Shifting Paradigms in English Language Teaching: Mapping English for Specific Purposes through a Hybrid Systematic Review and Bibliometric Analysis

This study explored the development and shift of English for specific purposes (ESP) as part of English language teaching (ELT) in the post-2000 digital era. Using a hybrid methodology combining a systematic literature review (SLR) with bibliometric analysis, this study sought to map methodological trends, conceptual orientations, and epistemic shifts occurring within ESP research. The dataset was obtained through a search of the Scopus database, which yielded 9176 initial documents filtered through the PRISMA 2020 framework. The search resulted in a final corpus of 269 articles and 36 studies selected based on their relatedness to the topic for in-depth review. Bibliometric analysis was conducted using VOSviewer to visualize keyword co-occurrence patterns and international co?authorship networks, while CiteSpace was employed to identify citation bursts and thematic evolution over time. The findings reveal a clear shift in ESP from a linguistic-structural focus to a multimodal, technology-integrated, and human-centered paradigm. Recent studies increasingly emphasize AI-assisted feedback systems, data-driven learning, and digital mediation that indicate methodological complexity and ethical awareness in ESP pedagogy. However, research gaps remain in teacher professionalization, cross-regional collaboration, and contextualized hybrid learning practices. This study revealed that post-digital ESP has matured into a techno-humanistic discipline that stressed the importance of understanding digital pedagogy and promoting teacher professionalism across the nations. The study also advances ESP research by providing a comprehensive empirical mapping of ESP–ELT research, integrating digital and ethical dimensions, and proposing a techno-humanistic framework to guide future research, teacher professional development, and educational policy in global ESP contexts. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.25.1.41