Volume 13, Issue 2A and 2B, 2025

The Imperative of English for Specific Purposes with Focus on the Language of Politics in Nigerian School Curriculum

Cecilia Folasade OJETUNDE & Foluso Adedoyin AGOI

Abstract

The foundation of democracy is the interface between politicians and the
citizens who constitute the electorate, an interface mediated by public speech.
This stresses the nexus between language and politics, and the role of public
speaking in a democratic setting, such as the Nigerian context. The lack of
communicative efficiency in English, Nigeria’s official language, exhibited by
many Nigerian public office holders calls for a pragmatic approach to English
Language Teaching (ELT). This paper examines the utilitarian function of
English for Specific Purposes (ESP), an aspect of ELT, with Cognitive
Constructivist Theory, as a theoretical approach for equipping our political
leaders with the linguistic skills needed for communicative efficiency – a
determinant of efficiency of political office-holders. Cognitive Constructivist
Theory of Learning views learning as an active process where learners
construct fresh ideas based on their linguistic knowledge and experience, while
ESP, a theoretical approach for curriculum design, focuses on ELT with
attention to needs analysis, genre and successful communication. The
summary of the findings of this study, which adopted a quasi-experimental
design using the survey approach, is that most of the respondents were not
impressed or inspired by the performance of many Nigerian politicians found
to exhibit poor communicative skills – a factor that impacts over-all leadership
performance. The study makes some recommendations: one is that ESP,
particularly the teaching of Language of Politics, should be designed for the
Nigerian school curriculum to groom the youth to become good political
leaders in the country’s search for effective political leadership.

Keywords

English for Specific Purposes, English Language Teaching, Cognitive Constructivist Theory of Learning, Language of politics, efficiency Communicative

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