Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2226-6348

English for Specific Purposes Need Analysis among Final Year Chemical Engineering Students in a Malaysian Public University

Siti Maftuhah Damio, Farhanah Iman Masni Shahril, Shafique Adrian Yau

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARPED/v11-i4/15874

Open access

Need analysis is a crucial part of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) that guides instructors to plan and design an appropriate course for target learners. As there is limited number of research on the needs analysis for engineering students in Malaysia, this study focuses on assessing and determining the ESP among engineering students in public university students in Selangor, Malaysia. The objectives of the study are to analyze the perspective of final year engineering students regarding their English language proficiency, language skills emphasized in their field and the perceived most important English language skill in the workplace. The data of this study were collected from final year chemical engineering students who have attended industrial training. An online survey questionnaire was adapted from Alsamadahi (2017) and was distributed to respondents via Google Form. The data was analyzed using SPSS and utilised descriptive analysis to summarize the findings. Based on the findings, the students perceive writing and reading as the most important skills in their field whereas speaking skills are the least important. The majority of respondents also perceived that they can perform the listening task on their own better compared to the speaking task. Overall, the results of the data analysis provide great significance to the ESP course design. It can be concluded that the study conducted can be improved if more samples can be collected from various universities.

Aarif, F., Sapuan, A. F., & Isnin, S. F. Exploring Speaking Anxiety in Communicative English Classrooms at a Polytechnic in Malaysia.
Abrahim, S. (2008). A need analysis on the engineering undergraduates' communication skills. Academic Journal UITM Pulau Pinang, 4(2), 163-184.
Alsamadani, H. A. (2017). Needs Analysis in ESP Context: Saudi Engineering Students as a Case Study. Advances in Language and Literary Studies, 8(6), 58-68.
Arno-Macia, E., Aguilar-Perez, M., & Tatzl, D. (2020). Engineering students' perceptions of the role of ESP courses in internationalized universities. English for Specific Purposes, 58, 58-74.
Azmimurad, A. M., & Osman, N. Technical Vocabulary Size among Engineering Undergraduates According to Field of Study at Universiti Malaysia Pahang.
BEM, Board of Engineers Malaysia. (2003). Engineering programme accreditation manual. Retrieved 28 June 2014 from http://www.bem. org.my/eac/manual231003.pdf
Ciudin-Ple?ca, G. (2017). The role of needs analysis in ESP curriculum design. In Noi tendin?e în predarea limbajelor de specialitate în contextul racord?rii înv???mântului superior la cerin?ele pie?ii muncii (pp. 130-134).
Clement, A., & Murugavel, T. (2015). English for employability: A case study of the English language training need analysis for engineering students in India. English Language Teaching, 8(2), 116-125. doi:10.5539/elt.v8n2p116.
Gheorghe, C. M., Chirila, A. I., & Deaconu, I. D. (2017). What they believe, what they want: A needs analysis of electrical engineering students on teaching and assessment methods. In 2017 10th International Symposium on Advanced Topics in Electrical Engineering (ATEE) (pp. 45-50). IEEE.
Idrus, H., Mohamed, N. A., and Baharom, R. (2012). Motivating engineering and technical students to learn technical writing by inculcating lifelong learning skills. The International Journal of Learning, 18(11), 191-201
Isnin, S. F., Mustapha, R., & Othman, W. M. (2018). Engineering students’ perspectives on the need of a new module in technical report writing at Polytechnic in Malaysia. Journal of Engineering Science and Technology (JESTEC), 31-38.
Pazoki, J. S., & Alemi, M. (2020). Engineering students’ motivation to learn technical English in ESP courses: Investigating Iranian teachers’ and students’ perceptions. RELC Journal, 51(2), 212-226.
Kluensuwan, P., Chaisiri, T., Poomarin, W., & Rungruangsuparat, B. (2019). Needs Analysis of English for Engineering Staff in the Electronics Industry in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani, Thailand. NIDA, 64.
Poedjiastutie, D., & Rifah, L. (2019). English Communication Needs of Engineering Students. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 7(2), 69-77.
Rajeswaran, M. C. (2018). Approaches to Teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in Engineering Programs. IUP Journal of English Studies, 13(3).
Saleh, N. S., & Murtaza, S. F. (2018). English language use in Malaysian government and private civil engineering workplaces. International Journal of Education and Literacy Studies, 6(3), 84-91.
Ting, S. H., Marzuki, E., Chuah, K. M., Misieng, J., & Jerome, C. (2017). Employers’ views on the importance of English proficiency and communication skill for employability in Malaysia. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(2), 315-327.

In-Text Citation: (Damio et al., 2022)
To Cite this Article: Damio, S. M., Shahril, F. I. M., & Yau, S. A. (2022). English for Specific Purposes Need Analysis among Final Year Chemical Engineering Students in a Malaysian Public University. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development, 11(4), 470–478.