An analysis of the ESP students'English language needs A case of first year licence science and technology students Mohamed Seddik Ben Yahia-Jijel

Abstract

Teaching English for Specific Purposes was and still is a controversial issue in Teaching English as a Foreign Language context. However, only few English for Specific Purposes applications have been adopted to suit teaching in Algerian universities. In Jijel University, students studying at the faculty of Science and Technology need to learn English as a demand for their academic studies. In the current study, an analysis of the Science and Technology students' needs learning English at the faculty of Science and Technology is conducted by referring to the perceptions of students and their teacher towards the teaching/learning situation. Therefore, the students' needs that are essential for their academic studies were identified in the four language skills and suggestions are presented in order to design a syllabus. So that, it is hypothesized that if the students' needs are well identified, an appropriate syllabus may be designed. To check the validity of this hypothesis, two questionnaires were administered to first year Licence Science and Technology students and their teacher. The findings showed that while students need to master all the language skills, especially speaking and reading, these needs are ignored by their teacher. Based on those findings, a syllabus which takes into consideration the students' needs in terms of language skills should be developed