| خلاصه مقاله | Abstract
The content for ESP courses has been mostly determined on the basis of the intuitive
judgments and personal preferences of syllabus designers and teachers, rather than
a standard needs analysis. The present study was an attempt at assessing the current
English language abilities of undergraduate students majoring in medical sciences as
well as identifying their target needs for academic success through quantitative and
qualitative methods. The participants included 197 undergraduate students, 12 TEFL
teachers, and 15 content teachers from Tabriz University of medical sciences, Iran. The
data were collected through target needs analysis and self-assessment questionnaires
and also semi-structured interviews. Pronunciation, technical and general vocabulary
knowledge, and using bilingual dictionaries were regarded as ‘important’ and ‘very
important’ target needs by the participants though some significant differences in
perceptions were found between the content teachers and students. The writing skill,
listening comprehension and speaking were perceived as the weakest points in the
students’ current level of ability. There was also a significant difference between the
perception of TEFL teachers and the students’ in assessing the undergraduate students’
linguistic abilities. Furthermore, both undergraduates and teachers voiced their
dissatisfaction with certain areas of ESP courses such as the inadequate number of the
credits and heterogeneity of the classes. To have the outcome of ESP courses improved,
they need to be designed on the basis of a realistic appreciation of all stakeholders’
perceptions in the field, and they need to be taught through the cooperation of the
teachers in the two camps. |