A QUANTITATIVE NEEDS ANALYSIS OF TECHNICAL ENGLISH IN TVET EDUCATION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35631/IJMOE.829045Keywords:
Employability, ESP, Needs Analysis, Technical English, TVETAbstract
English proficiency is widely recognised as a key employability skill in Malaysia’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector. This study investigates the perceptions of students at ADTEC JTM Kampus Kuantan towards the Technical English subject using Hutchinson and Waters’ (2002) English for Specific Purposes framework of necessities, lacks, and wants. A descriptive quantitative design was employed using a structured questionnaire distributed to 70 students across eight technical programmes. Findings indicate that students perceive Technical English as moderately to highly relevant to their field of study. Yet, they reported limited application of English in both academic and practical contexts. Productive skills, especially speaking and writing, were identified as the most challenging and least favoured. Students expressed moderate confidence in employability-related communication tasks such as résumé writing and job interviews, with fear of making mistakes emerging as a key barrier to oral performance. The study recommends integrating curriculum with technical subjects, targeting interventions in productive skills, and employability-focused instruction grounded in an ESP needs analysis. These findings underscore the importance of aligning Technical English instruction with the demands of workplace communication in Malaysian TVET.
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