THE LANGUAGE NEEDS OF MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS IN NSUKKA METROPOLIS

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to analyse the language needs of the medical professionals in the Nsukka metropolis.  Needs analysis is all about finding out the  visions of a particular group and how to make such vision a reality through the  English  language  as a second language in harnessing communication among them. In the course of the study, three research questions  were formulated.  The structured  questionnaire  was used  to obtain data from  a sample  of  206  medical  professionals.  The  probability  random  sampling  of  the  sample population is bifurcated as follows: 120 females and 86 males. The population comprised 92 medical  professionals  from  Bishop  Shanahan  Hospital,  Nsukka,  80 medical  professionals from  Medical  Center,  University  of Nigeria,  Nsukka  and  34  medical  professionals  from General Hospital, Nsukka. While analysing the data gathered, tables, pie charts, frequencies and percentages were used. The findings indicated that the English language is very useful in conducting medical tasks and also communicating in the medical field. It also showed  that the  unification  of  the  four  language  skills  while  interacting  in  the  hospitals  boost  the usefulness of medical English language skills. It stated that the medical students should know their  prior  aim  of  using  medical  English  in  hospitals.  It  was  concluded  that  medical professionals  should  master  medical  English,  knowing  the  use  of  the  language  skills appropriately and having a referent of their primary aims as it concerns communication by using medical English terminology while interacting in hospitals.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1.   Background to the Study

English is the only compulsory foreign language taught in Nigeria. Meanwhile, it is a second  language (L2) and also serving as the official language.  Students take the  English language courses for global purposes from primary schools and continue in secondary school. In Nigeria, students consider English as a course to be passed rather than an instrument set apart for their future careers. Today, many Nigerian students hardly use English outside their various classrooms as an effective means of communication. The reasons are not far-fetched. Firstly, they see English as a phenomenon which can only be useful in classrooms. They also believe that speaking purely British English here in Nigeria cannot make them rich easily. Secondly,  they believe  that English belongs to alien cultures which they have little or no exposure to, despite the fact that English is a vital tool in different workplaces. Our students still pass their examination in English by memorizing vocabulary and mechanical grammar drills but they are not using it often in performing their duties. The issue is that they are not grounded in the rules of this language.

In order to deal with this inappropriate communication in English among Nigerians, including  medical  practitioners,  Nigerian  universities  established  a  programme  to  teach English in their various schools. This area of study is called “the  Use of English”. It is a section in the General Studies of the Nigerian universities. This language unit is responsible for teaching the English language courses to students of universities despite their disciplines. However, they still use only the idea of formalism which gives them the rules to pass their courses through memorization and drill. Formalism posits that a language is learnt through a system of symbols which every competent speaker must have learnt. They also believe that it is a code or a system of forms.  Formalism cleared the way for functionalism. That is to say

that learning of symbols paved way for the use of those symbols to communicate  in  any society.

Functionalism  sees  language  as  a  dynamic,  open  system  whereby  members  of  speech community interact. When they saw the power of language in the society as a continuous act, they formed an approach called the communicative language teaching or the communicative approach. Bell (1981: 112) states that the communicative language teaching helps the learner to  turn  his  dormant  grammatical  competence  into  a  real  practical  mastery  of  the  target language. As a result of this, the communicative competence serves as a basis for English for specific purposes (ESP). In 1970s and 1980s when communicative approach came up, it was an interesting ideal that made many teachers and teaching institutions restructure their syllabi, teaching methods and resource materials.

Medical institutions are using English as their means of encoding information in the classroom. Students using communicative method should be more relaxed and confident than those using grammar-based method. At this period, there is a slight shift from the grammatical syllabus to the notional syllabus. In line with this, Wilkins (1976) came up with his Notional syllabuses which define the communication needs of the learner and display the various ways in which each communication  need can be  appropriately met. Language is used to convey information and knowledge.  Anasiudu (2001) says that this knowledge and skill bring in the notion  of  “communicative  competence”   as  opposed  to  grammatical  competence.  This approach enables a learner to communicate effectively in every situation he finds himself.

The educational planning unit should consider the learner’s needs more than any other factors such as classroom, instructional resources, etc. When these needs are global, they are not grouping the learners according to their future occupations. Conversely, if, however, the programme is for a particular vocation, the learner’s needs should be analysed and arranged in a special  curriculum  design  to  suit  those  needs.  An approach  called  English  for  specific

purposes (ESP) was introduced in 1970s to serve as an umbrella approach that covers the teaching and learning of English for several specific purposes. The major  underlying  issue behind ESP is that the learner’s interest and what he needs should be put into consideration before any other factors. It came up as the needs analysis in language teaching and learning. It was  first  used  by the  Council  of  Europe  Modern  Language  Projects  group  to  enhance language learning in Europe (Van Elk and Trim 1998). They later discovered the importance of breaking the task of learning a language  into  smaller units, each covering a particular occupation  with  its own  language  register.    This  serves  different  purposes:  to  guide  the development of a learner-centred curriculum, to inform decisions about topics and approaches used in ongoing instruction, to provide feedback on complete activities, or to shed light on the future goals. This future goal is the English communicative competence in the medical field. The central idea of this system, communicative language teaching (CLT), is that every goal that is achieved  is done through communication.  The English language could be used for global purposes but this project is based on the specific usage of English in the medical field in Nigeria. When a language is used for a specific purpose, some of these factors are realized. Richards (2006:12) states it thus:

a.    Choice of vocabulary b.    Grammatical usage

c.    The corpus texts being used

d.    The functions of the language e.    The needs for particular skills

From  the foregoing,  we can  see medical  register  as a suitable  tool for  designing medical English curriculum. For this reason, the English used in medical  field is to attain proficiency in the medical field. The English language use in the field of medicine should be seen as English for medical purposes. It enhances medical register and promotes the medical

needs. The question is, do medical professionals persistently use English in carrying out their office activities, and how proficient is it to them, patients and their correspondents.   In order to handle this matter, medical terminology,  vocabulary,  grammar, expression  and meaning should be looked upon in order to carry out effective communication task.  In other words, they  should  be  estimated  in  the  medical  field  and  this  is  why  some  problems  under investigation should be carefully dealt with.

1.2. Statement of the Problem

Presently, there has been no empirical investigation of the communicative  needs  of Nigerian medical professionals in the workplace to the best of my knowledge. So, teaching English for medical purposes should lay much emphasis on medical register and how medical English should be used to update medical task. Medical courses use the English language for easy  interpretation  of  some  medical  jargons.  When  the  specific  language  needs  are  not articulated based on language use, learners will be disappointed with the language proficiency level as they join the specific work force.   Regardless of the effort they made during their language training in medical colleges, it is not useful because they abhor it during the activity based tasks in their working places. On the other hand, the aims of administrators and English language teachers would not be achieved  if  their target needs are not directed in terms of language use. In order to design a curriculum in this field of studies, empirical data should be used   in   Nigerian   educational  system.   This   study  investigates   the   English   language communicative needs of a targeted group of learners in medical fields by investigating their targeted needs in the workplace.

Needs analysis is usually being considered as the foundation of the ESP process, so it must be conducted before the course curriculum is designed. Hutchison and  Waters (1987) note that the purpose of an ESP course is to function adequately in a target situation in which the  learners  use  the  language  they have  learnt.  Lee (1998) defines  ESP  as a specialized

English course for students or for those working in medical fields. On the other  hand, it includes  job  related   English  skills  such  as  medical   terminologies,   abbreviations   and conversations  used  in performing  daily medical  task.  The English  language  has therefore become crucial to medical professionals.

1.3.   Research Questions

The following questions have been posed to guide us in studying the nature of  the language needs in the medical field:

1.   To what extent is the English language used in the careers of medical professionals in three hospitals in Nsukka metropolis?

2.   What  levels  of  the  listening,  speaking,  reading  and  writing  skills  of  the  English language are required in the workplace and for doing what kind of activities?

3.   Do medical professionals  reason that they were prepared  in terms of their  English language ability to meet their communication needs in their workplaces?

1.4.Purpose of the Study

The  aim  of  undertaking  the  study  is  to  exhibit  the  language  needs  of  medical professionals and the English language functions among medical doctors in their work places. The study enhances the medical language and communication in the medical field as well as fulfilling the needs of the medical professionals. The study is to:

1.   Explore the use of English by medical professionals in Nigeria.

2.   Provide empirical data for designing English for Medical Purposes (EMP) curriculum programs intended for the medical professionals.

3.   Develop  an understanding  of the thinking that underpins the medical profession  in

Nigeria.

1.5. Significance of the Study

The needs of the medical professionals are not under-estimated but the communicative skills and abilities of doctors render such medical needs ineffective in their working domains. As a result of this, needs analysis is a prerequisite to the process of course curriculum design. The study enables the ESP curriculum planners to see how  and to what extent the existing programmes  are  streamlined  with  the  medical  professionals’  needs.  Moreover,  medical professionals  and  ESP  researchers  can  benefit  from  this  investigation  by comparing  and contrasting  the  language  situation  in  this  study  with  other  ESP  applications  in  other disciplines.  The  study  makes  the  unique  needs  of  the  medical  professionals  in  Nigeria improve  on the  English  language  usage  in terms  of  fulfilling  their  needs.  The  language competency  of  doctors  is prior  to  the effective  outcome  of their  duties.  This  study also contributes to our understanding of how English is used in workplace settings in the world, especially in Nigeria where English is a second language.

Furthermore,  this  study  will  serve  as  a  guide  to  researchers  undergoing  similar research in language needs. Finally, it is added to the existing researches on needs analysis and it would  serve as a reference  material for language teachers  in  every ramification  of studies.

1.6. Scope of the Study

This study concentrates on the positive outcomes of the ESP courses on the medical field in Nigeria. Precisely, it investigates the needs of medical professionals in three hospitals in Nsukka  area of Nigeria.  This  objective  of the ESP courses gives  birth to English  for Medical Purposes (EMP). It does not handle language methods, learning strategies, language need  constraints  and practicalities  of medical  language.  On  the other  hand,  it covers  the empirical tools for designing EMP curriculum for medical professionals in Nigeria and to let students of medicine know the importance of the English language in the medical field. The

anticipatory objectives of the English language among the medical professionals should be well focused, for them to attain the maximal performance and proficiency in medical field.

The study concentrates more on investigating  the English language  communicative needs of medical professionals in Nsukka area of Enugu State in Nigeria by investigating their language  use  in the  workplace  in order  to provide  empirical  data  serving  Nigerian  ESP context.

1.7. Limitations of the Study

During this research,  the researcher  encountered  the problem  of getting the  right needs of medical professionals in Nsukka metropolis because they were unwilling to give out the right information due to the tedious nature of their duties. Some of my research subjects came up with questions on why we embark on this type of tedious research in the medical field  within our discipline,  Linguistics.  It was not easy to  gather  medical  terms, phrases, abbreviations, sentences, and medical prescriptive jargons. In the long run, we dealt with all these problems and got them solved.

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