ESP course design for students of psychology

Abstract

This study argued for reorientation to needs analysis and syllabus design in English for Specific Purposes. The study was conducted to identify the language needs and abilities of students of psychology at International Islamic University Malaysia. These needs and abilities were transformed into a suggest framework and module of ESP course design for students of psychology at university level. Ethnographic research was chosen for conducting this study. There were three ethnographic tools (questionnaire, interview, and observation) employed in collecting the required data. The subjects of the study were the students who registered for three courses of psychology at IIUM. By examining the data elicited from the questionnaires, class observation, and the interview, the study found the following: 1. Knowledge of English for students of psychology is a decisive factor for in-classroom and out-classroom interaction. 2. The students of psychology are in real need of the teaching of the four English language skills (reading, writing, speaking, and listening comprehension) integratively, but with emphasis on the productive skills (writing and speaking). 3. Certain sub-skills such as "ability to skim and scan a text, ability to explain, ability to speak intelligibly and clear, etc." received higher rating fo their usefulness, therefore, they should be included in any ESP programme for students of psychology. 4. Pscycology as a content area together with few varieties of other content areas are need for designing an ESP course for students of psychology. 5. Certain tasks such as `role-play, writing report, Listen and complete an outline, etc." received lower rating, therefore, they represent the students` "lack" and therefore, it is necessary to include them in any ESP course for students of psychology. However, the communicative and interactive tasks were preferred more than the other tasks and therefore, need more emphasis in the course design. The above findings were transformed into a suggested framework and modele of ESP course design for students of psyuchology at university level.