Teaching and Researching English for Specific Purposes - Elżbieta D. Lesiak-Bielawska

Teaching and Researching English for Specifc Purposes has grown from my interest in English for Specifc Purposes (ESP), my long-standing experience as an ESP teaching practitioner, and some own research done in the feld. Te signifcance of ESP and the need to develop linguistic competencies for specifc purposes seem to arise from the growing importance of English as the contemporary lingua franca, globalization trends in today’s worlds of science, education, and business, the rise in immigration, and multiculturalism. In Europe, the rationale for programmes in Languages for Specifc Purposes (LSPs), with priority given to English, appears to stem from the expansion of the common European space, the resultant increase in job and study opportunities, the transnational nature of European business, as well as the international infrastructure of the European Union, and governmental initiatives promoting multiculturalism.