Learners’ Needs Analysis of a New Optional College English Course—Interpreting for Non-English Majors

dc.creator	Zhihong Lu
dc.creator	Ping Li
dc.date	2011-09-01T00:00:00Z
dc.date.accessioned	2015-07-20T22:19:21Z
dc.date.available	2015-07-20T22:19:21Z
dc.identifier	10.4304/tpls.1.9.1091-1102
dc.identifier	1799-2591
dc.identifier	https://doaj.org/article/be925d7975784f179b9856b32650d9a9
dc.identifier.uri	http://evidence.thinkportal.org/handle/123456789/19689
dc.description	Following rapid social development and educational policy orientation in China, higher institutions are developing new optional courses in English. One of these courses is interpreting for non-English majors (IFNEM), which requires a needs analysis (NA) at the beginning. However, few studies have been found on the NA of an IFNEM, empirical ones in particular. In the limited empirical research, merely sophomore students' needs were surveyed through a single questionnaire, leaving many practical issues to be further explored. To advance the current body of research, the authors of this paper designed a complex structured questionnaire based on Hutchinson and Waters’s Framework for Analyzing Learning Needs, delivered it to 104 freshmen and 52 junior students and conducted follow-up interviews with eight of them who had given typical answers in this questionnaire. Such issues were investigated as students’ motivation for taking an IFNEM, their anticipated goals and objectives of the course, course entry requirements (if there should be any), selection of teaching content and materials and teaching environments. Results showed that the students highly approved of establishing an IFNEM for mainly Surface Motivation and wished for no entry requirements; however, limited by their current English proficiency, they aimed to improve both interpreting skills and English listening and speaking abilities. This study attempts to offer insights into the curriculum design of IFNEM and other optional courses in English for higher institutions.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	ACADEMY PUBLISHER
dc.relation	http://ojs.academypublisher.com/index.php/tpls/article/view/5567
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/1799-2591
dc.source	Theory and Practice in Language Studies , Vol 1, Iss 9, Pp 1091-1102 (2011)
dc.subject	curriculum design
dc.subject	interpreting
dc.subject	needs analysis
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Language and Literature
dc.subject	P
dc.subject	DOAJ:Languages and Literatures
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	DOAJ:Education
dc.subject	DOAJ:Social Sciences
dc.subject	Language and Literature
dc.subject	P
dc.subject	DOAJ:Languages and Literatures
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Language and Literature
dc.subject	P
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Language and Literature
dc.subject	P
dc.subject	Special aspects of education
dc.subject	LC8-6691
dc.subject	Education
dc.subject	L
dc.subject	Language and Literature
dc.subject	P
dc.title	Learners’ Needs Analysis of a New Optional College English Course—Interpreting for Non-English Majors
dc.type	article