Materials. An equally important consideration emerging from this research was the
role of ESP texts in the development d passages of students’ VLSs. It was observed that some of these materials (55%) conlained long. diflicult and sometime not closely subject-relate passages with excessive number of vocabulary items. And ESP students reported that they are eager to read short subject-related comprehensible passages adapted from their references to obtain up-to-date information about their field of
study and at the same time become familiar with and learn the most frequently used
vocabulary items in their field of study. In this way after repeated exposure to these
vocabulary items, they easily learn their usage and use in real contexts.
In this case, depending on the force of their intrinsic drive, their instrumental
motivation, or the congruity between the content of their ESP course and their
specialized courses, ESP students either resorted to pure memorization to pass the
ESP course or memorization and some kind of mental analysis to make a somewhat
meaningful connection, whether formal, vocal or conceptual, between the
pronunciation and/or form of the new English word and its Persian meaning to retain
the word in their memory for a longer time.
Field variables. Students in the fields of medicine, dentistry and pharmacy were at
MD level. They study the physiology and the anatomy of the body thoroughly in the
first four semesters after entering the university. They are frequently required to deal