A Task-Based Syllabus for Post-Graduate Students of Genetics at Abou Bekr Belkaid University of Tlemcen

Abstract

Though ESP courses are programmed and offered in many Algerian universities, huge lacunas are recorded in the way these courses are implemented in different departments in general including the department of biology. Despite the importance of English for Biology students especially for post-graduate students of Genetics who need English in their studies and more importantly in their future jobs, there is a total absence of a syllabus that caters for their needs and guides them in the acquisition of the knowledge of English they need in their specific field. Therefore, this study aims to identify the needs, wants and lacks of first year post-graduate students of Genetics, to highlight the problems surrounding the teaching of English in the department of Biology at the University of Tlemcen and to give some solutions through the design of a suitable syllabus. This research is a case study involving three instruments to collect the necessary data: a questionnaire addressed to students, an interview arranged with both language and subject specialist teachers and a classroom observation. The data were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed. The results obtained showed that the students under investigation are in need of specific English i.e. English for Medical Sciences to achieve their academic and professional duties. The results also showed that these learners need to develop all language skills with a special focus on reading and speaking. Moreover, the task-based syllabus was opted for because it is believed to provide the Genetics students with a number of tasks that illustrate different situations needed by these learners and help them promote both accuracy and fluency. The main conclusions that the investigator reached in this research are that English is of paramount importance for these learners who are required to use it not only in their academic, but also in their professional careers since these learners are called upon to use English as part of their daily experiments. This research also provided the investigator with a clear idea about the learning situation of students of Genetics emphasizing the suitability of a Task- Based syllabus for them.