Needs Analysis in English for Academic Purposes: The Case of Teaching Assistants at the University of Khartoum

Abstract

This study aimed at investigating the English language needs of teaching assistants at the University of Khartoum, Sudan. The study focused on identifying the teaching assistants’ purposes for learning English, and discovering the most important skills, language areas, and academic sub-skills they needed. The study also attempted to determine the teaching assistants’ proficiency in the English language. To this end a quantitative approach was adopted. Data were collected through a questionnaire and a test. The results revealed that the teaching assistants needed English for their social life and academic purposes: to communicate with the outside world and to teach their students. The skills regarded as most important were writing and speaking. Finally, the level of proficiency of the participants in the English language was below the average in all the skills.