A Study of Freshmen’s Expectations and Requirements in Developing English Foundation Courses at Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study aimed at investigating freshmen’s expectations and requirements in order to develop the instruction of English foundation courses at the undergraduate level. Research data were collected by questionnaires gained from 568 freshmen of Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya (RUTS) in the academic year 2019. Data analysis employed descriptive statistics: frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation. It was found that (1) freshmen’s
expectations of English foundation courses were at a high level; instructors were most expected ( =4.03), followed by instructional materials (
=4.01), instructional practices (
=3.96), and instructional contents (
=3.93), respectively; (2) their English usage requirements were also at a high level; conversation (
=3.87) was most required, followed by writing (
=3.84), and reading
( =3.78); and (3) to inspect differences among means of the eight groups of freshmen’s expectations and requirements via inferential statistics, a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), the findings showed significant difference at the 0.01 level among means of their expectations of instructors, instructional materials, and instructional practices, but not instructional contents.
Further, differences among means of their English usage requirements were not found. In summarizing a key finding of the study, overall freshmen’s desires showed that a greater focus on conversational skills relevant to real-life communication should be advised in the instruction of English foundation courses.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
References
Al-Jamal, D. A., & Al-Jamal, G. A. (2014). An Investigation of the Difficulties Faced by EFL Undergraduates in Speaking Skills. English Language Teaching, 7(1), 19-27.
Armagan, O., Bozoglu, O., & Guven, E. (2016). EFL Students’ Expectations in Higher Education Level English Preparatory Schools in
Benjarattananon, A. (2017). General English Instruction at Prince of Songkla University, Pattani Campus: Reflection of Students and Instructors. Journal of Educational Academics, Srinakarinwirot University, 18(2), 293-315. [in Thai]
Brown, J. D. (2012). EIL Curriculum Development. In Alsagolf, L., Mckay, S. L., Hu, G., &
Ranandya, W. A. (Eds.), Principles and Pratices in Teaching English as an International Language. (pp. 147-167). New York: Routledge.
Casta, J. S., & Flores, L. A. (2019). Learner Expectations in an Intensive English Program (IEP). Journal of Studies in the English Language, 14(1), 93-123.
Crystal, D. (2003). English as a global language. (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kasetsart University. (2019). Table of International Standard Classification of Education, Kasetsart University. Division of Educational Service. Retrieved from https://eduserv.ku.ac.th//001/ISCED/ISCED-group.xls [in Thai]
Kuha, A., Puti, S., & Nochi, H. (2019). Transformative Changing World, Learning through Active Learning. Journal of Education, Prince of Songkla University, Pattani Campus, 30(2), 1-13. [in Thai]
Landolfi, L. (2014). Students of English at University: Awareness, Expectations and Failure Issues. Frontiers of Language and Teaching, 5, 110-123.
Obeidat, M. M. (2020). A Remedial English Course from the Freshmen EFL Learners’ Viewpoints and Expectations at the Hashemite University of Jordan. International Journal of Higher Education, 9(1), 89-106.
Piamsai, C. (2017). An Investigation of Thai Learners’ Needs of English Language Use for Intensive English Course Development. Pasaa Paritat Journal, 32, 63-97.
Piriyasilpa, Y. (2016). Factors Influencing Students’ Success and Failure in Learning English: A Case Study of the English Foundation Course at Rajamangala University of Technology Isan Khon Kaen Campus. Journal of Education, Prince of Songkla University, Pattani Campus, 27(1), 37-56. [in Thai]
Poedjiastutie, D., & Oliver, R. (2017). Exploring Student’s Learning Needs: Expectation and Challenges. English Language Teaching, 10(1), 124-133.
Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya. (2015). General Education Program (Edition 2015). Office of Academic Promotion and Registraration. Retrieved from https://reg.rmutsv.ac.th/course/file/course_development/Gen_Education_Course_2558.pdf
[in Thai]
Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya. (2018). RUTS Medium Term Plan for 5 Years: 2018-2022. Policy and Planning Division. Songkhla: Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya. [in Thai]
Richards, J. C. (2015). Key Issues in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Richards, J. C. (2017). Curriculum Development in Language Teaching. (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Richards, J. C., & Rodgers, T. S. (2019). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rose, H., & Galloway, N. (2019). Global Englishes for Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sojoodizadeh, R., Ahangari, S., & Sheykhsaran, E. (2020). Evaluation of Tabriz Medical Students’ Expectations of Learning English for Specific Purposes (ESP): A Focus on Gender and Subject Field. Research and Development in Medical Education, 9(5), 1-5.
Soranastaporn, S. (2018). ESP in Thailand: Practical English Training for Professionals. Liberal Arts Journal, Mahidol University, 1(1), 7-28.
Yamane, T. (1976). Statisctic, An Introductory Analysis. (2nd ed.). New York: Harper & Row.
