A critical evaluation of ‘English for academic purposes (EAP)’ program in Iranian higher education from specialists’ perspective: A grounded theory

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Hossein Davari 1
Abutaleb Iranmehr 2
1 Associate Professor, English Department, Damghan University, Damghan, Iran
2 Assistant Professor, English Department, Shahrood University of Technology, Shahrood, Iran
10.61838/KMAN.IRPHE.30.3.3
Abstract
 
The ‘English for academic purposes’ program, or the so-called ‘specialized English’ program, is one of the key educational sub-systems in Iran's higher education, which has experienced a life of about four decades. Reviewing the related research to this program in the higher education system shows that although it has been evaluated from different angles and mainly from the viewpoint of teaching methods and materials, we have rarely seen its critical evaluation from a broader perspective, understanding such necessity and using grounded theory, the opinions of eleven specialists in the field of English for academic purposes (EAP) have been qualitatively examined and analyzed. The findings indicate that this program is faced with serious shortcomings in two main areas of policymaking and implementation, which were classified into seven sub-areas.The results of this research can help higher education policymakers, curriculum designer, instructors and other stakeholders in the process of revising and implementing this program.

Keywords

Subjects

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  • Receive Date 23 May 2023
  • Revise Date 08 August 2023
  • Accept Date 15 August 2023
  • Publish Date 22 September 2024