Abstract:

Teaching English to students of medicine has been the focus of diverse curriculum and teaching language studies in Iran, where the general medium of instruction for the specific courses is a language (Farsi) other than English, except the required English courses for specific sciences. The numerous proposed medical course books, as the only available ESP material for diverse fields of study are evidence to this claim. Theoretically a controversial issue, medical language teaching methodology and practices are highly similar around the country. English language medical materials and course books also enjoy the same language methodology prescriptions in long lists of medical terminologies to memorize; in short out-dated medical texts for reading comprehension, and for English / Farsi translation practices. Such a methodology failed to meet medical learners' specific needs as: doing real medical research, being able to present articles and participate in medical seminars and conferences. To compensate for such specificities, the curriculum needed a shift of paradigm: considering medical English language reading/ writing in a critical whole language perspective and rooting it in learners' personal medical issues to go beyond the isolated medical terminology and language structures. This paper presents the ethnographic narration of the five-year- curriculum design project (2001-2006) for medical purposes in the highly accredited medical university in Tehran, Iran. Through such a process, medical learners experienced shaping their de-fragmented learning/ living selves through various unlearning and critical practices, interrogating their positivistic language and medical research conceptions within the holistic perspective of language. Medical learners engaged in medical research internship and co-authorship, they searched for their personal medical issues in their weekly visits to hospitals, and observed patient/doctor/nurse relations and their dialogues as they wrote critical diaries and analyzed the language in the medical research-based articles. They also experienced a one-week semester-based-in-campus medical seminar to present their own findings about their pain-oriented medical researches in forms of poster-presentation, panel discussions and workshops. Recent real published medical research articles from accredited medical journals (i.e. British medical journal, New Scientists), medical articles from weekly published Newsweek and Time magazine, online medical resources (Pub-med, mesh), evidence-based medicine reports, interactive case reports, cases of narrative medicine, interaction with patients and a number of medical documentaries were among the new curriculum for medical learners. The medical university curriculum design was the first experience of its kind that could enable medical learners to write and present articles in international seminars and to publish research papers in highly accredited medical journals.

Keywords:

proceedings of iceri2009 conference.