فرهاد مظلوم زوارق

Despite the widespread recognition of assessment practices among English for Specific Purposes (ESP) teachers, limited attention has been devoted to the examination of teacher-made achievement tests. The aim of conducting this study was threefold. First, it aimed at analyzing Iranian EMP syllabi to see how EMP assessment has been planned by curricula and syllabi designers in the Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MHME). Second, it made an effort to investigate the classroom assessment behavior of two groups of Iranian English for Medical purposes (EMP) content specialists and English language teachers and third, it examined to what extent EMP planning and practice agrees with occupational and professional needs of Iranian medical students. To collect data, the syllabi of five medical and paramedical disciplines including, dentistry, anesthesiology, radiology and laboratory sciences were examined followed by a semi-structured interview with eight subject and language specialist EMP instructors at Tabriz and Hamadan Universities of Medical Sciences. For triangulation purposes, ten test samples developed by both groups of instructors were examined. Finally, a questionnaire survey was administered to 199 undergraduate students of five aforementioned majors in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Content analysis of the syllabi revealed that Iranian syllabi lack comprehensive and systematic information regarding EMP assessment; the brief section on assessment falls short of what to assess and how. According to Douglas (2013), ESP tests are based on the comprehension of three qualities of specific purpose language: “First, that language use varies with context, second, that specific purpose language is precise, and third that there is an interaction between specific purpose language and specific purpose background knowledge” (p. 368). EAP teachers should be told by syllabus designers that they are responsible for language and the ‘what’ section which is predominantly