Abstract:
The current investigation sought to examine the learning and target needs of mechanical engineering (ME) students based on the learners and instructors’ attitudes though an explanatory mixed-method design. To elicit learners’ perceptions of English for Science and Technology (EST), 114 ME undergraduate students and 13 EST instructors from four Iranian state universities took part in a large quantitative phase followed by a smaller qualitative enquiry. The data were gathered from two sets of questionnaires, semi-structured oral interviews, and focus group discussions. Descriptive statistics including mean and standard deviation as well as qualitative interpretations were employed for data analysis. Quantitative and qualitative results revealed that ME learners and instructors had comparatively diverse opinions about leaning and target needs of EST students. They agreed that reading skills were the most essential EST learning and target needs. Learners supported the essentialness and prominence order of speaking, listening, and writing skills; while instructors stated that writing, listening and speaking were the most significant language skills after reading. Such an inconsistency was also witnessed for the inevitability and importance of the target needs of mechanical engineering students among the learners’ and instructors’ perceptions. The findings of this study can aid EST learners, instructors, and curriculum developers to better cope with teaching and learning concerns in EST courses.
Machine summary:
According to Rao (2014), the acronym EST stands for all activities and studies related to English language learning and its usage in technical fields of study including both the oral and written English discourse dealing with learners at the tertiary level for whom English learning takes on a service role for their specific needs in study, work, or research.
Accordingly, the present study sought to address both EST teachers and learners’ perceptions of target and learning needs in the field of mechanical engineering through two questionnaires, covering the four main language skills and subskills accompanied by oral interviews and focus group discussions.
Thus, the present research was launched to investigate the learning and target needs of undergraduate mechanical engineering students based on their own and instructors’ perceptions throughout a more valid and comprehensive questionnaire followed by oral interviews and focused group discussions.
Part two, consisted of 47 five-point Likert items, purported to determine instructors' perceptions of ME students' target needs regarding for speaking (11 items), listening (14 items), reading (13 items), and writing (9 items) skills in only one column.
2 Research Question Two The aim of the second question of present study was to reveal the target needs of ME undergraduate students in Iran according to the learners' and instructors' perceptions.
This finding is consisted with some the outcomes of some studies that have reported the ESP instructors’ perceptions learners target listen9ng needs (Belcher, 2006; Ferris & Tagg, 1996; Flowerdew & Miller, 1997).