Meanings and concepts lost: The use of conversational language in students' descriptions of economics and business studies graphical representations

As part of a larger project that sought to investigate the need for an English for Specific Purposes course in a teacher education programme, a preliminary investigation was carried out to establish students capacity to use subject specific English in writing descriptions of graphical representations of demand and supply. The results of the survey indicated that respondents have a limited ability in the use of subject specific English and tend to rely more on conversational English. The paper therefore purports that South Africa s teacher training programmes need to consider a strong focus on subject specific English courses in their curriculum. This will ensure that such programmes are able to produce teachers who are well prepared as subject specialists.