On the Plausibility of Accommodating Manipulative Transliteration Norms in Medical ESP Course Books: A Needs Analysis Study

The significant role of needs analysis in enriching the design and content of ESP course books could be in no way ignored. The present study based on a three-year longitudinal needs analysis study of medical students, a medical ESP course book was developed and approved by experts. The feedback of the four-semester practice of the approved book revealed that practitioners showed great interest in the translation notion of the course book, hence considering the cultural turn in translation studies, the researchers opted to compare the satisfaction level of the medical students once they received a translation-focused instruction based on transliteration strategy. Thus two samples of 74 and 67 medical students were randomly selected by the Training Department at Islamic Azad University, Tehran Medical Sciences and through a quantitative approach; an accredited needs-analysis questionnaire was utilized to ascertain the needs, desires and satisfaction of the medical students. Comparing both groups’ needs and satisfaction questionnaire results revealed that the transliteration-focused group displayed a higher level of satisfaction and fulfilment during the ESP course. The study suggests that manipulative transliteration is the pivoting factor in empowering teachers, prosperous students, materials developers, and stakeholders as the truly involved practitioners of medical ESP courses.