What has changed in English for Specific Purposes in the Twenty-First Century? A Historical Review of the Developments in ESP since the 1960s

Date

2026-01-01

Author

Işık, Elvan Eda

Metadata

Show full item record

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Item Usage Stats

52
views

0
downloads

This chapter summarizes the evolution of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) since the 1960s. Initially, ESP emphasized linguistic analysis of specialized scientific and technical texts. The 1970s brought a communicative shift, focusing on rhetorical and systematic needs analyses to tailor courses effectively. By the 1980s, ESP had emerged as a distinct field, prioritizing learner-centered teaching and establishing English for Academic Purposes (EAP). The 1990s introduced genre analysis, extending ESP into diverse academic and professional contexts by helping learners navigate specific communicative situations. In the 2000s, corpus linguistics advanced ESP pedagogy through authentic language data and more precise instructional materials, while critical and intercultural perspectives also gained importance. Since the 2010s, globalization and technological innovations have shaped ESP, highlighting multimodal communication, comprehensive needs analyses, and technology-enhanced learning. ESP continues to respond to global English usage, aligning with English-medium instruction and integrated content approaches. In this chapter, drawing on earlier summaries, my goal is to offer an overview organized by decade, highlighting major developments, shifts in perspective, and prominent publications and scholars within the field of ESP from the 1960s until the present day.

Subject Keywords

English for specific purposes, ESP, ESP history, ESP pedagogy, ESP research

URI

https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?partnerID=HzOxMe3b&scp=105041261339&origin=inward
https://hdl.handle.net/11511/119590

Relation

English for Specific Purposes in the 21st Century: Innovative Perspectives and Practices

Collections

Department of Foreign Language Education, Book / Book chapter

Citation Formats

E. E. Işık, What has changed in English for Specific Purposes in the Twenty-First Century? A Historical Review of the Developments in ESP since the 1960s. 2026.