Need analysis for curricula revision at the faculty of Arts & Culture of the South Eastern University of Sri Lanka: students’ perspectives

Abstract

This study was conducted as a precursor to the curricula revision process at the Faculty of Arts & Culture of the South Eastern University of Sri Lanka. Need analysis is an integral part of the curricula revision and presently the curricula of the English language courses offered by the Department of English Language Teaching of the university are to be revised. It is asserted that any curricula revision should be based on learners’ needs in order to map the syllabi that are beneficial to the students and accepted by the stakeholders. That is, needs of the students should be identified before any meaningful curricula revision is carried out. Therefore, for this exercise third year undergraduate students from the faculty were selected and a questionnaire which identifies the students’ needs with regard to different language skills was used. In addition, interview and informal discussions were held with the students. The analysis of the questionnaires and other interview data revealed the requirements and aspirations of the students in terms of a revised curriculum. Students like their teaching programme to have more emphasis on speaking and writing skills in order to match language learning with their career goals. In addition, they feel that the present lesson materials should be supplemented with other speaking activities as they have much focus on grammar across the lessons. Hence, the outcome of this need analysis can be useful for the ongoing curricula revision activities.