Mapping specialized domains through a wide-angled interdisciplinary approach: The case of British higher education and research

This paper posits the ESP researcher as a surveyor whose role is to map specialized domains in Anglophone settings. In the wake of recent ESP research trends in which wide-angled approaches are followed or defended, it is argued that a contextualized and systematic study of the organizational, social and discursive dimensions of a specialized domain contributes to building a fuller picture of the specialized varieties of English used within this domain. In line with this epistemological stance, an original interdisciplinary framework for mapping specialized domains is introduced: it integrates operative concepts and methodological tools borrowed from other disciplines so as to illuminate the field under study. The suggested framework is then applied to the specialized field of higher education and research in the United Kingdom through a map of academic institutions, actors, and discourse. The aim is to show that a scientifically-grounded, interdisciplinary and contextualized approach of British higher education and research can help the members of the English for Academic Purposes (EAP), English for Specific and Academic Purposes (ESAP), English for Research Publication Purposes (ERPP), English as an Academic Lingua Franca (EALF), English for Academic and Occupational Purposes (EAOP) or English Medium Instruction (EMI) communities build a broader and more nuanced understanding of the disciplinary and professional varieties of academic discourse used within the field, an approach which can prove fertile for the study of other specialized fields.