1.1 : This Chapter considers the need for an appropriate syllabus and materials for the teaching of English for Special Purposes (E. S. P. ) to overseas students in tertiary education in Britain. It stresses the need for preliminary investigation of native speakers' use of English for special purposes and considers the advantages of conducting such an enquiry in an academic setting. It describes a specific instance of the needs of a group of students in a British university, and discusses the conclusions that were drawn from a preliminary study of the group. It explains the connection between the preliminary study and the present enquiry, and describes the gathering of suitable data in the form of recorded lectures and related research papers. 1.1.1 : E. S. P. in Higher Education This enquiry stems from a longstanding concern with the difficulties faced by speakers of English as a second or foreign language who require English in order to engage in academic or professional activities. This involves the use of English for a set of special communicative purposes which the specialist must accomplish under a range of different circumstances of communication. The purposes and circumstances with which I am most familiar are those of foreign students studying for a first or higher degree in institutions where English is the medium of instruction. But a personal interest in the use of English for academic purposes is not the only reason for basing the enquiry on this particular field.