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Abstract
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Besides the regular duties of a general English language teacher, ESP
practitioners need to deal with an array of administrative, curricular,
interdisciplinary, and pedagogical issues in their context of practice. This
gets even more demanding when ESP practitioners face shifting
educational contexts which imply that they should handle new variables
that might affect their practice to different degrees. The present study
reports the situated practice of two Iranian experienced ESP practitioners
faced with a nation-wide reform in the English curriculum of the
universities. In particular, the change demanded a decrease in the load of
English courses offered in Petroleum University of Technology as a
particular ESP context in Iran. The findings of the intensive interviews
along with the teachers‘ narratives showed how the two teachers
experienced the change in the context. The teachers explained the way
they performed when faced the challenging situations induced by the
change in the context. The particular findings of the present study can
help the professional development of the ESP teachers. In particular,
considering the marginalized status of ESP in the English language
departments, the results of the present study can facilitate the novice ESP
teachers‘ professional development and hence their identity construction
in the context.
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