English for Special Purposes as a research field: From practice to theory

In educational settings, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is mostly considered from a pedagogical point of view, since the main concerns are teaching materials and teaching methods, whose relevance is only judged in relation to the didactic process and outputs rather than as topics of research per se. However, in recent years, the need for a research foundation for ESP teaching and learning has been addressed by academics and ESP teachers. Discourse analysis and linguistic aspects of ESP have great potential for researchers, and are also proving relevant and thought-provoking to teachers and practitioners. Starting from the practical question on which the ESP approach is based (what specific needs does this language learner have?), this paper tries to define an ESP research construct, and suggests that the frontiers of ESP could be expanded by new studies aimed at strengthening its theoretical ground, including elements of both linguistic science and language education, in an all-inclusive theoretical framework. In short: should the academic work on ESP attempt to bridge the gap between research and teaching in ESP?