Critical analysis and evaluation of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) program: the case of English for Science and Technology at the University of Sebha, Libya
The research is of original quality and value because it is more accustomed to meta-analysis in supporting areas pertaining to primary research induction, empirical study that utilizes research subjects for the interview method and that first hand information will be evident as research findings and outcomes vary from primary source and not from secondary source, as secondary assimilation will be only in accordance to preliminary literature organization. The focus on language learning literature in critical assessment and evaluation stature as imperative for the overall involvement in research and salient points are to be considered.
English language Teaching (ELT) in Libyan higher education, which includes universities and colleges, has been confirmed as a core subject in all learning programs. Partly due to the increase of academic institutions and the unexpected growth among student population which doubled the educational budgets, more than ever in the history of Libyan education, in the last few decades, the academic learning programs of ELT and ESP at the university levels encounter enormous difficulties in the learning and teaching. These problems have been prominent especially for science students who require appropriate knowledge (reading and writing) of English for academic purposes to deal with most academic courses, references and future working careers. The alarming learning situation for students of science requires attention not only for constructing new buildings, but also and more important from academic research to investigate and tackle the deteriorating academic situation.
The purpose of study is to evaluate and analyze program of English for specific purposes (ESP) at Sebha Faculty of Science, in terms of learning problems and difficulties in reading, writing and understanding academic and subject books, in order to determine whether the provided ESP program responds to the students’ academic needs according to the EFL standards and educational development. The proposed research will investigate the EFL program in higher education. English is widely used in the Libyan education system however; implications of the ESP program encounter lots of problems, specifically for students.
Currently, students receive EFL either to pass exams as a necessary part of their education, or for career progression while working for an organization or business with an international focus. Firstly, the research will benefit the EFL as it intends to be useful case study and will contribute to professional understanding of problems of educational management in universities in developing countries. Secondly, the research aims to produce vital recommendations as a means to enhance the EFL program, address the learning problems and develop academic learning for students of Science and technology at the Faculty of Science to benefit all universities in the region (Libyan Higher Education).
The interpretive evaluation and the qualitative design will be utilized to gather information from the study stakeholders, using research investigation tools: interviews, document analysis and testing. Consulting existing relevant documents provides the researcher with a clear picture of the learning program. The course material will be evaluated on the basis of its validity and successfulness towards meeting the university and ESP learning needs.
Students need to develop learning to meet their academic requirement. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with the academic Dean, Head of departments, and ESP teaching staff, who will be asked about related responsibilities to ESP curriculum, university and course objectives and teaching learning program and assessments.
Interviews with the students will inform the evaluation about their perception of ESP courses, their learning difficulties and activities, studying materials, feelings and problems. Proficiency test will be used for assessing students ESP level on the basis of their proficiency in reading and writing academic course books Proficiency tests measure the overall ability in English for the test takers along a broad scale (Alderson et. al, 1987). Therefore, the study will include a language test for randomly chosen groups of first year students (15x4=60) students from general English for science. They will be assessed on their proficiency level for pre-university stage. Then, the study will test other random groups of third or fourth ESP year students from the department of computing or statistics, (15x4=60 students). They will be an example of the ESP audience and departments representing all students and departments of Faculty of Science.
The final step in the research process is to produce the final reports: The first will be a PHD thesis for international audience (the researcher’s academic assessors at my present University). The thesis will be a result of several preliminary drafts and discussions with the academic audience (supervisors) and academic experts in field, and will judged on the bases of academic criteria. The other final report will be (local) to be written for the evaluation study audience (Faculty of science academic seniors and students) of university of Sebha ‘the place of the study’.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment