BEYOND GENERAL ENGLISH: RECONCEPTUALISING ENGLISH FOR NURSING PURPOSES FOR INDONESIAN NURSING EDUCATION

Abstract

Nursing is a profession of communication, and for Indonesian nurses English is increasingly needed to study nursing science, to care for international patients and to work abroad. Recent needs analyses show that nursing students need English for both academic and clinical purposes but still find speaking and writing difficult, yet the concept of English for Nursing Purposes (ENP) is seldom set out in a single framework that teachers can use for course design. This article aimed to describe the concept of ENP, locate it within established classifications of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), map its vocabulary, and identify the language skills it requires. A narrative literature review was conducted of foundational ESP works, research on specialised vocabulary and clinical communication, and recent needs analyses of nursing students, and the sources were analysed thematically. The review found that ENP can be defined as a needs-based branch of ESP characterised by its learners, purposes, nursing content, specific language and a strong interpersonal dimension of therapeutic communication. ENP belongs to English for Science and Technology and, more narrowly, to English for Medical Purposes, functioning as English for Academic Purposes for students and English for Occupational Purposes for nurses; it is a narrow-angle course. Its vocabulary combines high-frequency, academic, technical and sub-technical words and requires constant movement between medical and lay terms. All four skills are needed, with speaking and listening at the centre of nursing practice. The findings imply that ENP courses should be based on needs analysis, organised around nursing tasks, and taught through role-play and simulation.