A Triangulated Approach toward the Needs Assessment for English Language Course of Iranian Undergraduate Students of Library and Information Science

Abstract

This study investigated the perceptions of in-service librarians, EAP professors and Library and Information Science students about the English language needs to find why librarians cannot deliver appropriate English services. Through 60 semi-structured interviews, the researchers perceived the librarians, professors, and students' English needs. The results of the first phase led to development of a Library and Information Science needs questionnaire analysis, which was administered to 198 undergraduate students of Library and Information Science in universities located in Tehran to understand if the identified English needs were covered through the syllabus or not. The results of the interviews showed that librarians need such English skills as speaking, listening, reading and writing to be successful in their profession. Nonetheless, the data collected from the questionnaires revealed that practicing skills are totally neglected in the Library and Information Science syllabus. A proper syllabus should include the new concepts on specialized English and the sections intended for practicing the four skills such as offering library services in English, official letter writing, translation, note-taking, summary writing, working with the databases and searching the internet. Most students agreed completely to speak English in their classes, and they introduced not using the language skills as the most important reason for not getting satisfactory results in EAP classes.