final version 631

International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World (IJLLALW)

Volume 6 (3), July 2014; 1-‐13 Forough Ameri, A. H EISSN: 2289-‐2737 & ISSN: 2289-‐3245 www.ijllalw.org

1

ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES (ESP) FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF IRANIAN ESP TEACHERS

Amir Hamid Forough Ameri (M.A.) Bahonar University of Kerman, Iran

Address: Soosan 14, Rezvan 24, Algadir Township, Islamic Republic Boulevard, Kerman, Iran Phone Number: (098)-0341-2820494, 09133985547

E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT This study aimed to investigate English for specific purposes (ESP) teachers’ attitudes toward ESP courses. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to explore ESP teachers’ agreement with the ESP courses and their attitudes as to what ESP course objectives should be and whether those objectives are supported by ESP materials. Moreover, ESP teachers’ views about their approaches toward assessing ESP students’ learning as well as ESP teachers’ evaluation of both the materials and the ESP course were the focus of this study. The participants were 15 ESP teachers. They were asked six questions each of which was related to one of the objectives of this study. The analysis of the data revealed that first, most teachers consider ESP courses useful; second, the main objectives of ESP courses should be the translation of specialized texts and then reading comprehension of specialized texts which, in their opinion, have also been supported by the materials; third, ESP teachers reported they conducted a process-oriented approach; fourth, almost half of the teachers considered the materials useful, and finally, the majority of the ESP teachers evaluated the ESP courses to be useful. KEY WORDS: English for specific purposes (ESP), ESP objectives, ESP students, ESP teachers INTRODUCTION What is ESP? Farhady (2005, p.7) stated that ‘’we do not find any theory in the literature formulated exclusively for ESP’’, and emphasized that ESP ‘’has been more under the control of practitioners than theoreticians’’. According to Fiorito, (2002) English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is different from English as a Second Language (ESL). The most important difference lies in the learners and their purposes for learning English. ESP students are usually adults who already have some acquaintance with English and are learning the language in order to communicate a set of professional skills and to perform particular job-related functions. He noted that an ESP program is built on an evaluation of purposes and needs for which English is required. Moreover, Fiorito (2002) added that ‘’ESL and ESP are different not only in the nature of the learner, but also in the aim of instruction’’ (p. 1). In fact, as a general rule, while in ESL all four language skills; listening, reading, speaking, and writing are stressed equally, in ESP it is a needs



2

analysis that determines which language skills are most needed by the students, and the syllabus is designed accordingly. From the early 1960's, ESP has grown to become one of the most prominent areas of EFL teaching today. According to Anthony (2007), ESP has had a relatively long time to mature and so we would expect the ESP community to have a clear idea about what ESP means. Strangely, however, this does not seem to be the case. In 1998, Dudley-Evans and ST John gave an extended definition of ESP in terms of 'absolute' and 'variable' characteristics: Absolute Characteristics 1. ESP is defined to meet specific needs of the learners 2. ESP makes use of underlying methodology and activities of the discipline it serves 3. ESP is centered on the language appropriate to these activities in terms of grammar, lexis register, study skills, discourse and genre. Variable Characteristics 1. ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines 2. ESP may use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology from that of General English 3. ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at a tertiary level institution or in a professional work situation. It could, however, be for learners at secondary school level 4. ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students. 5. Most ESP courses assume some basic knowledge of the language systems Robinson (1991) has also defined ESP, accepting the primacy of needs analysis in her definition. Her definition is based on two key defining criteria and a number of characteristics. The key criteria are that ESP is ‘’normally goal-directed’’, and that ESP courses develop from a ‘’needs analysis’’, which ‘’aims to specify as closely as possible what exactly it is that students have to do through the medium of English’’ (Robinson, 1991, p. 3). The characteristics of definition are that ESP courses are generally restricted by a ‘’limited time period’’, and are taught to ‘’adults’’ in ‘’homogeneous classes’’. The origins of ESP Certainly, a great deal about the origins of ESP could be written. Notably, there are three reasons common to the emergence of all ESP: the demands of a Brave New World, a revolution in linguistics, and focus on the learner (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987). They (1987) noted that two key historical periods breathed life into ESP. First, the end of the Second World War brought with it an " ... age of enormous and unprecedented expansion in scientific, technical and economic activity on an international scale · for various reasons, most notably the economic power of the United States in the post-war world, the role [of international language] fell to English" (p. 6). Second, the Oil Crisis of the early 1970s resulted in Western money and knowledge flowing into the oil-rich countries. The language of this knowledge became English.



3

The general effect of all this development was to exert pressure on the language teaching profession to deliver the required goods. Whereas English had previously decided its own destiny, it now became subject to the wishes, needs and demands of people other than language teachers (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987). The second key reason cited as having a great effect on the emergence of ESP was a revolution in linguistics. Whereas traditional linguists set out to describe the features of language, revolutionary pioneers in linguistics began to focus on the ways in which language is used in real communication. Hutchinson and Waters (1987) pointed out that one significant discovery was in the ways that spoken and written English vary. In other words, given the particular context in which English is used, the variant of English will change. This idea was taken one step farther. If language in different situations varies, then tailoring language instruction to meet the needs of learners in specific contexts is also possible. So, in the late 1960s and the early 1970s there were many attempts to describe English for Science and Technology (EST). The final reason Hutchinson and Waters (1987) cited as having influenced the emergence of ESP has less to do with linguistics and everything to do with psychology. Rather than simply focus on the method of language delivery, more attention was given to the ways in which learners acquire language and the differences in the ways language is acquired. Learners were seen to employ different learning strategies, use different skills, enter with different learning schemata, and be motivated by different needs and interests. Therefore, focus on the learners' needs became equally paramount as the methods employed to disseminate linguistic knowledge. Characteristics of ESP courses Carter (1983) has stated that there are three features common to ESP courses: a) authentic material, b) purpose-related orientation, and c) self-direction. If we consider Dudley-Evans and ST Johns (1998) claim that ESP should be offered at an intermediate or advanced level, use of authentic learning materials is completely possible. The use of authentic content materials, modified or unmodified in form, are indeed a feature of ESP, particularly in self-directed study and research tasks. As Gatehouse (2001) has claimed ‘’Purpose-related orientation refers to the simulation of communicative tasks required of the target setting’’ (p. 5). Finally, self-direction is characteristic of ESP courses in that the “... point of including self-direction ... is that ESP is concerned with turning learners into users" (Carter, 1983, p. 134). In order for self-direction to occur, the learners must have a certain degree of freedom to decide when, what, and how they will study. Recent world events have emphasized the need to increase understanding and to improve communication among all citizens. To meet their communication needs, more and more individuals have highly specific academic and professional reasons for seeking to improve their language skills: for these students, usually adults, courses that fall under the heading English for Special Purposes (ESP) are particularly interesting. ESP programs focus on developing communicative competence in a specific field, such as aviation, business, or technology.



4

How is ESP different from general English language courses? Hortas (1995, p. 2) considers the following as different ways in which ESP is different from general English language courses: 1. The words and sentences learned, the subject matter discussed, all relate to a particular field

or discipline, for example, a lawyer writing a brief, or a diplomat preparing a policy paper. The courses make use of vocabulary and tasks related to the field such as negotiation skills and effective techniques for oral presentations.

2. ESP programs use printed and audio-visual materials that are specially designed to meet the needs of a specific group of learners, usually adults. Typical ESP textbooks are English for Corporate Communications and English for Information Systems.

3. Tuition for an ESP course may be somewhat higher than that of a general English language course. (The specialized teaching, requiring professionals, the broad range of supporting activities and facilities explain this higher cost.), although a highly specialized course lasting only two or three weeks might be designed to meet the needs of a specific group. Apart from differences in ESP programs' duration and cost, these courses have a common purpose: to increase students' skill and confidence in using English.

Moreover, ESP is known as ‘’a learner-centered approach to teaching English as a foreign or second language. It meets the needs of (mostly) adult learners who need to learn a foreign language for use in their specific fields, such as science, technology, medicine, leisure, and academic learning’’ (Yildiz, 2004). Yildiz (2004, p. 1) has identified ESP objectives as follows:

• To develop an understanding about the factors that led to the emergence of ESP and the forces, both theoretical and applied, that have shaped its subsequent development.

• To assist students develop needs assessments and genre analyses for specific groups of learners.

• To provide guidelines to adapt or create authentic ESP materials in a chosen professional or occupational area and to critically evaluate currently available materials, including technology-based ones.

• To become knowledgeable about assessment procedures appropriate for ESP and apply this knowledge in developing course and lesson evaluation plans in their professional or occupational area.

In fact, as T. Nazarova (1996, as cited in Sysoyev, 2000) showed, for many years ESP instruction was limited to training special lexicon and translating numerous texts. Of course, such methods did not reflect students' interests and resulted in low learner motivation and poor participation. With the spread of the student-centered approach and the continued increase of international contacts in various spheres, much attention has been paid to the design of ESP courses that can prepare students for professional communication.



5

Formulation of goals and objectives of the course As Sysoyev (2000) has noted ‘’formulating goals and objectives for a particular course allows the teacher to create a clear picture of what the course is going to be about’’ (p. 2). As Graves (1996) explained, goals are general statements or the final destination, the level students will need to achieve. Objectives express certain ways of achieving the goals. ‘’In other words, objectives are teachable chunks, which in their accumulation form the essence of the course’’ (Sysoyev, 2000, p. 2). Clear understanding of goals and objectives will help teachers to be sure what material to teach, and when and how it should be taught. In his book Nunan (1988) gives a clear description of how one should state objectives. Depending on what is desired, objectives may sound like the following:

• Students will learn that ... • Students will be aware of ... • Students will develop ...

Selecting and developing ESP materials Do ESP textbooks really exist? This is the central question Johns (1990) addressed. One of the core dilemmas he presented was that "ESP teachers find themselves in a situation where they are expected to produce a course that exactly matches the needs of a group of learners, but are expected to do so with no, or very limited, preparation time" (Johns, 1990, p. 91). In the real world, many ESL instructors/ESP developers are not provided with enough time for needs analysis, materials research and materials development. There are many texts which claim to meet the needs of ESP courses. Johns (1990) commented that no one ESP text can live up to its name. For many teachers, selection of teaching materials is based on their availability. Furthermore, chosen materials determine the content of the course. Quite often it serves as a justification and explanation of the use of the same syllabus with different students. In student-centered instruction, the appropriateness of materials includes student comfort and familiarity with the material, language level, interest, and relevance. However, in some situations teachers are dependent on the materials and are required to use the same textbook over and over again. ‘’Potentially there is nothing bad in using the same teaching materials, if everything is conceptualized through a learner-centered approach. The same article or audio story can be used for developing reading or listening comprehension skills, cultural awareness, expanding vocabulary, etc’’ (Sysoyev, 2000, p. 3). Thus, as Graves pointed out, teaching materials are "tools that can be figuratively cut up into component pieces and then rearranged to suit the needs, abilities, and interests of the students in the course’’ (Graves, 1996, p. 27). Course-development as an on-going process Developing a new course is not just planning a course. In teaching, instructors are constant learners. With professional experience, our views, teaching concepts, and methodological



6

knowledge are continuously changing. From year to year, we have different students with different needs and background. That will inevitably make it necessary and important to modify every course and adjust it to a particular group of students. Furthermore, quite often in the classroom things take place in an unexpected or unplanned way. ‘’Flexible teachers are open to making necessary changes while teaching. They can see what can or should be modified, added, or changed to make the course reflect students' interests and needs’’(Sysoyev, 2000, p. 4). Therefore, course development can be seen as an on-going process. In fact, as Johns and Price-Machado (as cited in Celce-Murcia, 2001, p. 47) have quoted Widdowson (1981) ‘’a process oriented approach accepts from the outset that the language data given to the learner will not be preserved in store intact, but will be used in the mental mill’’. LITERATURE REVIEW Having reviewed the related literature, the present researcher could just find two articles which were indirectly related to the objectives of this study. In fact, to the extent of the current researcher’s knowledge, no line of research has been conducted to investigate any of the objectives of this study in an Iranian EFL context. One of the above-mentioned studies was conducted by Mahdavi-Zafarghandi (2005) on 57 students of dentistry at Guilan university of Medical Sciences. In this study, He gave an account of the assessment of the extent to which students having successfully completed English for Science and Technology (EST) courses failed to achieve any of the objectives of the EST course, namely to understand educational films, and to read EST texts skillfully. Mahdavi-Zafarghandi’s (2005) research showed that the students fell short of proficient listening and reading skills. He suggested that listening be included into the curriculum. The other study was conducted by Anari (2005) which dealt with what he considered to be the main problems of ESP practice in Iran. He identified three major problems: unpreparedness of the majority of students for their ESP courses, the ESP textbooks’ high level of difficulty, and inappropriate materials design and development. Using a mixture of personal experience and the theoretical views of such figures as Hutchinson and Waters (1987), he has suggested certain ways of overcoming these problems. However, he considered reading comprehension of the specialized texts in different fields of study to be the main objective of the ESP course, and tried to investigate different obstacles in the way of achieving this objective. RESEARCH QUESTIONS This study aimed at seeking answers to the following research questions which are all from the perspective of ESP teachers: 1) Do ESP teachers generally agree with the presentation of ESP courses? 2) What should the objectives of ESP courses be?



7

3) Which objectives are supported by the materials offered to students in ESP courses? 4) Do ESP teachers follow a process-oriented approach or a product-oriented one? 5) How do ESP teachers evaluate the texts and/or materials offered in ESP courses? 6) How do ESP teachers evaluate ESP courses offered? METHODOLOGY Participants The participants of this study were 15 teachers (9 male and 6 female) teaching at different departments at Bahonar and Azad Universities of Kerman, Iran. Five teachers from each of the following departments were selected: Accounting Department, Sociology Department, the Department of Trade Management, the Department of Economy, and the Department of Persian literature. The departments from which these participants were selected were randomly chosen. Also, random sampling was applied to select the teachers from the above mentioned departments. Instruments The instrument used in this study was a structured interview conducted by the current researcher during which all the participants were consistently asked six questions each of which sought to collect the required data related to one of the research questions of the study. The first question was a Yes/No type question asking the subjects if they generally agreed with the presentation of ESP courses. The second and third questions were open ended questions. The former asked the participants about what the objectives of ESP courses should be, and the latter about whether those objectives were supported by ESP texts and/or materials offered in ESP courses. The fourth question, a two-choice question, asked about the emphasis of the ESP teachers on a) final exam scores or b) class activities throughout the term. In fact, this item was intended to determine indirectly whether the ESP teachers conducted a process-oriented approach or a product-oriented one. Finally, the fifth and sixth questions were asked and scored on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = absolutely useful to 5 = absolutely useless). The former demanded the teachers to evaluate the texts or materials offered in ESP courses, and the latter to evaluate the ESP course generally. Data Collection Procedure As the subjects of the present study were all university professors as well as ESP teachers, it was actually difficult to find them all in one place and at a certain time. In fact, the researcher managed to conduct the interviews with the subjects, and so to collect the necessary data, in different locations such as computer sites for faculty members, different classes, and so on, and over a period of eight months (about two-semester long). All the subjects of the study were first assured about the fact that the results of this research would be used for research purposes only. They were told that there is no right or wrong answer to any of the questions and that they could leave the interview session at any time they would like to. They were further assured that the information would be kept completely confidential. Then, they were all consistently asked the six questions each of which sought to collect the required data related to one of the research questions of the study. All the interviews were done



8

individually and the subjects were asked one question at a time followed by any explanations if necessary on the part of the interviewees. All interview sessions lasted about 10 to 15 minutes. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The teachers’ agreement or disagreement to present ESP courses The collected data show that 13 teachers agreed and two teachers disagreed to present ESP courses. The statistics related to simple frequencies and percentages are depicted in Table 1.

Table 1: The frequency distribution of the teachers’ agreement or disagreement to present ESP courses f p Yes 13 86.6 No 2 13.4 N 15 100

The teachers’ attitudes as to what the objectives of ESP courses should be? The collected data indicate that ESP teachers believed that the objectives of ESP courses should be improving first, the translation of specialized texts; second, the reading comprehension of specialized texts; third the range of specialized vocabulary; fourth, the grammatical skills; and finally, the writing of specialized texts (Table 2).

Table 2:The frequency distribution of the teachers’ attitudes as to what the objectives of ESP courses should be Total p Total f Objectives 100 73.3

26.6 15 11

4 Yes No

1.Translation of specialized texts

100 60 40

15 9 6

Yes No

2. Reading comprehension

100 33.3 66.7

15 5 10

Yes No

3. specialized vocabulary

100 20 80

15 13 12

Yes No

4. Grammatical skills

100 13.3 86.7

15 2 13

Yes No

5. Writing of specialized texts

The teachers’ attitudes as to which objectives are supported by the materials? The collected data indicate that ESP teachers believed that the objectives of ESP courses which are practically supported by the ESP materials include improving first, the translation of specialized texts; second, the reading comprehension of specialized texts; third the range of specialized vocabulary; fourth, the grammatical skills; and finally, the writing of specialized texts (Table 3).



9

Table 3: The frequency distribution of the teachers’ attitudes as to which objectives are supported by the materials Total p Total f Objectives 100 66.7

33.3 15 10

5 Yes No

1.Translation of specialized texts

100 46.6 53.4

15 7 8

Yes No

2. Reading comprehension

100 46.6 53.4

15 7 8

Yes No

3. specialized vocabulary

100 13.3 86.7

15 2 13

Yes No

4. Grammatical skills

100 6.6 93.4

15 1 14

Yes No

5. Writing of specialized texts

The teachers’ attitudes as to whether they follow a process-oriented approach or a product-oriented one The collected data show that four teachers believed that they emphasized more on the final exam scores and 11 teachers believed that they emphasized more on class activities during the term. The statistics related to simple frequencies and percentages are depicted in Table 4. Table 4: The frequency distribution of the teachers’ attitudes as to whether they follow a process-oriented approach

or a product-oriented one p f Type of emphasis

26.7 4 Final exam scores 73.3 11 Class activities 100 15 Total

The teachers’ evaluation of the texts and/or materials offered in ESP courses Table 5 summarizes the statistics regarding the teachers’ assessment of the texts and/or materials offered in ESP courses. It indicates that most of the teachers have evaluated the materials to be useful. Table 5: The frequency distribution of the teachers’ evaluation of the texts and/or materials offered in ESP courses

f p Absolutely useful 2 13.4 Almost useful 3 20 useful 6 40 Almost useless 3 20 Absolutely useless 1 6.6 Total 15 100

The teachers’ general evaluation of the ESP courses offered Table 6 summarizes the statistics regarding the teachers’ general assessment of the ESP courses offered. It indicates that the majority of the teachers have evaluated the ESP courses to be useful generally.



10

Table 6: The frequency distribution of the teachers’ general evaluation of the ESP courses offered

Discussion Regarding the first research question, the results of the present study show that 13 ESP teachers (86.6 percent) agreed to present ESP and two (13.4 percent) disagreed to present ESP. This possibly shows that most of the teachers consider ESP courses necessary to be presented. It may also indicate that the teachers differentiate ESP from general English very well and know that general English alone cannot fulfill their students’ future needs and that the students will have some very specific needs in English. Regarding the second research question, the results of the present study indicate that the ESP teachers consider the skills of translation and reading comprehension of specialized texts as the most important ESP objectives. In fact, this finding shows that the teachers are fully aware of their own students’ needs as well as their future needs for translation and reading comprehension of specialized texts. So they believe that the most important ESP objectives are the improvement of these two skills. Moreover, according to the results, ESP teachers considered improving the range of specialized vocabulary as the third and grammatical skills as the fourth most important objectives of this course implying that they are concerned about the specialized vocabulary and grammatical skills that their students need or will possibly need for both translation and reading comprehension of specialized texts. However, ESP teachers considered the writing of specialized texts as the least important skill to be developed by ESP. This probably shows that either the ESP teachers believe their students’ writing is already good enough or they can improve it on their own. In accordance with the findings of the present study, ESP teachers have not mentioned improving listening comprehension and/or speaking skills as any of the objectives which they think should be included in ESP courses. This might be due to the fact that the teachers living in an EFL context believe that their students will not possibly need the aural-oral skills in future and/or their future careers, or that they can improve such skills by themselves or they may not need such capabilities to continue their studies at higher academic levels. Regarding the third research question, the results of the present study demonstrate that the teachers believed that all the objectives they regarded as necessary for ESP courses were actually reinforced by the presented materials in the same order of importance. This shows that there is a complete agreement between what the teachers see as ESP objectives and what they regard as being practically supported by the materials they present to their students.

f p Absolutely useful 1 6.6 Almost useful 3 20 Useful 7 46.6 Almost useless 2 13.4 Absolutely useless 2 13.4 Total 47 100



11

However, there is a slight reduction in the percentage points illustrating ESP teachers’ attitudes as to which objectives are supported by the materials in comparison with those indicative of the teachers attitudes as to what the objectives of ESP courses should be, with the case of specialized vocabulary being an exception. Generally speaking, this decrease implies that ESP texts and/or materials might need some revision to better support the objectives ESP teachers considered important. This reduction is most notable in the case of reading comprehension which implies that ESP texts and/or materials might need some special attention on the part of curriculum developers and/or material designers in this respect, that is, improving reading comprehension skill. Regarding the fourth research question, the results of the present study illustrate that four teachers (26.7%) believed that they emphasized more on the final exam scores and 11 teachers (73.3%) believed that they emphasized more on class activities during the term. Therefore, it can be concluded that the ESP teachers’ approaches to assess ESP students’ learning were mostly process-oriented rather than product-oriented. Regarding the fifth research question, the results of the present study show that just two teachers (13.4%) have considered the presented materials and texts as absolutely useful and one teacher (6.6%) has considered them as absolutely useless, whereas most of the teachers (40 %) have regarded the materials to be useful. This probably indicates that the materials presented in ESP courses were neither absolutely appropriate nor absolutely inappropriate but were just proper enough to fulfill ESP students’ needs. Once again, the implication might be for material designers to try to modify ESP materials according to the objectives ESP teachers have considered necessary to be covered by ESP materials. Finally, regarding the sixth research question, the results of the current study demonstrates just one teacher (6.6%) has considered the ESP courses as absolutely useful and four teachers (13.4%) have considered them as absolutely useless, whereas most of the teachers (46.6 %) have regarded the ESP courses to be useful. This might be because of the teachers’ awareness of their students’ needs for ESP in future. However, it is likely that because of the teachers’ possible awareness of other ways for their students to fulfill their needs on their own, some of them (about 27%) have regarded ESP as almost useless and useless. CONCLUSIONS Considering the above-mentioned findings and discussions, it can be concluded that the majority of ESP teachers seem to be generally pleased with ESP courses and the materials they presented to their students in these courses. Actually, most of them have considered ESP courses as useful which shows that they believe these courses have been efficient to fulfill their needs. Furthermore, the ESP teachers have reported that they conducted a process-oriented approach rather than a product-oriented one to assess their learning, and that the main goals of ESP courses have been first the translation of specialized texts and then reading comprehension of such texts which, in their opinion, have also been supported by materials and texts they presented.



12

There were some limitations conducting this study, including the small sample size and their basis on just the specific sample of Iranian ESP teachers which raises concern about the generalizability of the results. Moreover, the researchers of the present study encountered the following two problems when collecting data which restricted the present study. First, the cooperation of the ESP teachers with the researcher was very little, hence the researcher limited the study just to 15 ESP teachers. Second, the curriculum developers’ attitudes towards ESP has not been the focus of this study. Finishing with limitations, some recommendations for future research are noteworthy. It would be worthwhile to examine the research questions among larger samples in order to gain more conclusive results. Also, further studies could be done to investigate curriculum developers’ attitudes towards ESP. The last suggestion for further studies would be that they should include other qualitative tools such as diaries and think-aloud protocols which might provide further insight into issues related to ESP. REFERENCES Anari, S. M. (2005). Obstacles to achieving the goal of ESP in universities. In G. R. Kiany and

M. Khayyamdar (Eds), Proceedings of the first national ESP/EAP conference. (Vol. I). Tehran, SAMT.

Anthony, L. (2007). English for Specific Purposes: What does it mean? Why is it different? Retrieved October 25, 2012, from http://www.ice.ous. ac.jp

Carter, D. (1983). Some propositions about ESP. The ESP Journal, 2, 131-137. Celce-Murcia, M. (Ed.). (2001). Teaching English as a second or foreign language. (3rd ed.).

Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle. Dudley-Evans, T., & St John, M. J. (1998). Developments in ESP: A multi-disciplinary

approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Farhady, H. (2005). Reflections on and directions for ESP materials development in SAMT. In

G. R. Kiany and M. Khayyamdar (Eds), Proceedings of the first national ESP/EAP conference. (Vol. III). Tehran, SAMT.

Fiorito, L. (2002). Teaching English for specific purposes. Retrieved October 25, 2012, from http://www.UsingEnglish.com/

Gatehouse, G. (2001). Key issues in English for Specific Purposes (ESP)curriculum development. Retrieved October 22, 2012, from http://www.khae-service.com/

Graves, K. (1996). Teachers as course developers. England: Cambridge University Press. Hortas, J. D. (1995). English for Specific Purposes. Retrieved October 23, 2012, from

http://www. StudyUSA.com Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (1987). English for Specific Purposes: A learning- centered

approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Johns, A. M., & Price-Machada, D. (2001). English for specific purposes (ESP): Tailoring

courses to students' needs-and to the outside world. In Johns, G. (1990). ESP textbooks: Do they really exist? English for Specific Purposes, 9, 89-93.

Mahdavi-Zafarghandi, A. (2005). Failure of EST objectives. In G. R. Kiany and M. Khayyamdar (Eds), Proceedings of the first national ESP/EAP conference. (Vol. II). Tehran, SAMT.

Nunan, D. (1988). Syllabus Design. Oxford: Oxford University Press.



13

Robinson, P. (1991). ESP today: A practitioner’s guide. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall International.

Sysoyev, P. V. (2000). Developing an English for Specific Purposes course using a learner centered approach: A Russian experience. The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. VI, No. 3, March 2000. Retrieved October 23, 2012, from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/Sysoyev-ESP.html

Yildiz, S. (2004). Teaching English for Specific Purposes. Retrieved October 23, 2012, from http://www.eric.com

Bio Data Amir Hamid Forough Ameri has an MA in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). His main research interests include psycholinguistics, learner variable as well as ESP. He announces that this work has not been published elsewhere. He is currently teaching at Iran Language Institute (ILI). He has already published two articles in the Iranian EFL Journal.

final version 631

Documents