Overcoming English proficiency challenges through needs assessment
Date
2012
Authors
Nallaya, S.
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Journal article
Citation
Asian ESP Journal, 2012; 8(2):125-144
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Abstract
For countries in the outer circle such as Malaysia and Singapore and those in the expanding circle such as China, Indonesia and Japan, students’ attainment of a competent level of English language is crucial. Students are expected to be proficient in the English language to participate in the academic ‘Discourse’ while in school and in communication technologies, international politics, business as well as science and technology, once outside. Conversely, many factors influence the language learning process and students enrolled in courses such as English for Academic Purposes (EAP) or English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses, often find it challenging to obtain the specified level. In response to this a needs assessment was conducted in an ESP course to investigate the challenges students face and whether course aims and objective were meeting students’ learning needs. The study was conducted in a Malaysian education university and data was gathered from 400 pre-service teachers enrolled in an ESP course called Communicative English One (CE1) through written responses and semi-structured interviews. The findings indicated that some of the students enrolled in the course were not satisfied as they perceived that their learning needs were not being met due to various factors such as uninteresting teaching methods and insufficient language skills training.