The Teachers’ Needs for Medical English in the Faculty of Medicine at Abdelhamid Ibn-Badis University

Abstract

The urgent need for English instruction at the faculty of medicine, Mostaganem University, motivated us to investigate the teachers’ needs for medical English. In this prospect, an in-depth needs analysis was conducted to know the teachers’ of medicine needs for English in order to make an appropriate course design for them. Accordingly, a set of procedures were taken in which a questionnaire was elaborated to investigate the learners’ profiles, their target needs, and their learning styles. Furthermore, an interview with the responsible for medical English was held to determine the way the learning process should be conducted. Moreover, a placement test consolidated by a classroom observation was used to reveal the learners’ strengths and weaknesses regarding the language. The results of the needs analysis were exploited and interpreted to elaborate a suitable course design for the teachers of medicine at Abdelhamid Ibn Badis University to equip them with the linguistic tool to be able to use English as a medium in their researches and to attend international conferences. Finally, an official implementation of the suggested course design for medical professionals in the academic setting was proposed as a first attempt to introduce English to the faculty of medicine.