Theoretical framework of ESP : the major case studies in the hotel industry and translation as necessary input

Abstract EN

This paper aims to provide a theoretical overview of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) as a term and one of the major areas of EFL teaching since its beginnings in the 1960s.

It summarises the most prominent contributions and developments related with the theoretical aspects concerning ESP and needs analysis as the corner stone in designing ESP courses in English language teaching and learning.

The most influential ESP teaching theories are presented briefly, beginning with register analysis which paved the way for course designers to design specific courses based on teaching the linguistic features of a language to the urgent need for communication and translation.

At the end, based on the nature of the hotel industry, the purpose of this paper is twofold: 1) to discuss some previous case studies related to hotels that would help the researcher because most of the linguistic researches conducted by ESP specialists focused in particular on the formal aspects of a language especially in the academic field and neglected the needs of the situational settings; 2) to discuss the major needs of the workers in hotels and the importance of translation in this industry and therefore presenting the possible solutions to overcome any deficiencies.