English for Other Languages: A Needs Analysis of Future Polyglots at a French University

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a needs analysis of second year undergraduates, majoring in various foreign languages (except for English) at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales in Paris, France. As part of their studies, students can take one semester of English during their second or third year. While needs analyses are an integral part of ESP research, the needs of students in certain disciplines, particularly the Liberal Arts, are not often referenced. Using questionnaires and interviews with current students, past students, and discipline instructors, this study attempts to partially fill that gap. Results show that while current students mostly use oral and written comprehension skills presently, they feel expression skills will become important in the future. Responses from former students and discipline instructors seem to support these results, with some key distinctions. Implications for teaching and future research are discussed.

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“…Furthermore, it is also advisable that multiple methods be adopted to conduct needs analysis, such as interviews, surveys, observations, or the linguistic and multi-modal analysis of authentic samples. In addition, needs analysis can be effectively used to determine the technological (hard skills) and nontechnological (soft skills) dimensions of the curriculum as well as to establish performance standards on specific tasks that L2 learners will likely encounter in their future work and everyday life (Belcher, 2006;Brown, 2016;Schug, 2021).…”