This edited book focuses on current practices, challenges and innovations in the emerging field of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). By combining diverse, empirically-proven and innovative ESP practices from all over the world with inspiring theoretical input and reflections from experienced practitioners, the authors in this volume examine both best-practice examples and ESP programmes which by various metrics are deemed to have failed. This book will be of interest to practitioners, teacher educators and researchers working in the field of ESP, as well as readers interested in language education and curriculum development more broadly.

This volume offers research-based studies on English for Specific Purposes in higher education from across the world. By drawing on international studies, the book brings together diverse ESP practices and aspects of relevant issues in the development of ESP programs, teachers and learners in a coherent fashion. There is a growing need for undergraduate students to develop their proficiency of ESP skills and knowledge in the increasingly globalized world. Knowledge of ESP is an important factor in subject matter learning by students, and also closely related to the performance of university graduates in the relevant sectors. Careful planning and efficient implementation are essential to ensure the quality of the language learning process. For a variety of reasons, it proves difficult to maintain ESP instruction in higher education. These reasons include the incompetence of teachers, lack of materials for that specific context, as well as lack of opportunities for ESP teachers to develop their skills. The chapters in this book, taken from a wide variety of countries, shed light on the diversity of current practices and issues surrounding ESP.

Be specific! Enhance students' language skills in a particular area to help them reach their goals. Learn the different types of ESP, various materials that can be incorporated into a course, and the roles of teachers and students. Read about four key topics within ESP: needs analysis, genre, specialized vocabulary, and corpus linguistics.

Introducing English for Specific Purposes presents the key concepts and practices of ESP in a modern, balanced, and comprehensive way. This book defines ESP and shows how the approach plays a crucial role in the world of English language teaching. Explaining how needs analysis, language and learning objectives, materials and methods, and evaluation combine to form the four main pillars of ESP, the book includes: practical examples that illustrate how the core theories and practices of ESP can be applied in real-world academic and occupational settings; discussion of some of the most hotly debated issues in ESP; insights on how ESP courses can be organized and integrated to form a complete program; reflection boxes, practical tasks, extension research questions, and resources for further reading in each chapter. Introducing English for Specific Purposes serves as an ideal textbook for graduate and advanced undergraduate students studying courses on English for Specific Purposes or English for Academic Purposes, as part of degrees in English for Specific Purposes, Education, ELT, Applied Linguistics, TESOL or TEFL. This comprehensive publication is also an invaluable reference resource for pre-service and in-service teachers of ESP, and for English program managers and administrators.

Studying language, discourses, and contexts of use—as well as student needs, in the broadest sense—and then applying these findings to the pedagogical practices, is what distinguishes ESP from other branches of applied linguistics and language teaching. The fundamental arguments in this volume are that ESP researchers must use all of the tools available to systematically assess the needs, identities, and issues faced by learners and the language and discourses of their contexts—as well as the “frames” brought to the context by the researchers themselves. In addition, ESP researchers must continue to develop the convergence between research, teaching, and learning as the profession continues to advance. This volume has two parts: Issues in ESP Research, which includes chapters by Ken Hyland, Brian Paltridge and Wei Wang, An Cheng, Diane Belcher and Lauren Lukkarila, and Anna Mauranen, and Methodologies and ESP Research, which includes chapters by John Flowerdew, Christine Tardy, Sue Starfield, Ann Johns and Leketi Makalela, Lynne Flowerdew, and Magdi Kandil and Diane Belcher. Fittingly, John Swales, the father of ESP and author of Episodes of ESP, has contributed some remarks to close this important volume about the future of ESP.

The field of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is among the richest areas of second language research and practice because increasing globalization and changing technologies spawn new modes of intercultural connection and new occasions for second language use.English for Specific Purposes in Theory and Practicecompasses this burgeoning field by presenting new research and commentary from some of the field’s leading scholars. This volume explores ESP from academic (secondary and tertiary), occupational (business, medical, and legal), and socio-cultural perspectives. Recurring motifs throughout the volume are the effects of globalization, English as a lingua franca, and the impact of migrant populations. One of the major questions this volume seeks to answer is, How can ESP instructors meet their own teacher knowledge needs? Also considered is, How have ESP practitioners succeeded in gaining control of the knowledge they need to address their students’ needs?