language needs

Need of ESP Courses for the students in the College of Nursing, Suleimani University

Shler MohammedAli Najmaddin

The students in the college of nursing have had a limited exposure to English language and now they are exposed to an intensive use of English as the medium of instruction. Therefore, they have considerable problems in the application of English language. This study is an attempt to investigate the needs of nursing students for an ESP course. The study was conducted with 40 first-year university students and 40 fourth-year students and ten teachers in the College of Nursing, Sulaimani University. A student questionnaire and a teacher interview were used to identify the nursing students’ and teachers’ perceptions about the nursing students’ English language needs and to ascertain if they need an ESP course. It can be supposed that regarding both the students’ and their teachers’ perceptions, ESP course is an immense requirement for the students to promote their knowledge in their subject field. They also suggested that the students need a course that concentrates more on improving their reading, speaking, and writing skills in their subject field. It can be concluded that a systemized ESP is a requisite for the students’ lack of English.