Browsing by Subject "Needs Analysis"
Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
Results Per Page
Sort Options
Item Open Access Academic reading expectations in English for first-year students at Hacettepe University(Bilkent University, 2005) Eroğlu, Nihan AylinThis study explored the Academic reading needs of first-year students from the perspective of content course teachers in English-medium departments at Hacettepe University. The study was conducted with 35 content course teachers and 99 first-year students in English-medium departments at Hacettepe University in the spring semester of 2005. Three sets of data were used for this study. First, a questionnaire was distributed to 35 first-year content course teachers and interviews completed with 18 of the teachers who returned the questionnaire. In addition, samples of required textbooks were collected from the same first-year content course teachers as well as reading samples from the textbook and the final exam in the Prep school. A vocabulary test was given to 99 first-year students in English-medium departments to determine a baseline measure of their ability. The purpose of the questionnaire administered to first-year content-course teachers was to determine teachers’ academic reading expectations for first-year students. The questionnaire consisted of Likert scale items. The follow-up interviews provided insight into teachers’ perceptions, experiences and practices related to their academic reading expectations of first-year students. Reading samples from the firstyear content courses were collected to specify the precise reading expectations of the content teachers. Reading samples from the final exam and the textbook of the Prep School were collected to determine the exit expectations from the Prep School. The vocabulary test was done to explore the vocabulary levels of the first-year students. To analyze the data, mean scores, percentages and frequencies were used in the questionnaire; a coding system was used in the interviews; Flesch-Kincaid readability test and Vocabulary Profiler were used for analyzing the reading samples and the prep exit exam. To determine the students’ levels of vocabulary knowledge, Nation’s (1990) guideline was used. The interviews were conducted with 18 content course teachers who completed the questionnaire. The results reveal that all content course teachers agree on the necessity of being a proficient reader in order to be successful in content courses. Content course teachers also agree that the academic reading curriculum should be revised to include using texts which are taught in content course departments. Based on these results, adjusting the current curriculum in accordance with the expectations of content course teachers is recommended, particularly in the area of more academic vocabulary training. Another recommendation is to adopt an adjunct model approach to link content courses and language courses thereby providing students with both content and language study simultaneously.Item Open Access An investigation into the academic English language needs of students at Yıldız Technical University and disciplinary teachers' attitudes towards English-medium instruction at the tertiary level(Bilkent University, 2004) Güler, CemileThis study investigated the Academic English language needs of students at Yıldız Technical University through the perspectives of their disciplinary teachers. Yıldız Technical University is a Turkish-medium university, where the language of instruction has recently been switched from partial English to full Turkish medium instruction. Therefore, the secondary aim of this study was to determine the attitudes of disciplinary teachers towards English-medium instruction at the tertiary level. This study attempted to answer the following research questions: 1. What are the Academic English language requirements of students studying in different departments at YTU through the perspectives of their content teachers? 2. According to the English language use requirements of content teachers, which skills should be given priority for the students of different disciplines? 3. What are the content teachers’ attitudes towards English-medium instruction at the tertiary level? Data were collected from the disciplinary teachers currently working in eight different faculties at Yıldız Technical University. In order to collect data, a questionnaire was prepared and delivered to 400 disciplinary teachers. The 254 completed questionnaires were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, ANOVA tests, Post hoc Tukey tests and Crosstabs analysis for multiple comparisons among departments. The results of the study revealed that most of the content teachers at Yıldız Technical University agree on the importance of English in the academic studies of learners. Nevertheless, when the results concerning the Academic English requirements of different disciplines were considered, ‘reading’ was shown to be the required skill given most priority. Only a small number of disciplinary teachers reported that the remaining academic skills, i.e. writing, listening, speaking, were required for the academic studies of the learners in their departments. When the data results about English-medium instruction were evaluated, it was concluded that most of the content teachers at Yıldız Technical University are in favor of Turkish medium instruction and they believe that students should be taught in their mother tongue in their content courses. An investigation of the academic English language needs of students through the perspectives of disciplinary teachers may provide a sound basis for curriculum renewal projects in the future. Through this study, current curriculum may be modified and specific needs-based curricula may be implemented for different departments. Moreover, the results of this study may provide empirical insights into the ways that non-native English speaking scholars in one country view the role of English in educational domain.Item Open Access An investigation of required academic writing skills used in English medium departments of Hacettepe University(Bilkent University, 2004) Yazıcıoğlu, FüsunThis study investigated the academic writing needs of students through the perspectives of content teachers in the two 100% English medium departments of Hacettepe University. To what extent the English writing requirements of the students differ in accordance with the disciplines was also examined. Out of 70 content teachers in the departments of medicine and economics, 54 participated in this study. The data were collected by means of a questionnaire and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPPS 9.0) Although the content teachers in the two disciplines declared that writing well is essential for students' overall academic success in their disciplines, the findings revealed that being proficient writers is less important in the medicine faculty, than in the economics department. In general, the teachers in both disciplines find their students’ current success in writing to be inadequate, though the economics faculty are more critical of their students' writing abilities than are the medical teachers. In terms of writing genres, there are some differences between disciplines, though not necessarily sufficient ones to warrant implementing discipline-specific writing courses at Hacettepe University. With respect to general academic English writing skills, however, all the content teachers agree that they are important for students. Based on this finding it is concluded that these skills should continue to constitute the framework for the writing courses at Hacettepe University. Other possible recommendations are for the establishment of extra elective or adjunct courses for the economics students.Item Open Access Management skills training needs analysis of company and battalion commanders in the Turkish army(Bilkent University, 2001) Meydan, Cem HarunThe Turkish Army like other organizations tries to keep up with the change in all areas and uses some methods of change. One of the areas is management and the method of change used by The Army is training and development of its officers at managerial positions. The army needs to know whether its officers need training or not. A needs analysis should be done for this. This study tries to determine whether the officers at two managerial positions, company and battalion commanders, need training in nine topics of management skills. The topics are: problem solving, stress management, organizing/coordinating, conflict management, motivating, coaching and counseling, team building, communication, empowering/delegating. A questionnaire is developed and used to collect the data. Determining the needs is the first step of designing training programs.Item Open Access Needs assessment of academic reading tasks and close analysis of academic reading texts for reading difficulty and vocabulary profile(Bilkent University, 2005) Şahbaz, Zehra HerkmenThis study explored the Academic reading requirements and text features of first-year, first-term subject area instructors in English-medium departments at Anadolu University. The study was conducted with 20 subject area instructors in English-medium departments at Anadolu University in the 2004-2005 fall term. Three sets of data were used for this study. First, interviews were conducted with 20 subject area instructors, and questionnaires were distributed in the interviews. Thirteen of the questionnaires from twenty participants were returned and used in this study. In addition, fifteen samples of required textbooks were collected from the same first-year, first-term content course teachers as well as four reading samples from the textbook in the Preparatory School. The purpose of the questionnaire administered to first-year, first-term subject area instructors was to determine instructors’ academic reading and text type requirements of first-year students. The questionnaire consisted of Likert scale items. The follow-up interviews provided insight into teachers’ perceptions, experiences and practices related to their academic reading requirements of first-year students. Reading samples from the first-year subject area courses were collected to specify the precise reading requirements of the subject area instructors and to analyze the text features in terms of knowledge structures, readability levels and vocabulary frequencies. To analyze the data, mean scores, percentages and frequencies were used in the questionnaire; a coding system was used in the interviews; Flesch-Kincaid readability test and Vocabulary Profiler (Nation & Heatley, 1994) were used for analyzing the reading samples. The results reveal that all subject area instructors agree on the necessity of being a proficient reader in order to be successful in subject area courses. Subject area instructors also agree that academic reading abilities and vocabulary knowledge of students should be supported at Preparatory School. Based on this result adjusting the current curriculum in accordance with the expectations of subject area instructors is recommended.Item Open Access Strengthening a content-based instruction curriculum by a needs analysis(Bilkent University, 2006) Canbay, Mehmet OrkunThis study investigated the academic English requirements of English-medium departments at Karadeniz Technical University (KTU) from the content area teachers’ and departmental heads’ point of view for Content-Based Instruction (CBI) in prep classes. Data were collected through questionnaires and interviews in thirteen departments, the students of which enroll for one year in the School of Basic English. The questionnaire prepared in Likert scale having six sections and 62 sub-items was completed by 128 content area teachers. Interviews were conducted with 13 heads of departments. As the primary aim, the study investigated which skill, among reading, writing, speaking, listening and translation, has the highest priority for the English medium departments at KTU. A secondary aim of the study was to determine the importance of specific language tasks and activities related to the skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking for all departments teaching content area courses 30 percent in English. The analysis of data was based on the interpretations of means and percentages. In addition to these, one way ANOVA tests were applied on all subitems in order to see whether there was a significant difference in the choices of participants from different departments. Further analysis using Crosstabs and Scheffe tests was done to confirm the variation and see the distribution of responses according to departments. The results show that the vast majority of content area teachers in different departments report that reading is the most important skill for the English-medium departments. Apart from the most important skill, the ranking of other skills varies from one department to the other. Based on these results, adjusting the current curriculum in accordance with the expectations of content area teachers is recommended.