PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEEDS ANALYSIS OF FACULTY MEMBERS AND POSTGRADUATE ASSISTANTS AT FACULTY OF MEDICINE

Abstract

As it is the case in many other majors, the need to become proficient in English is crucial for medical professionals mainly because they need to keep their knowledge and skills repositories up-to-date which mostly comes from following recent changes and developments in the profession both in and out of the country. In this regard, as the language of science, English also dominates the literature in medicine. For this reason, to what extent medical professionals need English language skills both professionally and personally is a matter of concern for language teaching professionals. With this in mind, the current study examines English language needs of faculty members (FMs) and postgraduate assistants (PGAs) working at faculty of medicine at a state university in Turkey. 29 PGAs and 26 FMs from various departments responded to a 26-item, 4-point Likert scale assessing their needs on four macro skills; listening, reading, speaking, and writing complemented by micro skills. The results mainly revealed that both on a professional and personal basis, the FMs obviously had stronger perceptions regarding their language needs than the PGAs did. Additionally, both parties’ perceptions regarding their personal language needs were slightly lower. Thus, the results could indicate that personal and inner drives have influence on language needs. This further suggests the need to take personal motivations into account when planning course content.  

Keywords

• English for specific purposes (ESP),language skills,needs analysis

TIP FAKÜLTESİ ÖĞRETİM ÜYELERİ VE ASİSTAN DOKTORLARININ MESLEKİ VE KİŞİSEL İNGİLİZCE DİL İHTİYAÇLARI ANALİZİ

Abstract

Diğer pek çok alanda olduğu gibi, tıp profesyonelleri için de İngilizcede yetkin olmak temelde çoğu zaman ülke içinde ve ülke dışında meydana gelen değişim ve gelişimleri takip ederek bilgi ve beceri kapasitelerini güncel tutma gereksinimden ötürü oldukça önemlidir. Bu bağlamda, bilim dili olan İngilizce, aynı zamanda tıp alan yazınını da etkisi altına almaktadır. Bu nedenle, tıp profesyonellerinin hem mesleki hem de kişisel anlamda İngilizce dil becerilerine ne derece ihtiyaç duydukları dil öğretim profesyonelleri için bir düşünce konusudur. Bu noktalardan hareketle, bu çalışma Türkiye’de bulunan bir devlet üniversitesinin tıp fakültesi öğretim üyeleri ve asistan doktorlarının İngilizce dil ihtiyaçlarını incelemektedir. Çeşitli bölümlerden 29 asistan doktor ve 26 öğretim üyesi, mikro beceriler ile desteklenen 4 temel beceriye, dinleme, okuma, konuşma ve yazma, ilişkin dil ihtiyaçlarını 26 madde ile ölçen 4’lü Likert-tipi bir ölçeğe cevap vermişlerdir. Sonuçlar temelde hem mesleki hem de kişisel anlamda, öğretim üyelerinin dil becerileri ihtiyaçları algılarının asistan doktorlarınkinden net bir biçimde daha kuvvetli olduğunu göstermiştir. Bununla birlikte, her iki tarafın kişisel dil ihtiyaçlarının bir miktar daha düşük olduğu görülmüştür. Bu nedenle de, bulgular dil ihtiyaçları üzerinde kişisel ve içsel faktörlerin etkili olduğunu işaret edebilmektedir. Bu durum, ders içeriği planlanırken kişisel motivasyonların da hesaba katılması gerektiğini göstermektedir.  

Keywords

• Dil becerileri,dil öğretimi,ihtiyaç analizi

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