EAP Instruction for the Islamic Students in the Iranian Higher Education System: Challenges and Recommendations in the Courses of Islamic Text

Document Type : Review Article

Authors

1 Department of English Language, Baqir Al-Olum University, Qom, Iran

2 Department of English Language, Islamic Azad University, Urmia Branch, Urmia , Iran

3 Department of English Language, Islamic Azad University, Torbat-e Heydariyeh Branch, Torbat-e Heydariyeh, Iran

Abstract

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) is derived from the umbrella term ESP, which means to meet learners’ and employers’ needs. It has gained a noticeable role as a language of knowledge dissemination, which has developed into an ongoing need for the improvement of language proficiency among non-English major university students. This has highlighted the significance of EAP courses, which are dominant in the context of Iranian universities. Although there is a reasonable body of contemporary research in the realm of ESP/EAP instruction nationwide, much of the literature in the Iranian EAP setting has been concentrated mainly on quantitative survey-based or experimental studies examining the syllabus and teaching contents with little or no attention to the teaching methodology. Moreover, there is scant research on the body of current EAP literature demonstrating a holistic picture of the running courses in terms of syllabus and methodology in EAP. The present paper aims at shedding light on the existing status of EAP courses for Iranian Islamic students in the tertiary educational system of Islamic universities of Iran through a comprehensive review of some major studies conducted in the related realm. Furthermore, it examines some of the major challenges and criticisms levelled at EAP instruction and EAP courses for Islamic students in Iranian higher education, with a focus on two major dimensions: syllabus and teaching methodology. The paper concludes by giving some practical and pedagogical implications for EAP practitioners, emphasizing the role of teaching methodology, aiming to raise the practitioners’ awareness in promoting the efficiency of EAP courses.

Keywords

Main Subjects

©2023 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, as long as the original authors and source are cited. No permission is required from the authors or the publishers.

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International Journal of Textual and Translation Analysis in Islamic Studies
Volume 1, Issue 1 - Serial Number 1
January 2023
Pages 89-108

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History

  • Receive Date: 11 August 2022
  • Revise Date: 14 September 2022
  • Accept Date: 19 October 2022

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