CORPUS-BASED TEACHING OF ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES (ESP) TO PSYCHOLOGY STUDENTS: DEVELOPING PROFESSIONAL VOCABULARY AND ACADEMIC COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Abstract

Abstract: The rapid globalization of higher education and scientific communication has significantly increased the importance of English language proficiency among psychology students. As future professionals, psychology students are expected to read academic literature, participate in international conferences, publish research findings, and communicate effectively within multicultural professional environments. Traditional English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses often rely on textbooks and teacher-centered instruction, which may not adequately expose learners to authentic disciplinary language. Corpus-based language teaching has emerged as an innovative pedagogical approach that allows learners to investigate real language use through electronic collections of authentic texts. This study explores the effectiveness of corpus-based instruction in ESP courses designed for psychology students. Using a specialized psychology corpus consisting of journal articles, textbooks, and professional reports, students engaged in concordance analysis, frequency searches, collocation identification, and data-driven learning activities. The findings indicate that corpus-based teaching significantly enhances students’ understanding of psychological terminology, academic writing competence, and professional communication skills. Moreover, learners demonstrated increased autonomy and critical thinking through the exploration of authentic language patterns. The study concludes that corpus-based pedagogy provides a valuable framework for ESP instruction in psychology and contributes to the development of discipline-specific communicative competence.