ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEEDS OF TEACHERS AT BANGPLAMA SOONGSUMARNPADHUNGWIT SCHOOL, SUPHANBURI, THAILAND
Keywords:
Needs Assessment (NA), English language needs, language courses, General English Language Needs Analysis (GELNA)Abstract
Descriptive in nature, the study explored the English language needs of teachers at Bangplama Soongsumarnpadhungwit School, Suphanburi, Thailand. Furthermore, it correlated the teachers’ language needs to their profile.
The study revealed that the teachers are handling subjects such as Vocational Education, Science, Mathematics, Thai Language, Foreign Language (including English), MAPE and Social Studies. Most of them are females. The respondents are dominated by teachers who are new in the profession yet they almost have equal number to that of teachers who have been in the profession for long years. Most of the respondents have attended 0-2 number of trainings in English. Results further showed that the teachers have so much need on Listening, Reading, Culture-oriented and Computer-assisted Language Learning (CALL) skills. Likewise, the results indicated that the teachers have needs on Speaking, Writing and Test Preparation skills. Thus, courses along these areas may be designed and developed to address their needs. Notably, the teachers’ Writing, Culture-oriented and CALL needs have significant relationship with the number of trainings in English they attended while their Test Preparation needs have significant relationship with their number of years in the profession.
The study used Needs Assessment (NA) as its methodology in collecting and analyzing the data gathered from a survey distributed to the teachers. Frequency count, percentage, rank, mean and correlation measures were used to treat the data.
Downloads
References
Agurita, C. F. S. (2009). Assessment of Biology Instruction in School of Nursing in Ilocos Norte. Unpublished Master Thesis. Mariano Marcos State University.
Aebersold, J. A. & Field, M. L. (1997). From Reader to Reading Teacher: Issues and Strategies for Second Language Classrooms. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.
Barron, A. (2002). Technologies for Education: A Practical Guide (4th ed.). Greenwood Village, CO: Libraries Unlimited.
Brooks, W. (1974). Speech Communication. Dubuque, Iowa: Wm.C. Brown Company Publishers.
Brown, J. D. (1995). The Elements of Language Curriculum: A Systematic Approach to Program Development. Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle.
Comstock, T. W. (1990). Communicating in Business and Industry (2nd ed.). USA: Delmar Publishers.
Ekisi, N. (2003). A Needs Assessment on English Language Needs of the Tour Guidance Students of Faculty of Applied Sciences at Baskent University: A Case Study. Unpublished Master Thesis. Middle East Technical University.
Hernandez, A. (1998). The Teaching of Speaking and Listening. Journal of Asian English Studies. Vol 1, Issue No. 1, 24.
Hutchinson, T. & Waters, A. (1987). English for Specific Purpose: A Learning-centered Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jordan, R. (1997). English for Academic Purposes: A Guide and Resource Book for Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kaur, S. & Clarke, C. (2009). Analyzing the English Language Needs of Human Resource Staff in Multinational Companies. English for Specific Purposes. Vol 8, Issue No. 3, 24.
Kotulak, R. (1996). Inside the Brain. Kansas City, USA: Andrews and McMeel.
Llagas, A. (1998). Clientele Needs for English. Journal of Asian English Studies. Vol 2, Issue No. 2, 339.
Long, M. H. & Crookes, G. (1992). Three Approaches to Task-based Syllabus Design. TESOL Quarterly. Vol 26, Issue No. 1, 27-56.
Norris, J. M., Brown, J. D., Hudson, T., & Yushioka, J. (1998). Designing Second Language Performance Assessments. Honolulu, HI: Second Language Teaching and Curriculum Center, University of Hawai'i Press.
Nunan, D. (1988). The Learner-centered Curriculum. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ramirez, D. C. (2010). Teacher Behavior and Pupil Performance in Heograpiya, Kasaysayan at Sibika. Unpublished Master Thesis. Mariano Marcos State University.
Reviere, R., Berkowitz, S., Carter, C. C., & Ferguson, C. G. (1996). Needs Assessment: A Creative and Practical Guide for Social Scientists. Washington: Taylor & Francis.
Richards, J. C. (2001). Curriculum Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Shaywitz, S. (2003). Overcoming Dyslexia: A New and Complete Science-based Program for Reading Problems at Any Level. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Slavin, R. (1994). Cooperative Learning: Theory, Research, and Practice (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Snow, C., Burns, S., & Griffins, P. (1998). Preventing Reading Difficulties in Young Children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 432.
Stufflebeam, D. L., McCormick, C. H., Brinkerhoff, R. O., & Nelson, D. D. (1985). Conducting Educational Needs Assessments. Boston: Klower.
Takaaki, Kumzawa. (2005). Construct Validation of a General English Language Needs Analysis Instrument. Unpublished Master’s Thesis. Kanto Gakuin University.
