Assessing the English Language Needs and Challenges of Chinese Undergraduates in Thai Universities
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60027/ijsasr.2024.4592Keywords:
Needs analysis;, EAP course; , Academic communication challenges; , Chinese undergraduates in Thailand; , English language skillsAbstract
Background and Aim: Studying undergraduate in Thai universities is a popular option for Chinese students. International programs covering popular fields not only meet the goals of Chinese students but are also seen by Chinese students as the best way to harvest specialized knowledge and English ability because of the all-English teaching course. However, since the English language is the only communication medium for Chinese students, there are some difficulties and problems encountered by these students who are not English native speakers. Therefore, this study aims to explore the specific English language skills Chinese undergraduates need and the challenges they face in academic and everyday contexts in Thai universities.
Materials and Methods: Participants involved 80 Chinese undergraduates studying four-year international programs in Thai public universities with an IELTS overall score of 5. Employing a mixed-methods approach, we distributed a questionnaire based on a five-point Likert scale to all participants and conducted focus group interviews with 12 participants.
Results: Findings indicate a critical need to enhance writing and speaking for academic success, with an emphasis on specific-field terminology, and to improve listening and speaking skills for daily life communication. Besides, the lack of academic writing strategies and English communication in official institutions are the problems that undergraduates encounter in academic and daily contexts respectively.
Conclusion: The study underscores the urgent need for tailored EAP courses that address both academic and everyday English use, with a particular focus on writing with academic vocabularies and enhancing communicative competence in key scenarios like immigration processing.
References
Akyel, A.S., & Ozek, Y. (2010). A language needs analysis research at an English medium university in Turkey. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), 969–975. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.03.136
Alhassan, A. (2019). EFL postgraduate students’ learning needs on English-medium business programs: An exploratory study. Language Teaching Research, 25(5), 798–816. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168819857861
Andrade, M. S. (2006). International students in English-speaking universities. Journal of Research in International Education, 5(2), 131–154. https://doi.org/10.1177/1475240906065589
Avello, M., et al. (2019). ‘Do you use English in your daily life?’ Undergraduate students’ perceptions of their extramural use of English. Journal of Teaching in International Business, 30(1), 77–94. https://doi.org/10.1080/08975930.2019.1627978
Barrett, N.E., & Liu, G.-Z. (2016). Global trends and research aims for English academic oral presentations. Review of Educational Research, 86(4), 1227–1271. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654316628296
Brown, H.D. (2001). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy. Addison Wesley Longman.
Cai, J., & Chen, N. (2013). Analysis of students and faculty's needs for ESP in the context of the internationalization of higher education. Computer-Assisted Foreign Language Education in China, 2013(05), 3–9. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1001-5795.2013.05.001
Canagarajah, A.S. (2006). TESOL at forty: What are the issues? TESOL Quarterly, 40(1), 9. https://doi.org/10.2307/40264509
Chams, E.L. (2016). An introduction to English for specific purposes (ESP). Department of English. Faculty of Arts and Languages, Abou Bekr Belkaid University - Tlemcen.
Chen, I-J., et al. (2016). I learn what I need: Needs analysis of English learning in Taiwan. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 4(1), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2016.040101
Coleman, J.A. (2006). English-medium teaching in European higher education. Language Teaching, 39(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1017/s026144480600320x
Dudley-Evans, T., & St. John, M. (1998). Developments in ESP: A multi-disciplinary approach. Cambridge University Press.
Flowerdew, J. (2012). English for research publication purposes. In The Handbook of English for Specific Purposes (pp. 301–321). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118339855.ch16
Flowerdew, J., & Peacock, M. (2001). Research perspectives on English for academic purposes. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139524766
Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (1987). English for specific purposes. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511733031
Hyland, K., & Hamp-Lyons, L. (2002). EAP: Issues and directions. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 1(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1475-1585(02)00002-4
Johns, A. (1991). English for specific purposes: Its history and contribution. In M. Celce-Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (pp. 67-77). Heinle & Heinle.
Jordan, R.R. (1997). English for academic purposes: A guide and resource book for teachers. Cambridge University Press.
Lamri, C.E. (2016). An introduction to English for specific purposes (ESP). https://www.doc88.com/p-3922316189689.html
Lertchalermtipakoon, P., et al. (2021). Need analysis: English language used by students in the tourism and hospitality industry. English Language Teaching, 14(3), 59. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v14n3p59
Li, Y. (2013). College education: Internationalization and nationalization. Chinese Journal of Social Science. https://doi.org/10.28131/n.cnki.ncshk.2013.001713
Mehdi, H.S. (2008). Introduction to needs analysis. English for Specific Purpose World, 4, 1-25.
Munby, J. (1988). Communicative Syllabus Design. Cambridge: CUP.
Nickerson, C. (2012). English for specific purposes and English as a lingua franca. In The Handbook of English for Specific Purposes (pp. 445–460). https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118339855.ch23
Ömer Gökhan Ulum. (2016). A needs analysis study for preparatory class ELT students. Open Access Publishing Group http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.51774
Panita, T. (2010). Needs analysis for English of Master of Arts in Economics (English Programme) students, Thammasat University. M.A. Thesis in English for Specific Purposes, Faculty of Humanities, Kasetsart University.
Rahman, M. (2015). English for specific purposes (ESP): A holistic review. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 3, 24-31. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2015.030104
Robinson, P. (1991). ESP today: A practitioner’s guide. Prentice Hall International (UK) Ltd.
Sarwari, A. Q., et al. (2023). Factors influencing interpersonal interactions among students from different nationalities using the English language as the primary means of their daily communication. Arab World English Journal, 14(1), 449–457. https://doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol14no1.28
Sawapat, T. (2016). Needs analysis of English for Biomedical Engineering Students: A case study of Thai undergraduate students. M.A. Thesis in Language and Culture for Communication and Development, Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia, Mahidol University.
Sherry, M., Thomas, P. & Chui, W.H. (2010). International students: a vulnerable student population. High Educ, 60, 33–46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-009-9284-z
Shi, L. (2001). Native- and non-native-speaking EFL teachers’ evaluation of Chinese students’ English writing. Language Testing, 18(3), 303–325. https://doi.org/10.1191/026553201680188988
Wang, S., & Cheng, H. (2013). Some thoughts on English for academic purpose (EAP) teaching. Foreign Languages in China, 10(5), 4–10. https://doi.org/10.13564/j.cnki.issn.1672-9382.2013.05.011
West, R. (1994). Needs analysis in language teaching. Language Teaching, 27, 15–49.
Zhang, L.M., Han, J., & Wang, H.F. (2020). A research of the need analysis of the English majors of Baoding University. Creative Education, 11, 2375-2383. https://doi.org/10.4236/ce.2020.1111174
Zhang, S., & Hasim, Z. (2023). Perceptions and coping strategies in English writing among Chinese study-abroad graduate students. SAGE Open, 13(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231184851
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 International Journal of Sociologies and Anthropologies Science Reviews
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright on any article in the International Journal of Sociologies and Anthropologies Science Reviews is retained by the author(s) under the under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Permission to use text, content, images, etc. of publication. Any user to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose. But do not use it for commercial use or with the intent to benefit any business.
