Abstract:
The present study aimed to examine ESP teachers and students’ perceptions of using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) to identify advantages and potential challenges in using ICT in the Iranian ESP context. The sample under study was 100 undergraduate students and three TEFL teachers. An adapted questionnaire and a semi-structured interview were employed for data collection. The results showed that although most of the participants had positive perceptions of benefits of ICT integration in ESP instruction, lack of infra-structures, insufficient time, lack of syllabus consist of ICT-based materials, lack of teachers’ competence, lack of positive attitudes, and social and cultural barriers prevented them from using ICT. The results of this study have practical implications for changing from the status quo ESP teaching in Iran to ICT-based ESP teaching and for enriching ESP courses through incorporating ICT-based materials in the ESP curriculum.
Machine summary:
ICT Comes to ESP Course: Iranian Students and Teachers’ Perceptions of ICT Integration into ESP Instruction Bahareh Keshtiarast1, Hadi Salehi*,1, Omid Tabatabaei1, Roya Baharlooie1 1English Department, Najafabad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Najafabad, Iran Submission date: 22 October, 2020 Acceptance date: 24 January, 2021 Abstract The present study aimed to examine ESP teachers and students’ perceptions of using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) to identify advantages and potential challenges in using ICT in the Iranian ESP context.
The results showed that although most of the participants had positive perceptions of benefits of ICT integration in ESP instruction, lack of infra-structures, insufficient time, lack of syllabus consist of ICT-based materials, lack of teachers’ competence, lack of positive attitudes, and social and cultural barriers prevented them from using ICT.
A growing body of research continues to investigate the advantages and challenges that both teachers and students deal with utilizing technology-mediated approaches, such as incorporating ICT in language teaching and learning (Marsden, 2017; Rassouli & Chalak, 2014; Sydorenko, Hellermann, Thorne, & Howe, 2019; Yang & Kwok, 2017; Yu, Chang, & Wu, 2015).
Therefore, the present research benefits from a quantitative non-experimental descriptive study through questionnaire and interview to focus more on lesser-researched notions of advantages and challenges of integrating ICT into ESP instruction focusing on different views of teachers and students at the Iranian tertiary level.
They also consisted of validated items adapted from a review of previous empirical studies concerning the integrating ICT and technology in ESP instruction (Fathi Vajargah, Jahani, & Azadmanesh, 2010) by superseding “computer” with “ICT” in this questionnaire.