Students’ attitudes toward ESP course at university level

Abstract

Introduction. English for Specific Purposes (ESP) at universities has a challenging goal of meeting the needs of usually large and heterogeneous groups of students. Objective. The aim of this study was to examine students’ attitudes toward the ESP course, acquired knowledge, and course materials at the Faculty of Special Education and Rehabilitation, University of Belgrade. In addition, the study examined the possible influence of students’ general English proficiency on the tested variables. Methods. An online questionnaire was used to collect data from 75 students who completed the ESP course in 2020 or 2021. Their general English proficiency was assessed by an online general English test. Results. The results showed that most students were satisfied with the acquired professional English language knowledge and available course materials and that their attitudes toward the completed ESP course were not influenced by their general English proficiency. Conclusion. These results are encouraging since they indicate overall student satisfaction with the ESP university course taught to a large class.

Uvod: Nastava engleskog jezika struke na fakultetima ima za cilj da zadovolji potrebe obično velikih i heterogenih grupa studenata. Cilj: Cilj ovog rada je da ispita stavove studenata Fakulteta za specijalnu edukaciju i rehabilitaciju Univerziteta u Beogradu, prema nastavi engleskog jezika struke, stečenom znanju engleskog jezika iz oblasti specijalne edukacije i nastavnim materijalima. Pored toga, rad ispituje i mogući uticaj opšteg engleskog jezika na pomenute varijable. Metode: Za prikupljanje podataka je korišćen onlajn upitnik koji je popunilo 75 studenata koji su slušali Engleski jezik tokom 2020. i 2021. godine. Njihovo znanje opšteg engleskog jezika utvrđeno je dostupnim onlajn testom. Rezultati; Rezultati pokazuju da je većina studenata zadovoljna stečenim znanjem engleskog jezika iz oblasti specijalne edukacije i nastavnim materijalima, kao i da nivo znanja opšteg engleskog jezika nije bitno uticao na njihove stavove prema nastavi engleskog jezika struke. Zaključak: Dobijeni rezultati su ohrabrujući jer ukazuju na zadovoljstvo studen