The Impact of Content-based Instruction on Students’ Achievement in ESP Courses and Their Language Learning Orientation

Abstract

This paper investigated the effect of Content-based Instruction (CBI) on students’ English language learning. In so doing, two methods of teaching English, that is, the CBI and the Grammar Translation Method (GTM) were compared with regard to the students’ achievement in their final examination and language learning orientation. The subjects consisted of 82 freshmen who were randomly assigned into two groups at Gonabad University of Medical Sciences. To collect data, three instruments were employed: the Nelson test of achievement form 050 C, the Language Learning Orientation Scale (LLOS) questionnaire, and a final achievement test. The data were analyzed using t-test and some correlational analyses. The results indicated that there was no significant difference between the groups regarding the Nelson test and LLOS at the onset of the study, but there was a significant difference between the groups’ performance regarding the method of teaching English. In other words, the group taught through the CBI outperformed the one taught through the GTM (p=0.006 and p˂0.05 for the GTM and CBI groups, respectively). Moreover, there was a significant difference in the subjects’ language learning orientation after treatment (p=0.038). Some suggestions and implications were put forward for the EFL/ESL teachers to consider.