Review of: Stojković, Nadežda. (ed.). 2015. Vistas of English for Specific Purposes. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. x-ix + 405. ISBN (10): 14438-7635-6; ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-7635-3

In recent years it has become increasingly clear that courses in English for Special Purposes (ESP) constitute an inescapably diverse and multi-facetted domain of research. Vistas of English for Specific Purposes, edited by Nadežda Stojković, takes up the challenge and provides the reader looks at selected problematic issues and key aspects of locally focused teaching experiences from different perspectives and in multiple fields of expertise – also where English language teachers are flying blind to a large extent (e.g. English for Music or English for Customs Officials). The 32 chapters in the volume, we learn from the book blurb, constitute a selection of papers from the First International Conference on Teaching English for Specific and Academic Purposes – Connect and Share (Faculty of Electronic Engineering, University of Niš, Serbia, May 2013). They are organized in fifteen main sections – from the Table of Contents: English for Art (i.e. music); English for Business; English for Customs, Military, and Police Forces; English for Law; English for Mathematics; English for Medicine; English for Tourism; English for Engineering and Technology; One Country ESP Specifics; ESP Perspectives; Language Teaching Strategies; Material Design, Performance Assessment; Political Science and International Relations; Professional English; English for Social Sciences (1-386). The remaining sections cover bio-notes (Contributors, 387-400) and a short Subject Index (401-405). Nearly all contributions reflect on different stages in the development of successful pilot studies and projects launched in the fields of ESP teaching in Eastern European universities. More important, given the strongly context-dependent and most definitely learner-centered nature of ESP teaching/learning (Nunan 1988), the bottom line that shapes research across this diverse array of chapters is the strong interconnection between needs analysis, students’ perceived needs (Dudley-Evans and St John 1998), motivation and attitudes, as well as authenticity, material design, task development and assessment. The following selection of papers provides the reader with analyses and applications that reach beyond individual case studies and fields of expertise. In sum, the papers in this volume bring us to reflect on a multiplicity of contexts, aims and objectives. It could generally be noted that including an introductory chapter would have helped to bring order to multiplicity and set the stage for the following 32 contributions. We also feel that a handful of papers might have perhaps benefited from another round of proofreading, and that abstracts should have been consistently used throughout the volume. However, this does not detract from the merits of the collection: the publication illustrates just some of many areas of enquiry under investigation in Eastern European countries, and yet it is a demonstration that an especially dynamic and committed, locally focused but globally dedicated ESP teaching community is beginning to earn international recognition. As we see, the challenge for all those involved in the community is to tailor course design, materials and methods to the specific needs and goals of specific learners, with one appropriate point of departure being Ushioda’s (2009) person-in-context relational view of emergent motivation, self and identity. A good deal has been written in this intersectional area of research. (See e.g. articles and references in Byram and Hu, eds, 2013.) What most contributors think is important, however, is to move the emphasis away from the literature review towards the applied side of ESP teaching, with a focus on sharing hands-on experience and reflections on particular game changers. ESP teachers and teacher trainers will certainly appreciate this choice and extend the details and scope of the activities, tasks and projects presented in the volume to cater for the specific needs of other specific learners.