The necessity of an English language preliminary course for the medical college students in Bangladesh: A need analysis study for an ESP course

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to assess the breadth and kind of difficulties faced by undergraduate students in various portions of English used in medicine. English is currently largely considered the international language of science, and in the case of medical science, there is hardly any book found in any other language except English. Teaching English in higher education institutions ignores individuals' unique characteristics, needs, goals, interests, and ambitions, independent of their fields of study. The most important and challenging question in teaching and learning is whether the course is effective. The course's efficacy is significantly tied to the learners' needs, deficiencies, and requirements. The essential insight into this approach is to suggest a course design by being attentive to target language learners' needs. In this respect, the English language needs of two medical college students in Bangladesh were investigated by means of a need analysis done on 10 students from two medical colleges with three different mediums of education in their higher secondary level. An open-ended questionnaire was adapted to interview the participants and know about their lacks, wants and suggestions to overcome the problems. The findings of the study suggested an ESP course designed for the students of medical college students before starting their academic life there. The medical jargon, complex sentences, pronunciation, and spelling teaching with the flow of speaking should be part of the course material that the students suggested. The self-evaluation done them shows their poor proficiency level in the English language. The implication of an ESP course would be the best way as came out of the study and the previous research. The course should be equally proper and advantageous specifically for medical college students.