THE PEDAGOGICAL POTENTIAL OF GAMIFICATION AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN DEVELOPING THE FOUR LANGUAGE SKILLS OF ESP LEARNERS IN BUSINESS AND TRADE

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has become a critical component of professional education in Business and Trade, where effective communication in English directly influences academic success and workplace performance. Despite its importance, ESP instruction in many higher education contexts remains constrained by traditional, teacher-centered methodologies that insufficiently address learner engagement, skill integration, and individualized learning needs. This study examines the pedagogical effectiveness of integrating gamification and artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the four core language skills—listening, speaking, reading, and writing—of ESP learners specializing in Business and Trade.Employing a mixed-method research design, the study was conducted with undergraduate students enrolled in an ESP course over an eight-week instructional intervention. Gamified learning activities and AI-supported tools were systematically incorporated into authentic business-oriented communicative tasks, including negotiations, professional correspondence, and simulated meetings. Quantitative data were collected through pre- and post-tests assessing four-skill performance, while qualitative data were obtained from learner questionnaires and structured classroom observations.The findings reveal a substantial improvement across all four language skills, with particularly significant gains in speaking and listening proficiency. In addition, learners demonstrated increased motivation, confidence, and active participation, indicating positive affective outcomes alongside linguistic development. The study concludes that the strategic integration of gamification and artificial intelligence fosters a learner-centered, adaptive, and professionally relevant ESP learning environment. These findings offer important pedagogical implications for ESP instructors and contribute to the growing body of research on technology-enhanced language education.