Addressing challenges of evaluating learners in an ESP course at a tertiary level

Abstract

Evaluating learners’ performance in an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course at a tertiary level presents several challenges. These challenges include the diverse needs of learners, the difficulty of developing valid and reliable assessments, and the need to balance formative and summative assessments. Learners in ESP courses often come from different academic and professional backgrounds, which can make it challenging to design assessments that are fair and relevant to all learners. Since evaluation is one of the four main pillars of ESP, assessing language proficiency in specific fields requires specialized knowledge, training and resources. Developing valid and reliable assessments that accurately measure the desired outcomes of the course can also be a significant challenge for teachers, especially in a context where ESP has been introduced recently and uses a teacher-centered approach. Therefore, this study focuses on evaluating learners of ESP courses at two universities, UBT in Kosovo and SEEU in North Macedonia. Namely, the sample comprised 20 English language university professors and 60 EFL students from both universities. The research methods used are teacher surveys and student questionnaires. Data reveals that both groups of respondents, teachers and students, identified potential factors posing challenges in assessing students in ESP courses mainly related to their previous education, inclusion of technology in teaching and a variety of continuous assessment methods used by their professors. The overall study suggests that addressing these challenges requires careful planning, collaboration among educators, and ongoing evaluation of assessment practices. Therefore, it proposes some practical tool that can effectively measure learners’ performance in ESP courses at the tertiary level.