The pedagogical efficacy of ESP courses for Iranian students of engineering from students’ and instructors’ perspectives
Abstract Casting light on the pros and cons of every educational program, the outcomes of an effective evaluative endeavor may serve as a guideline for education authorities interested in content enhancement schemes. Focusing on English for specific purposes (ESP) courses for engineering students, t...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-021-00109-2 |
| _version_ | 1818331297138868224 |
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| author | Sartoon Mostafavi Ahmad Mohseni Gholam-Reza Abbasian |
| author_facet | Sartoon Mostafavi Ahmad Mohseni Gholam-Reza Abbasian |
| author_sort | Sartoon Mostafavi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Casting light on the pros and cons of every educational program, the outcomes of an effective evaluative endeavor may serve as a guideline for education authorities interested in content enhancement schemes. Focusing on English for specific purposes (ESP) courses for engineering students, the current study sought to evaluate the efficacy of technical English pedagogy in the academic context of Iran. Employing a mixed evaluative framework, the study explored the courses’ effectiveness delving into the attitudes of ESP instructors and engineering students toward three major domains including needs satisfaction, content authenticity, and learner autonomy. As its secondary aim, the study examined whether there was any significant difference between students and instructors in terms of their attitudes to the courses under investigation. To accomplish the objectives, a researcher-made questionnaire was administered to 796 engineering students and 54 ESP instructors chosen from 20 randomly-selected Iranian universities. A descriptive analysis of the survey data revealed an overall disagreement with the satisfaction of some learner needs such as those related to the learning objectives, productive competences, monitoring system, and educational facilities. Additionally, the two groups of participants had significantly different perceptions of the authenticity of the instructional content as well as the satisfaction of the target needs. The findings may help local authorities adapt the existing ESP pedagogy in Iran to suit the genuine needs of students. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T13:17:36Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-ae7fc9459ceb4e10911e866e79b096ea |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2363-5169 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T13:17:36Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education |
| spelling | doaj.art-ae7fc9459ceb4e10911e866e79b096ea2022-12-21T23:44:29ZengSpringerOpenAsian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education2363-51692021-01-016112010.1186/s40862-021-00109-2The pedagogical efficacy of ESP courses for Iranian students of engineering from students’ and instructors’ perspectivesSartoon Mostafavi0Ahmad Mohseni1Gholam-Reza Abbasian2Department of Foreign Languages, Islamic Azad UniversityAssociate Professor of Applied Linguistics, English Department, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Islamic Azad UniversityImam Ali UniversityAbstract Casting light on the pros and cons of every educational program, the outcomes of an effective evaluative endeavor may serve as a guideline for education authorities interested in content enhancement schemes. Focusing on English for specific purposes (ESP) courses for engineering students, the current study sought to evaluate the efficacy of technical English pedagogy in the academic context of Iran. Employing a mixed evaluative framework, the study explored the courses’ effectiveness delving into the attitudes of ESP instructors and engineering students toward three major domains including needs satisfaction, content authenticity, and learner autonomy. As its secondary aim, the study examined whether there was any significant difference between students and instructors in terms of their attitudes to the courses under investigation. To accomplish the objectives, a researcher-made questionnaire was administered to 796 engineering students and 54 ESP instructors chosen from 20 randomly-selected Iranian universities. A descriptive analysis of the survey data revealed an overall disagreement with the satisfaction of some learner needs such as those related to the learning objectives, productive competences, monitoring system, and educational facilities. Additionally, the two groups of participants had significantly different perceptions of the authenticity of the instructional content as well as the satisfaction of the target needs. The findings may help local authorities adapt the existing ESP pedagogy in Iran to suit the genuine needs of students.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-021-00109-2ESPLanguage pedagogyCourse evaluationTechnical English |
| spellingShingle | Sartoon Mostafavi Ahmad Mohseni Gholam-Reza Abbasian The pedagogical efficacy of ESP courses for Iranian students of engineering from students’ and instructors’ perspectives Asian-Pacific Journal of Second and Foreign Language Education ESP Language pedagogy Course evaluation Technical English |
| title | The pedagogical efficacy of ESP courses for Iranian students of engineering from students’ and instructors’ perspectives |
| title_full | The pedagogical efficacy of ESP courses for Iranian students of engineering from students’ and instructors’ perspectives |
| title_fullStr | The pedagogical efficacy of ESP courses for Iranian students of engineering from students’ and instructors’ perspectives |
| title_full_unstemmed | The pedagogical efficacy of ESP courses for Iranian students of engineering from students’ and instructors’ perspectives |
| title_short | The pedagogical efficacy of ESP courses for Iranian students of engineering from students’ and instructors’ perspectives |
| title_sort | pedagogical efficacy of esp courses for iranian students of engineering from students and instructors perspectives |
| topic | ESP Language pedagogy Course evaluation Technical English |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40862-021-00109-2 |
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