ESP一词最早是English for Special Purposes的缩写。六十年代初期,许多学习英语的人们想在短期内尽快掌握英语这门交际工具,以获取西方发达国家的先进科学技术。而传统的通过日常普通英语或文学英语的教授方法既费时又不能针对学习者的学习动机并满足他们的实际需求,显然不能满足这一要求。许多英语教师因此开始新的 ESP is the earliest word for English for Special Purposes acronym. In the early 1960s, many English-speaking people wanted to grasp English as a communicative tool as soon as possible in order to gain advanced science and technology in developed western countries. However, the traditional method of teaching through ordinary English or literary English can not satisfy this requirement because it takes time and can not address learner’s motivation and satisfy their actual needs. Many English teachers therefore started a new one