This book written by pioneering architects of original social theory in educationallinguistic fields as well as expert practitioners systematically exposes the sociological commitments of mainstream ideas and theories in English for Academic Purposes EAP commitments which are very often not fully examined by the discipline but nonetheless shape practitioners ideas and their praxis.The initial chapters outline what social theory is the normative critical descriptive social and generative purposes it serves the scope and limits of social theory and tracing the major historical traditions and recent currents. This mapping of social theory is followed by a detailed argument that makes the case for the centrality of social theory for EAP practitioners and praxis and the need to develop a sociological imagination to enhance knowledge and agency of practitioners. The contributions reveal the sociological foundations and commitments that underpin established theories in EAP such as genre theories systemic functional linguistics and academic literacies. Each of these three major research streams in EAP is subject to critical analysis linking each of these streams to the sociological commitments that underpin them. Finally the book explores the social theories and approaches that have yet to make a full or significant impact on EAP research and practice but would enable practitioners and researchers to understand educational contexts texts structures cultures knowledge production and producers and social agents with greater sociological clarity and sophistication. Topics covered include social realism legitimation code theory critical realism ethnography feminism and Bourdieusian concepts for EAP. The overarching aim of this volume is to position social theory much more centrally to frameworks and conceptions of the unstable and contested knowledgebase for EAP practitioners and to promote a sociological imagination among and forEAP practitioners.