Needs Analysis of Knowledge in Linguistics for English-Major Students

Abstract

     This research investigated the needs of knowledge in linguistics for English-major students. A questionnaire was used to collect data from 123 participants, who were English-major students at the undergraduate and graduate levels in Thailand. The results revealed the studentsû needs of linguistic knowledge. Of the seven core subfields, six of them were judged as significantly needed. These included phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, pragmatics, and sociolinguistics. The other subfield, i.e. semantics, was considered as highly significant. Moreover, in each of these subfields, the topics directly related and also easily applied to the study of English were considered more needed by English-major students. An analysis of the results shows the need of the students for the course in introductory linguistics that is particularly designed for them. Generally speaking, the course should emphasize the concepts and theories of the seven core subfields that have two characteristics. First, these concepts and theories should be easy to apply; they should not be very complicated, covering various abstract and theoretical viewpoints on language. Second, they should be directly relevant to English and contribute to the understanding of the English language systems. These two characteristics reflect that the most important objectives of the course in introductory linguistics for English-major students are to enable the students to recognize the close relationship between the study of linguistics and the study of English and to apply what they learn in the linguistic class to improve their skills in English. The results of the study are useful for the curriculum development and material design for a course in introductory linguistics for English majors. Moreover, the results reflect the role of learners' needs in designing and developing materials for a course. By taking into account the needs of learners, educators and teachers can provide appropriate instructional input to foster effective learning.