Needs Analysis of Chinese Chemical Engineering and Technology Undergraduate Students in Yangtze University in English for Specific Purposes

Abstract

English for Specific Purposes (or ESP) is as a part of college English. This paper aims to investigate Chinese chemical engineering and technology undergraduate students’ needs in English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Eighty first-year chemical engineering and technology undergraduate students from Yangtze university as volunteer participates were in this study to answer the questionnaires about their needs in ESP and 60 volunteer participants were interviewed to provide their responses on ESP. All the data from questionnaires students answered and the interviews were collected. All the data were analyzed by SPSS 17. The results showed that : 1) The chemical engineering and technology undergraduate students’ level of proficiency in the language skills was medium; 2) The students ranked the language skills (listening and speaking) as the most important language skills; 3) Understanding instructions, following question/answer sessions, answering the questions, reading field - related textbooks, instructions for assignments, taking notes in lectures were more emphasized by the students in ESP classes; 4) The students had positive responses on the needs in ESP. Forty eight (80%) students thought that ESP would be better for their English learning and major study and thirty two (53.3%) students thought reading as the most important language skill ESP. Findings in the present study could be provided as implications for course designers and recommendations for future studies.