A Triangulated Study of Target Situation Needs of Iranian Undergraduate Students of English Language and Literature

Abstract

Thepresent study aimed at investigating the academic target needs (i.e., lacks, necessities, andwants) of Iranian undergraduate students of English Language and Literature. To this end, a triangulation of needs analysis questionnaireand semistructuredinterviewwas used for data collection at three Iranian state universities. First, a preliminary interview was conducted with different stakeholders namely, undergraduate students, recent graduates, English literature instructors, and language instructorsin an attempt to arrive at the target needs of the undergraduate students. The results of this exploratory interview were fed into the design of a needs analysis questionnaire, which as the main data collection instrument, was distributed among 270 of the above-mentioned stakeholders as the participants of this investigation. Correspondingly, some follow-up interviews, which were conducted with a group of these stakeholders (n= 35), complemented the data collection procedure.The results revealed that undergraduate studentsdemanded some extracurriculargeneral English courses,development of their writing and speaking skills, familiarity with their major before admission to the university, up-to-date textbooks as well as communication-based classes.These findings may promise implications for updating the current curriculum and materials as practiced for Iranian English literature students at the tertiary level in an attempt to keep up with the latest changes in English language teaching methodologies.