ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a foundation in the major issues in English for specific purposes (ESP) which underpin thinking in ESP curriculum and course design. It presents an overview of the development of ESP and its different branches. This includes English for occupational purposes and English for socio-cultural purposes, both of which are recent areas of ESP. The chapter defines ESP and discusses the classification of ESP. ESP may be considered as an approach to course design and teaching that targets groups of learners who have a common goal or purpose in learning English. This may be an educational or occupational focus. ESP is sometimes contrasted with to English for general purposes (EGP). ESP learners tend to have more focused goals than EGP learners. English for academic purposes focuses on students' communicative needs at university. This is a very large area that has received a great deal of research interest.
