Within the broad background of English language education in Brazil, this paper intends to discuss two questions. Firstly, where and why a common misconception about ESP being identified as the teaching of reading only originated, and secondly, given the social role of English in the Brazilian context, whether an ESP approach can be seen as more suitable than a General English (GE) approach as a theoretical background for curriculum planning and classroom practice in English general education. How can these two questions be related? This paper will discuss how and why what started as a misconception in relation to a specific context might be seen as a possible solution for making the teaching-learning of English more meaningful in general education. For the discussion, data will be drawn both from the National ESP Project and from teachers' reactions to the proposal in the National Parameters.