ESP learners

English story reading as a sub branch of literature plays a momentous role with an impressive function to accomplish divergent goals of skill mastery in ELT studies due to the fascinating pedagogical and psychological benefits embedded in it. English for Specific Purpose (ESP) learners encounter reading passages that can implicitly impress their psychological capabilities as they perceive the world from the characters’ points of view, attitudes, and emotional expressions. This study aimed to explore the probable effects of English Literature (story reading) on ESP learners’ emotion-regulation. Research design was Quasi-experimental. Research sample (with convenience sampling method) included ESP learners in West Tehran branch, Islamic Azad University, who were homogenized via Nelson English Proficiency Test and randomly assigned into two experimental (N=65) and control (N=62) groups. Emotion regulation questionnaire (Gross & John, 2003) with the Cronbach’s alpha (0.82) was administered to both groups before and after treatment. The experimental group received the instruction of English story reading in a seven-week period, while the control group received traditional training during this period. The obtained data were analyzed using the statistical method one independent sample t-test on the gain score. The computation and analysis of the t-test proved to be (1.57) and confirmed the positive improvement in emotion regulation of ESP learners in experimental group. Accordingly, it can be concluded that English story reading could sharpen, deepen, and broaden learners’ insights towards emotion regulation. It can be incorporated in ESP curriculum plans and class syllabi as it facilitates learners to regulate their emotions.

Although teaching English for Specific and Academic Purposes (ESAP) is equivalent to teaching reading comprehension, it seems that Iranian graduated students having studied ESAP at BSc and MSc levels are not efficient readers and they also have a lot of problems in obtaining information from English materials related to their field of study via translation. Because mental translation is inevitable while reading English texts, the question is how to make the best use of this spontaneous strategy to promote reading comprehension. Sixty-six students majoring in midwifery, nursing and surgical technology at MSc level were selected based on convenience sampling. They were classified as lower-intermediate students by a standard placement test. Their translation practices and reading activities were investigated in an attempt to discover the strategies most frequently used by such learners. Through content analysis of these documented activities and interviews with the learners and observation of ESP classes, the common problems in reading comprehension as well as translation processes were identified. These problems originated from mental translation. These problems were addressed by using strategy-based instruction. The findings implies how to expliot mental translation as an efficient strategy through equipping learners with the prerequisite reading comprehension and translation skills and strategies.