Unpacking Writing Needs of Nepalese University Students

Gopal Prasad Pandey

doi:10.36892/ijlls.v2i2.275

Abstract

Assessing students’ needs is an integral part of English for specific purposes (ESP) syllabus design. Due to the significance of writing in the English for business specific purposes, there has been increasing interest in ESP studies to assess students’ writing needs. This study aimed at exploring writing needs of Bachelor of Business Studies students of Tribhuvan University (TU), Kathmandu, Nepal. Ninety two Bachelor of Business Studies (BBS) first year students and 10 English teachers of TU took part in this study. Questionnaires served as the main tools for conducting needs analysis (NA). The findings revealed that both the groups of participants (students and teachers) perceived all seven sub-skills of writing as ‘important’. There is consistency between students’ perceptions of importance of subskills of writing and teachers’ perception of importance of the sub-skills. Regarding the perceived competence, teacher participants found their students’ abilities to be “not very good” or even “poor” in the subskills which they considered ‘important’ or ‘very important’. They rated their students at levels lower than the ones students did. Students were rated poor at the following subskills of writing: reports, memos; agendas, notices; instruction booklets; user manuals; company brochures; letters and diaries and messages. Findings indicated that ESP teachers are required to help students learn all the subskills of writing so that they can communicate in the target situations effectively.

Highlights

Writing is one of the basic skills of language along with listening, speaking, and reading
This paper looks into the writing needs and problems of Bachelor of Business Studies (BBS) students at Tribhuvan University, Nepal
Responses made by students and teachers were analyzed, compared, and contrasted in terms of perceived importance and competence

Summary

Introduction

Writing is one of the basic skills of language along with listening, speaking, and reading. Complex social activities like educating students, keeping records, engaging with customers, selling products, demonstrating learning, and disseminating ideas largely depend on it (Hyland, 2013). It is the central activity of academia. Written communication has become one of the indicators that show the level of development in modern societies In this regard, the development of writing skills in students is extremely important as it is one of the media through which they can express their thoughts and feelings to fulfill their purposes. Writing is a key feature of students’ life Their success is measured by their writing.With the continued dominance and influence of English as an international language, students need to consolidate their learning and demonstrate their ability in writing. Writing is considered to be a highly important skill for students of higher education and English for specific purposes courses

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