UNIVERSITY OF TARTU DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

NEEDS ANALYSIS AS A STARTING POINT FOR DESIGNING A SYLLABUS FOR ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES COURSES MA Thesis

IRINA PETROVA SUPERVISOR: LLE TRK, MA

TARTU 2008

2 ABSTRACT The present thesis focuses on the issue of designing a syllabus for English for specific purposes courses and proceeds from the view that according to the very nature of such courses, their content should be based on a thorough investigation of the learners needs. The aim of the thesis is to establish a solid base for the subsequent production of a syllabus for an ESP course in Virumaa College of Tallinn University of Technology by determining the needs of the course participants. The thesis consists of introduction, two chapters and conclusion. The introduction explains the motivation for writing the paper and defines the concept of ESP. The theoretical part outlines the general structure of syllabi, determines the place of needs analysis in the process of ESP syllabus design, clarifies the difference between objective and subjective needs analysis and discusses the techniques traditionally employed for conducting a needs analysis. The theoretical part forms a basis for an empirical study, the main findings of which are provided in the second chapter. The study represents a survey, which was conducted among 43 Virumaa College students to obtain the necessary information about the learners expectations of an ESP course and their learning preferences. Next, the chapter addresses the data collected by two extensive research projects: Prolang/Finland and QUALSPELL in Estonia and Latvia, which were devoted to revealing the language requirements that technology specialists have to comply with in order to help ESP course designers to select more relevant content. The results of the survey are then compared with the data obtained by the Prolang/Finland and QUALSPELL projects and their implications for syllabus design are considered. The conclusion summarizes the most important aspects of the paper and discusses their significance.

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................2 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................4 1. NEEDS ANALYSIS IN AN ESP SYLLABUS DESIGN .................................................7 1.1. Characteristic features of an ESP course.....................................................................7 1.1. Characteristic features of an ESP course.........................................................................7 1.2. Syllabus design..........................................................................................................12 1.2. Syllabus design..............................................................................................................12 1.3. Needs analysis............................................................................................................18 1.3. Needs analysis................................................................................................................18 2. NEEDS ANALYSIS IN VIRUMAA COLLEGE............................................................23 2.1. Means analysis...........................................................................................................24 2.1. Means analysis...............................................................................................................24 2.2. Subjective needs analysis. .........................................................................................27 2.2. Subjective needs analysis. .............................................................................................27 2.3. Objective needs analysis............................................................................................34 2.3. Objective needs analysis................................................................................................34 2.4. Discussion and implications for syllabus design.......................................................43 2.4. Discussion and implications for syllabus design...........................................................43 CONCLUSION.....................................................................................................................52 REFERENCES.....................................................................................................................55 RESMEE............................................................................................................................58 Appendix 1............................................................................................................................60 NEEDS ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK..................................................................................60 Appendix 2............................................................................................................................61 THE STUDENTS QUESTIONNAIRE...............................................................................61 Appendix 3............................................................................................................................63 QUALSPELL QUESTIONNAIRE......................................................................................63

4 INTRODUCTION English has become a lingua franca in many areas of modern science and technology leading to the growing demand for English for specific purposes courses. As the abbreviation suggests, such courses should cater for very specific needs those of particular groups of people working in various narrow fields. Most universities who acknowledge this tendency try to equip their students with both knowledge of the subject matter and the skills to cope in the foreign language. Virumaa College of Tallinn University of Technology offers applied higher education in six areas: informatics, automatic control systems, construction engineering, production engineering and entrepreneurship, fuel technology, and power engineering. For all students who studied English at school it is a compulsory subject. During the first year they complete a general English course which aims at increasing students general proficiency in the language in order to prepare them for the subsequent English for specific purposes course. As for the courses content, the language teachers are only provided with very broad guidelines and are asked to produce their own syllabi. There are no difficulties with teaching and producing syllabi for general English, as this is exactly what teacher training prepares teachers for. However, as far as ESP courses are concerned, teachers are left to their own devises. The initial impulse in response to such a task is to transfer the list of items from the contents page in one of the coursebooks available in the college library and plan the teaching according to it. This is very convenient and does not require much effort from teachers apart from familiarizing themselves with the subject matter beforehand. However, before applying this approach, teachers should ask themselves the following question: does the use of specialized materials alone constitute ESP teaching? Obviously, in order to answer it it is necessary to define the nature of ESP and the ways in which it is different from general English courses.

5 As is the case with many other terms, there can be different ways to understanding what exactly ESP means. First of all, as the acronym suggests, it can be seen as a special variety of the English language taught to a particular group of people pursuing a common aim. From this point of view, learners of English working in medical contexts need to be taught Medical English a list of relevant terms such as illnesses, symptoms and treatments, in addition to some phrases that are frequently used by doctors and patients and grammatical structures that are most likely to occur in target situations. Similarly, other professionals have to focus on the features typical of the language related to their working area. Such a vision of ESP teaching was predominant in the earlier stages of its development around the 1970s, as summarized by Richards (2001: 29), and have since then undergone a major transformation. The current view is that ESP is not a product, but rather a process. For example, Crystal (2003: 108) defines ESP as a course whose content is determined by the professional needs of the learner. A similar idea is expressed by Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 19) who see it as an approach to teaching. Also, Gatehouse (2001) stresses that the focus of the word special in ESP ought to be on the purpose for which learners learn and not on the specific jargon or registers they learn. Thus, ESP concentrates on the same English language, but the course organization is conditioned ultimately by the needs of the students. This brief overview implies that the key stage in an ESP syllabus design is needs analysis. Only then is it reasonable to start selecting suitable materials or making any other decisions regarding the course. Thus, the aim of the current paper is to create the conditions for the production of an efficient ESP syllabus by determining the needs of the students attending Virumaa College. The first chapter will examine the role of the needs analysis in the process of ESP syllabus design, look at the general structure of syllabi, identify the components of the needs

6 analysis and outline the techniques traditionally employed for this purpose. The second chapter of the work will represent an application of the principles discussed in the theoretical part and will consist of the needs analysis of a particular group of students. In addition, it will discuss the implications that the analysis might have for a syllabus design.

7 1. NEEDS ANALYSIS IN AN ESP SYLLABUS DESIGN 1.1. Characteristic features of an ESP course. Although the most distinguishing feature of an ESP course is definitely the fact that its content is dictated by the results of the learners needs analysis, there are at least two more defining features (Dudley-Evans and St. John 1998, in Dudley-Evans 2001: 132): ESP makes use of the underlying methodology and activities of the disciplines it serves. ESP is centred on the language (grammar, lexis, register), skills, discourse and genres appropriate to these activities. In what follows other important but not obligatory characteristics of ESP are discussed. First, in contrast with General English learners, ESP learners are enrolled in the course not for the sake of language knowledge but in order to be able to function in a specific context using the language as a tool, which Gardner and Lambert (1972, in Lightbrown and Spada 2006: 64) define as instrumental motivation as opposed to integrative motivation language learning for personal growth and cultural enrichment (Lightbown and Spada, ibid.). Broughton (1993: 190) implies that many ESP learners do not possess integrative motivation and usually are not interested in cultural, literary and aesthetic life of English-speaking countries. It can be argued that these, more practical intentions make the overall aim seem more realistic and, thus, more achievable. Many ESP learners usually start attending the course because in their working environment there is a gap in their ability to fulfill particular job tasks requiring some command of English. Because of that, they, or their employers, usually have more precise expectations from the course. In addition, a feasible aim makes ESP learners more willing to apply the newly acquired knowledge in practice. The qualities described above are also related to the fact that, as noted by DudleyEvans and St. John (1998, cited in Dudley-Evans 2001: 132), ESP learners are usually

8 adults or young adults. Instructors who have taught adults would probably agree that this is a completely different experience from teaching children or youngsters. For instance, Broughton (1993: 190) lists among other characteristic features of adult learners the following: developed cognitive skills, a rich life experience and high levels of motivation. At the same time, we have to admit that adults memory capacity is lower than that of children, they have a lot of personal worries and problems that may be much more important for them than education, they have a lot of barriers and are afraid of making fools of themselves, and, finally, they seem to concentrate too much on the necessity to explain why things in the language are the way they are. However, one should not forget about the other category of ESP learners young adults, those who are not yet specialists and are still at university. These students are slightly different from those that have just been discussed. Because they do not have much working experience, and consequently do not know where exactly, if at all, they would need English, they might take the course for granted and demonstrate much lower levels of motivation. On the other hand, for them school years are not that far behind, which means that their aptitude for learning and memory are better. ESP learners who come from similar working environments might have similar learning styles. For example, an observation relevant to our situation, where the course participants are the students of science and technology, has been provided by Rogers (2000: 7), who writes that scientists usually have enquiring minds, which means that instead of ready-made rules they enjoy discovering things for themselves and questioning existing truths. She adds that information gap activities are very efficient provided the task requires analysis and setting hypotheses, and that this group of learners especially benefit from both cooperation and competition with their peer students. Thus, it can be concluded that scientists learn best by making predictions, solving problems and explaining things to each other.

9 One more important characteristic of ESP students is that their level of English tends to be intermediate or above (Dudley-Evans and St. John 1997, cited in Gatehouse 2001). Indeed, in our case ESP course for the college students is preceded by a 120 academic hour course of General English in order to ensure that their level is high enough to cope with the requirements. Nevertheless, it seems that more and more lower level students enroll in ESP courses at the Virumaa College. So far we have looked how the ESP course is different from the General English course from the point of view of its participants characteristics and their objectives. These two obviously must have a profound influence on the expertise required from the ESP teacher. First of all, Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 157) state that the ESP teachers role is one of many parts and that he or she must fulfill a number of other equally important roles. According to Dudley-Evans and St. John (1997 cited in Gatehouse, 2001), the ESP practitioner generally fulfills 5 roles: teacher, course designer and materials provider, collaborator, researcher, evaluator. It is the role of a course designer that this paper is most interested in. However, other roles are all closely related to it. Course design would not be possible without prior research on learners needs, which might involve collaboration with course participants and their current or potential employers, evaluation of available materials, and, if necessary, their adaptation or even production of completely new ones, which again would include ESP corpora research. The issue that can be frightening for an English teacher faced with the requirement to teach ESP is their lack of knowledge of content area. Although it seems unfeasible to teach about something that you do not understand, many specialists working in the field believe that there is no need for an ESP teacher to be an expert in the subject matter (Rogers 2000: 7). Moreover, it is the students, not the teacher, who should be experts in the content area and thus responsible for what is covered in the course:
With the best will in the world, teachers cannot be expected to possess this knowledge other than by chance coincidence of personal experience or extensive contact with a given category of learners. It is

10
the learners themselves who possess this knowledge, even if they may lack the insights or metalanguage to express it in a pedagogically usable form (Tudor 1996: 76).

Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 163) conclude that all the teacher needs is the ability to ask intelligent questions about how things work and the willingness to learn. From this point of view, the ESP classroom represents a unique situation where the teacher learns from the students. Finally, the difference between ESP and general English teachers mentioned by Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 157) is that the former usually receive no special prior training as for how to fulfill the above-named roles efficiently. That, in a way, makes ESP teachers amateurs learning to teach the subject on their own by trial and error. In conclusion, describing the characteristic features of the ESP teacher, we should remember that because ESP is based on the particular needs of students, it is an ultimately learner-centred approach, and thus, it emphasizes the learners knowledge, experience, attitudes, responsibility and development rather than the teachers excellent performance in the classroom. One more important aspect that should be discussed before moving on to the issues of syllabus design is the use of materials in ESP courses. Several controversial issues have been raised in relation to the requirements that such materials should meet. First of all, some authors insist that the language in the materials should be authentic (Rogers 2000: 6). Moreover, Carver (1983, cited in Gatehouse 2001) considers the use of authentic materials one of essential features of ESP courses. In order to comment on this requirement, we should first elaborate on the issue of authenticity in coursebooks. Authentic materials are defined by Rogers and Medley (1988, in Shomoossi 2007) as those reflecting the language genuine for a particular social and cultural situation and produced by and for native speakers. Nevertheless, Widdowson (1990: 44) objects to such a vision of the concept of authenticity:
Authenticity of language in the classroom is bound to be, to some extent, an illusion. This is because it does not depend on the source from which the language as an object is drawn but on the learners

11
engagement with it. In actual language use <...> meanings are achieved by human agency and are negotiable: they are not contained in text. To the extent that language learners, by definition, are deficient in competence they cannot authenticate the language they deal with in the manner of the native speaker.

In addition, Hutchinson and Waters (1987:59) doubt the possibility of using authentic texts in ESP, as any text there will be automatically removed from its original context. Thus, the focus must be not on the authenticity of a text but on its pedagogical value for the learners. In other words, a good ESP coursebook should prepare learners for using the language in real-life situations by setting tasks that are likely to occur in their professional environment. Another aspect that Rogers (2000: 6) warns against is that materials may pay not enough attention to narrow fields in which potential course participants are engaged. On the other hand, Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 161) argue that the subject matter should not be highly specialized as it may become incomprehensible for the teacher. We must agree that after all, students enroll for the course in order to learn English they will acquire the knowledge about their field with the help of their speciality teachers. Consequently, it seems that materials approaching the subject matter in only general terms might still be useful. Another issue mentioned by Rogers (ibid.) is that the material covered in the course may be outdated, which could bore or even insult the learners. Indeed, the content of a course must be pertinent to the current working environment of the students. However, in some disciplines, such as information technology, for instance, changes are so rapid that even for the professionals it can be difficult to adapt to new tendencies, not to mention language teachers, who might not even be aware that some data presented in a coursebook is not relevant anymore. Furthermore, it takes a considerable amount of time to publish a coursebook, in the course of which the contents inevitably become outdated. The solution is connected to the previous point if we do not concentrate too much on details and narrow specializations, it is more likely that the materials that we employ stay up-to-date, as the fundamental principles in any subject usually remain more or less unchanged.

12 Finally, one more problem that an existing coursebook might pose according to Rogers (ibid.) is that the focus of the activities in a coursebook may be on the development of the skills different from those that a particular group of learners would want to concentrate on. It seems that this point is very simple to check as most published materials nowadays have a detailed table of contents introducing the skills and the language areas that are going to be given priority. To sum up, effective ESP courses typically exploit some samples of authentic language use and encourage genuine communication; their content is relevant to the students purposes but need not be highly specialized; the material presented there is more or less up-to-date and concentrates on developing the skills necessary for the students efficient functioning in the target language in their professional surroundings.

1.2. Syllabus design. There are some important decisions that need to be made before attempting to produce a syllabus. If to summarize general guidelines of syllabus writing provided by Dick (2005), the following steps could be identified. First of all, one has to decide on what basis they are going to select the items to be included there and how these items will be organized. In other words the type of our syllabus has to be established. Secondly, the teaching situation has to be analyzed to reveal the conditions under which the syllabus will be implemented and the available resources, potential problems, as well as external factors that might force us to depart from the syllabus at some point must be determined. Next, it seems necessary to examine the target learner group focusing on students abilities, learning preferences and needs, which is obviously a vital prerequisite for setting course objectives. Only then does it seem realistic to start devising the structure of the syllabus and preparing suitable materials. In addition, before the product is ready to be implemented it is probably necessary to plan the methods of assessment. Finally, as there is always something that

13 could be improved, there should be some space left for any possible changes during and at the end of the course. From this explanation it is obvious that the actual syllabus design, if one attempts to provide a good syllabus, is preceded by a lot of preparatory analytical work and is absolutely impossible without a needs analysis. However, before moving on to examining the process of needs analysis in some detail, it seems necessary to look at whether there are any special requirements as for the type of syllabus for an ESP course as well as examine the role of the syllabus in an ESP course planning, so that the syllabus could adequately reflect the results of the needs analysis. Type of syllabus Throughout the history of language teaching various types of syllabi have been used. Before speculating about which type can be considered best suited for an ESP course, a brief overview of available options might be useful. Traditionally a distinction has been drawn between product oriented and process oriented syllabi. As the terms suggest, the former are based on the awareness of what the learners will know or will be able to do at the end of a period of study, while the latter focus on how the development of learners competences occurs. As Nunan (1988: 12) neatly puts it, what we mean when we refer to process is a series of actions directed towards some end. The product is the end itself. In a similar vein, White (1988: 44) divides all existing syllabi into either what he labels Type A or Type B syllabi, where the emphasis is on the subject matter or the learning process respectively. In his work, White refers to other authors using different criteria for distinguishing between the two types. For example, Allen (1984, cited in White ibid.) views the former in terms of an interventionist approach dictating the sequence of objectives to be reached, and opposed to it is the latter a non-interventionist approach, where learners can determine their own objectives in the course of active participation in authentic communication. In addition, White draws parallels between his

14 term Type A and what Ellis (1984, cited in White ibid.) describes as syllabi extending students analytic knowledge which is not available for spontaneous communication. No matter which terminology is used the essence of the distinction stays the same. The concluding distinction that White indicates is that Type A syllabi are ultimately linguistic in nature, while Type B syllabi rely more on pedagogy and psychology. Although there could be some other criteria added to the list, the essence of the distinction seems quite apparent. Still some examples might make it even clearer: the group of product oriented (or Type A) syllabi consists, among others, in grammatical, lexical, functional and situational syllabi; while the process-oriented (or Type B) syllabi include task-based and learner-centred syllabi. There are also skill-based syllabi, which White places somewhere in between his Type A and Type B syllabi. The question now is where in this classification a typical ESP syllabus belongs. On the one hand, many ESP course participants wish to develop the skills necessary to fulfill their job-related tasks in English, which means that task-based syllabi could be suitable. On the other hand, they also need to cope with the language in specific working situations, suggesting situational syllabi. In fact, Nunan (1988: 12), who approaches the question from a slightly different angle, writes that it is not that the elements such as topics, functions or situations, around which the syllabus is built, define whether the syllabus is process oriented or product oriented, but rather that these elements, that can all be included in one syllabus, are process or product oriented. Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 85) provide examples of all types of syllabi taken from different ESP coursebooks without prioritizing any of them. Similarly to Nunan, they imply that a good syllabus considers both the product and the process consisting of a number of elements:
Any teaching materials must, in reality, operate several syllabuses at the same time . One of them will probably be used as the principal organizing feature, but the others are still there, even if they are not taken into account in the organization of the material.

One more distinction, which was proposed by Wilkins (1976, cited in Long 2007: 160), is between synthetic and analytic syllabi. The former provide the learners with discreet

15 units of language, from which the learner is expected to accumulate a system of how it all works together. The latter, on the contrary, present some samples of language use leaving it to the learners to analyze how and which singular units combine to form a whole. It does not seem feasible to prove that either an analytic or a synthetic syllabus generates better results. As has been mentioned in the section about ESP learners, students possess different characteristics as to their learning preferences. What concerns the current question, Pask and Scott (1972, cited in Wallace 1991: 21) divide all learners into serialists who digest a material better in small chunks and holists who need to see a total picture to draw any conclusions. It can be suggested that for the former analytic syllabi would be more suitable, while for the latter synthetic syllabi could be better. Nevertheless, as a good syllabus should try to cater for as many participants needs as possible, it seems reasonable to try and combine the elements of both types into one syllabus. Furthermore, according to Wilkins (1994 cited in Long 2007: 161), it is not a syllabus organization but rather its implementation which makes it analytic or synthetic. Sometimes (Saraswathi 2004: 51) syllabi are also classified in terms of the relationship between the items. When the structural units are not directly related to each other and are isolated, the syllabus is defined as linear. When, on the other hand, the items that have already been learnt are reintroduced at a greater depth each time they occur and in relation with other units, the syllabus is spiral or cyclical. It is difficult to disagree with Saraswathi that natural learning process is spiral (ibid.). It seems that linearity is especially inapplicable to language syllabi, since we cannot fully comprehend one unit of a language system until we acquire a general picture of the whole system, which makes us constantly review our knowledge and understanding of various elements when we meet them in different environments. In addition, even if some items within a given system are not directly interrelated, learners still need to recycle both of them after a while otherwise they might easily be forgotten.

16 Finally, syllabi can be classified in terms of the underlying approach to the course design (Hutchinson and Waters 1987: 90-94). In other words, there are different roles a syllabus could play in this process. First, the syllabus is the prime generator of the course contents in a language-centred approach, where everything throughout the course happens according to the syllabus: materials are produced to match the objectives set in the syllabus, activities are created to practise the items included in the syllabus, assessment is conducted on the basis of which items prescribed by the syllabus have been covered. Secondly, the main role of the syllabus can be to provide opportunities for learners to employ and evaluate the skills and strategies considered necessary in the target situation (Hutchinson and Waters ibid.). Such a role is associated with a skill-centred approach. Next, there is also a chance that the syllabus plays no role whatsoever in the learning process and is just compiled after course materials are ready for bureaucratic, financial or other similar reasons, which is labeled as a post hoc approach. Lastly, in a learning-centred approach which is strongly advocated by Hutchinson and Waters, the syllabuss role is to give general guidelines for materials design. Hutchinson and Waters (ibid.) argue that a language-centred, a skill-centred, not to mention the post hoc approach, give the least priority to what is actually going to happen in the classroom and various learner-driven factors. On the other hand, because the syllabus in a learning-centred approach only shows general directions as to what should be taught, it is more flexible and leaves room for methodological considerations. In the previous sections we have also adopted the view that ESP is characterized by a special emphasis on learner needs and learning process. Hence, it would be useful to look closer at the scheme of a learning-centred approach to syllabus design that Hutchinson and Waters offer (see Figure 1 below).

17 Analyse learning situation Analyse target situation

LEVEL 1

Create interesting and enjoyable materials

Establish general syllabus of topics and tasks TOPICS AND Produce detailed language/skills syllabus

LEVEL 2 Check language and skills content of materials and make necessary adjustments Figure 1: The role of the syllabus in a learning-centred approach. As we can see from the figure, the content of a syllabus depends on two factors: the actual learning situation and the target situation. Thus, the first level of syllabus design represents the analysis of these two. The analysis of the former enables to provide materials that will most likely be suitable for each individual course. The analysis of the latter helps to determine relevant topics and tasks which, in turn, leads to a more detailed planning of which vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation areas should be dealt with in order to employ the topics most efficiently and which skills should be addressed for learners to cope with the established tasks. Finally, on the second level the results of both types of analysis are complemented and, if necessary, adjusted against each other. Clearly, this approach is time consuming and requires much more thorough planning than the other three do. Nonetheless, it is hard to disagree with Hutchinson and Waters that it is the closest one in responding to the challenges posed by an ESP course, where learner needs have to be adequately matched with the language elements to be learnt for efficient usage in the target situation.

18 To sum up what has been discussed in this section, any syllabus, including an ESP syllabus, should be multidimensional and reflect various aspects. It can be organized around different aspects such as topics, structures, notions, skills or learning tasks. Yet, it does not mean that other aspects are undervalued or not presented in the course at all. The syllabus should be oriented towards some end, or the product. At the same time it should not underestimate the importance of the learning experience, or the process. As a good syllabus should accommodate the needs of different students, it has to be implemented allowing for both the analytic and synthetic approach to new material processing. In addition, a given syllabus must leave room for all learnt material to be recycled at some point, so that the students understanding of how the language system functions as a whole could deepen. It is vital to keep in mind that the role of a syllabus is not that of a dictator or, worse, an item of bureaucracy. Instead, it should function as a backbone, and help the course designer organize the contents in the most efficient and enjoyable way for the students as well as the teacher. However, what is probably the most important prerequisite for creating an efficient syllabus is the selection of the content that would be relevant for the course participants, which is based on a thorough examination of their needs.

1.3. Needs analysis. As it was concluded in the previous section, a syllabus compilation is necessarily preceded by a needs analysis, as it provides a basis for setting goals and objectives (Nunan and Lamb 1996: 27). Thus, the concept is worth examining in some detail: its definition and emergence in language teaching as well as the tools for conducting a needs analysis. West (1997: 68) provides a brief overview of the origin of needs analysis. According to his article, the term was first used in the 1920-s, but because it referred to determining the needs of the general language learners, who studied English simply for the sake of knowing English, it did not seem very relevant at that time and did not linger. Its return is closely

19 associated with the emergence of ESP in the 1970-s, since when the scope of the concept has evolved and expanded. As a result, what is meant by needs analysis has also gradually changed. A widely referred model which reflects the earlier approaches to needs analysis is that of Munbys, also known as Communicative Needs Processor (1978, in Tudor 1996: 71). The model includes nine components aimed at collecting as much information as possible to answer the questions such as who and why is going to enroll in the course and where, when, with whom and how course participants are going to communicate in the target language. With the help of the information it is then possible to establish the required language skills, micro-functions and language forms. As Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 54) point out, what is meant by needs analysis here is ultimately the analysis of the target situation needs the kind of language that the learners have to acquire to cope in the target situation. In other words, the analysis of the target situation needs points at a desired final destination of the course. However, before trying to set any objectives as to where one should arrive at the end of the course it seems logical first to determine where one is at the beginning of the course. This part of needs analysis is generally referred to as present situation analysis (Dudley-Evans 2001: 133). It is generally acknowledged that the target situation analysis should be complemented with the learning needs analysis - what the students should do to succeed in the course completion. These needs embrace various individual peculiarities of students and their learning styles that cannot be ignored, as they might both foster or impede their learning depending on how the course is organized (Tudor 1996: 97). Target situation and learning needs analysis are often called objective and subjective needs analysis respectively (e.g. Tudor, ibid.), as the former collects information about the actual requirements for language use as they exist in the target situation, while the latter addresses subjective perceptions of the course participants about what they feel the course

20 should be like. As a result, there is a tendency to equate objective needs with the specification of content, and subjective needs with the specification of methodology (Nunan 1988: 44). There are various techniques available for gathering information about the objective needs. For example, Robinson (1991, in Tudor 1996: 73) suggests a list of techniques that could be divided into two types: 1. The source of information is the learners themselves: questionnaires, interviews, tests, participatory needs analysis 2. Information is derived from the target situation analysis: observations, case studies, authentic data collection. Considering the efficiency of each of these techniques, it seems that turning to the first set is reasonable in the cases when the students are more or less familiar with the target situation, either they already are surrounded by the language at their work place or they have at least a general conception of what kind of language they would need to acquire by the end of the course. However, there are many students who participate in an ESP course in order to prepare for a target situation not knowing yet what this target situation is like. In addition, many university students, like in our case, simply have an ESP course as a part of their programme. In these circumstances trying to elicit any useful information directly from prospective students does not seem feasible. Otherwise these methods would generate a lot of information within a short period of time. The second set of techniques is obviously not only much more time and effort consuming but might also require some additional resources. For example, in order to conduct an observation we need to find a native speaker performing the same tasks as our potential course participants. If a given course takes place in a country where English is taught as a foreign language, this may be too demanding. Case studies concerned with learner observation at his or her work place are probably not as easy to undertake either.

21 Alternatively, existing data collected within somebody elses case studies could be analysed. Also, what could be quite fruitful and seems realistic is the examination of corpora containing authentic data:
Any material collected ad hoc for a particular teaching situation can constitute a corpus which can be analysed to produce suitable lexical and grammatical items to help in the creation of a syllabus (Gavioli 2005: 25).

According to Gavioli, exploration of corpora can help not only to discover the most frequent items, but also reveal their particular behaviour in the specialized contexts. As a result, the content of the lessons is more likely to be relevant to students needs. A technique that Tudor (1996: 74) adds to the list above is consultation with qualified informants people such as students employers, fellow teachers or former students, who could supply a course designer with any useful information related to students needs. In order to determine the subjective needs of students we might observe them in the process of learning or trust the judgment of our experienced colleagues conducting ESP lessons. For example, in one previous section we have already mentioned some learning preferences that according to one ESP teacher scientists share. However, probably the most accurate information can be elicited from the learners themselves by means of questionnaires or interviews. Having introduced possible techniques, it could be concluded that the best result will probably be generated if a combination of methods is used. In addition, before choosing a suitable method the purposes of the needs analysis should be established, as these might vary depending on the learners. (Richards 2001: 52). Although needs analysis usually prescribes the objectives and the contents of a given course, Richards (ibid.) writes that it is not always possible to conduct one before the course begins. In some cases, for example when nothing is known about the learners before they come to the first class, goals, content and the teaching approach are shaped by information collected during the teaching of the course. If, however, the purpose of needs analysis is evaluating and revising the program it is reasonable to conduct it when the course is over.

22 One last aspect that being not a component of needs analysis is still an essential complementary phase is what Holliday and Cook (1982, in Hyland 2003: 65) refer to as means analysis, or examination of the context in which teaching and, hopefully, learning is to take place. Means analysis can be invaluable in helping to interpret the results of needs analysis before implementing them in the syllabus. Hyland (ibid.) lists some of the aspects to keep in mind: the society, the institution, the resources, the course and the class. The first aspect embraces a range of things starting from the status of English and ending with the methods, materials and relationships between the teacher and the learners appropriate for a given society. Similarly, the institutions policy regarding the teaching of the language has to be considered. The next category involves the availability of teaching professionals, materials, technical aids and other facilities. Among the characteristics of the course that should be considered are organizational matters such as the purpose, the length, the intensity and the place of the course in the curriculum. Finally, the characteristics of the group as a whole have to be analysed.

23 2. NEEDS ANALYSIS IN VIRUMAA COLLEGE The main aim of the empirical part of the thesis was to determine the needs of the Virumaa College students who are going to take an ESP course as a part of their curriculum the following year. In other words, the research represented the first stage of an ESP syllabus design process, the outcomes of which could subsequently be used when making any important decisions considering the course contents and execution, such as the selection of items to be included in the syllabus or the choice of materials to be employed. It was hoped that with the help of the needs analysis it would be easier to produce a more efficient syllabus for the students of the three specialities: informatics, fuel technology and automatic control systems. The needs analysis was preceded by a means analysis examination of the conditions under which the course is to take place with special attention to the available resources and the course participants level of English. The needs analysis procedure was based on Hutchinson and Waters needs analysis framework (see Appendix 1) and consisted of two parts: an objective needs analysis and a subjective needs analysis. The aim of the former was to establish the requirements of the language use in the target situation, while the latter was concerned with the examination of the characteristics of the learners. Both the objective and subjective analyses started with identifying the reason why the students register for the course, because the whole nature of the course depends on its purpose. In our situation students do not have much choice: they take ESP as it is a compulsory subject in their curriculum. Thus, it might seem that there is no apparent need for the course at the time it occurs; yet it is widely acknowledged that in order to meet the demands of the current fiercely competitive workforce market, technology professionals should possess versatile skills with a very high priority of the language skills. Consequently, the first task for the empirical part of the thesis was to look at the objective reasons for

24 conducting an ESP course in Virumaa College as well as the students subjective perceptions of the necessity of an ESP course. The second task was to determine what should be studied in order to reach the objectives established by both the target situation demands and the students themselves. All in all, the following research questions were formulated: 1. Why is ESP a part of Virumaa College curricula? 2. Why are the students taking the course, apart from it being a compulsory subject? 3. What should be included in the ESP syllabus for a course in Virumaa College? A combination of methods was employed to generate the answers: observation of the teaching situation, student questionnaires and testing, analysis of the results of two objective needs analysis projects.

2.1. Means analysis. In Virumaa College students can choose between two foreign language modules: English or German. A module consists of a general language course and a language for specific purposes course. The majority of the students register for the English language module, as this is the language they studied at school. It can be claimed that English is considered a very important subject in the college curricula, as substantial funds are allocated to improve the conditions for both teaching and studying English. First of all, three English teachers are currently employed to make sure the size of language learning groups is small and each student receives enough attention. On average, a group consists of 8 or 9 students. Secondly, the language centre enjoys its own library with a fine collection of study materials: coursebooks, reference books, graded readers, books on English culture and literature, dictionaries and academic journals. Moreover, there are separate sets of materials devoted to developing each of the language skills. Thirdly, all

25 language teachers are provided with their personal CD players and many classrooms have a television set, DVD player, and computer. Nevertheless, most materials are concerned with teaching general English. Although there are several specialized coursebooks meant for teaching ESP, teachers are still lacking the necessary methodology. Furthermore, there are no coursebooks that could be entirely suitable for teaching English to the students of some specialities, especially fuel technology and automatic control systems. The lessons are once a week, lasting 3 academic hours and the length of the course is 16 weeks. In other words, there are 16 meetings altogether and the interval between them is quite long. At the moment the purpose of the course is not explicitly declared in the course description, apart from stating that the course objective is to acquire technical vocabulary and develop specialized language skills. Students level of English At the beginning of the general English course, which necessarily precedes ESP in Virumaa College curricula, a placement test was administered in order to determine the level of students general proficiency in English. For that purpose the paper and pen version of the Oxford Quick Placement Test (2001) was used. The test takes about 30 minutes and consists of multiple choice questions assessing grammar, vocabulary and reading. There are two parts in the test: the first one is meant for all students and the other one only for students whose competence in English is at a high level. Because there was no data concerning the levels of the students who entered the college, it was decided that all students should take both parts. The test was administered during the first general English lesson by the students teachers. The students were told that they were to be divided into two ability groups according to the results of the test.

26 The levels are ranged according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages with A1 Beginner, A2 Elementary, B1 Lower Intermediate, B2 Upper Intermediate, C1 Advanced and C2 Very advanced. The results of the test are given in Figure 2 below. Out of 64 students who are planning to take ESP the following year the largest category (55%) were at level A2. The next category 23% had level B1. The same percentage of students (9%) was at levels A1 and C1. Finally, only 2 students (3%) were at level B2.

Figure 2: Placement Test results. 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

over, it was not thought reasonable to administer another test to determine the students levels immediately before the beginning of the ESP course. However, according to a subjective evaluation of the author, who taught about half of these students, most students would go one level up after about a year of English studies in the college. This opinion is also supported by the statistics from the previous academic year, which is given in the Table1 below and demonstrates the number of students at each level at the beginning and the end of the general English course. Table 1: Placement Test results. Year 2006/2007 A1 A2 B1 B2 C1 Beginning of the general English course 15 20 9 5 1 End of the general English course 0 12 22 13 3

Number of students

A1 (Beginner)

A2 B1 (Lower B2 (Upper C1 (Advanced) (Elementary) Intermediate) Intermediate)

Levels

Because the research was conducted when the general English course was not yet

27 To sum up, the teaching conditions in Virumaa College seem fairly favourable, as teachers have access to many resources and the learning groups are quite small. On the other hand, there is still a lack of specialized materials and the way the lessons are scheduled in the timetable is not very efficient. Furthermore, the difference in the students levels of proficiency in English is very large. Fortunately, there is a possibility to split larger groups into two ability groups according to the results of the placement test.

2.2. Subjective needs analysis. The students questionnaire The general purpose of the students questionnaire was to collect the information on the characteristics of the future course participants. The questionnaire (see Appendix 2) consists of two parts. In the first part (questions 1-4) the respondents are instructed to provide some personal details such as their speciality, age, sex, native language (Q1) and level of English (Q2). In addition, the respondents are asked to state whether they currently have to use English in their job or studies (Q3) and to assess the amount of specialist knowledge acquired so far (Q4). The second part (Q5-11) is aimed at revealing the students attitude to ESP, as well as their expectations of the course. To be more precise, questions 5, 6 and 7 are meant for measuring the initial level of students motivation for devoting their time to the subject, and concentrate on three separate aspects: interest, importance in comparison with other subjects and usefulness. The next question (Q8) tries to specify the reasons why students believe the course could be useful for them. The last two questions aim (Q10-11) at eliciting the respondents assumptions regarding the course objectives and to obtain a general idea of their learning preferences. The vast majority of questions (Q2-9) are multiple-choice questions with three to five available options. In addition, there are several open-ended questions (8, 9 and 11)

28 included in case the respondents might wish to add something to the variants provided by the designer of the questionnaire. In one question (Q10) the students are asked to rate the forms of class work from 1 being the most effective to 4 being the least effective. The questionnaires are in English and were distributed directly to the students during their English lesson by their English teacher. They were allowed to ask questions for clarification if necessary and were given help with formulating their ideas in open-ended questions. Sample The questionnaire was conducted among four groups of students of three specialities: informatics (one group with Estonian as the language of instruction and one group with Russian as the language of instruction), fuel technology and automatic control systems (both with Russian as the language of instruction). Informatics and fuel technology groups were represented by first year students, while automatic control systems by second year students. These groups were selected as the sample because their study programmes are the same concerning the studies of English and they will all take ESP the following semester. Overall, 43 students completed the questionnaire, which comprises a little more than 80% of the total number of students from the above-named groups registered for the general English course and expected to register for the ESP course. 13 of them were studying automatic control systems, 9 fuel technology and 21 informatics. Of the respondents 30 were male and 13 female. Almost all students first language was Russian, 2 respondents were Estonian and 2 bilingual. 32 students were 19-20 years old, 9 students 21-22 years old and 2 students were older than 30 years old. The levels of English as assessed by the students themselves are given in Figure 3 below. The students were asked to assess their own levels of competence, as very often they do not agree with the teachers assessment or the results of the placement test.

29 Figure 3: Students self-assessment. 20 15 10 5 Number of students

Elementary Lower Intermediate Upper Advanced Intermediate Intermediate

Level of English All but one respondent already had to use English in their jobs or studies to a greater or lesser extent. 23 respondents (53%) used English from time to time, 11 (26%) used English seldom and 8 (19%) used English a lot. The majority (79%) of the students believed that they had acquired the basics of their main field of study, 14% felt that they did not know much about their speciality yet and only 3 students (7%) were confident enough to assess the amount of their knowledge as substantial. Students attitudes to an ESP course Most respondents (93%) expressed an overall interest in taking ESP with only 3 students answering that they were not very interested in the course. 34 students (79%) considered it as important as other subjects and 6 more important than other subjects in the college. Only 3 respondents rated it as a less important subject in their study programmes. About two thirds of the students (65%) regard ESP as a very useful course. In addition, 7 respondents thought that it could be useful for them in the future. 6 of the respondents did not have a strong opinion concerning the usefulness of ESP and 2 left the question unanswered. None of the respondents chose to answer that ESP is a waste of time.

30 Quite logically, in the next series of questions, which concentrated on the areas where ESP might be of use, there were none of the students estimated any of the suggested four aspects to be not useful at all. To the question whether ESP will be useful for using materials written in English related to the students speciality all but one respondent, who considered the course not very useful for that purpose, gave an affirmative answer with 12 of them opting for very useful. The situation is slightly different with the next question where 8 students thought ESP would be not very useful for finding a better job. Even more students (53%) thought that ESP would be very useful for communication with specialists from other countries. Only 2 students considered the course not very useful for that purpose. Finally, all but two students felt that ESP would be useful for improving their general language skills, among them 11 evaluated it as very useful. Not many students provided any additional reasons why ESP could be useful for them. Here are the only 9 suggestions received as to why else it could be useful: 1. for improving professional skills 2. to feel myself more confident 3. for moving higher up the career ladder 4. for reading manuals 5. for buying products 6. for producing goods meant for English speaking communities 7. for more efficient communication with colleagues 8. for doing trainee practice abroad

9. for exchanging experience with other enterprises As we can see, several responses duplicate or are related to the options provided in the questionnaire. However, what indeed had been overlooked by the author is the idea expressed in Number 8, as trainee practice is a vital component in these students study

31 programmes and there are more and more opportunities for trainee practice as well as participating in student exchange programmes abroad. In addition, the students mentioned the potential usefulness of ESP for enjoying available devices and equipment (numbers 4 and 5). Students expectations of an ESP course Concerning the students expectations of ESP, terminology was considered the most important component of the course by 13 students (30%). 29 students (67%) agreed that it would be useful for them. Only 1 person claimed that they already knew all the necessary terminology. 35 students (81%) answered that they needed to study different topics related to their speciality. Only 5 respondents rated it as most important for an ESP course. There were 3 students who considered studying different topics unnecessary. For one of them the reason was that the person did not want to study the same things as they had in other subjects again and the other two thought that it was not useful. Revising grammar was thought to be useful by 29 students and most important by 5 students (79% altogether). 9 respondents did not want to have any grammar in their ESP course, as 3 people estimated their knowledge of grammar as sufficient and 6 people felt that including grammar would not be useful for them. According to the students, of the language skills most attention should be paid to speaking with 17 students rating it as the most important and 21 as useful (88% altogether). Next comes the development of writing skills with 7 students considering those the most important and 28 useful skills (81% altogether). Only a little behind is listening: 12 students found it the most important and 22 useful (79%). Finally, reading skills were considered the most important by 7 respondents and useful by 25 respondents (74% altogether). Of the skills that were already quite well developed reading skills were mentioned 10 times, writing and listening both 5 times and speaking just one time.

32 In addition to what had been provided by the author of the questionnaire, three students also mentioned that they would like to develop their communicative skills. One respondent wished to work on the presentation skills as well. The students opinions of the way class work should be organized are reflected in the Table 2 below, where they are represented in the order of frequency in the respondents rankings from 1 being the most effective to 4 being the least effective. One respondent left the question unanswered. The numbers in the table show how many students gave each form of class work mark (1, 2, 3 or 4). Table 2: Students learning preferences.
Teacher explains a new topic and corrects my mistakes when I do exercises Class discussions, role-plays/group work Analyzing language structures and trying to work with new words on my own Songs/films/games/projects/presentations

1 1 6 1 4 9 3

2 1 7 8 8 9

3 7 1 0 1 4 1 1

4 2 10 11 19

As the table demonstrates, the most preferred forms of work were teacher-oriented lessons, where the teacher explains some new material and then corrects students mistakes when they practise, and speaking-oriented lessons, where students are given plenty of opportunities for discussions, role-plays and group work. Although these two received almost the same amount of highest rankings, it can be noticed that there were only two respondents who considered the former the least effective, while for the latter opinions were divided. The third place in the order of preference is occupied by analytic ways of learning. However, here too opinions are mixed. Finally, the least effective way of learning according to the students appeared to be songs, films, games, projects and presentations. For this option the general tendency is much clearer with only three students expressing a preference for this form of class work and the most number of respondents rating it as the least effective way.

33 Proceeding to the last question, which invited the respondents to express any other wishes or recommendations that could be taken into account when planning the ESP course for these three groups of students, many people left the question unanswered. To be more precise, approximately 50% did not answer this open-ended question. On the other hand, some student gave more than one suggestion. Some students used the question as an opportunity to once again emphasize their opinion expressed earlier about what should be included in the course. For example, here are the comments regarding the importance of studying terminology and specialized language: I would like to study things related to my speciality I would like to learn new words for my speciality Special language for automatics. We need to learn more professional terminology It will be useful if teacher gives us lists of specific terms and English terms for useful actions with a computer. To give words with Russian translations and test us at the next lesson. We must know as many as possible our speciality words. It would be necessary to devote a couple of lessons to reading manuals, because they mostly use the same words.

Another category of recommendations was about paying more attention to developing various skills: More listening tasks, please Perhaps we could do more reading exercises. Maybe more home reading. To develop our speaking skills by practising with English people, maybe to communicate with specialists from Siemens, Nokia and others. It will be great to communicate with specialists or students from other universities. But to do this we need more speaking.

Some comments concerned the forms of class work:

34 ESP should not be boring and full of terminology. It is necessary to include some reading tasks, films and projects. I consider that these things will develop students. Teacher must help students correct their mistakes in grammar and pronunciation. I know that learning languages without grammar is impossible, but for me, if you can speak, it is more useful for our world. I would like that teacher always corrected me when I speak or write and explain the mistakes at the lesson or consulting hour. Precisely look after my mistakes and advise me how to improve. More role-plays, group work it is useful for developing our speaking skills. More work in group, speak a lot, discussions. There could be more short presentations prepared by students to develop communicative, researching and presentation skills. It will help us in our future jobs and when writing our graduation paper.

Two comments were about the kind of information the students would like to learn: Maybe Id like to hear something about new information technologies or programs, or equipment. Also, it will be interesting to know what countries have the most developed technologies and why. To know about jobs in another country; who to speak to, where people can get information or help.

Finally, three responses were connected with the organizational aspects of the course: We all have different levels of English. We need more ESP, at least 5 credit points. If the weather is good, can we have lessons outside?

2.3. Objective needs analysis. This section of the empirical part dealt with determining the requirements for the language use in the target situation. We were particularly interested in revealing which language skills and for which purposes should be developed more in order for students to cope in the target situation. The target situation for Virumaa College students was defined as their speciality jobs. For this purpose the findings of two extensive research projects were

35 addressed: the QUALSPELL project (Quality Assurance in Language for Specific Purposes Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) and the Prolang/Finland project. According to the official web page of the first project, its rationale was twofold:
To establish unified skills-based tertiary level LSP examination requirements and assessment criteria. To provide employers with the tools for identifying the employees specific foreign language needs and assess their foreign language knowledge and skills.

To achieve the aims, a needs analysis was conducted among university students and employees in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. For the purposes of the current research only the results of the survey in the three enterprises (AS Tallinna Kte in Estonia and Latvenergo and Lattelekom in Latvia) were used. The second project had a similar aim. As the author of the report on the project states, it was aimed at bridging the gap between work communities and vocational language education and examining communication situations relevant to work. The project represents a survey consisting of interviews and questionnaires, with the former designed for enterprises employers and the latter for employees. Because the scope of interest of the project was extremely wide, only the aspects relevant for our objective needs analysis were selected for this paper. That means that only the data about the type of tasks the respondents were expected to perform in their everyday practices was of interest. In addition, the research looked at the general need for the English language for work from the point of view of employers. The QUALSPELL questionnaire was devoted to revealing the purposes for which the four language skills are most frequently used. The part of the Prolang/Finland interviews and questionnaires that we used for our research was organised in a similar way. However, instead of a list of tasks for which each language skill could be used it had a list of communication situations which the respondents had to rate from very important to not important. Analysis of the data

36 The results of the QUALSPELL questionnaires are given below in the tables for the Latvian enterprises (Latvenergo and Lattelekom) and in the charts for the Estonian enterprise (AS Tallinna Kte). It should be pointed out that the Latvian and Estonian questionnaires contents differed to a certain extent. The first skill that the questionnaire looked at was reading. It can be seen from the Table 3 below that most types of texts provided are read often or sometimes by more than a half of the respondents. Most frequently employees of both companies had to read e-mails and special literature. For the first enterprise these were followed by instructions and manuals, while for the second one by contracts and legal documents. Goods specifications were not very frequent types of readings for both companies. Table 3: Reading skills. Do you have to read Latvenerg (often or sometimes) o 1. Manuals 55 2. Instructions 60 3. E-mails 76 4. Contracts 31 5. Goods specifications 45 6. Price lists 54 7. Special literature 71 8. Legal documents 43 Average 54 Latteleko m 47 60 100 87 40 60 87 80 70

When comparing these answers with the ones received from the employees of the Estonian company (see Figure 4), it can be noticed that good reading skills are also essential there: 6 out of 9 types of text had to be read often or sometimes. It can be seen that in the questionnaire there are two extra items: the Internet and business letters, while manuals disappeared from the list as a separate category. The reason for such a change is not clear. Moreover, the Internet as a source seems somewhat ambiguous, as very different kinds of texts can be found there. This is probably the reason why the Internet was rated as something the respondents had to deal with most frequently. The following two types of text are instructions and specialist literature. Not frequent categories were pricelists, legal documents, goods specifications and contracts.

37

Figure 4: AS Tallinna Kte.

Do you have to read 1 - instructions, 2 - business letters, 3 - emails, 4 - the Internet, 5 - goods specifications, 6 - price lists, 7 specialist literature, 8 contracts, 9 legal documents

60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 often sometimes seldom never

The second skill in the questionnaires was speaking (see Table 4). In both Latvian companies employees most often had to ask questions in English. Once again, it could be argued that asking questions is probably not a speaking situation, but rather a sub-skill which is required in most speaking situations. Thus, similarly to the previous part where the Internet was considered the most frequent category, asking questions obviously had to occupy the first place. This was followed by speaking on the phone and speaking to foreign visitors. For both companies the ability to speak to foreign colleagues and take part in meetings was quite important. Not very frequently required tasks were chairing meetings and making presentations. It is interesting that the questionnaire designers included following instructions in the speaking part, as this seems to require listening skills rather than speaking. Table 4: Speaking skills. Do you have to (often or sometimes)
1. Speak to foreign visitors 2. Speak to your foreign colleagues (vendors, partners)

Latvenerg o 48 34

Latteleko m 87 73

38
3. Speak on the phone 4. Take part at meetings 5. Take part at conferences 6. Chair meetings 7. Make presentations 8. Give instructions 9. Follow instructions 10. Ask questions

47 41 36 19 18 11 34 56 34

93 73 40 32 60 47 80 93 67.8

Average

When looking at the results of the AS Tallinna Kte questionnaires (see Figure 5), asking questions cannot be found in the list of categories. The most frequent task for the respondents was speaking to colleagues. Quite important was also taking part in meetings, speaking on the phone and, to a lesser extent, speaking to foreign visitors. It can be noticed that these four were also among the most frequent tasks for the respondents in Latvia. Similarly to Latvia, most respondents in Estonia never or seldom had to chair meetings and give presentations. Figure 5: AS Tallinna Kte.
Do you have to 1 speak to colleagues, 2 take part in meetings, 3 take part in conferences, 4 speak to foreign visitors, 5 speak on the phone, 6 chair meetings, 7 give presentations, 8 give instructions

70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 often sometimes seldom never

The next skill to be discussed is writing (see Table 5). The majority of the suggested tasks in both Latvenergo and Lattelekom had to be completed by less than 50 percent of the respondents. In both companies, people had to write e-mails most frequently. It is noteworthy that all respondents from Lattelekom had to do it often or sometimes. Very important for both companies was writing business letters. However, in the case of the other

39 tasks there were some significant differences between the two groups of employees. For example, writing reports was the third most frequent requirement in Lattelekom, while the other company employees did not have to do it often. The thing that the employees had to do the least often in both companies was writing summaries of articles. Table 5: Writing skills. Do you have to write (often or sometimes) Latvenerg o 1. Business letters 43 2. E-mails 60 3. Memorandums 8 4. Reports 17 5. Articles 10 6. Summaries of articles 7 7. Take notes 33 8. Translate into a foreign 27
language 9. Translate into the native language 10. Legal papers 11. Price lists 12. Goods specifications

Latteleko m 80 100 47 80 34 20 74 34 40 47 40 20 51

48 17 16 19 25

Average

In the Estonian company (see Figure 6) about 60% and 50% of the respondents had to write emails and business letters often or sometimes respectively. These were followed by translations into the native language and translations into the foreign language. Hardly ever did the respondents have to write price lists, goods specifications or legal papers. Figure 6: AS Tallinna Kte.
Do you have to write 1 - business letters, 2 - emails, 3 memorandums, 4 - reports, 5 summaries of articles, 6 notes, 7 translate into foreign language, 8 translate into native language, 9 legal papers, 10 price lists, 11 goods specifications

40
80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 often sometimes seldom never

Finally, the questionnaire looked at the respondents listening skills (see Table 6). In this last section there were only five listening situations. It can be seen from the table that in the first Latvian enterprise none of the tasks was rated as frequent or occasional by more than 50 percent of the respondents. In the other Latvian company, on the other hand, good listening skills seem to be quite useful. Although there were some differences in the order of frequency in the two companies, the first place for them both was occupied by listening to presentations and the last by listening to instructions. Table 6: Listening skills. Do you have to listen Latvenerg (often or sometimes) o 1. Instructions 21 2. Lectures 33 3. Presentations 42 4. Reports 26 5. Explanations 30 Average 30 Latteleko m 40 53 93 67 73 65

As can be seen from the chart below (Figure 7), there were only four categories in the questionnaire for the Estonian company employees, as reports were not included. All four categories seem to be very important for AS Tallinna Kte; the difference in their persentages is not very significant. Hence, it is very difficult to draw any parallels with the situation in the Latvian companies. However, it can be noted that the first place in the order of frequency is occupied by listening to explanations, not presentations as it was in Latvia.

41

Figure 7: AS Tallinna Kte.

Do you have to listen to 1 - instructions, 2 - lectures, 3 presentations, 4 explanations

60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 1 2 3 4 often sometimes seldom never

It can be concluded from the results of the QUALSPELL questionnaires that the most useful skill at workplace is reading. It was calculated that various reading tasks on average were often or sometimes fulfilled by approximately 54% and 70% of the respondents from the two large Latvian enterprises: Latvenergo and Lattelekom respectively, which were the highest percentages of the four skills. If to compare the four charts representing the results of the questionnaire in AS Tallinna Kte, it becomes clear that in the Estonian enterprise reading is also the most frequently required skill. The task that is very frequent in all three companies is reading specialist literature. Listening and speaking skills are of almost the same importance in the three companies. It was not possible to reveal a clear tendency as to what types of listening

42 situations employees of the three companies were most likely to find themselves in. On the other hand, for speaking it was apparent that spoken interaction skills, with speaking on the phone and speaking with colleagues or foreign visitors as the most frequent situations, are much more important than spoken production skills mostly required for making presentations. When considering the results of the Prolang/Finland project, which are given in the Table 7 below, it is noteworthy that the first and the third places in the order of frequency are occupied by the communication situations that are not directly related to work: social situations such as introductions or small talk and travel. Participation in the second and the fifth most important situations talking on the phone and contacts with clients - also depend on the level of the persons speaking skills. Here too, good interaction skills are absolutely essential for communication to be successful. Incidentally, the ability to speak on the phone was also in high demand among the respondents in Latvia and Estonia. Another important task according to the employees in Finland, that was also rated highly by the participants of the QUALSPELL survey, was reading manuals, instructions and professional literature. Written communication, for example emails, shared the fifth place with the oral communication with clients. On the other hand, writing company documentation ranked very low. It is interesting that tasks directly related to peoples job responsibilities such as solving all kinds of technical problems, analyzing faults, installations and maintenance, where the employees would be expected to use a lot of professional terminology, were not considered very important by the respondents. One of the least important tasks performed not in the employees mother tongue was giving presentations, which corresponded with the results that were obtained by the QUALSPELL questionnaires.

43 Table 7: Communication Situations for all Employees (n=197), Finland.

Communication Situations
1. Talking about oneself and ones work 2. Travel 3. Social situations (e.g. introductions, small talk) 4. Telephone (e.g. taking messages, answering inquiries, making arrangements) 5. Client contacts (e.g. customer service, exhibitions, complaints by telephone, face-to-face) 6. Hosting visitors 7. Solving data processing problems 8. Explaining a process or a (working) method 9. Discussions concerning deliveries. Installations, maintenance 10. Fault analysis, solving problems 11. Tutoring a new employee 12. Reading manuals, instructions, professional literature 13. Reading company documentation (memos, quotations etc.) 14. Writing email messages, faxes; taking notes in a meeting 15. Writing memos, reports, documents 16. Giving a presentation (e.g. company profile, product presentation) 17. Meetings, negotiations

Very important or important

Not important or not so important

122 157 170 163 131 124 66 111 92 103 51 136 112 131 106 77 108

71 39 26 32 59 66 123 79 98 88 137 56 77 60 83 111 81

The objective needs analysis concentrated on the employees responses regarding the necessity of the language skills. However, before turning to the interpretation of the results, employers perceptions also deserve to be mentioned. According to the results of Prolang/Finland interviews with employers, 100% of the companies that participated in the project, even those without international operations, expected their employees to know English. The companies employees admitted that their knowledge of English was diagnosed by the employers during or after the recruitment. Thus, the English language skills are considered valuable by both employees and employers.

2.4. Discussion and implications for syllabus design. As the objective needs analysis demonstrates, employees in Estonia, Latvia and Finland have to use English to a greater or lesser extent to fulfill their job responsibilities. The knowledge of the language is a prerequisite for both finding a good working place and

44 coping with the job responsibilities. Hence, the answer to the first of the research questions formulated at the beginning of the empirical part is the following: having ESP as a part of Virumaa College curricula is fully justified as it indeed prepares students for better future careers. The subjective needs analysis revealed that the students themselves recognize the necessity for ESP in their curricula and are generally motivated to study hard. One of the reasons for that is probably the fact that 42 out of 43 respondents already had to use English in their jobs or studies to a greater or lesser extent, which probably convinced them in the usefulness of English if not too much now, then in the future. Also, most students considered the language skills equally important with the knowledge of their main subject matter. Hence, it can be hoped that they will devote the same amount of time and effort to the ESP lessons as to other subjects. As for the reasons, most students agreed that ESP can be useful for improving their general language skills, for using materials written in English related to their speciality, for finding a better job and communicating with specialists from other countries, which according to the objective needs analysis, appeared to be a realistic judgment. Consequently, the students are taking the course not only because it is a compulsory subject for them, but also because they already feel the need for English and are convinced that English will be useful for them in the future. When comparing the outcomes of the subjective and objective needs analyses it becomes obvious that there are some discrepancies between the course participants perceptions about what their course should be like and the actual requirements of the target situation. In addition, as a result of the means analysis it turned out that the existing teaching conditions are not completely sufficient to satisfy the wants of the students. Thus, the task now is to try to match all the pieces together to obtain specific recommendations for the course syllabus design.

45 First of all, both the placement test and the students self-assessment showed that most students level of general proficiency in English is between lower intermediate and intermediate. Nevertheless, there are still some students whose level of English is elementary or advanced, who might feel disadvantaged if the course only caters for the needs of the majority. Such a concern was also expressed by one advanced level student, who emphasized that teachers should take the difference in the students levels of competence into account. One possible solution is to prepare a set of additional activities for higher level students at the same time paying extra attention to the lower level students to help them cope. However, that might mean designing two or even three syllabi instead of one. A more reasonable option would be the inclusion of opinion gap activities, where all students regardless of their level can make a contribution, or open-ended tasks, which different level students can complete according to their current abilities. Another difficulty that the course designer has to overcome is a considerable disagreement in the students learning preferences as well as their objectives and perceptions about what should be studied during the course. It seems that promoting autonomous learning might help in this situation, so that each student could learn how to work on the specific problematic areas and develop skills relevant to him or her. Such learner training activities are also essential, because according to the results of the questionnaire, most students prefer it when the teacher takes the leading role explaining all new material and correcting their mistakes, which eventually might make them too dependent on the teacher. One more reason why learner training activities must be incorporated in the syllabus is that because the course is quite short and the class is only once a week in order to achieve good results students are expected to do a lot of independent work. In the situation where they depend on the teacher too much they might not be able to study on their own. Thus, in

46 order to help them to cope with the requirements of the course, in the beginning there should be a block of activities developing the students ability for autonomous learning. The next aspect that should be carefully thought through is the amount of specialized vocabulary in the course. On the one hand, a little fewer than a third of the subjective needs questionnaire respondents rated terminology as the most important component of the course. In addition, many students had a special recommendation for the course designer to include as much specialized language as possible. On the other hand, the majority of the students admitted that by the time they completed the questionnaire they had not yet acquired very much knowledge of their own subject matter, which means that they will not be able to comprehend highly specialized material during their ESP course, even if the language teachers managed to handle such material themselves. Furthermore, according to the objective needs analysis, the situations that might require the use of highly specialized language such as explaining a technological process were not reported very frequent. Hence it seems that the incorporation of highly specialized vocabulary is not justified, especially taking into account the fact that dealing with it might cause major difficulties for both the teacher and the students. This leads to the question of what topics should be selected for the course. The majority of the students who took part in the survey expressed the wish to study topics related to their speciality. For the course designer that would mean that for each speciality informatics, fuel technology and automatic control systems there should be a separate set of materials. This can be problematic, as the college library does not have any coursebooks or reference books for teaching English to fuel technology and automatic control systems professionals, which means that the teachers will have to design their own materials. Alternatively, the course could concentrate on the general science and technology topics that are common for all three specialities.

47 On the other hand, the Prolang/Finland research showed that the most important communication situations that the employees are engaged in are not directly related to specialist topics. For example, small talk, which was rated very high, can evolve around such topics as weather, hobbies or interests and food or drinks if the communicative event takes place at a meal. During a business trip another frequent communicative situation , one has to be familiar with a range of things related to travelling such as booking tickets, asking for directions, ordering food in a restaurant and checking in at an airport or hotel. Also, because the employees reported having to speak to foreign visitors or colleagues, in order to avoid communication breakdown, they should be aware of cultural differences. Consequently, there is a whole set of topics that are as important as, or even more important than, the topics related to the students speciality. In sum, if to take into account the availability of resources and students preferences and interests, a list of topics for the course could include the following: 1. Science and technology in general (e.g. describing mechanisms or systems, technical problems, latest developments). 2. Communication at work (e.g. means of communication, intercultural

communication, communicational strategies, communication breakdown, small talk). 3. Giving personal information (e.g. talking about ones working place, job responsibilities, hobbies, preferences in food or sights, interesting events, traditions of ones city and country). 4. Being in a foreign country (e.g. business trip, studying, doing trainee practice or working abroad). Another significant aspect to be considered is the amount of grammar in the syllabus. On the one hand, 79% of the Virumaa College students who participated in the survey believed that they needed to revise grammar during their ESP course. On the other hand, because the lesson is only once a week, only the most prominent language structures could

48 be reviewed. This implies that the course designer should conduct additional research and analyze target discourse types, which have been revealed as a result of the objective needs analysis, to identify these prominent elements of the language. When this is done, a lot of materials for students self study should be prepared to provide enough opportunities for grammar practice. Finally, both the objective and subjective needs analyses generated the most information about the language skills to be included in the syllabus. It is interesting that the order of importance of the four language skills was different according to the students perceptions and the employees reflections. First of all, reading that was considered the most valuable skill by the employees in Estonia and Latvia and also ranked very high in the Finnish order of frequency was regarded as a necessary part of the syllabus by the least number of the students. Nonetheless, it should be pointed out that all but one of the students who did not want to concentrate on the reading skills during the course simply felt that their reading skills were already sufficiently good. Therefore, it seems that developing reading skills still should be a top priority throughout the course. To satisfy the needs of those whose reading skills are indeed satisfactory, additional more complex reading texts could be prepared. The objective needs analysis also gave a very clear idea of what kind of reading texts are most likely to occur in the target situation, and thus, need to be a part of the ESP syllabus. First of all, students should be exposed to as much as possible professional literature articles from reference books, scientific journals and the Internet, where they should be able to find necessary information. In addition, a very likely type of task at work that the students should get used to is the ability to understand manual instructions the kind of text with some very specific features. The wish to study manuals was also expressed in some of the students questionnaires.

49 In order to help students cope with the reading tasks, one of the course objectives must be developing various reading strategies. When reading for finding information, the students need to be capable of skimming and scanning the text, while comprehending manuals requires intensive reading. Apart from these, students should be taught to read critically and try to interpret any possible inferred meanings. This ability is extremely valuable because many employees have to read quite a lot of correspondence with business partners or clients, and the company profit might depend on the success of communication. Another skill whose importance received radically different evaluation by the students and the employees is writing. While the former considered it a very useful component of the course, according to the latters rating, writing is the least useful skill of all. Consequently, since the students are motivated to work on their writing they should be given a chance to do so. However, writing should not occupy too much of the lessons time. One exception that does deserve careful attention is writing business letters and e-mails, as these seem to be very frequent tasks in the target situation. In relation to that, students probably need to be instructed about the differences between registers and the conventions of letter writing in English. The skill that students wished to develop most is speaking, as there was just one person who was satisfied with their current ability to speak in English. The importance of various speaking tasks was also rated extremely high by the employees in Finland and came second in the frequency list of the Estonian and Latvian respondents. Hence, focusing on the improving students speaking skills is both justified by the requirements of the target situation and matches with the students priorities. It was interesting, however, to find out that the class activities such as discussions or role-plays that are aimed directly at promoting speaking skills by many students were not considered very effective, neither were oral presentations and project work that occupied the last place in the order of efficiency. Therefore, it is not clear how the students expect to improve their speaking without

50 practising. It seems that learner training activities could help to convince the students in the usefulness of such types of class work and encourage more active participation in speaking activities. As the objective needs analysis demonstrated the need for spoken interaction skills is much higher than the need for spoken production skills. That means that if learning how to deliver an oral presentation or a monologue might be useful, then learning to communicate is absolutely crucial for the students. If to take into account the existent course conditions in the college, it could be suggested that giving one presentation will be enough for the students, while oral interaction between the learners should take place as often as possible. If to elaborate a little on the possible subjects for students dialogues, it seems reasonable to role-play situations that are likely to occur in real life, such as arranging a meeting with colleagues or handling customers complaints. Students should also learn to solve problems collaboratively: initiate discussion, ask and answer questions, express their opinions, in order to cope with their future job responsibilities. Because the respondents reported having to often speak on the phone, where the risk of communication breakdown is quite high, it would be useful for the students to get acquainted with some strategies that could help to keep the conversation going. In addition, to avoid such problem there should be some activities developing the students sense of what kind of language is appropriate in different contexts. Together with speaking, the skill without which oral communication is not possible is naturally listening. The need to give attention to listening during the course was expressed by the majority of the students and supported by the analysis of the target situation. Fortunately, the conditions for listening practice in the college are extremely favorable.

51 In addition to listening as a part of being engaged in a conversation, students will have to be able to comprehend monologues such as presentations, explanations and lectures, which might involve learning to take notes after the speaker. To sum up the discussion of what should be included in the ESP syllabus for a course in Virumaa College and how it should be organized, the syllabus has to be flexible and allow room for any possible changes, as the groups are not completely homogenous from the point of view of the students levels of English and learning objectives and preferences. For the same reason it should be oriented towards promoting learners autonomy and responsibility for their own progress beginning with a block of learner-training activities. The course should only concentrate on the basic concepts and central terminology, avoiding highly specialized vocabulary. Similarly, the range of topics to be included should not be limited to only those related to students speciality. Although there is not much time for grammar, it should not be dismissed totally. It would probably be useful to have an overview of some grammatical structures that recur in manuals, professional literature or descriptions of technological processes. The language skills: reading, speaking and listening should be equally represented in the syllabus, while writing deserves slightly less attention in the ESP course.

CONCLUSION Although ESP courses are in great demand nowadays, designing one is not an easy task for teachers who have not received any formal training in this area and for whom the whole concept of ESP and its teaching methodology can be rather vague. Exactly such a case was the underlying motivation for writing the present thesis, which attempted to define the nature of an ESP syllabus in order to be able to compile one for the students in Virumaa College of Tallinn University of Technology. According to a common consensus among scholars, ESP is not substantially different from general English in teaching methodology, materials or learning outcomes (Anthony 1997). Consequently, the organization of an ESP syllabus generally follows the same principles as that of a general English course an efficient syllabus should be flexible, cyclical and combine the elements of both analytic and synthetic approaches to new material processing. What is, however, considered the distinguishing feature of ESP is the fact that the selection of the syllabus content is based on the results of the course participants needs analysis. Thus, determining Virumaa College students reasons for taking the course was chosen as the focus of the current research, as it could then form a basis for the course syllabus design. The term needs analysis embraces several aspects including the target situation analysis, the present situation analysis and the learning needs analysis. The present situation analysis deals with the investigation of learners weaknesses or lacks (Dudley-Evans 2001: 133). The target situation analysis, also known as the objective needs analysis, looks into the requirements of the language use in the contexts where the course participants are likely to have to operate in English. The learning or subjective needs analysis examines the course participants perceptions of what the course should be like. In addition, in order to ensure the successful realization of the needs analysis results in the course syllabus, a means

53 analysis should also be conducted. The aim of the means analysis is to provide insights into the target teaching situation that will allow the development of learning programmes which are responsive to and capable of fitting in harmoniously with local conditions (Tudor 1996: 133). The techniques traditionally employed for conducting a needs analysis could be divided into two types: those where information is derived from the course participants such as questionnaires or interviews and those where information comes from the analysis of the target situation language use. The empirical study in this paper, which concentrated on objective and subjective needs analyses, used both these types for collecting the necessary information. The former addressed the findings of two research projects carried out in Finland, Estonia and Latvia, whose main purpose was to provide information on the target situation language requirements for ESP syllabi designers. The latter represented a survey conducted among 43 Virumaa College students who have ESP in their curricula and aimed at revealing their attitudes to and expectations of the course. Although both objective and subjective needs analysis demonstrated that ESP is a useful component of the college study programmes, it turned out that the students prioritize the skills that are not necessarily the most important in the target situation. For example, writing skills that are not very often required in the target situation ranked very high in the students list of preferences for the course. On the other hand, reading that seems to be the most valued skill in the target situation was considered a necessary part of the syllabus by the least number of the students. The results of the objective needs analysis revealed that contrary to the students opinion, studying professional terminology should not be a primary goal of the course, as there are a number of much more immediate tasks that do not require the use of highly specialized vocabulary, such as the ability to engage in small talk or read an email from a

54 foreign colleague. This also corresponds with the conclusion reached in the theoretical part that ESP teachers do not need to learn specialist subject knowledge to conduct a good course (Hutchinson and Waters 1987: 163). The same applies to the choice of topics for the course. The analysis of the target situation language use allows to suggest a list of possible topic areas: general science and technology, communication at work, giving personal information and being in a foreign country. Although the subjective needs analysis demonstrated that most students are willing to have some grammar points in the syllabus, an additional analysis of specialized corpora is necessary in order to select the most prominent items and their uses in the target situation (Gavioli 1996: 25). An important implication that the analysis of students learning preferences together with the means analysis have for the syllabus design is the need to include learner-training activities, especially at the beginning of the course, as the groups are not homogeneous and individual students will have to work independently on the areas that are problematic for them. Because the course is short and not very intensive, probably the best it could do is to guide the students as to how they could improve. Although the current research is far from exhaustive, it seems to have reached its aim in preparing the ground for an ESP syllabus design. The thesis looked at the characteristics of an ESP course, identified the steps in the process of syllabus design, outlined the general structure of syllabi and completed the key stage of syllabus design the course participants needs analysis, the results of which will be extremely valuable for setting course objectives and preparing suitable materials.

55 REFERENCES Anthony, Laurence. 1997. English for specific purposes: What does it mean? Why is it different? On-CUE. Vol. 5:3, pp. 9-10. Available at

http://www.antlab.sci.waseda.ac.jp/abstracts/ESParticle.html, accessed March 9, 2008. Broughton, Geoffrey. 1993. Teaching English as a Foreign Language. Routledge. Crystal, David. 2003. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge. University Press. Dick, Lesley. 2005. Syllabus writing. Teaching English. Available at

http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/methodology/syllabus.shtml, March 23, 2008.

accessed

Dudley-Evans, Tony. 2001. English for Specific Purposes. In Carter, Ronald and Nunan, David (ed). The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, 131-136). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Gatehouse, Kristen. 2001. Key Issues in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Curriculum Development. The Internet TESL Journal, Vol. VII, No. 10. Available at http://iteslj.org/Articles/Gatehouse-ESP.html, accessed March 9, 2008. Gavioli, Laura. 2005. Exploring Corpora for ESP Learning. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Huhta, Marjatta. 1999. Language/Communication Skills in Industry and Business. Report for Prolang/Finland. National Board of Education. Available at

http://www.edu.fi/julkaisut/skills42.pdf, accessed April 7, 2008. Hutchinson, Tom and Waters, Alan. 1987. English for Specific Purposes: A Learningcentred approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Hyland, Ken. 2003. Second Language Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

56 Language Centre. Tallinn University of Technology. QUALSPELL project. Available at http://www.qalspell.ttu.ee/index.html, accessed April 7, 2008. Lightbown, Patsy M. and Spada, Nina. 2006. How Languages are Learned (3rd ed). Oxford: Oxford University Press. Long, Michael H. 2007. Problems in SLA. Routledge. Nunad, David. 1988. Syllabus Design. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Nunad, David. 1988. The learner-centred curriculum: a study in second language teaching . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Nunad, David and Lamb, Clarice. 1996. The Self-directed Teacher: Managing the Learning Process. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Oxford Quick Placement Test. 2001. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Richards, Jack C. 2001. Curriculum Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Rogers, Angela. 2000. English for Scientists. English Teaching Professional, 15: April, 6-7. Saraswathi, V. 2004. English Language Teaching - Principles and Practice . Orient Longman. Shomoossi, Nematullah. 2007. A Critical Look at the Concept of Authenticity. Electronic Journal of Foreign Language Teaching, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 149-155. Available at http://e-flt.nus.edu.sg/v4n12007/shomoossi.htm, accessed March 21, 2008. Tudor, Ian. 1996. Learner-centredness as Language Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wallace, Michael J. 1991. Training Foreign Language Teachers: A Reflective Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. West, Richard. 1997. Needs Analysis: State of the Art. In Howard, Ron and Brown, Gillian (ed). Teacher Education for Languages for Specific Purposes. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.

57 White, Ronald V. 1988. The ELT Curriculum: Design, Innovation and Management. Blackwell Publishing. Widdowson, Henry G. 1990. Aspects of Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

58 RESMEE

TARTU LIKOOL INGLISE FILOLOOGIA OSAKOND Irina Petrova NEEDS ANALYSIS AS A STARTING POINT FOR DESIGNING A SYLLABUS FOR ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES COURSES (Vajaduste anals erialase inglise keele ppekavade arendamisel) Magistrit 2008 Leheklgede arv: 59

Annotatsioon: Tnapeval on inglise keel muutnud rahvusvaheliseks suhtluskeeleks paljudel teaduse ja tehnoloogia aladel. Selle tulemusena pavad likoolid lipilasi varustada nii erialaste teadmistega kui ka inglise keele oskusega, mis vimaldaksid neil ametialaselt suhelda ja vajadusel kasutada seda keelt oma tkohustuste titmisel. Erialase keele petamise thtsamaks printsiibiks on see, et kursuse sisu mravad ppurite vajaduste analsi tulemused. Kesoleva uurimist eesmrgiks oli saada ldine ettekujutus Tallinna

Tehnikalikooli Virumaa Kolledi lipilaste inglise keele oskuste vajadustest, mis vimaldaks koostada efektiivsema erialase keele kursuse ppekava. Uurimist keskendus philiselt kahele aspektile: objektiivsele ja subjektiivsele vajaduste analsile. Esimene tegeles vljaselgitamisega, missuguseid keelelisi nudeid esitatakse tvtjatele sellistes valdkondades, mis on sarnased kolledi vilistlaste potentsiaalsete ametitega. Selle jaoks uuriti kahe ulatusliku vajaduste analsi projekti tulemusi: Prolang/Finland Soomes ning QUALSPELL Eestis ja Ltis. Subjektiivse vajaduste analsi lbiviimiseks koostati ksimustik kolledi lipilastele. Ksimustikule vastas 43 lipilast.

59 Tulemustest selgus, et inglise keele valdamine on tepoolest vga oluline ning seda tunnistavad nii tandjad, tvtjad kui ka kolledi lipilased. Andmete anals nitas ka, et lipilased ja tvtjad ei ole hel meelel, millised keeleoskused ja suhtlussituatsioonid on kige thtsamad.

Mrksnad: Inglise keele didaktika, erialane inglise keel, ppekava arendamine, vajaduste anals.

60 Appendix 1 NEEDS ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987) Objective needs Why is the language needed? - for study; - for work; - for training; - for a combination of these; - for some other purpose, e.g. status, examination, promotion. How will the language be used? - medium: speaking, writing, reading etc.; - channel: e.g. telephone, face-to-face; - types of text or discourse: e.g. academic texts, lectures, informal conversations, technical manuals, catalogues. What will the content areas be? - subjects: e.g. medicine, biology, architecture, shipping, commerce, engineering; - level: e.g. technician, craftsman, postgraduate, secondary school. Subjective needs Why are the learners taking the course? - compulsory or optional; - apparent need or not; - Are status, money, promotion involved? - What the learners think they will achieve? - What is their attitude towards the ESP course? Do they want to improve their English or do they resent the time they have to spend on it? How do the learners learn? - What is their learning background? - What is their concept of teaching and learning? - What methodology will appeal to them? - What sort of techniques are likely to bore alienate them? What resources are available? - number and professional competence of teachers; - attitude of teachers to ESP; - teachers knowledge and attitude to the subject content; - materials; - aids; - opportunities for out-of-class activities. Who are the learners? - age / sex / nationality; - What do they know already about English? - What subject knowledge do they have? - What are their interests? - What is their socio-cultural background? - What teaching styles are their used to? - What is their attitude to English or to the cultures of the English-speaking world? Where will the ESP course take place? - Are the surroundings pleasant, dull, noisy, cold, etc?

Who will the learners use the language with? - native speakers or non-native; - level of knowledge of receiver: e.g. expert, layman, student; - relationship: e.g. colleague, teacher, customer, superior, subordinate.

Where will the language be used? physical setting: e.g. office, lecture theatre, hotel, workshop, library; human context: e.g. alone, meetings, demonstrations, on telephone; linguistic context: e.g. in own country, abroad. When will the language be used? - concurrently with ESP course or subsequently? - frequently, seldom, in small amount, in large chunks.

When will the ESP course take place? - time of day; - every day / once a week; - full-time / part-time; - concurrent with need or pre-need.

61 Appendix 2 THE STUDENTS QUESTIONNAIRE Dear Student, I am doing research in teaching English for specific purposes (ESP) for my masters thesis. Because you are going to take this subject (erialane inglise keel) in the future, I am very interested in your attitude to and expectations of it. Please, be so kind as to answer my questions. Please, be honest, because this is very important for my results! Thank you! PART 1 1) Please, provide the following information about yourself: Speciality: Age: Sex: Native language: 2) What do you think your level of English is (underline the suitable variant):
elementary pre-intermediate intermediate upper-intermediate advanced

3) Do you have to use English in your job or studies at present?

Yes, a lot Sometimes Not much No

4) How much specialist knowledge do you already have in your main field of study?
Very much Basics Not much yet

PART 2 5) Are you interested in taking an ESP course?

Yes, very much Yes Not very much Not interested at all

6) How important do you think ESP is in comparison with other subjects?

More important than many other subjects As important as other subjects Less important that other subjects

7) Do you think ESP will be useful for you?

Yes, very useful Yes, but not now I am not sure No, its a waste of time

8) Do you think ESP will be useful: For using materials related to your speciality written in English?
Yes, very useful Yes Not very useful Not useful at all

For finding a better job?

Yes Not very useful Not useful at all

Yes, very useful

For communication with specialists from other countries?

Yes Not very useful Not useful at all

Yes, very useful

For improving your general language skills?

Yes Not very useful Not useful at all

Yes, very useful

For any other reason (please, explain):

62 9) During your ESP course do you think you need to study some professional terminology in English?
Yes, its the most important Yes, it will be useful No, I already know all the necessary terminology No, it will not be useful

to study different topics related to your speciality?

Yes, it will be useful No, I dont want to learn the same things again No, it will not be useful

Yes, its the most important

to revise English grammar?

Yes, it will be useful No, I already know all the necessary grammar No, it will not be useful

Yes, its the most important

to develop your reading skills?

Yes, it will be useful No, my reading skills are already quite good No, it will not be useful

Yes, its the most important skill

to develop your writing skills?

Yes, it will be useful No, my writing skills are already quite good No, it will not be useful

Yes, its the most important skill

to develop your listening skills?

Yes, it will be useful No, my listening skills are already quite good No, it will not be useful

Yes, its the most important skill

to develop your speaking skills?

Yes, it will be useful No, my speaking skills are already quite good No, it will not be useful

Yes, its the most important skill

other (please, explain):

10) What forms of work would you prefer to dominate in your ESP class? Rate the following from 1 (the most effective for you) to 4 (the least effective for you) Teacher explains a new topic and corrects my mistakes when I do exercises Analyzing language structures and trying to work with new words on my own Class discussions, role-plays/group work Songs/films/games/projects/presentations

11) Please, write about anything you would like your teacher to take into account when planning your ESP course.

63 Appendix 3 QUALSPELL QUESTIONNAIRE INSTITUTION/COMPANY NAME. AGE. NATIONALITY.. JOB.. A SHORT DESCRIPTION OF YOUR JOB... . . HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE YOUR OCCUPATIONAL FIELD: technology , business , education , research and development civil service , other (please, specify) HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE YOUR JOB IN GENERAL TERMS: manager administrator specialist other (please, specify).. For what activities do you use English in your job? A- often; B- sometimes, C- seldom, D- never
Circle the appropriate letter

DO YOU HAVE TO READ 1. Manuals ABCD 2. Instructions ABCD 3. Emails ABCD 4. Contracts ABCD 5. Product specifications ABCD 6. Price lists ABCD 7. Specialist literature ABCD 8. Legal documents ABCD 0ther DO YOU HAVE TO 1. Speak to foreign visitors ABCD 2. Speak to foreign colleagues A B C D 3. Speak on the phone ABCD 4. Take part in meetings ABCD 5. Take part in conferences ABCD 6. Chair meetings ABCD 7. Give presentations ABCD 8. Give instructions ABCD 9. Ask questions ABCD Other .

DO YOU HAVE TO WRITE 1. Business letters 2. Emails 3. Memorandums 4. Reports 5. Articles 6. Summaries of articles 7. Notes 8. Translations into foreign language 9. Translations into native language 10. Legal papers 11. Price lists 12. Product specifications Other DO YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO 1. Instructions 2. Lectures 3. Presentations 4. Reports 5. Explanations Other

ABCD ABCD ABCD ABCD ABCD ABCD ABCD ABCD ABCD ABCD ABCD ABCD ABCD ABCD ABCD ABCD ABCD ABCD