Abstract:

The investigation of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) contexts has produced significant results in the last few years. Moreover, these results have initiated a shift from achieving native speaker competency to more context-related and functional language use in the perspective of the overall approach to ESP. Yet, the literature needs more study to reveal how far this shift has embedded ESP coursebooks and audio materials. Therefore, this study aimed to explore to what extent the recent ESP coursebooks and audio materials matched the characteristics of ELF. In the study, four ESP coursebooks and their audio tracks were analyzed in terms of the presence or absence of references to ELF features, specifically; ELF-informed activities, the promotion of using English outside the inner circle countries, and the use of authentic expending circle English communication. The findings revealed the dominance of Standard English in language exposure, a dearth of ELF-informed activities, and a sparse representation of expending circle cultures in the four ESP coursebooks. Similarly, the listening tracks showed a strong preference for native English speakers as the introducers of English users in the tracks. The study presents a number of critical implications for ESP instructors and material designers.

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