Needs Analysis Of English For Specific Purposes For Postgraduates Of Science And Engineering

With the internationalization of higher education,English has been the main language in the international communication and scientific research.Postgraduates of Science and Engineering in China are facing more and more academic tasks in media of English.They often need to read plenty of professional literature in English to gain the latest research information.At present,English course for postgraduates has been developed from English for General Purposes(EGP)to English for Specific Purposes(ESP)at many universities of China.However,in western areas,English courses for postgraduates of Science and Engineering still focus on EGP courses not ESP courses.English has not been a practical tool for them to study and research.Besides,by consulting relevant literature,the author has learned that domestic scholars has not given enough attention to researching on the needs of ESP courses for postgraduates of Science and Engineering.Hence,based on the Hutchinson and Water’s theory of needs analysis,the study investigates 268 postgraduates of Science and Engineering,two supervisors,four English teachers and two postgraduates with the quantitative and qualitative research methods.This study aims to explore the following two questions:(1)What is the current situation of English courses for postgraduates of Science and Engineering?(2)What are the specific needs of ESP courses for postgraduates of Science and Engineering? Data collected from the questionnaire and personal interviews are analyzed and discussed with the help of SPSS20.0.The research results show that:(1)The current English courses cannot meet postgraduates’ real English needs.(2)Postgraduates of Science and Engineering have strong target needs and learning needs for ESP courses.According to the survey,the author puts forward several suggestions for postgraduates of Science and Engineering,ESP teachers and the university.Postgraduates should have a deep understanding of their major characteristics,try to change their concepts of English learning and improve awareness of autonomous English learning.ESP teachers should distinguish students’ English learning needs and try to cultivate students’ learning strategies.English teachers and specialized teachers should know about and learn from each other,cooperate tightly and realize mutual development.The university should attach the importance to the ESP courses in order to cultivate students’ academic English ability.According to the specific needs of postgraduates,relevant ESP courses such as EGAP courses and ESAP courses are encouraged to open with the teaching mode of “seminar in small class based on lecture in large class”.At last,the author hopes that the present study can provide a useful reference for the English curriculum design of postgraduates of Science and Engineering in the western areas of China.