ESP Teachers’ beliefs about their roles in Teaching Technical Vocabulary

Abstract

This paper investigates the beliefs of the English for Specific Purposes Teachers (ESPTs) about their roles in teaching English Technical Vocabulary (ETV) in a Saudi Arabian Industrial college called Yanbu Industrial College (YIC). It also aims to find the reasons behind their beliefs and explores the extent to which their beliefs go in line with the literature available about this topic. Methodologically, a qualitative study under the case study tradition was conducted. Six ESPTs were interviewed to understand their beliefs regarding their roles in teaching technical vocabulary and the reasons behind their stated beliefs. The study found different beliefs held by ESPTs. They believed that ETV items form should be taught by them, meaning should be introduced jointly with subject teacher and use should be taught by subject teachers due to its advanced technicality. The study suggested some educational implications and recommended experts in the area to carry out future scrutiny to understand this topic from different dimensions.