Document Type : Research article

Authors

1 Professor of applied linguistics, Kharazmi University

2 Associate professor of applied linguistics, Kharazmi University

3 Ph.D candidate in TEFL, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Teaching English for Academic Purposes (EAP) requires specific qualifications on the part of teachers for which reconstruction of cognitions on EAP is a prerequisite. Previous studies have largely taken the quality of teachers' EAP cognitions for granted and few studies, if any, have sought to examine in-service teachers' tacitly-held cognitions on EAP. This study aimed to examine in-service teachers' cognitions on key EAP issues including EAP goals, distinction between EAP and English for General Purposes (EGP), and EAP teacher qualifications as well as roles. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and life-history narratives from nine EAP practitioners at a state university in Iran. Results showed that the teachers' cognitions were mainly incongruent with the EAP principles. A close relationship was also found among individual teachers' cognitions on different key issues. It is concluded that despite their past practical experience, in-service EAP teachers' cognitions might be limited and in need of reconstruction. The findings may promise some implications for EAP teacher education and research.

Keywords

Atai, M. R. (2002a). ESAP curriculum planning in Iran: An incoherent educational experience. Special Issue of the Journal of Persian Literature and Human Sciences of Tehran Teacher Training University, 1, 17-34.
Atai, M. R. (2002b). Iranian EAP programs in practice: A study of key methodological aspects. Sheikhbahaee Research Bulletin, 1(2), 1-15.
Atai, M. R. (2006). EAP teacher education: Searching for an effective model integrating Content and language teachers’ schemes. Proceedings of PAAL Conference (pp. 23-41). Kangwong National University, Chuncheon, Korea.
Atai, M. R., & Fatahi-Majd, M. (2014). Exploring the practices and cognitions of Iranian ELT instructors and subject teachers in teaching EAP reading comprehension. English for Specific Purposes, 33, 27-38.
Atai, M. R., & Khazaee, M. (2014). exploring Iranian EAP teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and their professional identity. Issues in Language Teaching, 3(1), 35-1.
Atai, M. R., & Nazari, O. (2011). Exploring reading comprehension needs of Iranian EAP students of health information management (HIM): A triangulated approach. System, 39(1), 30-43.
Barnard, R., & Burns, A. (2012). Introduction, in R. Barnard, & A. Burns (Eds.). Researching language teacher cognition and practice: International case studies (Vol. 27) (pp. 1-10).UK: Multilingual matters.
Basturkmen, H. (2010). Developing courses in English for specific purposes. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Belcher, D. D. (2006). English for specific purposes: Teaching to perceived needs and imagined futures in worlds of work, study, and everyday life. TESOL Quarterly, 40, 133–156.
Belcher, D. D. (2009). What ESP is and can be: An introduction, In D. Belcher (Ed.). English for specific purposes in theory and practice (pp. 1-20). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Bell, J.S. (2002). Narrative research in TESOL: Narrative inquiry: More than just telling stories. TESOL Quarterly, 36(2), 207-213.
Bhatia, V. K. (2004). Worlds of written discourse: A genre-based view. London: Continuum.
Bogdan, R. C., & Biklen, S. K. (2007). Qualitative research for education: An introduction to theories and methods. New York: Pearson Education, Inc.
Borg, S. (2003). Teacher cognition in language teaching: A review of research on what language teachers think, know, believe, and do. Language Teaching, 36(2), 81–109.
Borg, S. (2009). Language teacher cognition, in J. Richards & A. Burns (Eds.), Cambridge guide to second language teacher education (pp. 91–101). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Borg, S. (2012). Current approaches to language teacher cognition research: a methodological analysis, in R. Barnard, & A. Burns (Eds.). Researching language teacher cognition and practice: International case studies (pp. 11-29). UK: Multilingual matters.
Campion, G. C. (2016). ‘The learning never ends’: Exploring teachers’ views on the transition from General English to EAP. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 23, 59-70.
Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing grounded theory a practical guide through qualitative analysis. London: SAGE Publications.
Dressen-Hammouda, D. (2008). From novice to disciplinary expert: Disciplinary identity and genre mastery. English for Specific Purposes, 27, 233–252.
Dressen-Hammouda, D. (2013). Ethnographic approaches to ESP research, in B. Paltridge & S. Starfield (Eds.), The handbook of English for specific purposes (pp. 502–517). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
Farrell, T. S. (2007). Reflective language teaching: From research to practice. London: Continuum Press.
Farrell, T. S. (2008). Critical incidents in ELT initial teacher training. ELT journal, 62(1), 3-10.
Fram, S. M. (2013). The constant comparative analysis method outside of grounded theory. The Qualitative Report, 18(Art. 1), 1-25. Retrieved from http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR18/fram1.pdf
Gentles, S. J., Charles, C., Ploeg, J., & McKibbon, K. (2015). Sampling in qualitative research: Insights from an overview of the methods literature. The Qualitative Report, 20(11), 1772-1789. Retrieved from http://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol20/iss11/5
Golombek, P., & Doran, M. (2014). Unifying cognition, emotion, and activity in language teacher professional development. Teaching and Teacher Education, 39, 102-111.
Graves, K. (2009). The curriculum of second language teacher education, in R. Barnard, & A. Burns (Eds.), The Cambridge guide to second language teacher education (pp.115-124). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Hall, D. R. (2013). Teacher education for languages for specific purposes, in C. A. Chapelle (Ed.), Encyclopedia of applied linguistics (pp. 5537–5542). Oxford: Blackwell Publishing,
Hamp-Lyons, L. (2011). English for academic purposes, in E. Hinkel (Ed.) Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning, Vol. II (pp. 89–105). New York: Routledge
Hayati, M. (2008). Teaching English for special purposes in Iran: problems and suggestions. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, 7(2), 149-164.
Hüttner, J., Smit, U., & Mehlmauer-Larcher, B. (2009). ESP teacher education at the interface of theory and practice: Introducing a model of mediated corpus-based genre analysis. System, 37(1), 99-109.
Hyland, K. (2006). English for Academic Purposes: An advanced resource book. London: Routledge.
Hyland, K. (2007). English for specific purposes: some influences and impacts, in J. Cummins & C. Davison (Eds.), International handbook of English language teaching (Vol. 11) (pp. 391-402). Springer Science & Business Media.
Hyland, K. (2015). Genre, discipline and identity. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 19, 32-43.
Hyland, K. (2016). General and specific EAP, in K. Hyland, & P. Shaw (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of English for academic purposes (pp. 17-30). New York: Routledge.
Hyland, K., & Shaw, P. (2016). Introduction, in K. Hyland, & P. Shaw (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of English for academic purposes (pp. 1-15). New York: Routledge.
Johnson, K. (2009). Second language teacher education: A sociocultural perspective. New York: Routledge.
Khany, R., & Tarlani-Aliabadi, H. (2016). Studying power relations in an academic setting: Teachers’ and students’ perceptions of EAP classes in Iran. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 21, 72-85.
Mazdayasna, G., & Tahririan, M. H. (2008). Developing a profile of the ESP needs of Iranian students: the case of students of nursing and midwifery. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 7, 277-289.
Murray, G. (2009). Narrative inquiry, in J. Heigham & R. A. Croker (Eds.), Qualitative research in applied linguistics: A practical introduction (pp. 45-65). London: Palgrave Macmillan UK.
Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Collins, K. M. (2007). A typology of mixed methods sampling designs in social science research. The Qualitative Report, 12(2), 281-316. Retrieved from http://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol12/iss2/9
Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Patton, M. Q. (2015). Qualitative research & evaluation methods: Integrating theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Saldana, J. (2009). The coding manual for qualitative researchers. London: SAGE
Soodmand Afshar, H., & Movassagh, H. (2016). EAP education in Iran: Where does the problem lie? Where are we heading? Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 22, 132-151.
Wyatt, M. & Borg, S. (2011). Development in the practical knowledge of language teachers: A comparative study of three teachers designing and using communicative tasks on an in-service BA TESOL program in the Middle East. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 5(3), 233-252.