An English Needs Analysis of Medical Doctors in Western Japan

Abstract

Despite the importance of English to medical doctors (MDs), few studies have examined the English needs of MDs in EFL contexts. This paper describes an English needs analysis of MDs in western Japan, which aimed to identify how these MDs use English, which English skills were most important to their work, and what their views were on English education. Findings from a questionnaire survey of MDs at one university hospital and five nonuniversity hospitals showed that these MDs primarily used English to gather information, although they were dissatisfied with their university English education for failing to improve their speaking skills. Interviews revealed that English use in unscripted situations causes stress for these MDs, and that most of their English-speaking patients are not native English speakers. These findings suggest that Japanese MDs need general speaking skills more than discipline-specific expressions and vocabulary and signal the importance of communicative language teachers in English for specific purposes (ESP) education.