The bases of designing an English course for Nursing Students

Abstract

The objectives of this study are to identify the general and specific English language needs of graduate nurses practicing their profession in both government and private hospitals in Bangkok and to find out if the general and specific I English language needs of nurses working in government hospitals differ from the English language needs of nurses working in private hospitals. This information, in turn, is used as bases for designing a core course for English for Nursing Students in Thailand. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 355 nurses working in government and private hospitals in Bangkok to collect information about their general and specific English language needs. A total of 161 questionnaires were distributed to nurses working in government hospitals and 124 questionnaires were returned. 194 questionnaires were distributed to nurses working in private hospitals and 162 were returned. The data were analyzed using SPSS for Windows and summarized using frequency distribution and percentages. The test statistic employed was Chi-Square (Yates Correction). Results of this study indicate that reading is the most used skill in both government and private hospitals with percentages of 74.07%c120) and 63.70%(79) respectively. Speaking is the least used skill in government hospitals, 30.64%(38) while listening is the least used skill in private hospitals 64.19%(104). The most used skill by nurses working in private hospitals I is reading, 76.54%(124) and the least used skill is speaking, 69.70% (110). The most used skill by nurses working in government hospitals hospitals is writing, 53.22%(66) and the least used skill is speaking, 21.77%(27). Because the English language needs of nurses practicing their profession in government hospitals differ from the English language needs of nurses practicing their profession in private hospitals, a core course model of English for Nursing Students with equal emphasis on the four English language skills is designed. In addition, elective courses providing emphasis on particular skills should also be designed to serve individual student's needs.