As English communication is vital for academic communities and workplaces in globalized society, learners seek for opportunities to learn English with specific needs for their studies and work. In order to make these learners equip with the necessary English communicative competence in the desired contexts, English teaching professionals and researchers now need to pay close attention to learners' specific needs considering the context of discourse and the features of discourse community. The main purpose of the current study is to present an overview of ESP research in English Teaching for 50 years and to provide directions for the future research. In particular, this paper (a) discusses the features of ESP; (b） overviews ESP research articles published in English for Specific Purposes from 1986 to 2014; (c) presents current status of ESP research in English Teaching; and (d) suggests topics for ESP research in Korea for the future.

• 전지현(이화여자대학교) | Jeon Jihyeon