Abstract: The changing context and demands of Vietnamese workplaces have fostered the need to rethink ESP training at the tertiary level in Vietnam in recent years. Traditionally, ESP has been defined as a needs-based approach aimed at equipping learners with occupational linguistic resources for their future career. However, this approach tends to view ESP learners as homogeneous users of English and fails to take into consideration the evolving linguistic profile of learners. Drawing on the concept of emergent bilingualism, this paper conceptualizes ESP learners as multilingual individuals who possess dynamic and integrated linguistic resources; thus, course designers as well as ESP teachers should see learners’ prior linguistic knowledge as an advantage rather than the barrier to learning. The paper also looks at how this shift affects the competencies of ESP teachers in tertiary education. It argues that ESP teaching requires more than just pedagogical competencies; in fact, possessing interdisciplinary awareness, needs analysis, engagement with multilingual communication practices, and a reflective attitude are also essential. Integrating emergent bilingual perspectives into ESP education may help deliver courses that are more responsive to increasingly international-multilingual workplaces.
Keywords: English for Specific Purposes, emergent bilingualism, multilingualism, ESP teacher education, professional communication.
Title: ESP TRAINING IN THE ERA OF EMERGENT BILINGUALISM
Author: Kiều Thị Thu
International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research and Innovations
ISSN 2348-1218 (print), ISSN 2348-1226 (online)
Vol. 14, Issue 2, April 2026 - June 2026
Page No: 186-189
Research Publish Journals
Website: www.researchpublish.com
Published Date: 30-June-2026
