An Investigation of the Language Needs in English for Specific Purposes

Abstract

The present study is an attempt to identify the language needs of first year students at the Matter Sciences department in Jijel University. It is based on the hypothesis that if the students’ language needs are identified their English level can be improved. In order to examine the previously set hypothesis, a questionnaire and an interview were used. The questionnaire was administered to a sample of 100 first year student at the faculty of Matter Sciences; it aimed at identifying the students’ language needs as well as gathering information about their perceptions regarding those needs, while the interview was conducted with the only three teachers of English at the same department and it aimed at discovering their perceptions regarding the needs of the students as well as exploring their teaching practices. This dissertation is consisted of three chapters; the first one deals with English for Specific Purposes and Needs Analysis, the second one is devoted to the language skills and language issues in English for Specific Purposes, and the last one covers the research methodology. The results obtained shows that while students prioritize the reading and the speaking skills, their teachers focus on the listening and the writing skills. Based on these findings some pedagogical recommendations are suggested