Political and Economic Roots of EAP Political and Economic Roots of ESP/EAP

The previous chapter presents a chronology of EAP’s goals, research, and instructional practices over the last 30 years, from inside the field. This chapter is a view from the outside, an unofficial history, including political and economic issues not traditionally taken up in the literature. It examines how English became the dominant language of science, technology, and business and why, from an ideological point of view, ESP/EAP responded as they did. Included in this chapter is a discussion of a 1971 document revealing the willingness of ESP/EAP specialists to accept target requirements unconditionally and uncritically as the basis of instruction. Also included is Phillipson’s (1992) study of the economic roots of English language teaching during the post-World War II period.