An Investigation into Iranian University Student's Views about Who should Teach ESP Courses: A Specialist-in the field Instructor, or an EFL Teacher?

This study was an attempt to explore the Iranian university students‟ views about the rather controversial question of who should teach ESP courses among EFL teachers and the specialists-in-the-field in Iran. For this purpose, 120 undergraduate students majoring in accounting, business management and industrial management were selected from among university students. The members of each major were divided into two groups of A and B, the former being taught their ESP course by an EFL teacher, the latter by a specialist-in-the-field instructor. Although different items of the research instrument (questionnaire) addressed diverse aspects of teaching method such as teacher knowledge, functions and techniques, the study was based on the following major research question: Which ESP instructor teaches more satisfactorily and effectively from students‟ point of view: the EFL teacher, or the specialist- in- the- field instructor? A survey questionnaire consisting of 35 items related to the ESP teachers‟ knowledge, functions and techniques used in the classroom was designed to collect the required data for the study. The data gathered was then subjected to both descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. Comparison of the total mean scores of the two groups for each major revealed that the students‟ rate of satisfaction with the EFL teacher was significantly higher than that with the specialist-in-the-field instructor. The study also offers some pedagogical recommendations for ESP practitioners.