EAP Needs of Iranian Law Students; From Professors and Lawyers Perspective

Since needs analysis firstly introduced by Munby s communicative syllabus design in 1978, many researchers carried out on the needs analysis of university students studying different courses in order to prepare for their target language needs. The aim of this study was to investigate Iranian law students EAP needs with a closer look at teachers and lawyers perspective. 10 EAP professors and 10 lawyers participated in this study from Ardabil and Guilan universities. The data were collected using questionnaire, interview and observation. And they were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The results showed that in some cases, there was strong correspondence among their view. They believed that speaking and reading comprehension were two important skills needed by students. In some cases, the professors points of view regarding students needs and teaching methods were totally different. Furthermore, lawyers perspective as graduates of this major were considerable. In conclusion, the implications of the findings of the study can be used for language researchers, specialist English professors, General English professors, test designers, and materials developers and ESP practitioners.

Keywords:

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) , English for Academic Purposes (EAP) , Lawyers , Law students , needs analysis , Professors