1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Reza Dashtestani; Shadi Forutanian
Abstract
Developing students’ various competencies and skills of the Fourth Industrial Revolution has posed serious challenges for university students. However, only a few studies have been carried out regarding incorporating project-based learning activities that integrate general education and Fourth ...
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Developing students’ various competencies and skills of the Fourth Industrial Revolution has posed serious challenges for university students. However, only a few studies have been carried out regarding incorporating project-based learning activities that integrate general education and Fourth Industrial Revolution competencies as an education 4.0 project-based ESP curriculum (E4PEC). Therefore, this exploratory mixed-methods study has been carried out to develop a Medical English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course that is in line with a specific academic institution's curriculum, in order to understand how students perceived the challenges and benefits of studying Medicine based on E4PEC. A total of 64 fourth-year medical majors, 46 females and 18 male students at Najafabad Islamic Azad University in Iran, participated in the study. Cronbach’s Alpha test was run to test the reliability of the questionnaires’ items in order to explore students’ perceptions of the challenges and benefits of E4PEC. Regarding their perceptions of the benefits, it was found that all five categories received the students’ positive attitudes. More specifically, most of the students perceived that PBL brought the benefits of fostering language and content knowledge and skills, and enhancement of self-responsibility and personal qualities. The study findings suggest that the E4PEC-based ESP medicine courses were more beneficial than challenging for the students and had the potential to improve students' utilization and development of technology, communication, critical thinking and analysis, creativity, and problem-solving skills. Nevertheless, issues with peers frequently surfaced, including a lack of digital and research skills, as well as difficulties with both hard and soft skills. This study provides implications for the integration of E4PEC into ESP medical classes in Iranian higher education and other similar educational contexts.
1. Applied Linguistics (Language Teaching and Learning)
Abdolvahed Zarifi; Elahe Asadpour
Abstract
Abstract The main objective of the current English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programs in Iran is to fill the gap between the students’ general English competence and their ability to read discipline-specific texts. This study aims to investigate the target and present reading comprehension needs ...
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Abstract The main objective of the current English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programs in Iran is to fill the gap between the students’ general English competence and their ability to read discipline-specific texts. This study aims to investigate the target and present reading comprehension needs of EAP undergraduate students of Persian literature in Yasouj state university through a mixed method approach. A total of 30 undergraduate students who have passed ESP courses and 10 postgraduate students along with two content and two EAP instructors participated in the study which was designed on a mixed method approach using interviews and questionnaires. The results indicated that ‘skimming texts’, ‘using bilingual general dictionaries’, ‘scanning texts’, ‘knowledge of Persian literature terminologies’, ‘guessing meanings of words’, and ‘understanding main ideas’ were perceived as either ‘important’ or ‘very important’ to students’ success by all the participants. Moreover, the results suggested that General English Proficiency (GEP) level of the students, was generally low. The undergraduates held that they need more general English than highly specific academic English. Implications of this study can be used for improving EAP reading courses for Persian literature students. Keywords: Persian literature, Reading comprehension, ESP, need analysis, mixed method approach
Assef Khalili; Majid Aslanabadi
Abstract
As a part of pragmatics of language, Metadiscourse (MD) has been widely recognized as playing a pivotal role in the expression and comprehension of messages in academic writing. In view of its significance in effective communication, there have been a lot of attempts to categorize different MD devices ...
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As a part of pragmatics of language, Metadiscourse (MD) has been widely recognized as playing a pivotal role in the expression and comprehension of messages in academic writing. In view of its significance in effective communication, there have been a lot of attempts to categorize different MD devices within manageable models alongside some descriptive works to demonstrate the use of MD devices on the basis of these models. However, despite all the centrality accorded to MD markers in academic writing, few ESP practitioners have tried to explore the use of these devices by non-native speakers (NNS) who are known to be producing dry, incoherent and sometimes confusing papers - the very shortcomings which might easily be managed by judicious use of MD elements. With the absence of systematic works on the use of MD markers by NNS, there is a paucity of information on their use of MD devices in their productions. This is what the present paper seeks to uncover. Drawing on the Hyland and Tse’s (2004) “Interactive and Interactional” model of MD, and their description of the use of MD devices in research articles produced by native speakers (NS) in Hyland (1998), it was set out to document the frequency of MD markers in papers produced by NNS of English and contrast it with that observed in Hyland (1998). For this purpose, 20 RAs written by NNS which had been accepted for publication in the Tabriz Journal of Dentistry were selected after extensive stylistic and linguistic editing, and were compared against Hyland (1998) with respect to the frequency of particular MD elements. The results showed huge discrepancy in the use of all MD devices in general, and some in particular. The findings can provide useful insights in materials development for academic writing classes where learners could receive explicit instructions on the use of MD elements which have been found to be used least frequently.
