The Needs of Students in Teaching English for Specific Purposes

Abstract

This article presents the design process, challenge, and evaluation of an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course addressed to chemistry students at Samarkand State University. The present research goals at management a Needs Analysis to exanimate both teachers' and students’ awareness of ESP teaching and learning at the Faculty of Chemistry. The result of this needs analysis will serve as a basis for the design of a course for Bachelor’s students. This process required a needs analysis to assess the students’ academic and professional needs, wants and lacks in order to create a course that included the four macro skills: speaking, listening, reading, and writing. This article presents the findings of the needs analysis. In addition, a set of learning strategies were considered in the design process (paraphrasing, negotiation of meaning, predicting, scanning, among others) to fit the students’ reported needs. Based on the findings of the needs analysis, Chemical Course was designed to respond to students’ needs, wants, and lacks.