skills among commerce undergraduates and explores learners' perceptions of VR as a pedagogical tool. Using a quasi-experimental design, 146 students were assigned to a control or experimental group and asked to create promotional videos using either conventional social-media tools or VR applications. A speaking rubric and a Likert-scale questionnaire on VR perceptions were administered. Results show that the VR experimental group significantly outperformed the control group in speaking performance and valued VR for enhancing motivation, immersion and communicative competence, despite some concerns about required time and training. Framed by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Unified Theory ofAcceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and the Diffusion of Innovations Theory, the study demonstrates that VR-enhanced ESP instruction can improve learning outcomes and engagement while supporting innovative curriculum design in higher education.
This study examines how informal digital learning of English (IDLE) is perceived as useful for developing English for specific purposes (ESP) competencies, particularly in professional, academic and informal communication within extended reality (XR) supported contexts. Data were collected from 143 undergraduate students on their engagement in digital English practices and their perceived usefulness for ESP learning. Exploratory factor analysis identified four dimensions of perceived usefulness: Social and interactive communication, Functional and informational literacy, Technology-assisted and structured learning and Media and academic content consumption. These were used as predictors in regression models targeting three outcomes: (1) Immersive academic and professional language use, (2) Interactive comprehension and speaking skills, and (3) Casual and written communication in XR-supported contexts. Results show that Technology-assisted and structured learning is the strongest predictor of Immersive academic and professional language use, while Social and interactive communication best predicts Casual and written XR-supported communication. The findings suggest that align with academic and professional discourse, whereas informal interaction fosters communicative fluency for collaborative XR-supported environments. The study highlights the need to integrate both practice types in ESP pedagogy.
Extended reality (XR) is increasingly explored in English for specific purposes (ESP) in tertiary education, yet lecturers' willingness to integrate it into ESP teaching remains uneven. The present study adopts Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2) as an associational lens to examine how lecturers' beliefs about the pedagogic value of XR for specialised language/discourse work relate to behavioural intention, alongside contextual and resource conditions in Moroccan public universities. An online questionnaire was completed by 279 ESP lecturers with prior XR exposure, measuring UTAUT2 constructs and key background variables. Correlations, multiple regression, and HC3-robust general linear models were used. Performance expectancy and hedonic motivation showed the strongest positive associations with intention, with personal innovativeness also positively associated with intention. Effort expectancy and facilitating conditions displayed attenuated and direction-shifting conditional associations under shared variance. Social influence contributed more modestly once other variables were modelled. Intention also aligned with Education Sciences, stable appointments, IT training, personal computer ownership, learning management system (LMS) or specialised software access, and greater teaching experience. The findings suggest that XR uptake in ESP relates to experiential beliefs and structural conditions, and motivate a tentative "pedagogical proofing" pathway for logging, discussing, and refining XRsupported ESP lesson designs.
Immersive environments, like virtual reality (VR), can support language and presentation skills development, and, in English for specific purposes (ESP) contexts, VR can be useful for practising academic and professional genres in realistic environments. While VR can pose significant challenges for ESP teachers and reveal their vulnerabilities as they use unfamiliar tools (Diert-Bot & eacute; & Moncada-Comas, 2026), it can also enhance teacher motivation, likely resulting from increased student motivation and engagement (Nicolaidou et al., 2023). This paper uses collaborative autoethnography (CAE) (Chang, 2013) to explore how three ESP teachers-the authors-reflect on their motivation and approaches to innovative ESP teaching after incorporating VR into their courses. Using a content-thematic approach (Salda & ntilde;a, 2016), we analyse four journals in which the teachers documented their experiences using VR, including challenges, emotions, and the perceived usefulness of VR. Findings reveal that, when using VR, teachers face the dual challenge of managing the teaching activity and mastering the new technology, while also exhibiting higher motivation towards the success of VR tasks. Overall, the study offers insights into how VR adoption shapes teacher motivation and pedagogical practices, thus highlighting both opportunities and challenges of immersive technology for innovative ESP teaching.
The increasing integration of extended reality (XR) into language education has highlighted the need for pedagogically grounded approaches to its use in English for Specific Purposes (ESP). This article presents a case study based on the development of an application aiming to enhance ESP competence in educational and professional contexts via augmented reality (AR) and focusing on three specialized domains (medical, business, and legal English). The study addresses the pedagogical and material-design requirements guiding the development of AR-supported ESP learning environments, including design, interaction modes, and corpus-informed material development. More specifically, it examines how ESP-specific pedagogical principles can be operationalized through AR-based tasks, how technological and interaction design choices support these principles, and how corpus-informed procedures can be used to develop ESP learning materials. The article contributes to current discussions on the role of XR in ESP by outlining a design-oriented framework that connects instructional requirements, material development, and technological implementation.
Virtual reality (VR) can be beneficial for both individual and collaborative learning by fosteringa sense of presence and immersion (Chen, 2016; Dalgarno & Lee, 2010), particularly in the context of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) vocabulary teaching (Madini & Alshaikhi, 2017). This study investigates the use of immersive glossaries in VR as a form of ESP vocabulary instruction. In this context, immersive glossaries were integrated into a VR-based solution for specialised language learning, featuring interactive points that present specialist terms in textual, auditory and 3D visual formats. The study, conducted during the first semester of the 2025-26 academic year, employed a two-group pre-and post-test design. A total of twenty graduate students enrolled in the MA in Conference Interpreting participated in four training sessions focused on fashion vocabulary learning. Ten students engaged with the English-Italian immersive glossary in VR, while a control group of ten students used a traditional English-Italian glossary in Word format, typically employed in conference interpreting classes. Following the training, the pre-and post-test results were compared, revealing statistically comparable language gains in both groups. These findings suggestthatimmersive learning in VR can complement, rather than replace, traditional vocabulary instruction.
Developing intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is essential for Tourism students operating in multilingual, culturally diverse environments where English functions as a global lingua franca. This study investigates the use of extended reality (XR), specifically a low-threshold digital escape room, to foster ICC within an English for specific purposes (ESP) course for Tourism. Designed using Genially, this XR-inspired escape room presents interactive, narrative-based scenarios informed by real-world intercultural challenges, such as solo travel and generational differences. Learners navigate multimedia prompts, branching decision paths, and embedded feedback while resolving dilemmas involving culturally diverse tourists. A mixed-methods approach was adopted, combining pre-and post-intervention questionnaires based on the intercultural sensitivity scale (ISS) (Chen & Starosta, 2000) with qualitative data from students' reflective journals. Findings suggest increased intercultural sensitivity, enhanced pragmatic competence, and greater confidence in cross-cultural communication. Likewise, students demonstrated improved strategies for managing misunderstandings and adapting language use. This study contributes to XR-enhanced ESP pedagogy byshowcasing how accessible XR tools can simulate complex intercultural encounters. It offers a replicable model for embedding ICC into ESP instruction through immersive, gamified learning, supporting learners' readiness for professional success in the global tourism industry.
English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is an important component in educational systems worldwide, particularly in middle-income countries (MICs) such as Indonesia, where globalisation and internationalisation have driven the demand for English proficiency. This systematic literature review synthesises existing research on ESP practices within the Indonesian context to identify key trends, gaps, and challenges in current practices and inform future curriculum development and policy directions. Sixty studies, screened against predefined inclusion criteria, were analysed to address the overarching question of how ESP is conceptualised and implemented in Indonesia. The synthesis identified three themes concerning students' language and communication needs across professional fields, the challenges and strategies involved in ESP teaching, and the use of innovations such as technology and alternative pedagogical approaches. Overall, the review synthesises current trends, challenges, and practices in ESP education, while offering insights transferable to other MICs with similar socioeconomic conditions. The findings provide implications for researchers, educators, and policymakers seeking to enhance ESP provision in comparable contexts.
A growing body of research highlights the importance of developing student agency for achieving success in foreign language learning (FLL). This study investigates how foreign language anxiety, self-efficacy, and task value relate to three aspects of student agency: student-teacher collaboration, student-student collaboration, and agency for learning English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Given the study's focus on the interactional and collaborative aspects of student agency and acknowledging that class size can have an effect on classroom dynamics and student behaviour, particularly in terms of social interaction, students attending smaller ESP classes were selected for the study. Data were collected from 82 first-year, non-English major undergraduates from Croatia. Pearson's correlation and multiple regression analyses were employed. The results revealed that the anxiety-related variables did not significantly predict student agency. In contrast, self-efficacy emerged as a significant positive predictor of both student-student collaboration and ESP agency, while task value significantly predicted ESP agency. Furthermore, both self-efficacy and task value were positively correlated with all three components of student agency. These findings highlight the critical role of self-efficacy and task value in fostering student agency, whereas the effects of anxiety were less pronounced. The study contributes to a better understanding of student agency in university-level ESP learning, with particular emphasis on its motivational and affective determinants.
Embedding in-sessional provision within disciplines is increasingly being recognised as the most effective method of developing students' academic language and literacy. Impact studies in this area have mainly focused on academic performance, and there is limited research into the impacts on the overall student experience, and limited differentiation between home and international students. This study aims to investigate the impact of embedded in-sessional provision on the student experience in the School of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Leeds, on both international and home students, to extend impact research in this area. Through a series of anonymous questionnaires and focus groups across an academic year, students reported positive impacts in three areas: academic impact in both academic language and literacy and assessment literacy, sense of belonging, and emotion in enjoyment and confidence. Between home and international students, subtle differences were noted only in the area of academic impact. It is argued that embedded in-sessional provision should be open to all students, and practitioners should take a holistic approach, with sense of belonging and emotion both feeding into and supporting academic performance.
Asynchronous video interviews (AVIs) are being increasingly used in modern recruitment, yet little is known about how English as a Foreign Language (EFL) candidates navigate the unique multimodal, cognitive, and affective challenges of this format. This study qualitatively explored seven Taiwanese EFL students' experiences of completing a simulated AVI task, drawing on post-task one-on-one interviews to uncover their preparation strategies, performance struggles, and emotional responses. Thematic analysis identified four key themes: (1) preparation strategies, (2) challenges encountered, (3) anxiety and emotional strain, and (4) perceptions of the AVI platform's affordances and constraints. The findings highlight the heightened communicative complexity of AVIs for EFL learners, and underscore the need for English for Specific Purposes (ESP) training that integrates multimodal communication skills, affective strategy training, and familiarity with AVI platforms. This study contributes to understanding AVIs as a multimodal genre of professional communication, and offers practical insights for enhancing EFL students' digital interview preparedness and professional identity development.
This scoping review investigates how graduate entry nursing (GEN) programs prepare students to successfully complete research projects. For many decades, GEN programs have been offered internationally as an accelerated pathway to nursing registration for graduates. Students who enrol have completed a baccalaureate/bachelor's degree in a prior discipline, but previous research experience is not a prerequisite. Our review spans GEN programs where English is the language of instruction. With a focus on teaching interventions, the Medline and EMcare, with additional citation searching. We followed Arksey and O'Malley's (2005) framework for scoping reviews. Of the initial 537 studies, five were identified for inclusion. The findings show considerable variation in what aspects of literacy were taught and how literacy teaching was integrated into programs. The reported benefits include improvements to program progression and completion, academic performance, as well as a heightened sense of belonging and positive learning experiences. However, the absence of detail about literacy practices, and reporting on findings only within one course - rather than across a program - poses future difficulties for generating recommendations about program design or refinement. In this regard, specific areas of future research are suggested.
This study explores the necessity of establishing a sustainable professional development (PD) structure for English for Academic Purposes (EAP) teachers in higher education institutions in Taiwan. With the rise of English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) courses, there has been a growing demand for qualified EAP teachers to support students in developing the academic language skills needed to thrive in an EMI learning environment. The paper begins with a review of the evolution of EAP, teacher education for pre-service EAP teachers, and PD for in-service EAP teachers. It then presents the results of a needs and concepts analysis survey conducted with 167 university language teachers in Taiwan. The survey revealed that these teachers have optimistic attitudes towards EAP and diverse needs for EAP PD, particularly regarding EAP curriculum design. We propose a collaborative framework for EAP PD informed by these findings. This framework emphasizes the sharing of disciplinary literacy between EAP and EMI teachers, the importance of understanding academic language, and the integration of subject-specific knowledge and teaching strategies.
This longitudinal study explored the differing development of lexico-pragmatic resources in student writing within English-medium education (EME) versus non-EME contexts. Conducted over two years at a private business university, the study compared an EME bachelor's cohort with an equivalent Spanish-medium group that received supplementary English language courses. Students' written discourse was analysed using pre-and post-tests (IELTS Writing Task 2 essays). Comparative measurements tracked the acquisition of semi-technical/academic vocabulary and textual cohesion, which was specifically measured through discourse markers. The findings indicate that while both groups showed growth, the nature of that developmentvaried. EME students demonstrated greater gains in semi-technical/academic vocabulary, likely due to consistent exposure, yet showed minimal change in their use of discourse markers. Conversely, non-EME students, benefiting from explicit English for Specific and Academic Purposes (ESP/EAP) instruction, achieved stronger development in discourse markers, but exhibited limited growth in vocabulary. These results suggest that while EME facilitates vocabulary acquisition, discourse markers require targeted pedagogical intervention. The study advocates for integrated language support, confirming the need for a balanced curriculum combining incidental exposure with explicit instruction. This research offers practical implications for curriculum design in multilingual higher education settings.
The purpose of this work is to present a procedure for identifying metaphors in specialized texts, termed MIPSpeC. Building on established authoritative procedures (MIP and MIPVU), a nine-step procedure is proposed, enhanced by the inclusion of concept maps in Step 2 (conceptual exploration) and Step 9 (conceptual redefinition), and the introduction of specialized glossaries in Step 8 as a final validation filter, thereby ensuring both methodological rigor and replicability. The procedure was developed as part of a critical investigation of the metaphor WINE IS A HUMAN BEING in promotional wine tasting notes from UK-based wine sellers. Following the introduction of the notion of metaphor identification and upon outlining the two primary approaches-inductive and deductive-the MIP and MIPVU procedures are reviewed, alongside the main implementations of metaphor identification through Wmatrix. The proposed procedure is then presented step by step, followed by a demonstration of its application to the investigation of metaphor in specialized genres, with a focus on wine-tasting notes. Having an integrated procedure for specialized languages allows for more accurate identification of metaphorical expressions, with results that can be applied both in the field of Specialised Terminology as well as Critical Discourse Studies, or their intersection. The development of MIPSpeC forms part of a broader effort to advance the establishment of Corpus-Assisted Critical Specialised Discourse Studies (CACSDS).
Investigations into maritime disasters involving human factors reveal that approximately one-third of accidents stem from communication failures, largely due to inadequate proficiency in maritime English (ME). As an important aspect of ME, ship-shore communication (SSC) is a contributory factor to the safety in the vessel traffic service (VTS) areas. While SSC instruction and learning have garnered growing attention from marine stakeholders worldwide, its specific linguistic features remain underexamined. Grounded in the multidimensional (MD) analysis framework proposed by Biber (1988), this study conducts a corpus-based comparative analysis of SSC and casual conversational English (CE) to identify how SSC varies from CE in terms of linguistic features and communicative functions. The results demonstrate that, compared to CE, SSC is characterized by greater information density, non-narrative concerns, and context independence. It tends to be less abstract and formal, less explicit in expressing viewpoints, and is produced under time constraints. Several pedagogical implications are proposed to enhance SSC instruction and improve effective communication in this high-stakes context.
With English-for-academic-purposes (EAP) teaching, it is expected that the skills students develop in an EAP course will transfer to the students' disciplinary courses. For this transfer to be maximized, it is important that students are motivated to transfer EAP learning. However, transfer motivation has received little attention in research on EAP education, so there is limited information regarding influential factors. To address this gap, this study investigated whether EAP students' transfer motivation was influenced by factors linked to transfer motivation in previous research in and outside EAP education: students' transfer-related expectations and beliefs, perceptions of learning, and perceptions of EAP course design. The participants were 313 first-year undergraduate students at a US university; these students were non-native English speakers and were enrolled in EAP courses. Data were gathered through a questionnaire survey, and statistical analyses revealed that the students' transfer motivation was influenced primarily by their transfer-related beliefs and expectations and to a lesser degree by their perceptions that the EAP course was similar to target contexts. A practical implication is that to promote EAP students' transfer motivation, instructors should help students develop transfer-conducive beliefs and expectations and raise their awareness of similarities between their EAP course and disciplinary courses.
