A Needs Assessment Study of a Language Preparatory Program in terms of the Students’ Reading and Writing Abilities

A Needs Assessment Study of a Language Preparatory Program in terms of the Students’ Reading and Writing Abilities

Enisa, Mede

A needs assessment study is usually carried out for different purposes. Collecting information on a specific problem that learners are experiencing, helping to determine if an existing course adequately addresses the needs of potential students, finding out the perceptions of related parties regarding the skills a learner needs in order to perform a specific role, demonstrating a change of direction that people in a reference group feel is important, and signifying a discrepancy between the perceptions about what the students are able to do and what they need to be able to do are the among the main reasons for needs assessments to be conducted (Brown, 1995; Richards, 2001). The aim of the present study is to identify the students’ perceived language needs in terms of their reading and writing abilities. A sample of forty-eight students and fifteen instructors enrolled in an English Preparatory Language Teaching program at a highly competitive private university in Istanbul, Turkey participated in the study. Data came from a needs analysis questionnaire and a semi-structured interview conducted with the two groups of partcipants. The findings suggested important implications for evaluating and redesigning the reading and writing syllabi for the following academic year.

Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed

2012-05

800