A Needs analysis of the Post-graduate Students’ Academic English in the Faculty of Arts, Cairo University

Abstract

This needs assessment study falls in the mixed research paradigm as it combines both qualitative and quantitative methodologies by means of interviews and surveys. The objective of the study is to have a closer look at the students' current knowledge and expectations of studying English for purposes relevant to their academic interests. The needs were analyzed, from the perspective of the English and specialized teachers and from the perspective of the students themselves. Discovery interviews were conducted first with teachers from the English Department who taught postgraduate courses in departments other than English, to study their opinion from a language-specialized perspective. Following these interviews, a questionnaire was filled by 16 teachers and professors from the other departments to survey their opinion from a more subject-specialized point of view. The same procedures were repeated with a convenient sample of MA and PhD students. Interviews were conducted with 10 MA and PhD students, followed by a questionnaire filled by a convenient sample of 100 MA and PhD students in the Faculty of Arts. The teachers’ data showed that there is a consensus that the current undergraduate EAP syllabi are not sufficient and does not prepare the postgraduate students for an advanced EAP writing course. As for the students’ data, they showed that the reading skill is more important than the writing skill. Finally, this needs assessment offered a number of recommendations that should help improve the English research writing skills of the postgraduates of the Faculty of Arts, Cairo University.