Design and Implementation of a Blended ESP Course for Iranian Vocational School Students of Photography: A TBLT Approach

In the increasingly interconnected world, english proficiency has become essential for developing technical skills and opening up global career opportunities. however, iranian technical and vocational education has not adequately addressed the need for english language instruction tailored to students’ specific fields of study and occupations. to address this gap, the present study aimed to develop a blended task-based language teaching english for specific purposes course tailored to second-year vocational school students specializing in photography. through basic interpretive qualitative design, data was collected using interviews, open-ended questionnaires, and reflective journals. a comprehensive needs analysis was conducted through interviews with five administrators at the iranian ministry of education, five experienced photography teachers, and 25 photography students. based on these findings, the course was designed and subsequently implemented. the effectiveness and potential challenges of the course were then evaluated. the findings revealed that photography students found the blended course effective in learning photography terminology and tools in english, practicing photography and editing techniques, utilizing multimedia and interactive games, and enhancing motivation and self-confidence. however, students also faced some linguistic and technological challenges. this study contributes to the ongoing discourse on esp course development, emphasizing the importance of esp courses in preparing students for future careers and offering practical pedagogical strategies for integrating language instruction with vocational content in the technical and vocational education context.