ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE AT TRINCOMALEE CAMPUS (EUSL): A NEED ANALYSIS (Pages 45-59) by Dr. J. S. Rohan Savarimuttu in THE ENGLISH RESEARCH EXPRESS / ISSN:2321-1164 (Online); 2347-2642 (Print)

This paper is based on a field study conducted among hundred students of various departments in the Trincomalee Campus (EUSL). This study is based on a closed-structured questionnaire using random sampling technique following quantitative and informal interview methodology determining the discrepancy between the actual need of the student and the current English curriculum (which is seen as the felt need) so as to aid in material production in order to improve the erudition of English within the Trincomalee Campus premises. This study projects the fact that most of the target audience belong to underprivileged sections of the society and have done their schooling through L1 whereas the medium of instruction of their undergraduate degree programme is in English and these students are not properly armed with language skills to undergo their studies. The need analysis consists of 100 random samples from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year students of all departments as the target audience and this need analysis found out that students’ needs are to develop their skills in speaking and writing flawless English which is not rendered through their present syllabus. Moreover providing a good comprehensive textbook as a fundamental yardstick was articulated since they are unable to purchase any good books in Sri Lanka due to the over-pricing issues. The study reveals that the students’ feel the prescribed English curriculum is a farfetched one and does not cater to their immediate need. Furthermore, this need analysis reveals that there is a gap between what the learner already knows and what is being taught to them and the need to bridge this gap. In addition, the researcher also analysed various English curriculum which is in fact too open for the English teacher to exploit but at the same time putting the teacher into a fix on the subject matter to be delivered. Most of the students opined that English teachers teach without a structure only keeping in mind the examination and question setting and most of the times there is no logical progression between classes and most of the things taught are already covered at school level making it less interesting. Some students articulated that they need an English hour each day instead of having two classes covering 4hrs at a stretch in two days. Students also articulated that they do not have enough reading materials like bestsellers housed in the library to develop their reading skills. This paper also analyses that English is being taught under various course titles such as Technical English, Business English, General English, English for Communication and etc., projecting the fact to the world outside that ESP (English for Specific Purpose) is imparted. The analysis of the above mentioned various ESP brings out the fact that the subject matter is one and the same as to that of any General English course and there are no ESP elements in it since they do not introduce the various registers needed to that particular field nor have they prescribed any special or particular course materials. This study argues that ESP is a misnomer since the subject matter taught belongs to a General English level and just by adding a chapter or a few units to a General English syllabus will not make it ESP. Moreover, when students’ English skills (LSRW) are far below average than the expected level, the erudition based on ESP becomes nullified creating unemployable graduates. Furthermore, as the consequence of providing free hands to the teachers to conduct the subject matter, the competency of teaching and the learning output vary, and in order to overcome this deviation, it is suggested to follow a prescribed textbook. This paper also focuses on arguing that only after achieving the needed competency with regard to LSRW, an ESP course can be introduced. Key words: curriculum, material production, need, proficiency, registers, ESP,etc.