Tuesday, June 21st 2022, The Master Program of Linguistics at Diponegoro University held an online public lecture via Zoom with English for Specific Purposes as the main topic. The guest lecture is a compulsory agenda that is held every few months to increase student insight in the field of linguistics which obtained from various sources, exceptionally qualified lecturers from outside Diponegoro University. On this special occasion, the main speaker in this guest lecture is Sisilia Setiawati Halimi, S.S., M.A., PhD from the University of Indonesia. The main topic is ESP (English for specific purposes) in a presentation entitled English as a Medium of Instruction: Challenges and Opportunities. In her presentation, Dr. Sisilia, said that there are several types of content in the teaching field, especially teaching that is carried out using English. Teaching that is carried out using English can be referred as ESP or English for Specific purposes, where the subjects taught are not English but some particular fields, for example in the areas of economics, business, engineering, medicine and others. Mrs. Sisilia explained that ESP itself was initially prepared for students who are already at the intermediate stage of mastering English and not for beginners. However, many ESP classes are still intended for all levels, especially in Indonesia. This makes the ESP class less effective because not all students can absorb the lectures optimally.
Holding ESP classes can attract international students to study at various universities in Indonesia, especially the culture of this country. To organize an ESP class itself, we need lecturer who are also fluent and confident in speaking English, but this is a big obstacle for English as a foreign language country, especially in Indonesia. Mrs. Sisilia added that if an academic institution wants to provide maximum ESP, it must meet the following criteria; (1) teaching staff who are experts in their fields and also fluent in English, and (2) students who are already at the intermediate level so that the lectures delivered can be received optimally.
Mrs. Sisilia hopes in the future; there will be more students, especially Master’s and Doctoral students, to conduct research in this field; it is also expected that more universities in Indonesia will implement English for Specific Purposes classes to attract international students to learn about various areas, especially the culture of this country.