:: Volume 13, Issue 5 (11-2020) ::
Educ Strategy Med Sci 2020, 13(5): 471-479 Back to browse issues page
Reflection in English for medical purposes
Majid Farahian 1, Yosef Rajabi2
1- Islamic Azad University, kermanshah , majid.farahian@gmail.com
2- Islamic Azad University, kermanshah
Abstract:   (2411 Views)
 
Introduction: Reflective thinking as a vital Educcational asset has to be recognized and developed across the medical curricula. The present study investigated medical students’ levels of reflective thinking in English for specific purposes (ESP) course and the obstacles which deter their reflection.
Methods: As a mixed-method descriptive study, the present study made use of two groups of participants samples meticulously from among the population of medical students and professors. The first group of participants contained medical students who were either attending English for the students of medicine course or had already passed it successfully, and the second group were ESP instructors teaching this course at medical colleges of Sanandaj, Khoram Abad, and Hamedan. A researcher-made questionnaire developed substantially on the basis of  Kember et al’s scale (2000), was employed as the main instrument to examine the students’ reflective thinking. To consolidate findings, the students were also asked to write short essays. As the next step, instructors were interviewed in order to probe the barriers to medical students’ reflection in ESP course.
Results: As the findings revealed, Iranian medical students studying English for academic purposes do not make use of higher order thinking and they involve in lower levels of reflection such as habitual actions and understanding in order to learn the foreign language. Regarding the barriers, various reasons were found which deter implementing reflective thinking in the ESP course.
Conclusion: The results give curriculum developers, and teachers awareness regarding the low levels of higher order thinking in medical students. As participating instructors stated, the insufficient instruction on critical thinking, the hierarchical nature of Educcational system, and the instructors’ reluctance to help medical students develop critical thinking skills are amongst the main barriers ahead of reflective practices in Iranian medical colleges.
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Article Type: Original Research | Subject: Theories of Learning and Teaching in Medical Sciences
Received: 2019/07/21 | Accepted: 2020/05/3 | Published: 2020/11/30


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Volume 13, Issue 5 (11-2020) Back to browse issues page