SAMERTIP KARNCHANACHARI -
PUNCHALEE WASANASOMSITHI (Chulalongkorn University)

NEEDS ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH COMMUNICATION REQUIREMENTS IN METROPOLITAN POLICE: IMPLICATIONS FOR TRAINING AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT : CURRICULUM AND MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT

Thailand is ranked among the countries international visitors like to visit most in the world. Now that the pandemic has been downgraded to an endemic, Thailand once again opened its doors to new influx of tourists from all over the world. Thai police officers must arm themselves with English proficiency in order to be able to effectively communicate with, and confidently handle various issues for, foreign tourists who visit the kingdom. A needs analysis is inarguably considered a necessary first step in designing ESP courses to ensure appropriate teaching contents, materials, and modes of instruction. The present research aimed at investigating the needs of Metropolitan police officers in order to develop an English for specific purposes (ESP) course for police officers. In this study, qualitative data were gathered by means of a semi-structured in-depth interview of 24 Metropolitan police officers who took a short communicative training course offered under a collaborative project between Chulalongkorn University Language Institute and the Royal Police Cadet Academy. Findings regarding needs of Metropolitan police officers are discussed, and a framework for an ESP course design for Metropolitan police officers is described to exemplify how language learners’ needs can be catered to via a needs analysis.

Samertip Karnchanachari holds a Master's degree in Applied Linguistics from University of Exeter. She is currently an assistant professor at Chulalongkorn University Language Institute, Thailand. Her areas of interest include materials development and test design.

Punchalee Wasanasomsithi holds a doctorate in Language Education from Indiana University, USA. She is an associate professor at Chulalongkorn University Language Institute and currently the Director of the English as an International Language Program, Graduate School, Chulalongkorn University. Her research interests include assessment literacy, learning-oriented assessment, and emotive responses in language learning.