The Needs and Attitudes of Science Students to Esp : A Case Study of Taif University in Khurma , Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This study investigates the needs and attitudes of science students at Taif University in Khurma to ESP. The main aim of the study is to identify and classify these needs and attitudes of ESP students particularly regarding their importance to better their academic performance at the present and in the future. The problem this research probes is whether the ESP courses offered to science students at Taif University in Khurma are designed with reference to students' needs and attitudes. The main question the study is carried out to answer is the extent to which ESP science students are aware of their needs, lacks, wants and necessities to learning the language for science purposes. In addition, the study also tackles the questions of ESP learners’ needs and attitudes and their implications for practicing ESP teachers, syllabus designers and materials writers. The instrument of data collection for the study is a 22-item questionnaire comprising three sections concerning ESP students’ needs and attitudes. The researcher administered the questionnaire to a group of 100 first-year science students at Taif University in Khurma. The method the study uses is the descriptive method. Results of data analysis showed that the majority of respondents indicated that their needs for studying ESP courses rests with the four language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing together with grammar and vocabulary.