Investigating needs of Iranian law students to learn English: A focus on educational level and gender |
کد مقاله : 1087-ELTCONF5-FULL |
نویسندگان |
علی شفقتیان1، مهرک رحیمی *2 1گروه زبان انگلیسی، دانشکده علوم انسانی، دانشگاه تربیت دبیر شهید رجایی 2گروه زبان انگلیسی، دانشکده علوم انسانی، دانشگاه تربیت دبیر شهید رجایی، تهران، ایران |
چکیده مقاله |
As a part of ESP course development, needs analysis (NA) identifies specific English language knowledge and skills students need to meet the requirements of their future careers. NA assists in making the right decisions on pinpointing the goals, materials, teaching methodologies, and evaluation policies of a course. This study thus investigated Iranian law students’ needs to learn English focusing on their educational level and gender. Ninety-six law students who were selected based on convenience sampling took part in the study. The sample included 51 undergraduate (53%) and 45 graduate (47%) students; and 47 female (49%) and 49 male (51%) students. They completed an NA scale that assessed their needs to learn English for academic and vocational purposes considering the goals, methodology, and content of the course. The data were analyzed by both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results of descriptive statistics and one-sample t-test indicated that all students acknowledged the key role English plays in their academic and vocational success; however, they expressed their strong needs for the inclusion of more realistic goals and implementation of modern instructional content, teaching practices, and assessment in designing their English courses. The results of the Multivariate Analysis of Variance showed that educational level has a significant role in differentiating law students’ needs for learning English, particularly for vocational purposes. However, gender was not found to play any significant role in this regard. The findings have practical implications for ESP course developers to embark on curriculum change relying on students’ needs and wants. |
کلیدواژه ها |
needs, analysis, law students, ESP |
وضعیت: پذیرفته شده برای ارائه شفاهی |