THE CURRICULUM GAP IN ALLIED HEALTH ENGLISH EDUCATION: A PROGRAMME-DIFFERENTIATED ANALYSIS OF ESP NECESSITY, INSTRUCTIONAL LACK, AND LEARNING DEMAND AMONG PAKISTANI HEALTH SCIENCES STUDENTS

Abstract

There is increasingly international literature on English as a Specific Purpose (ESP) in the field of health sciences. ESP as a factor in the teaching of various allied health sciences and still largely missing in the literature of Pakistani higher education. This research filled this gap by examining surveys of 309 allied health students who are undertaking five programmes (DPT, Pharm-D, MLT, RIT and HND/Nursing) at Government College University Faisalabad (GCUF), Pakistan. Adopted a quantitative research design. The Hutchinson and Waters (1987) ESP needs analysis framework was utilized. The study used a one-way ANOVA (with pairwise post-hoc comparisons), Pearson correlation analysis, and multiple regression to test: (1) the extent to which a measurable curriculum gap, which is the mean difference between perceived instructional lacks (Section B) and ESP necessities. Findings indicate that the systemic gap in the curriculum between the means scores is Δ = 0.86 units with the largest gap with authentic materials Δ = 0.17 and clinical writing Δ = 0.89. ANOVA supports the significance of the programme effect on the necessity demand in the Section D (F (4,276) = 2.63, p =.035) with the students in HND/Nursing (M = 4.47) and RIT (M = 4.36) having a significantly higher necessity demand compared to DPT students (M = 4.12). The course evaluation (r =.460, p <.001) and self-competence (r =.481, p <.001) have a strong correlation with prior English learning experience. Multiple regression reveals that self-competence (β = +.177, p = .017) and learning preferences (β = +.201, p = .003) are good positive predictors of ESP necessity demand (R 2 =.128). The results provide a programme-specific, empirically-based basis on which differentiated ESP course design can be based to curriculum designers, ESP course developers, and coordinators of allied health programmes at GCUF.