Bridging the Gap: Analysis of Olympiad Writing for Sustainable ESP Curriculum Design
Keywords:
Needs Analysis, ESP Curriculum, Argumentative Writing, Sustainable English EducationAbstract
The mismatch between classroom-based English instruction and students’ real-world communicative demands highlights the need for empirically grounded curriculum design. This study aims to provide empirical insights for English for Specific Purposes (ESP) curriculum development by examining authentic argumentative writing produced by high school students in an English Olympiad. Employing a descriptive quantitative approach, the study analyzes 20 writing scripts using an analytic scoring rubric adapted from CEFR descriptors, focusing on task achievement, coherence, lexical resources, and grammatical accuracy. The findings reveal that although students demonstrate strong ideational creativity and critical thinking, their written performance is constrained by limited lexical resources and frequent grammatical inaccuracies. These results indicate a significant gap between students’ conceptual understanding and their linguistic realization in academic writing. The analysis of argumentative writing performance therefore provides valuable insights into students’ specific linguistic deficiencies and latent learning needs. The study proposes that such empirical evidence can inform the design of a responsive and sustainable ESP curriculum that supports the development of critical thinking, persuasive communication, and academic literacy required for higher education and future professional contexts.
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