ASSESSING THE ACADEMIC ENGLISH NEEDS OF KING FAHD SECURITY COLLEGE OFFICERS: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN EAP PROGRAM

Abstract

Abundant research has been devoted to the study of English for Academic Purposes (EAP) in various academic settings, and yet no studies have been conducted to investigate the academic English use in military settings, thus making the undertaking of this study significant. This paper investigated the English academic needs of 42 officers working at King Fahd Security College in Saudi Arabia.  The participants’ military ranks ranged from 1^st lieutenants to lieutenant colonel.  A questionnaire was used to collect data about the officers’ academic English needs.  Overall, the results showed that the officers did not receive training on how to use EAP, and the language materials in the English courses they had completed were not consistent with their perceived academic needs.  The officers showed awareness of the graduate requirements that await them; that is, they rated some academic skills such as writing proposals and theses, communicating with academic advisers as the most important skills. Based on these findings, the study suggested general guidelines for the development and implementation of an EAP program at KFSC.