Many NA studies have been conducted in different countries of the world.
BelachewZerihun (2008) investigated English language needs of Construction trainees in Entoto Technical vocational education and training (TVET) College.
Based on the study, it has been recommended that syllabus designers need to design an appropriate English syllabus and learning materials for construction TVET trainees taking into account the trainees’needs of English for study and occupational purposes, their difficulties, their learning style preferences and wants and their educational background.
Kittidhaworn (2002) investigated the English language needs of 182 second year Thai undergraduate engineering students in a Public University in Thailand. He indicated in his study that the majority of Thai engineering students have equal perceived English language needs in all four major areas, with all rated as moderately important or very important to learn in their program in engineering.
The findings also revealed that perceived English language needs did not vary widely by demographic variables.
In Italy, Lombardo (1988) conducted a NA study in the School of Economics in Italy to investigate students’ perceived needs and attitudes about learning English as a second language. The findings revealed that students were motivated to learn English in order have a better chance to get a job. Besides, Technical terminology was the major problem in reading. Understanding oral reports and participating in meeting were the most activities needed to succeed in their field. As regards to the importance of the four language skills, listening skills were the most important followed by speaking, reading, and writing.
Schutz and Derwing (1981) conducted a survey of English language needs among educated Taiwanese who worked or studied in the areas of science, engineering and technology. Over half of the subjects reported that English is useful for their studies and professions and thought English was the best international
language for general use. Speaking was rated least important of the English language skills in terms of needs. They did however rank English speaking first in the case of wants, so there was a conflict between objective needs and personal wants.
Yasin’s study (2010) was to investigate the English proficiency of Civil Engineering students of a Malaysian polytechnic. A questionnaire, modeled after the Program for International Student Assessment approach and The Secretary’s Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills report was developed and administered to 171 Civil engineering students. The post-industrial training survey, through the use of a self-report questionnaire, provided an important opportunity to capture crucial data from students regarding their English language skills. The findings of this study revealed that the students’ frequency or ability of using the English language was low, irrespective of the type of workplace or level of study. Analyses of skill deficiencies revealed wide learning gaps between the acquired and required English skill attributes.
Hyun Hyo Kim (2013) investigated the needs for English for Specific Purpose course Development for Engineering students in Korea. She identified the needs for English for engineering students in Korea from multiple sources of students group, engineering professors group, and industry workers group. NA reveals what students, engineering professors, and industry workers think and require. Properly understanding their needs is essential in designing ESP course.
SarjitKaur and Alla Baksh Mohd Ayub Khan (2010) investigated Language Needs of Art and Design Students, towards the considerations for ESP Course Design. The authors investigated the needs of a new ESP course and it should focus on speaking and listening skills. The ESP course should include workplace-based oral presentations, specialized vocabulary activities and course materials and topics relevant to students’ area of specializations. Language teaching strategies such as games, puzzles and riddles could also help improve the ESP students’
proficiency in the English language.
Another study was carried out by Al-Tamimi and Shuib (2008) who
investigated the English language needs of Petroleum Engineering students at Hadramount University of science and technology in Thailand. In specific terms, they have identified the students’ needs and perceptions of English language skills by means of questionnaire survey and conclude that the current course is not appropriate for the science and technology students. They suggest some recommendations according to the needs of students and redevelopment of ESP curriculum offered to the Petroleum engineering students at HUST.
Likewise, Salehi (2011) investigated the English language needs of engineering students to evaluate their English language needs and to explore the possibility of writing a textbook based on the insights gained from the study. He administered questionnaire to 225 students at Sharif University of Technology when they took their final exams. The findings revealed that these students need to develop writing and speaking. He suggested that these two skills should be given a high priority in the in the curriculum.
A NA study was performed by Pritchard and Nasr (2004) in an Egyptian College of Technology to develop materials to help improve third-level engineering students' reading performance. As a first step in the project, a NA investigation was carried out to find what the undergraduates and their teachers might perceive as major required reading skills. This list of skills was then used as the basis for developing a reading improvement program. To evaluate the effectiveness of the program, it was tested with a group of 66 students. Results of the experimental study revealed that the program helped improve the subjects' performance in reading. Regarding the ESP teachers' role in the engineering department, the findings emphasized that instead of being the primary information providers, ESP teachers should assimilate subject concepts from learners and negotiate meaning with them.
Needs analysis studies have investigated the perception of the language needs of different parties and have often revealed differing perceptions. Ferris (1998) investigated the differing perceptions of students and faculty of students’ academic aural / oral needs for university study in a number of colleges in the United States.
Truong (2012) investigated the needs of learning English for dynamics students and the difficulties that ESP teachers and students are facing. The data were collected by means of questionnaires, in- depth interviews and class observation. The findings showed that a large number of students were still weak at language skills due to their lack of professional terms and English background knowledge. In addition, most students, teachers and workers were aware of the significance of designing an ESP material for students of Dynamics in accordance with the students’ needs, learning situations and levels. The result from the study also revealed that the ESP teachers should not only teach, s/he involves in the process of course design, material writing and adaptation.
With the above previous studies, it is clear that the majority of them were conducted to investigate English language needs of ESP students all over the world.
The needs of ESP learning in above studies was clearly mentioned in many branches of knowledge such as English language needs for Construction, tourism and banking, economics, science, engineering and technology, Art and Design, Petroluem Engineering, Medical, dynamics.
Additionally, all the previous studies, which were conducted within the framework of needs analysis, emphasized the significance of assessing the learners’
needs to ESP. Although these studies were different in their focus and carried out in a different setting, they followed the same procedure in collecting information about the learner’s English language needs. It is essential to realize that no current study has focused on ESP learning needs for the students who have only learned EGP at school and never known what ESP is. Therefore, the main purpose of my study is to get the insight of the students towards investigating their ESP needs for Construction in HST and gradually preparing an appropriate ESP textbook suitable for their needs.