Toward a Learning-centered EAP Instruction: An Attempt to Change Students’ Reading Attitude

Abstract

Abstract-There have been remarkable improvements and modifications in TESOL methodology with the advent of post-method era; however, such changes are rarely implemented in fields like ESP. Therefore, a majority of learners and teachers are not satisfied with currently offered EAP courses. Hence, the present study aims at exploring the effect of a Learner-Centered Instruction on undergraduate students' reading attitude in an EAP context. Based on a pedagogical framework driven from Hutchinson and Waters' Learning-Centered ESP approach, it was assumed that such an approach would be effective in changing students' attitudes towards EAP reading through encouraging the use of effective strategies and learning skills. The participants aged 18 to 22, included 80 engineering students who were divided into an experimental group and a control group. Following a pretest, treatment and a posttest, the obtained data was analyzed using t-test to examine the effect of the independent variable, namely, method of instruction. The findings revealed that learning-centered EAP instruction improves reading attitude of EAP students. In addition, the findings provide implications for all EAP practitioners in general and Asian EAP practitioners in particular.

The Development of ESP Approaches

“…Recently, it was extended to the English for Academic Purposes domain. Kashef, Pandian, & Khameneh(2014)have implemented the learningcentered approach to change the attitudes and improve the reading skills of 80 undergraduate engineering students.The authors hoped that -a learning-centered EAP instruction which considers the learners' needs and learning process and takes into account the appropriate skills and techniques necessary for this purpose can help the learners accomplish their goals.‖ The study concluded that -a learningcentered instruction which focuses on learners' learning process and needs can change students' negative attitudes toward EAP reading and compensate for their dissatisfaction with teacher-centered EAP classes.‖ The learning-centered approach was also extended to domains far from simple language learning. For example, Li (2015) adapted the learning-centered approach to design a course for students of translation and oral interpreting.…”