Post Graduate ESP Curriculum: Reading and Writing Needs
,
Abstract
Assessing learners' needs is an integral part of any curriculum and course design , namely English for specific purposes (ESP), syllabus design, materials development, teaching methods and testing issues. Critical approach to needs analysis, which is a relatively recent approach, acknowledges the rights of different stakeholders including teachers, students and administrators in the process of needs analysis. However, there has been no formal need analysis for syllabus design at postgraduate level in Medical Universities affiliated to the Ministry of Health in Iran. This study, conducted in 2011, was an attempt to assess the reading and writing needs of postgraduate students in ESP courses on the basis of critical approach to needs analysis. The study population consisted of 67 people: 56 postgraduate students, 5 heads of departments, 5 ESP instructors and 1 executive manager at the Ministry of Health in Iran. Ethical and demographic forms, needs analysis questionnaires, and a form of semi-structured interview were the instruments of the study. According to the findings, there was a discrepancy between students' and instructors' perception of learners' needs and the assumed needs appearing in the syllabi prescribed by the Ministry of Health in Iran. This study showed that a call for critical needs analysis in which the rights of different stakeholders are acknowledged is necessary for meeting the requirements of any ESP classes especially at postgraduate level where the instructors and learners are fully aware of learners' needs.
Azikiwe U. Study approaches of university students. Lagos: WCCI Region II Forum; 1998: p. 106-114.
Fielden K. Evaluating Critical Reflection for Postgraduate Students in computing. Informing Science and Information Technology Education Joint Conference, 2005, Flagstaff, Arizona. (Accessed in May 14, 2014, at www.informingscience.org.proceedings/InSITE2005/I38f3 6Field.pdf).
Nneji L. Study Habits of Nigerian University Students. HERDSA. Accessed in May 14, 2014, at http://www.ecu.edu.au/conferences/ herdsa/main/papers/ref/pdf/Nneji.pdf).
Simmons J. Reading and the University, cited in King, D. (2003). Reading > Writing, Rithmatic. UCSC's Writing (2002) 169 Electronic Resource. (Accessed in May 14, 2014, at http://people.ucsc.edu/~davidlaw/King.html).
Munby J, editor. Communicative Syllabus Design. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1978.
Dudley-Evans T, St John MJ, editors. Developments in English for specific Purposes: A multi-disciplinary approach. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 1998.
Hutchinson T, Waters A, editors. English for specific purposes. 1st ed. Cambridge: Cambridge university press; 1993.
Nunan D, editor. Syllabus Design. 1st ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1998.
White RV. Innovation in curriculum planning and program development. Ann Rev App Linguistics 1993;13(3):244-59.
Benesch S. Needs analysis and curriculum development in EAP: an Example of a critical approach. TESOL Q 1996;30(4):723-38.
Eslami ZR. Teachers’ Voice vs. Students’ Voice: A Needs Analysis Approach to English for Acadmic Purposes (EAP) in Iran. English Language Teaching 2010;3(1):1-11.
Lee JH. Analysis of user needs and information features in natural language queries seeking music information. J Am Socr Inform Sci Technol 2010;61(5):1025-45.
Flowerdew L. Integrating traditional and critical approaches to syllabus design: the ‘what’, the ‘how’ and the ‘why?’J Eng Acad Purposes 2004;4(2):135-47.
Jasso-Aguilar R. Sources, methods and triangulation in need analysis: Critical perspective in a case study of Waikiki hotel maids. ESP 1999;18(1):27-46
Chia H, Johnson R. English for college students In Taiwan: A study of perceptions of English needs in aMmedical context. ESP 1999;18(2):107-19.
Benesch S. Rights analysis: Studying power relations in an academic Setting. ESP 1999;18(4):313-27.
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 52, No 5 (2014) | |
| Section | Articles | |
| Keywords | ||
| Curriculum Syllabus Post graduate study English for Specific Purposes | ||
| Rights and permissions | |
|
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
