KNOWLEDGE – International Journal

Vol.48.4
THE IMPORTANCE OF NEEDS ANALYSIS IN ESP COURSE DESIGN AND
EVALUATION

Besa Bytyqi
South East European University, Republic of North Macedonia, [email protected]

Abstract: A lot of researchers have investigated the role of Needs Analysis Questionnaire in English for Specific
Purposes Courses. The main purpose of this paper is to prove the importance of the Needs Analysis Questionnaire in
enhancing the learning outcomes in English for Specific Purposes courses, which are core subjects and offered to
students studying at the Faculty of Contemporary Social Sciences, department of Public Management and Public
Policy and the department of Political Sciences at South East European University, Republic of North Macedonia. It
also shows how important is needs analysis in course design, materials selection, evaluation and the proposed topics
for the course project. The participants in this study were 64 students from both full time and part time study
programmes, second and third year attending ESP 1 and ESP 2 courses. Qualitative and quantitative approaches
were used for the data collection. The survey was done at the beginning of Summer Semester 2021. The evidence
was gathered in the form of student needs analysis questionnaires. The results show that students would rather work
on an individual projects were the topics will be proposed by them. The majority of Public Management and Public
Policy students would like to write about one of the existing Ministries within the Government of the Republic of
North Macedonia. On the other hand the Political Science students would rather have a debate on certain political
topics, so according to the results they would focus more on the speaking skills. The newly designed ESP1 and ESP
2 syllabi finally showed that during the semester the students were more motivated, and at the end of the semester
students’ results and final grades were improved comparing the previous Fall Semester 2020.
Keywords: ESP, Needs Analysis, Course Design, Evaluation, Students

1. INTRODUCTION
A lot of researchers have investigated the role of Needs Analysis Questionnaires in English for Specific Purposes
Courses. The main purpose of this paper is to prove the importance of the Needs Analysis Questionnaire in
enhancing learning outcomes in ESP 1 and ESP 2 courses, which are core subjects and offered to students studying
at the Faculty of Contemporary Social Sciences, department of Public Management and Public Policy and the
department of Political Sciences at South East European University in the Republic of North Macedonia. It also
shows how important is the needs analysis in course design, materials selection and the proposed topics for the
course project. The participants in this study were 64 students from both full time and part time study programmes,
second and third year students attending ESP 1 and ESP 2 courses. Qualitative and quantitative approaches were
used for the data collection. The survey was done at the beginning of Summer Semester 2021. The evidence was
gathered in the form of student needs analysis questionnaires. The results show that students would rather work on
an individual project where the topics will be proposed by them. The majority of Public Management and Public
Policy students would like to write about one of the existing Ministries within the Government of the Republic of
North Macedonia. On the other hand the Political Science students would rather have a debate on certain political
topics, so according to the results they would focus more on the speaking skills. The newly designed ESP1 and ESP
2 syllabi finally showed that during the semester the students were more motivated, and at the end of the semester
students’ results and grades were better than the previous Fall Semester 2020.
English for Specific Purposes is a core subject at South East European University in North Macedonia, which is
offered to second and third year students after they complete their Basic English Skills. One of the five ESP courses
offered is English for Specific Purposes aimed to students studying at the Faculty of Contemporary Social Sciences.
Since there is a lack of textbooks for teaching ESP in these Social Science fields, as an ESP lecturer the author of
this paper has to compile Course Packs for students based on their needs, and each semester there are changes in the
course syllabus, add materials according to students’ needs analysis questionnaire. So ESP lecturers have multiple
roles since they are course designers, material providers, researchers and collaborators, and at the end of each
semester they are evaluators, as well.

2. PREVIOUS STUDIES
There are many researchers who have shown that Needs Analysis Questionnaires play a crucial role when designing
syllabi for different courses in academia. According to MacMillan dictionary when talking for academia we mean
for: the people, activities and institutions that are connected with education, especially in colleges and universities
(www.macmillandictionary.com). Hutchinson and Waters (1987) see ESP as an approach rather than a product.

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Vol.48.4
According to Dudley-Evans & St John, M. (2003, p.3) they suggest that ‘the foundation of ESP is the simple question:
Why does this learner need to learn a foreign language?’ The South East European University students studying
Public Management and Public Policy, as well as Political Sciences need English as a foreign language for their
future careers. The majority of our students after graduating are employed in state administration offices or agencies.
Robinson’s characteristics (Robinson, 1991) are that ESP courses are generally constrained by a limited time period,
in which their objectives have to be achieved, and are taught to adults in homogeneous classes in terms of the work
or specialist studies that the students are involved in. Various authors have done research and written about the
classification of ESP courses, but ESP for Public Management and Policy and ESP for Political Sciences are rarely
found in these classifications. Dudley-Evans & St John (2003, p.6) conclude that in Robinson’s classification of ESP
in English for Academic purposes and English for Occupational Purposes, ESP for Political Sciences is not listed
among the other specifications. That is why the author of this paper proposes to add this to that classification.
Analyzing the branches of ESP, previous studies have been done for types of syllabi used in ESP classes as well.
According to Dinçay (2010, p.15-16) one of the classifications is as follows:
2.1.Types of Syllabi:
1. A Structural (Formal) Syllabus - A structural syllabus is a collection of the forms and grammatical structures of
the language being taught such as nouns, verbs, adjectives, statements, questions, subordinate clauses, and so on.
2. A Notional/Functional Syllabus - A notional/functional syllabus is a collection of the functions to be taught such
as informing, agreeing, apologizing, requesting, and so on.
3. A Situational Syllabus - A situational syllabus is a collection of real or imaginary situations in which language
occurs or is used. The primary purpose of a situational language teaching syllabus is to teach the language that
occurs in the situations such as seeing the dentist, complaining to the landlord, buying a book at the book store,
meeting a new student, and so on.
4. A Skill-Based Syllabus - A skill-based syllabus is a collection of specific abilities that may play a part in using
language. The primary purpose of skill-based instruction is to learn the specific language skills and to develop more
general competence in the language.
5. A Task-Based Syllabus - A task-based syllabus is a series of complex and purposeful tasks that the students want
or need to perform with the language they are learning such as applying for a job, talking with a social worker,
getting housing information over the telephone, and so on.
6. A Content-Based Syllabus - The primary purpose of this syllabus is to teach some content or information using the
language that the students are also learning. An example of content based language teaching is a science class taught
in the language the students need or want to learn. While doing this, we also make linguistic adjustments to make
the subject more comprehensible.
Another classification divides the syllabi into traditional or holistic categorizations. A comparison of the traditional
and holistic views of syllabus may be outlined as in Table-1 which is adapted from the book titled “The Learner-
Centred Curriculum” written by David Nunan (1988).

Table 1: A Comparison of Traditional and Holistic Approaches

TRADITIONAL VIEW HOLISTIC VIEW
Focuses on language as a sequence of Focuses on communication rather than grammar
grammatical patterns.
Selects language items on the basis of Selects on the basis of what language items the learner needs to know.
complexity of linguistic criteria.
Tends to be more formal and bookish in Emphasizes genuine everyday language.
language
Aims to have students produce formally Aims to have students communicate effectively in order to complete
correct sentences. the task.
Emphasizes reading and writing skills. Gives speaking as much time as reading in order to complete the tasks.
Tends to be teacher-centered in teaching. Tends to be student-centered in teaching.
Focuses on the form of expression rather Resembles the natural language learning process by concentrating on
than the content. the content / meaning of the expression rather than the form.

2.2 Needs Analysis

A combination of pre-course, mid-course and post-course analysis is conducted in order to see what students need to
learn and improve upon through this course. The following table shows the structure of the needs analysis:

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Table – 2: The structure of the Needs Analysis
Student Questionnaires
Pre-course Needs Analysis Informal Discussions with students
Feedback from learners’ performance and
Mid-course Needs Analysis assignments
The Project Results

Post-course Needs Analysis Final Exam and Final Grade Results

3. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The main purpose of this research paper is to prove the importance of the Needs Analysis Questionnaire in
enhancing the learning outcomes in English for Specific Purposes 1 and English for Specific Purposes 2 courses,
which are core subjects and offered to students studying at the Faculty of Contemporary Social Sciences at South
East European University in the Republic of North Macedonia. It also shows how important is the needs analysis in
course design, materials selection and the proposed topics for the course project, as well as course evaluation.

4. METHODS, PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE

The methods the author used for this research represent the use of a scientific and statistical methodology, where the
data is presented in quantitative ways given in statistical tables. A questionnaire was prepared with the following
questions:
1. Do you want to choose a topic for a project offered by the lecturer or propose your own?
2. Propose a topic for a project!
3. Which language skills would you like to practice more?
a) Reading b) Writing c) Speaking through debates d) Listening
The participants in this study were the students studying at the Faculty of Contemporary Social Sciences, the
Department of Public Management and Public Policy and the Department of Political Sciences. The participants
were 64 students from both full-time and part-time study programmes that South East European University offers in
both campuses in Skopje and Tetovo. 30 students were attended ESP 1 course and 34 students attended ESP 2
course. The survey was done at the beginning of Summer Semester 2021. The evidence was gathered in the form of
student needs analysis questionnaires.

5. THE RESULTS AND DISCUSSION OF THE NEEDS ANALYSIS QUESTIONNAIRE

In the following figure 1 is the result of question 1. The result from the questionnaire showed that 48 students out of
64 -75% would rather propose their own topics, while 16 students out of 64 – 25% would prefer to choose one of
several topics offered by the lecturer.

Figure 1: Question 1: Do you want to choose a topic for a project offered by the lecturer or propose your own?

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The following list of topics gives the answer to Question 2: Propose a topic for a project!
List of topics proposed students:
1. Economic Development in the Republic of North Macedonia
2. Local Government in the Republic of North Macedonia
3. The Future of Macedonia is the European Union
4. Social Problems in North Macedonia
5. NGOs in Macedonia
6. The UN Charter of Human Rights
7. The Role and Position of Women in the Political Sphere in North Macedonia
8. Corruption in North Macedonia
9. The Political Parties in the Republic of North Macedonia
10. The European Union
11. The European Union Parliament
12. Political Institutions in North Macedonia
13. The NGO –MCIC -Macedonian Centre for International Cooperation (Case Study)
14. One of the existing Ministries within the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia

Figure 2: Which language skills would you like to practice more?

Q3: Which language skills would you like to practice more?

1% 14%

Reading
Writing

22% S-Debates

Listening
63%

The results from question 3: Which language skills would you like to practice more?, given in figure 2 shows that
63% of the students, most of them studying Political Sciences would rather practice their speaking skills through
debates.
Since students chose topics related to the actual political and economical situation in North Macedonia, the Balkan
Region and in Europe, in the Course Syllabus there is a Debate Rule that students should follow. Moreover, it is a
fact that the number of SEEU graduates employed in the Government is increasing, this is a good practice on public
speaking. This means that students prepare themselves for their future career. With the support of our founders-
States of the big European family and the USA, followed by an intensive exchange of the best international
experiences and practices on higher education, SEEU have created the infrastructure that is necessary to compare
with prestigious universities where the students and the society’s contribution is in first place.

6. CONCLUSION
After gathering the data and the results from the Needs Analysis Questionnaire that the author conducted with
students at the beginning of the Summer Semester 2021, the author designed a new ESP 1 and ESP 2 Syllabus. The
Needs Analysis Questionnaire was of great help to select materials from the topics that students proposed for the
projects. Even though the topics were proposed for the writing assessment, since there is a lack of text books for
teaching English for Specific Purposes to students at the Faculty of Contemporary Social Sciences, the Course Packs

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for ESP 1 and for ESP 2 were prepared, as well. The Course Packs materials are taken from ELT Books, different
websites, pod casts, etc. The newly designed ESP1 and ESP 2 syllabi finally showed that during the semester the
students were more motivated, and at the end of the Summer Semester 2021 students’ results and grades were better
than the previous Fall Semester 2020.
It is also important to emphasize that the author highly recommended the use of communication skills and helped
students improve their speaking skills by debating in groups on topics they chose, mainly in the field of Public
Management, Public Policy and Political Sciences, which motivated them to write Report Projects and present them
in front of their colleagues and enhanced the course objectives and learning outcomes.
There are five Learning Outcomes that are set at the University level (www.seeu.edu.mk)
1. Knowledge and understanding
2. Applying knowledge and understanding
3. Making judgment
4. Communication skills
5. Learning skills
And the Learning Outcomes the students of the Faculty of Contemporary Social Sciences achieved through the four
basic skills in ESP 1 and ESP 2 courses are:
 Express themselves more extensively and fluently in topics in public policy and political sciences
(Applying knowledge and understanding);
 Recognize certain parts of speech (such as adjectives, prepositions, verbs and nouns), and use them
correctly in given situations (Knowledge and understanding & Applying knowledge and understanding);
 Extend their abilities to read effectively in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes (Learning skills);
 Extend their abilities to assess strengths in listening and set goals for future growth (Learning skills);
 Master new vocabulary related to public administration, human resources and management, political
sciences and the Ministries within the Government of RM (Knowledge and understanding);
 Write and orally present a progress report in fifteen minutes using technology in class such as laptops, as
well as Microsoft Suite (Office, Windows and the Internet) and be ready to answer to their colleagues’
questions in order to defend their report (Making judgments & Communication skills).

REFERENCES
Dinçay, T. (2010).‘Designing a Learner- Centered ESP Course for Adults Based on Evidence From a Questionnaire
and Incorporating the Learners’ Aims Into a Situational-Based Syllabus’, retrieved from
http://dergiler.ankara.edu.tr/dergiler/27/1677/17881.pdf
Dudley-Evans, T. & Jo St John, M. (2003). Developments in English for Specific Purposes: A multi-disciplinary
approach, Cambridge University Press
Hutchinson, T. & Waters, A. (1987). English for Specific Purposes: A Learner-Centered Approach. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Nunan, D. (1988). The Learner-Centred Curriculum. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Robinson, P. (1991). ESP today: A practitioner’s guide. Hertfordshire: Prentice Hall International (UK) Ltd.
The Government of RNM – English version
https://vlada.mk/node/18031?ln=en-gb
http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/academia
https://www.seeu.edu.mk/en/faculties/css/css-study-programmes?id=191

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