non-native content teachers' autonomy on curriculum planning in esp classes

Teacher autonomy is one of the most important factors which can enhance effectiveness of teaching outcome. when the teachers are allowed to be autonomous, they are more motivated and the levels of stress are lowered. moreover, higher levels of autonomy will lead to higher levels of job satisfaction. one of the most prominent aspects of teacher autonomy is curricular autonomy. when the teachers are empowered to be autonomous in curriculum planning, they can decide about the teaching content and procedure appropriate to their learners’ needs and wants. the present study focused on content teachers’ autonomy in curriculum planning. in order to gather data on this issue, 20 male and female content teachers from lahidjan islamic azad university took part in this study and completed a teacher autonomy scale and have been interviewed. the results of the likert scale questionnaire have been analyzed quantitatively through spss software and the data obtained from interviews, which was audio- recorded and transcribed, has been qualitatively analyzed through content analysis. the results of the data analysis showed that the content teachers’ autonomy level in curriculum planning is higher than average level and they are satisfied with the autonomy level allocated to them by the universities and are allowed to show their autonomy in curriculum planning.