HARD-CORE VS SOFT-CORE ESP IN THE LIGHT OF EDUCATION FORESIGHT

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the implications of education foresight prognoses for two major contraposed ESP areas: English for Science and Technology (hard-core ESP, EST) and English for Humanitarian Sciences (soft-core ESP, EHS) taught for adult learners in higher education. In the article the authors quote the mismatch between graduates’ qualifications and real demands of the job market reported by employers and analyze the concepts of foresight and education foresight with the prognoses for education as performed as an attempt to eliminate this mismatch. The authors also consider the major trends and content of the most outstanding foresight prognoses and provide arguments of their relevance to the field of ESP teaching. The paper evaluates the relevance, implications and aspects of education foresight prognoses to three major ESP teaching areas: language (linguistic input and communication), didactics (course design and classroom management) and language pedagogy (axiology of ESP learning) in the context of contraposed branches of EST and EHS.