Bringing ESMP To Operationally Committed Troops: An Interaction-Equivalency Framework for Hybrid Military Language Training

The armed forces must maintain continuous operational readiness, yet the same duty commitments can prevent troops from attending residential courses that develop communication and other professional skills. This questionnaire-led feasibility study examined whether hybrid English for Specific Military Purposes (ESMP) could reach serving troops without repeatedly withdrawing them from distant operational areas for training at a Human Resource Development Centre (HRDC). Questionnaires were completed voluntarily by 30 mixed-rank troops serving in different units and 30 serving Army Education Corps officers drawn from HRDCs and training institutions across Pakistan. Selected troop respondents whose questionnaire responses were ambiguous were contacted by telephone for clarification. Troops reported strong willingness to learn during duty hours (M = 4.20), support for digitally supported learning aligned with military needs (M = 4.10), and preference for hybrid delivery (M = 4.00), although recognition of English as essential was less consistent (M = 3.20). Officers supported combining remote and face-to-face instruction (M = 4.73) and using digital resources (M = 4.30), while low ratings for existing ESMP activities (M = 1.67) exposed an instructional-design deficit. Interpreted through Anderson’s Interaction Equivalency Theorem, the findings support a secure, service-controlled model in which learner-content interaction is primary, learner-teacher interaction provides secondary guidance and feedback, and learner-learner interaction is activated when security, release, funding, and logistics permit. Feasibility therefore depends not on unrestricted public connectivity but on a secure institutional learning-management system, offline-capable content, protected learning time, and HRDC coordination. The study advances operational continuity without educational discontinuity as a design principle for resource-constrained and geographically dispersed military training.

English for Specific Military Purposes; interaction equivalency; autonomous learning; operational deployment; secure military LMS

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