Investigating the Reading Needs in English for Specific Purposes

Abstract

The current study which is a descriptive one aims at identifying the reading needs of first year Master students of Political Sciences at the University of Mohammed Seddik Ben Yahia – Jijel. It has been hypothesized that if both teachers and students are aware of the reading needs and take them into consideration in the reading teaching process, students will develop their reading abilities in both English and Political Sciences. The dissertation is divided into three chapters. The first two chapters are devoted to the theoretical part and present the relevant literature review related to English for Specific Purposes, needs analysis, and the reading skill. The third chapter is devoted to the practical part. To answer the research questions and uncover the reading needs of Master one students at the department of Political Sciences, a questionnaire was addressed to five teachers of English and another one was displayed to fifty-five students out of ninety five chosen randomly at the department of Political Sciences at Jijel University. The results of both questionnaires revealed that teachers and students hold positive attitudes towards reading in particular and English in general. The findings also evoked many problems encountered by teachers and students. That is, teachers are not aware of their students’ needs and do not take them into consideration in the teaching of the reading skill. Moreover, English for Specific Purposes is not well practised in the department of political sciences. All these negative aspects affected students’ progress in learning both English and Political Sciences. Finally, some solutions are suggested to improve the teaching of the reading skill under the implication of English for Specific Purposes at the previously mentioned department.