English for General Academic Purposes or English for Specific Purposes? Language Learning Needs of Medical Students at a Chinese University

Abstract

The debate over the appropriacy of EGAP and ESP has been an ongoing concern in many higher education contexts. In this paper we discuss how teachers’ and students’ perceptions of English curriculum needs are reflected in the conflict between short-term goals, such as passing exams, and long-term goals, such as career development. Students, doctors and teachers at a medical university in the central part of China were asked about their needs through questionnaires and structured interviews. The findings suggest that whilst many felt the need for medical English to be taught in the early years, particularly through medical texts, there was also push back due to the need for general English to pass English exams, such as CET4/6. We argue that through the incorporation of medical texts, students can start to develop their medical English from the first year of university. This not only ensures the motivation for students to study medical English for professional purposes, but also fulfills the perceived need to prepare for the exam.

What Stakeholders Need from their Undergraduate University English Courses

“…To ensure a successful transition to ESP, it is necessary to overcome certain issues among stakeholders. In the case of students, there is a conflict between short-term and long-term expectations (Li & Heron, 2021). On the one hand, they are keen to pass compulsory English courses as soon as possible to focus on other areas of study.…”

Motivation of Chinese Medical Students in Learning English as a Second Language: A Quantitative Study

“…Several researchers have argued in favor of replacing EGAP with ESP. In Li and Heron's (2021) study, first-and third-year medical students from a Chinese university claimed that EGAP only catered to mediocre students and could not meet the needs of more advanced students such as those who already obtained adequate scores in IELTS. Some participants even viewed EGAP as an impediment to their English learning.…”

“…The need for high levels of English proficiency is particularly pronounced among medical students in the Chinese context. Previous studies have indicated that medical students must possess adequate English proficiency to navigate scientific journals, to stay updated with global medical advancements, and to publish their own empirical work in prestigious journals indexed by the Science Citation Index (SCI) (Li & Heron, 2021;Deng et al, 2022). Moreover, English proficiency has gained significant weight in the selection process for graduate school admissions in China, evident through the inclusion of an English testing segment in graduate school application procedures, such as the Postgraduate Admission Test and graduate school interviews.…”

Investigating English Language Skills among the Medical Students at Jinnah Sindh Medical University Karachi

“…A needs analysis study was done by Li and Heron (2021) that aimed to investigate the language learning needs of medical students at a Chinese university regarding the choice between English for General Academic Purposes (EGAP) and English for Specific Purposes (ESP). The primary objectives of the study were to determine whether medical students prefer Medical English courses taught from the early years of university education and whether incorporating medical texts in the curriculum facilitates the development of medical English proficiency from the first year of study.…”