Specificity revisited: How far should we go now?

Abstract

ESP has become central to the teaching of English in university contexts and there can be little doubt of its success as an approach to understanding language use. This success is largely due to ESP's distinctive approach to language teaching based on identification of the specific language features, discourse practices and communicative skills of target groups, and on teaching practices that recognize the particular subject-matter needs and expertise of learners. Unfortunately, however, this strength is increasingly threatened by conceptions of ESP which move it towards more general views of literacy, emphasizing the idea of 'generic' skills and features which are transferable across different disciplines or occupations. In this paper I argue the case for specificity: that ESP must involve teaching the literacy skills which are appropriate to the purposes and understandings of particular academic and professional communities. The paper traces the arguments for a specific view, outlines some supporting research, and advocates the need to reaffirm our commitment to research-based language education. © 2002 The American University. All rights reserved.