A Comparative Evaluation of Activity Types in Locally Developed Iranian EAP Textbooks versus International Counterparts: Communication in Focus

Biglar-Beigi Ghajarieh, Amir; Salami, Ali; Samira, Samira

doi:10.22059/jflr.2022.345191.962

A Comparative Evaluation of Activity Types in Locally Developed Iranian EAP Textbooks versus International Counterparts: Communication in Focus

Document Type : research article

Authors

Amir Biglar-Beigi Ghajarieh ¹

Ali Salami ²

samira Samira ³

¹ Department of TEFL, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ershad Damavand, Tehran, Iran.

² Department of English, Faculty of Foreign Languages, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

³ Department of TEFL, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ershad Damavand, Tehran, Iran

10.22059/jflr.2022.345191.962

Abstract

The present study with a cognitive critical approach and with the aim of informing and relying on theoretical frameworks tries to deal with the existence of a large and neglected gap in the field of English for Academic Purpose (EAP), which is the lack of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach or more precisely, the lack of communicative activities in EAP books. Therefore, this research has investigated and compared the types of activities in three Iranian EAP textbooks and their three international counterparts. Also, the perceptions of Iranian EAP instructors have been investigated through interviews. The findings of the research showed that there are no communicative activities in most Iranian EAP textbooks. On the other hand, in their international counterparts, communicative activities were abundant and highly varied. In addition, the implicit results of the study showed that the international EAP books contained communicative activities in the field of extending skills or soft skills. All interviewees agreed with the findings of the first phase of this study. They also pointed out the obstacles in designing communicative activities and providing suitable solutions. The suggestion of this article is that designing activities in EAP books that stimulate communication can be very helpful in improving students' communication in EAP. It is hoped that these results as a cognitive tool will increase the awareness of authors, professors and students in EAP.

Keywords

EAP

Textbook Evaluation

TBLT

Communicative Discourse

Task and activities

Subjects

آموزش زبان خارجی با اهداف علمی و دانشگاهی

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