TESOL Society of Bangladesh inaugurates EAP/ESP SIG

TESOL Society of Bangladesh recently organised the inauguration ceremony for its Special Interest Group (SIG) titled TESOL BD EAP/ESP SIG, an event dedicated to create the biggest community between the practitioners of ‘English for Academic Purposes’ (EAP) and ‘English for Specific Purposes’ (ESP).

Manjet Kaur Mehar Singh, associate professor and the deputy dean of research, innovation and industry community engagement of Universiti Sains Malaysia, addressed the event as the chief guest on Thursday, said a press release.

She highlighted the difference among English for Academic Purposes (EAP), English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and English for General Purposes (EGP) at the tertiary level education.

Manjet's discussion focused on English language education in general with its various communicative functions such as for general, specific, academic, occupational and professional purposes in higher education.

Speaking as a special guest, professor AMM Hamidur Rahman, dean of faculty of humanities and social sciences, Daffodil International University, talked about the past, present and future of EAP and ESP in the context of Bangladesh.

He talked about the long-term research that has so far gone into the implementation of EAP and ESP in Bangladesh.

The research findings and developed material, however, are yet to be fully circulated in Bangladesh due to the pandemic.

He also said how EAP and ESP could bridge the gap between the learner and the learner’s professional arena.

The inaugural ceremony was moderated by Dipty Rahman, lecturer of department of English at DIU.