This study examined the needs of 972 non-English major university students in Taiwan enrolled in English for General Purposes (EGP) courses or English for Specific/Academic Purposes (ESP/EAP) courses. Students completed a survey assessing their reasons for enrolling, perceived language skill needs, wants and lacks. Results showed students' top reason for EGP enrollment was to improve language skills, while for ESP/EAP it was career preparation. Students' perceived needs differed across skills and course types. In EGP, reading was seen as more necessary than listening, despite a greater listening deficiency. ESP/EAP showed a similar mismatch. The specific language tasks needed also differed between course types.

1. Ed_Psych 508
Quantitative Research Worksheet
1. Citation (use APA-edition style):
Liu, J., Chang, Y., Yang, F., & Sun, Y. (2011). Is What I Need
What I Want? Reconceptualising College Students' Needs in
English Courses for General and Specific/Academic Purposes.
Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 10(4), 271-280.
2. Research Question:
This article looks at the needs analysis of English as a Foreign
Language (EFL) students in university classes to see if they
align with the English courses that the students are enrolled in.
These courses include English for General Purposes (EGP) and
English for Specific Purposes (ESP), usually English for
Academic Purposes (EAP). The research questions are:
1. What reasons were given by the EFL students for their
enrollment in EGP and ESP/EAP courses?
2. What particular needs (i.e., necessities, wants, and lacks) did
the EFL students want the courses to fill?
3. How are the EGP and ESP/EAP courses contrasted, as shown
in the student responses?
(Liu et al., 2001, p.
273)
3. Participants and sampling method:
972 non-English major EFL students from 6 universities in

2. Taiwan. They were “recruited” from undergraduate English
classes in multiple departments, excluding the English
department (p. 273).
There are no details about how students were sampled other
than recruitment and demographic information.
4. Independent Variable(s):
Needs: Necessities, Wants, and Lacks
5. Dependent Variable:
Language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing
6. Measurement of variables:
5 point Likert scale in a 94 item survey
7. Research Design and Procedure:
Students were given a 94 question survey, divided into four
parts: a) students’ needs in EGP courses (18 items), b) students’
needs in ESP/EAP courses (13 items), c) reasons for enrollment
in EGP courses (32 items), and d) reasons for enrollment in
ESP/EAP courses (32 items) (Liu et al, 2011, p. 274). Students
rated their perceptions and abilities on a five point Likert scale.
8. Statistical Analysis:
The researchers calculated means for the reasons of student
enrollment in EGP and ESP/EAP course to see which reasons
were most common.

3. They then used three one-way ANOVA tests to compare
students’ perceived needs, i.e., necessities, wants, and lacks, in
the four language skills, i.e., speaking (S), listening (L),
reading (R), and writing (W). They then completed unnamed
Post Hoc tests to compare the different skills under each needs
analysis subcategory.
9. Results:
Top reason for enrollment in EGP classes by language skill: L –
contains language skills of necessity, M = 3.82, SD = 0.89, S –
Helpful for future careers, M = 3.81, SD = 0.98, R – Contain the
language skills of necessity, M = 3.95, SD = 0.80, W – Helpful
for passing the English proficiency tests, M = 3.81, SD = 0.90
(Liu et al, 2011, p. 275).
Top reasons for enrollment in ESP/EAP classes by language
skill: L – helpful for future careers M = 4.00, SD = 0.84, S –
helpful for future careers M = 4.01, SD = 0.84, R – helpful for
future careers M = 4.02, SD = 0.83, W – helpful for future
careers M = 3.95, SD = 0.85 (Liu et al., 2011, p. 274).
Students did not perceive their needs to be equal across
language skills in EGP classes: necessities, F(3, 3884) = 45.86,
p < 0.01; wants, F(3, 3884) = 14.70, p < 0.01; and lacks, F(3,
3884) = 11.17, p < 0.01 (Liu et al., 2011, p. 276).
Similarly, students did not perceive their needs to be equal
across language skills in ESP/EAP classes: necessities, F(3,
3884) = 9.92, p < 0.01; wants, F(3, 3884) = 5.32, p < 0.01; and
lacks, F(3, 3884) = 11.33, p < 0.01.
For all post hoc tests reported, p < 0.01.
10. Conclusion:

4. In EGP classes, students reported a higher deficiency in
listening skills (M = 3.59) than reading skills (M = 3.42), but
view reading instruction as more necessary (M = 4.03) than
listening (M = 3.81). Similarly, in ESP/EAP classes, students
reported a higher deficiency in speaking skills (M = 4.03) than
reading skills (M = 3.88), but view reading instruction as more
necessary (M = 3.91) than speaking (M = 3.77). This indicates a
statistically significant mismatch (p < 0.01) in what student lack
and what they think it necessary. What students need is not
always what they lack.
Furthermore, the specific tasks that students need, through
necessity, want, or lack, are different for EGP classes and
ESP/EAP classes, as demonstrated through descriptive
statistics. In EGP classes, students report needing skills related
to daily life and for communicative purposes such as “converse
with others in fluent English,” “introduce oneself in English,”
and “speak English with foreigners socially” (Liu et al., 2001,
p. 277). In ESP/EAP classes, the perceived needs are all related
to school requirements, such as “listen to English questions in
academic fields,” and “write English theses” (Liu et al., 2001,
p. 277). Also, the types of tasks reported for needs, wants, and
lacks in EGP courses varied greatly, whereas the tasks for each
skill area were consistent across the different dimensions of
needs in ESP/EAP classes. This would suggest more unified
goals in ESP/EAP classes than in EGP classes.
11. Limitations
All participants were Chinese speaking, Taiwanese university
students. It would be interesting to see how needs change in a
multicultural classroom, or outside of the context of a
postsecondary institution.
The survey relied solely on information from the questionnaire.

5. The survey questions gave limited answers for students to
choose from, with no opportunity to add additional answers.
Especially in the section on “reasons for course enrollment”
(Liu et al., 2011, p. 278), the answers provided were vague and
nearly all with a focus on college or career readiness.
Some follow-up interviews with a focus group of students
would be useful to learn if there are reasons for enrollment
beyond the answers provided, and to expand upon the answers
given.
Liu et al. did not name the post hoc tests they used in their
research, making duplication of the experiment difficult. Also,
their results for top reasons to enroll and top tasks/skills needed
were chosen by simple descriptive statistics, without any tests
of significance or inference to other populations.
12. Contribution to the Literature:
This study helps identify the needs of EFL students taking
English courses at a postsecondary level. The research identifies
differences in needs depending on the type of course, EGP or
ESP/EAP, and the language skills covered. This research
supports detailed on ongoing needs analysis in classrooms to
learn the diverse needs of each class in order to create students’
metacognitive awareness of learning goals, and to meet them
with the classroom curriculum.