From ESP-Permissive to ESP-Driven: Recontextualizing English in Indonesia’s Vocational Curriculum

<ns5:p>Background Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) increasingly expects English to support workplace communication. In Indonesian vocational high schools (Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan, SMK), English is formally positioned as vocationally relevant, but curriculum instruments provide limited guidance on occupational genres, needs analysis, and performance-based assessment. This study examined how English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is positioned and enacted in SMK Business and Management programs. Methods This qualitative multiple-case study involved three purposively selected urban SMKs. Data comprised 19 curriculum documents, including national curriculum instruments and school-level planning documents, and semi-structured interviews with 21 stakeholders: six English teachers, nine students, three administrators, and three industry representatives. Documents were analyzed using qualitative content analysis, while interview transcripts were analyzed thematically. Findings were integrated through cross-case triangulation. Results The analysis showed that current curriculum regulation creates space for contextualized English through school autonomy and vocational positioning. However, limited specification of programme-linked workplace genres, routinized needs-analysis procedures, and performance-oriented assessment shifted much of the recontextualisation work to teachers. Across the three cases, English teaching often remained closer to General English than sustained occupational genre work, although teachers, students, administrators, and industry representatives consistently valued more workplace-relevant English learning. Conclusions The study identifies Indonesia’s current vocational English arrangement as ESP-permissive rather than ESP-driven. It proposes a tentative strategic framework for strengthening vertical alignment from policy to assessment and horizontal coordination among English teachers, vocational subjects, and industry partners. The framework is intended to guide curriculum refinement and future research on more coherent vocational English implementation.</ns5:p>