Needs Analysis of ESP Courses for Undergraduates Majoring in Industrial Engineering: A Case Study of a Chinese University

Abstract This study surveys English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses needs among 183 undergraduates majoring in Industrial Engineering (IE) for the first time from a Chinese university, aiming to provide valuable and actionable teaching references for designing high quality ESP courses for undergraduates. The theoretical structure of ESP needs analysis is first constructed in the study. Then a questionnaire consisting of 23 questions covering four dimensions is designed in the form of the Likert scale to investigate the actual teaching situation of ESP teaching for this group. The survey results uncover that undergraduates majoring in IE have a strong need for ESP teaching, especially for reading and interactive abilities. Still, the undergraduates' ESP skills exhibit various deficiencies, and it is particularly noteworthy that their knowledge base and skills in reading English professional literature are the most significant lack. Therefore, targeted ESP teaching approaches are needed to effectively address these challenges. In addition, the statistical results also show that the English learning needs of China’s undergraduates are more driven by external factors, such as academic assessments and future career development. Based on the survey results, this study proposes targeted suggestions for the design and practice of ESP teaching.