The pedagogical efficacy of ESP courses for Iranian students of engineering from students’ and instructors’ perspectives

Casting light on the pros and cons of every educational program, the outcomes of an effective evaluative endeavor may serve as a guideline for education authorities interested in content enhancement schemes. Focusing on English for specific purposes (ESP) courses for engineering students, the current study sought to evaluate the efficacy of technical English pedagogy in the academic context of Iran. Employing a mixed evaluative framework, the study explored the courses’ effectiveness delving into the attitudes of ESP instructors and engineering students toward three major domains including needs satisfaction, content authenticity, and learner autonomy. As its secondary aim, the study examined whether there was any significant difference between students and instructors in terms of their attitudes to the courses under investigation. To accomplish the objectives, a researcher-made questionnaire was administered to 796 engineering students and 54 ESP instructors chosen from 20 randomly-selected Iranian universities. A descriptive analysis of the survey data revealed an overall disagreement with the satisfaction of some learner needs such as those related to the learning objectives, productive competences, monitoring system, and educational facilities. Additionally, the two groups of participants had significantly different perceptions of the authenticity of the instructional content as well as the satisfaction of the target needs. The findings may help local authorities adapt the existing ESP pedagogy in Iran to suit the genuine needs of students.