changing needs of the esp students anna stefanowicz-kocoł department of english philology, state...
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Changing needs of the ESP students
Anna Stefanowicz-KocołDepartment of English Philology, State Higher Vocational School of Tarnow, Faculty of Humanities, , Tarnów, Poland
Danijela ĐorđevićDepartment of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Agriculture, Belgrade-Zemun, Serbia
Presentation overview
Selected issues in needs analysisNeeds analysis in academic settingsSources and methods of needs analysisRapport: How reliable is the needs
analysis carried out among students?Conclusions
Needs analysis
“the means of establishing the how and what of a course” Hyland (2003: 58)
„wide angle” (Waters and Hutchinson, 1980) versus „narrow angle” courses (Hyland, 2002)
ESP teachers: “language experts not technical insiders” (Huckin; 2003: 16).
ESP textbooks (?)
Needs anaysis in academic settings
a college department prepares students for a wide range of professions and opens the way for further academic education
students are not always aware of the ample opportunities awaiting the graduates
many areas of science and industry change rapidly
triangulation of sources as recommended by Long (2002)
Sources and methods of needs analysis Long (2002: 25: 33)
How reliable is the needs analysis carried out among students?
37 students (22 students of Chemistry and Materials Engineering and 15 students of Mathematics)
needs analysis questionnaires administered three months before the English language courses „English in Chemistry” and „English in Mathematics” and at the end of the 8-month long courses
Questionnaire: 4 parts topics students might be interested inskills needed for studying languagesstudents’ preferred forms of learningstudents’ preferred modes of learning
Interesting topics - Mathematics
Topics interesting to students before the course
Topics interesting to students after the course
Operations in Arithmetic Percentages
Numbers Linear Equations
Percentages Graphs, Functions and Relations
Basic Algebra The Decimal System
Logic and Set Theory Fractions
Linear Equations Numbers
Graphs, Functions and Relations Operations in Arithmetic
Fractions Logic and Set Theory
The Decimal System Basics of Geometry
Statistics Statistics
Basics of Geometry Probability Calculus
Probability Calculus Basic Algebra
Interesting topics - ChemistryTopics interesting to students before the course
Topics interesting to students after the course
Chemistry in Everyday Life Chemistry in Everyday Life
Organic Chemistry Fundamentals of Materials Science and Engineering
Fundamentals of Materials Science and Engineering
Environmental Chemistry
The Nano Organic Chemistry
Biological Chemistry - The Molecules of Life Molecular Compounds
Nuclear Chemistry Biological Chemistry - The Molecules of Life
Environmental Chemistry The Nano
Ionic Compounds Atomic Theory
Molecular Compounds Macromolecules and Colloids
Macromolecules and Colloids Nuclear Chemistry
Atomic Theory Ionic Compounds
Needed skills
Before the course After the course
Preferred forms of learning
Before the course After the course
Preferred modes of learning
Before the course After the course
Students’ reflections
“I had not thought ‘Environmental chemistry’ would be so interesting”
“I had had a completely different idea of what ‘Nuclear chemistry’ was about”.
“I have had enough of ‘Basic Algebra’ for the time being”
“I appeared to misunderstand the topic of ‘Graphs, Functions and Relations’. ”
“I didn’t realize that engineers need to write so much!” “It turned out that a presentation was a piece of cake
in comparison to group discussions!”
Conclusions
students’ needs change during the coursestudents are sometimes not aware of some
issues before the beginning of the course the course design has a formative role, making
students realize that certain preconceptions or attributions they had before they started it were not necessarily correct
the course design, the materials, the teaching techniques chosen by the teacher should be selected bearing in mind the impact they will have on the course participants in the long run
