Introduction : ESP teaching and teacher education: current theories and practices

Abstract

As the demand for more highly skilled and qualified 21st century professionals is increasing, and vast amounts of populations are moving from one place to another worldwide, the numbers of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses are constantly growing. Learners nowadays need courses to cater for their needs dictated by the demands of the labour market (Jendrych, 2013). In this ever changing context, ESP has started to receive much attention by teachers, learners, and researchers in the field; as a result, there has been an increase in the organisation of conferences and colloquia and the creation of professional organisations related to ESP. Despite the developments in ESP research and practice, however, the literature shows that there are areas of ESP that remain pristine and unexplored.