CEFR, Creativity and motivation in ESP

English for Specific purposes (ESP) is increasingly popular in English modules in Italian universities. Some ESP scholars claim that there is an intrinsic motivational force connected to ESP, however, this is not always true. It is, therefore, beneficial if an ESP course is creatively designed and uses motivational strategies that help the students understand that it is possible to reach a high level of communicative ability and that the L2 is pertinent without aiming for native speaker level competence. This project employed ideas of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), Dörnyei’s L2 Motivational Self System (2005) and the CEFR to do this. The paper relates how these strands can be used in an ESP course and how the students react to them. Undergraduates were administered questionnaires so as to elicit their attitudes to these topics. Pedagogical implications are drawn from this to try to aid future course design.