Needs Analysis Of EAP For Non-English-Major Undergraduate Students

Needs analysis is the prerequisite and foundation of curriculum design and curriculum optimization.The specific content of the curriculum,such as the setting of curriculum goals,the establishment of teaching content,and the choice of teaching approaches demand needs analysis.North China Electric Power University(hereafter NCEPU)began reforming college English education in 2017,incorporating academic English courses into the university’s college English curriculum.By September 2020,the reform has been going on for three years.It is necessary to conduct a phased needs analysis of academic English for non-English major undergraduates in NCEPU attempting to make suggestions on the optimization of the existing EAP curriculum.This research designs questionnaires and interviews based on the Needs Analysis Model of Dudley-Evans and St.John,and investigates the 2019 non-English major undergraduates of NCEPU in Beijing.There are two questionnaires in this research.One questionnaire was issued at the beginning of the English for Academic Purposes course to investigate students’ target needs and self-evaluation of their English proficiency.The other questionnaire was issued at the end of EAP courses to investigate the learning situation of EAP courses at that time and students’ requirements of EAP learning situation.Interviews were conducted after the data collection of two questionnaires,and it contains group discussion and in-depth individual interview,which act as a supplement to the questionnaire surveys.Through the analysis of questionnaires and interviews,the following results are concluded:(1)undergraduates in NCEPU show great needs for EAP learning.(2)Most of non-English major undergraduates in NCEPU have a long way to go to achieve their expected academic English language proficiency level,which is to do research and work in English context.(3)The majority of students are relatively satisfied with the EAP courses and EAP learning environment,but more EAP learning needs still need to be met.For example,learning more professional-oriented academic English content,learning by task-based or project-based learning approaches,participating in more abundant academic English extracurricular activities,and etc.Based on the results of this research,suggestions for academic English courses and teaching in NCEPU are put forward:(1)specialty related learning material and activities could be applied to help cultivate students’ academic English language abilities.(2)Teaching should be targeted on students’ learning difficulties.(3)Teaching methodologies should be learner-centered,task-based or project-based.(4)It is necessary to guide students to grasp different language learning strategies in learning English for Academic Purposes.