ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING NEEDS ANALYSIS IN RADIOENGINEERING SPHERE

Abstract

The present article is an attempt to conduct needs analysis of English learners in Radio Engineering sphere. The relevance of the topic is explained by the growing need for ESP programs tailored to specific learners` needs. Needs analysis is defined as an information gathering and interpreting process aimed at curriculum design or modification to better suit the learners` needs. Authors propose an overview of the current approaches to Needs Analysis and its constituent parts. The results of a questionnaire conducted among the students of Radio Technical Faculty, National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute”, are presented and discussed. The results seem to emphasize the growing need of students to concentrate on IT topics of study as well as to introduce modern IT tools of teaching and learning. Thus, most students need to use English at work and during communication in the spheres of Electronics and IT. The majority of them expect to improve speaking and translation skills while they view most difficulties in speaking and writing. Most students seem to be quite motivated to study ESP and prefer to do it in a small group. In the light of transformation of study because of massive use of IT technologies and the Internet, the respondents largely view the role of a teacher as a language source and a facilitator rather than traditional person responsible for class study. The conducted analysis allowed to reveal the potential spheres and situations of the use of English by students, students` strengths and weaknesses in the language use, their motivation and interests concerning English study, their preferences as for the mode of study and priorities in ESP reading, writing, listening and speaking. The ongoing needs analysis is the prospect of the further research in the field.