ASSESSING STUDENTS’ NEEDS AS A PRECONDITION FOR THE CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH FOR PROFESSIONAL PURPOSES COURSE

Nataliya Horuk


DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.30970/vpe.2025.43.13842

Abstract


English proficiency significantly impacts professional development and competitiveness of specialists in the labor market. Consequently, the English for Professional Purposes course is important for students’ intellectual and professional growth. The effectiveness of this course depends on the thorough understanding of students’ cognitive and professional needs. This research demonstrates the use of the mixed-method approach to assessing Education major students’ needs for the effective curriculum design of English for Professional Purposes (EPP) course. The approach combines quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis, effectively addressing students’ language proficiency, professional objectives, motivation, and individual characteristics. The integration of mixed methods enables a comprehensive study of students’ needs and uncovers potential contradictions. Therefore, proposed survey design should include questions within several thematic blocks, including students’ English proficiency, motivation for learning English for professional purposes, the use of specialized professional terminology and authentic texts, preferred learning style and learning activities, learning challenges, the course expectations, willingness to study professional documents and cases, suggestions for the course enhancement, and its curriculum design. According to the results of the survey conducted among the students of the Faculty of Pedagogical Education, the curriculum of EPP courses should reflect the needs of the students and the requirements of the educational programs. Effective students’ needs analysis is the basis for the English for Professional Purposes syllabus designs, curriculum and instruction development, and should be included into the training program of prospective English teachers.

Keywords: English for Professional Purposes (EPP), future education specialists, curriculum development, students’ needs analysis, mixed-method research.

References


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