Demystifying the Disparity between ESP and EGP Methodology

Abstract

Methodology in ESP (English for Specific Purposes) and EGP (English for General Purposes) has been the main concern for many practitioners over the last few years. Many scholars and researchers would argue that methodology in ESP bear a lot of similarities with methodology in EGP. Conversely, other researchers would describe ELT methodology used in ESP as considerably different from the one adopted and adapted in EGP by virtue of the two contrasting contexts they represent. The present paper, therefore, aims at demystifying the disparity between the specificity of ESP textbooks and the conventional language teaching materials highlighting areas of similarities and differences between ESP and EGP methodologies. The paper also purports to argue the extent to which methodologies used in an ESP context can be used in the learning of any kind of English.