Evaluating the New Generation of SAMT ESP Textbooks: Perceptions of Macro, Meso, and Micro Level Stakeholders

Needs Analysis, the beating heart of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), is one of the indispensable components of any educational program the findings of which play a pivotal role in shaping the program and its other components. Furthermore, the results of Needs Analysis can inform not only curriculum development but also curriculum evaluation and renewal. Accordingly, the present study, as a part of a larger study, attempted to investigate the perceptions of macro, meso, and micro level stakeholders regarding the new generation of SAMT ESP textbooks and highlight any possible differences between these books and those of the older generations. Employing a sequential qualitative design and building on Baldauf and Kaplan’s (2005) language-in-education-planning framework, this study carried out semi-strictured interviews to shed light on the perceptions of the Director of the Research Department, the Manager of the Research and Evaluation Department, the former Manager of the Research and Evaluation Department, the Manager of the ESP Department, the reviewers of the ESP Department, and some university instructors and students. Content analysis was employed to analyze the data. The results revealed that despite having some differing, and at times contradicting, perceptions regarding different aspects of the new generation of ESP textbooks, the stakeholders at all three levels held that the books were substantially improved in terms of needs analysis, text selection, presenting and practicing reading skills, and vocabulary, grammar, and translation activites. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications of the study are discussed.