Leaners perceptions in the evaluation of an ESP course

Abstract

An ESP course is designed to prepare the learners for a future career or to satisfy a particular educational need. The determination of whether the needs have been satisfied or not can be done through course evaluation. This is an important aspect of the evaluation of an ESP course since it helps to assess whether the course objectives are being met. Since all courses are based on a perceived need of some sort, learners7 perceptions are essential for such an evaluation. Former students' perceptions, however, are more valuable since they are in the target situation for which they have been prepared. The purpose of this study was to identify former students' perceptions of their ESP course given at BILKENT University School of English Language (BUSEL). The subjects of the study were students who had finished their language training at BUSEL and were in their freshman year of their current major field. The study required giving a questionnaire to 212 subjects from this specific population. Structured interviews were also conducted with 16 subjects since the data collected through questionnaire were not sufficient enough to draw conclusions. The questionnaire and the interview were divided into three sections each of which was prepared to get different kinds of information. The first section identified whether the subjects had taken an ESP course or not. Thesecond section identified subjects' perception of their ESP course and information was collected on reading, listening, speaking, writing and vocabulary skill areas. The third section identified subjects' perceived need for an ESP course if they had not taken one. The results were analyzed first by field of study and then the data were compiled. The data were analyzed first by identifying the number of subjects who had taken and not taken an ESP course at BUSEL and their perceptions. Second, the mean score of the rating of skill areas of the students who perceived the ESP course that they took as helpful were calculated. Third, the activities that they found helpful in preparing them for their field of study were identified. Then, the reasons for the course being helpful by skill area were identified and frequencies were tabulated in the compiled data. Finally, the reasons for the course not being helpful were identified. The results of the research indicate that the students' needs at BILKENT University in the ESP course taken at BUSEL are not being fully met. It was also noted that the subjects who took ESP but perceived the course as not helpful were not against taking the ESP course but were criticism of what was taught in the course. The findings of the experiment should be of interest to all those involved in the teaching of ESP.