Exploring Iranian ESP Instructors' Immunity: General English Instructors vs. Content Instructors (Research Paper)

Language teacher immunity (LTI) develops in language teachers as a protective reaction to high-threatening disturbances. Teaching English for specific purposes (ESP) at university might place instructors in highly challenging and critical situations. This study aims to ascertain the dominant type of LTI among Iranian ESP instructors and the triggering disturbances that contribute to its development. To this end, an explanatory mixed-method approach was adopted.  The Hiver’s LTI questionnaire was administered and ۴۴ university ESP instructors who were convenient responded to the questionnaire to explore the dominant type of LTI in Iranian ESP instructors. Furthermore, a semi-structured interview with ۱۰ ESP instructors was conducted to find out the triggering disturbance leading to LTI and the coping strategies adopted by ESP teachers to deal with them. Clustering of the data gathered by the questionnaire revealed that adaptive LTI among EGP instructors teaching ESP was the dominant type, while content instructors tended to exhibit the maladaptive form. Analyzing the interviews demonstrated that regardless of instructors’ classification to content and EGP types, there are some common disturbances among most ESP instructors including students’ low proficiency level in general English, paltry payment for a highly demanding job, and insufficient time to teach ESP during a course. However, other disturbances were specific to teachers' expertise type. The coping mechanisms that were most commonly utilized to manage stress-inducing factors by ESP teachers in both groups were embracing the stressor without taking any action, incorporating fresh teaching materials, and evading challenges by declining situations that could result in challenges. The findings of this research can be beneficial for macro policymakers, educational managers, curriculum developers, and instructors themselves to create conducive environments promoting the development and maintenance of adaptive LTI.

کلیدواژه ها:

Content Instructors ، English for General Purposes Instructors ، ESP instructors ، Language teacher immunity