VEJOH - VERITAS JOURNAL OF HUMANITIES

Education is key to human development and the development of any given society relies solely on the development and sustainability of its education. Language is a catalyst in educational development, which is an index of national development. Any highly developed nation in the world today is simply the product of its educated citizens. In Nigeria however, education is beset with recurring challenges of academic inefficiency, school drop-out, academic strikes, conflicts, political violence or war in communities and kidnapping in formal institutions of learning. The implication is that the education that children have does not prepare them for the world of work. This paper is therefore premised on the deployment of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) as an approach to language education, which allows learners to use the target language in specific academic, professional or occupational domains. The study shows that there is need to respond to the learning poverty in the Nigerian educational system by repositioning ESP in language education to equip learners with the right and needed linguistic skills for empowerment, economic sustainability and entrepreneurship. Education with such values will motivate learners to embrace education that targets skill acquisition rather than education that seeks white-collar jobs. The paper asserts that English for Specific Purpose (ESP) can influence and equip youths with the right linguistic skills needed for their profession or workplace for self-reliance, sustainable self and national development.

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