Exploring English for Academic Purposes (EAP) teachers' cognitions and their actual pedagogical practices in EFL contexts is a fresh and under-researched area, especially in Middle Eastern countries such as Iran. Likewise, there is a pressing need to address the aforementioned issues in educational contexts where EAP courses are taught independently by two groups of teachers with different specializations; i.e., language instructors and content teachers. Accordingly, this study explored the similarities and differences between language instructors' and content teachers' cognitions, and practices in teaching reading, speaking, writing, and listening at Iranian medical sciences universities. A wide range of instruments including a questionnaire, observations, semi-structured interviews, and field notes were utilized. Sources included a representative sample of 128 language instructors and 190 content teachers. The results indicated inconsistencies between the two groups of teachers. The findings suggest that close cooperation between language instructors and content teachers is highly necessary in order to enhance the teachers’ choice of methodological options in EAP instruction. The findings also accentuate the urgent need for developing more systematic EAP teacher education programs.
