English for academic study with special reference to science and technology: Problems and perspectives

This seminal 1975 publication offers contrasting viewpoints on the then-emerging field of English for academic purposes, with a specific focus on science and technology.

Henry Widdowson, in the introductory chapter, considers how to bring the communicative approach to English for science and technology (EST) by offering a practical middle way between pedagogic and linguistic perspectives. In an influential second chapter, Keith Jones and Peter Roe advocate the development of ‘a model of needs and means’ in EST, in order to make urgently needed progress in the design of syllabuses, materials, examinations and teacher training programmes. The third chapter, by JR Ewer, takes the ‘almost total lack’ of trained EST teachers as its starting point, and examines challenges for the would-be EST specialist. The premise of the final chapter, by Candlin, Kirkwood and Moore, is that EST learners should be taught the language forms they need to decode and communicate complex levels of scientific meaning in their professional lives.

This book is free to download below as a pdf file.

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