Investigating the Cognitions and Practices of Iranian Language Teacher's and Content Teacher's Materials Preparation in EAP Courses at Medical Sciences Universities: A Nationwide Study

Materials preparation is an important stage in EAP curriculum. Therefore, there is a pressing need to explore EAP teachers’ materials preparation abilities, especially in Iran, where EAP courses are taught by two groups of teachers; that is, language teachers and content teachers. Therefore, this nationwide study explored the similarities and differences between the cognitions and practices of the two groups of EAP teachers concerning their materials preparation abilities, at medical sciences universities across Iran. Instruments included questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, observations and field notes. A representative sample of 128 language teachers and 190 content teachers from all medical sciences universities participated in the study. The results of the questionnaire indicated that there were no differences between language teachers and content teachers; however, the interviews and the observations revealed substantial differences between the two groups. The findings present some implications for the EAP community and a need to renew the current materials.