Specialty English,a kind of social and historical phenomenon peculiar to colleges and universities in mainland China,is of nearly 40-year development history,but now it faces a lot of misunderstanding and criticisms.Based on the relevant literature in the China,combined with the author's teaching practice and exploration for many years,this paper examines the origin of Specialty Englishcourses,divides its development into three stages,and mainly deal with the history and current situationfrom the perspective of ESP.The author believes that Specialty Englishexists and develops for a long time and falls into the category of ESP courses,but it urgently needs a variety of effective rapid innovation and breakthrough.