Artificial intelligence and the future of English for specific purposes pedagogy in higher education

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping higher education, with growing implications for English for Specific Purposes (ESP) pedagogy. Although previous studies have examined AI in general English language teaching, its role in discipline-specific instruction remains underexplored, particularly in emerging higher education contexts. This study investigates how AI is perceived and used in ESP pedagogy in Vietnamese universities, focusing on business, finance, and engineering programs. A mixed-methods design was employed, combining survey data from 212 students enrolled in ESP courses with semi-structured interviews with 15 lecturers. The findings indicate that AI supports access to authentic disciplinary input, personalized learning pathways, immediate feedback, and greater learner autonomy. At the same time, participants identified persistent concerns related to reliability, over-reliance, academic integrity, data privacy, curriculum alignment, and teachers’ digital readiness. The study highlights the dual role of AI as both a pedagogical enabler and a source of new instructional and ethical challenges. It argues that effective integration of AI in ESP requires not only technological adoption, but also curriculum redesign, teacher professional development, and institutional policy support. These findings contribute to current discussions on AI-enhanced language education by extending ESP pedagogy toward a more explicitly AI-aware and context-responsive framework.