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ESP World
ISSN 1682-3257
http://esp-world.info
English for Specific Purposes
|
rld A HISTORY OF ESP THROUGH ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES
Martin Hewings
The University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
2 Authors and geographical origins of papers
Figure 1 shows the country of origin of the papers, broken down initially into the percentage from the United States, the United Kingdom and Other Countries. This information does not necessarily indicate nationality of authors but the country where the ESP work reported was conducted. So, for example, an ESP practitioner normally based in the US might be reporting work they undertook in Thailand, andin this case Thailand is taken as the location for the ESP activity.
Figure 1
Place of origin of papers
It is clear that there has been a steady increase in the percentage of papers originating from outside the US and the UK. In volumes 1-5 some 40% came from the US, 25% from the UK and other countries provided the remaining 35% or so. In the most recent block, volumes 16-20, the percentages for the US and the UK have approximately halved (to 19% and 12% respectively) and the contribution from other countries has doubled (to about 70%). It is possible that this reflects two main trends: first and most obviously the growth of ESP work around the world; second, the acceptance of ESP as a recognised academic discipline in tertiary institutions in a growing number of countries or at least as a sub-discipline within departments of English, applied linguistics or education and therefore a legitimate subject for research.
The Other Countries category can be broken down to identify the main sites of ESP activity around the world outside the US and UK. This is shown in Figure 2.
| Vol 1-5 |
Vol 6-10 |
Vol 11-15 |
Vol 16-20 |
|
| China/ HK | 1 |
1 |
4 |
14 |
| Central/South America | 3 |
3 |
13 |
11 |
| Europe | 2 |
7 |
9 |
11 |
| Rest of Asia | 1 |
8 |
9 |
9 |
| Australasia/ Oceania | 0 |
3 |
6 |
7 |
| Africa | 1 |
6 |
3 |
5 |
| Near East/ Arabian peninsula | 4 |
4 |
7 |
4 |
| Other | 1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Figure 2
Origin of papers excluding US and UK (number)
Looking ahead, I would suggest that China and Hong Kong will continue to produce a substantial proportion of published papers, reflecting again both growth in ESP activity and the academic standing of those who research and report it. The second main area of growth is likely to be Europe, particularly eastern Europe where the number of recent conferences on ESP seems to reflect growing interest in the area, and also in Mediterranean countries, particularly Spain, where ESP is becoming a focus of special interest in universities.
Finally in this section, it is of interest to note the gender of authors, where a shift has taken place over the last two decades. This is shown in Figure 3
Vol 1-5 |
Vol 6-10 |
Vol 11-15 |
Vol 16-20 |
|
| Female | 42% |
51% |
52% |
55% |
| Male | 58% |
49% |
48% |
45% |
Figure 3
Gender of authors
In the early years of ESPj the majority of authors were male (58% in Vols. 1-5). Female authors took over as majority contributors from Vols. 6- 10, however, and have steadily increased their dominance up to 55% in Volumes 16-20. Whether this is a reflection of the relative proportions of males and females engaged in ESP, or whether it reflects a growth in the number of female academics in universities who have the opportunity to research and write this up, is difficult to tell. Interestingly, this balance towards female writers is not yet reflected in the gender of the main authors cited in papers in ESPj (see section 4 below).
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