Investigating the English Specific Needs of the M.A Students of Ancient Iran History
This study investigated the different aspects of the English for Specific Purposes Needs of M.A students of Ancient Iran History studying at the Department of History in Iranian universities. The participants were selected from the universities of Iran based on convenience sampling. The Needs Analys...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Islamic Azad University, Isfahan Branch
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Research in English Language Pedagogy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://relp.isfahan.iau.ir/article_694049_5263e5d024848be1c2a25ff3ad84bf39.pdf |
| _version_ | 1798029193900982272 |
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| author | Sedigheh Vahdat Asra Basiri Zohreh Gooniband Shooshtari Farshid Naderi |
| author_facet | Sedigheh Vahdat Asra Basiri Zohreh Gooniband Shooshtari Farshid Naderi |
| author_sort | Sedigheh Vahdat |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study investigated the different aspects of the English for Specific Purposes Needs of M.A students of Ancient Iran History studying at the Department of History in Iranian universities. The participants were selected from the universities of Iran based on convenience sampling. The Needs Analysis was designed on a qualitative and quantitative survey, using the semi-structured interviews and the questionnaires. 45 M.A students and 5 ESP instructors expressed their views through questionnaires and interviews. The results revealed that the students asked for the inclusion of the four language skills in their ESP courses. That is, a new ESP course focusing on the integration of all four skills should be developed. The instructors, however, echoed the reading skill as the predominant need for students to achieve a higher standard in academic and future careers. The interviews showed that the ESP courses were not sufficient to account for the specific needs of the students since these courses were not prepared according to the learners’ needs. The students expressed that they needed to master English because they had to use English sources during their academic studies. However, the ESP courses did not fully prepare the students to embark on their studies because it did not sufficiently take into account the learners’ needs. The students were dissatisfied with the current ESP courses of Ancient Iran History and asked for the urgent revision of ESP materials. The ESP instructors’ responses to the interviews indicated dissatisfaction with the students’ poor language skills, lack of motivation, and the insufficiency of the needs-responsive ESP coursebook. Giving more weight to English in the M.A entrance exam was suggested by instructors as one possible solution as this may increase the students’ level of motivation which may lead to the improvement of their language proficiency. The findings of this study can help researchers and ESP practitioners make particular pedagogic decisions. It presented a detailed description of the process of the Needs Analysis as a prerequisite step to design an ESP coursebook for English specific courses of the Ancient Iran History field at M. A level. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T19:21:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c16e8132aaf74b389d93f19daeb2f7ff |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2588-3259 2538-4244 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T19:21:18Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | Islamic Azad University, Isfahan Branch |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Research in English Language Pedagogy |
| spelling | doaj.art-c16e8132aaf74b389d93f19daeb2f7ff2022-12-22T04:07:18ZengIslamic Azad University, Isfahan BranchResearch in English Language Pedagogy2588-32592538-42442022-09-0110343746610.30486/relp.2022.1946523.1328694049Investigating the English Specific Needs of the M.A Students of Ancient Iran HistorySedigheh Vahdat0Asra Basiri1Zohreh Gooniband Shooshtari2Farshid Naderi3Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, IranShahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, IranShahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, IranShahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, IranThis study investigated the different aspects of the English for Specific Purposes Needs of M.A students of Ancient Iran History studying at the Department of History in Iranian universities. The participants were selected from the universities of Iran based on convenience sampling. The Needs Analysis was designed on a qualitative and quantitative survey, using the semi-structured interviews and the questionnaires. 45 M.A students and 5 ESP instructors expressed their views through questionnaires and interviews. The results revealed that the students asked for the inclusion of the four language skills in their ESP courses. That is, a new ESP course focusing on the integration of all four skills should be developed. The instructors, however, echoed the reading skill as the predominant need for students to achieve a higher standard in academic and future careers. The interviews showed that the ESP courses were not sufficient to account for the specific needs of the students since these courses were not prepared according to the learners’ needs. The students expressed that they needed to master English because they had to use English sources during their academic studies. However, the ESP courses did not fully prepare the students to embark on their studies because it did not sufficiently take into account the learners’ needs. The students were dissatisfied with the current ESP courses of Ancient Iran History and asked for the urgent revision of ESP materials. The ESP instructors’ responses to the interviews indicated dissatisfaction with the students’ poor language skills, lack of motivation, and the insufficiency of the needs-responsive ESP coursebook. Giving more weight to English in the M.A entrance exam was suggested by instructors as one possible solution as this may increase the students’ level of motivation which may lead to the improvement of their language proficiency. The findings of this study can help researchers and ESP practitioners make particular pedagogic decisions. It presented a detailed description of the process of the Needs Analysis as a prerequisite step to design an ESP coursebook for English specific courses of the Ancient Iran History field at M. A level.https://relp.isfahan.iau.ir/article_694049_5263e5d024848be1c2a25ff3ad84bf39.pdfancient iran historyespesp coursebookm.a studentsneeds analysis |
| spellingShingle | Sedigheh Vahdat Asra Basiri Zohreh Gooniband Shooshtari Farshid Naderi Investigating the English Specific Needs of the M.A Students of Ancient Iran History Research in English Language Pedagogy ancient iran history esp esp coursebook m.a students needs analysis |
| title | Investigating the English Specific Needs of the M.A Students of Ancient Iran History |
| title_full | Investigating the English Specific Needs of the M.A Students of Ancient Iran History |
| title_fullStr | Investigating the English Specific Needs of the M.A Students of Ancient Iran History |
| title_full_unstemmed | Investigating the English Specific Needs of the M.A Students of Ancient Iran History |
| title_short | Investigating the English Specific Needs of the M.A Students of Ancient Iran History |
| title_sort | investigating the english specific needs of the m a students of ancient iran history |
| topic | ancient iran history esp esp coursebook m.a students needs analysis |
| url | https://relp.isfahan.iau.ir/article_694049_5263e5d024848be1c2a25ff3ad84bf39.pdf |
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