USING ESP TO RAISE STUDENTS' AWARENESS OF ENERGY AND SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES

The purpose of the study was to explore the idea of ESP teachers imparting basic knowledge and raising students' awareness of energy and sustainability issues in English classes at the university preparatory level. To achieve this goal, it was necessary to find out ESP teachers' thoughts about using ESP to teach sustainable development concurrently with English language teaching: their perceptions, opinions, beliefs, attitudes, knowledge and values.

A language user must negotiate and debate environmental issues and be tactful to his/her interlocutor. Hence, learning a foreign language is important for the success of ESD. University students are language users in classes where they discuss sustainability and other issues using English as a foreign language.

In general, the earth is in crisis and the oil and gas industry is a major producer of oil (which unknowingly contributes to CO2 emissions) with education as the key to solving related problems. Very recent studies have confirmed that university preparatory students lack knowledge about energy. There is a need for English language curriculum designers and higher education administrators involved in preparatory level education to consider using ESP to teach sustainability.