A Student-Centered Approach to ESP (English for Specific Purposes). Students Needs Analysis in Iran

Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 18 out of 20, Islamic Azad University, language: English, abstract: Based on the various researches regarding ESP courses, a great deal of issues such as the origins of ESP, ESP practitioners, absolute and variable characteristics of ESP, curriculum design, ESP teacher training course and so forth have been the major concern for the researchers. However, the role of learners in the issues has been remained vague and untouched. Since the role of students as a crucial factor in developing an ESP course is neglected, students' and teachers' frustration, students' poor motivation and interest, ineffectiveness of the course and inflexibility of ESP course have come about. In the present study some appreciable points about the role of ESP students in developing a new course of ESP has been taken into consideration, aiming at introducing the ESP learners as indispensable part of ESP courses.

Mohammad Javad Moafi was born in Behshahr, Mazandaran, Iran on September 19, 1975. Moafi graduated in the field of translation from Azad University, Qom Branch, Iran in 1998. Moafi has been engaged in teaching and translating ever since. Moafi did his MA in translation at Sheikh Baha'i University in Isfahan, Iran in 2010. Moafi received his PhD in Applied Linguistics from South Tehran Branch of Islamic Azad University in 2019. He has been lecturing at various universities in Qom, Iran including University of Science and Technology (Red Crescent Branch), Hazrate Masoumeh University, University of Religions and Denominations, University of Islamic Teachings (Ma'aref), Islamic Art School, International Institute for Islamic Studies, Language and Culture Institute of Al-Mustafa International University and Baqer Al-Oloum University Language Center. He has also been teaching IELTS/TOEFL at Qom University, Gooyesh English Institute and Manzumeh Daneesh English Institute. He is interested in translation studies, philosophy, psychology, sociology, religious and cultural studies as well as gender studies. Dr. Moafi has been translating for different centers. He was the simultaneous interpreter at the International Conference on Family Law, Tehran, Iran in 2009. He was the translator of the first and second volumes of the book 'I Talk With God About Everything' (Memorable Days & Lovely People) in 2012 and 'Bam Is Alive' in 2006 at the request of Teachers Training Center of Children and Teenagers affiliated with Islamic Propagation Organization. He was the translator of 'Dordaneh' which was a biography of Grand Ayatollah Bahjat at the request of his bureau in 2010, 'The Sky of Piety' which was a biography of Grand Ayatollah Najafi in 2015, and 'The Shrine of Love' which was a travel log of the Sacred Shrine of Imam Hossein (P.B.U.H.) from Qom to Karbala in 2015. He has translated the documentary 'Mahe Guyan' which was a story on Hojjatolislam Ebrahimi's martyrdom at the request of Channel One of IRIB, Iran in 2008. He is also the writer of the Persian book 'New Techniques in Language Learning' as well as editor of the translation of the book 'NTC's Common American Phrases in Everyday Contexts' Published in Qom, Iran in 2017. He is currently the official translator of the scholarly journal of Research Quarterly in Islamic Ethics.