How Do Updated Localized Materials Affect Students’ Study Level and Perceptions in a Discipline-specific English Course?

Document Type: Original Article

Authors

Department of Persian literature and Foreign Languages, Islamic Azad University, South Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The present study investigated the effect of updated localized material s on the English language achievement of undergraduate students of Political Science in their English for sp ecific purposes (ESP) courses in Iran. Sixty - five male and female undergraduate students (19 - 26 years old) from two universities in Iran participate d in this study. They were divided into two intact classes consisting of 32 and 33 students , respectively , a s the experimental and control group. After ascertaining their h o- mogeneity, conducting the pretest, and doing the treatment, which included exposing the exper i- mental group to authentic updated material s , both groups took the posttest. The results of statis tical analysis indicated that the use of localized materials enhanced the achievement scores of the participants in the experimental group significantly. The data was triangulated through an attitude questionnaire and interview. The findings could have pedagogical implications for ESP learners and instructors.



 



 

Keywords

References

Amirian, Z. & Tavakoli, M.(2009). Reassessing the ESP courses offered to engineering students in Iran English for Specific Purposes World, 8 (23). 1-13

 Baleghizadeh, S. & Rahimi, A. H. (2011).Evaluation of an ESP textbook for the students of sociology. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2 (5), 1009-1014.

Berardo, S. (2006). The use of authentic materials in the teaching of reading. The Reading Matrix, 6(2), 60-69.

Chastain, k. (1988). Developing second language skills: ‘Theory and practice (3rd ed.).Orlando: Harcout Brace and Jovanocich.

Davarpanah, H. (2006), English for the students of political science, Tehran: SAMT

Guariento, W, & Morely, J. (2001). Text and task authenticity in EFL classroom. ELT Journal, 55, 4, 347-353

House, S. (2008). «Authentic materials in the classroom». In S. S. Peñamaría, & R. D. Martínez, (eds). Didactic approaches for teachers of English in an international context. 53-70. Salamanca: Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca.

Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (1992). English for specific purposes: a learning-centered approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Hyland, K. (2006). English for Academic Purposes: An advanced resource book. London. Routedge.

Hyland, K. (2003). Genre-based pedagogies: A social response to process. Journal of Second Language Writing, 12 (1), 17-29.

Kramsch, C. (1994). Context and culture in language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Kumaravadivelu, B. (2001). Toward a post method pedagogy. TESOL Quarterly, 35, 4, 537-560

Mackay, R. & Palmer, J. D.  (1981). Language for specific purposes: program design and evaluation. Rowley, Mass.: Newbury House.

Nunan, D. (1988). The Learner-centered Curriculum. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (2001). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching (Second Edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Otte, J. (2006). Real language to real people: A descriptive and exploratory case study of the outcomes of aural authentic texts on the listening comprehension of adult ESL students enrolled in an advanced ESL listening course. Dissertation Abstracts International, 67(4), 1246B. (UMI No. 3212979)

Paltridge, B. (2001). Genre and the language learning classroom. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Robinson, P. (1991). ESP Today: a Practitioner’s Guide. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall International.

Stern, H. H. (1992). Issues and options in language teaching (edited posthumously by Patrick Allen & Birgit Harley). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Sumaryono, K., & Ortiz, F.W. (2004). Preserving the cultural identity of English language learner.Voices from the middle, 11(2), 16-19.

Sznajder, H. S. (2001). Engineering textbooks: Introducing reading skills for academic purposes in the English syllabus of the first year technical telecommunications engineering. In S. Posteguillo, I. Fortanet & J.C. Palmer, (Eds.). Methodology and new technologies in languages for specific purposes. 389-398. Castellón: Universitat Jaume I.

Trappes-Lomax, H. (2006). Discourse analysis. InA. Davies, and C. Elder, The handbook of applied linguistics, (eds.), 133-164. Oxford: Blackwell.

Thanajaro, M. (2000). Using authentic materials to develop listening comprehension in the English as a second language classroom (Doctoral dissertation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University).

Tomlinson, B. (2003). Developing Materials for Language Teaching. London: Continuum.

Zangani, E. (2009). The ESP textbook problem: The evaluation of ESP textbooks in Humanities in the Undergraduate Program of Iranian Universities. The Asian ESP Journal, 5 (2), pp. 93-106.

 

Journal of Language and Translation

Volume 7, Issue 3
Autumn 2017
Pages 13-23

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics