Interviews

In order to obtain in-depth information about the needs of students and the language expectations of relevant participants, the interview questions were built on the questionnaire questions (Christensen, 2010; Merriam, 1998; K. Richards, 2009; Stake, 1995). The purpose of the interviews with the relevant participants of this research was to obtain insightful and detailed accounts of these participants’ perceptions about the English language skills needed

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in the ESP programme. Having a pattern of questions which allows for internal consistency checking is one way of assessing the validity of the data. In addition, since validity depends on the interviewer’s ability to produce a good interview and the respondents’ answers (Breakwell, 2006; Kvale, 1996), four basic steps in collecting the data through interviews were used: preparing for the interview, setting up the interview, getting the interaction right, and the final organization after the interview (K. Richards, 2009). Another way to establish the validity of the interview was by triangulating it with other types of data (Breakwell, 2006), such as the questionnaires and an English proficiency test. Further, validity was ensured by checking the interview questions from the supervisors and colleagues.

The reliability of the interview was improved by providing an interview schedule for each interview as a guideline to remind the researcher herself on how to conduct the interviews. The interview schedules were reviewed and modified in the same way as the questionnaires (see examples of interview questions in Appendix 5). The researcher interviewed all of the participants in Thai in order to reduce the stress for the interviewees, to obtain in-depth information, and to minimize ambiguity and misinterpretation. However, translating one language into another language can result in problems with syntax and semantics (Chang, Chau, & Holroyd, 1999); however, in order to overcome these problems, Bracken and Barona (1991) recommended using sufficiently-educated people in both languages to back-translate. As the researcher of this study is bilingual and has knowledge about the research, the questions were translated by the researcher for the interview into the Thai language. Another colleague, who got a doctoral degree in TESOL and has studied in both Thai and English, was asked to back-translate in order to ensure reliability.

The interview questions were constructed based on all of the factors in the needs analysis model. The questions covered professional information about the learners (A), personal information about the learners (B), English language information about the learners (C), the

99 learners’ lacks (D), language learning information (E), professional communication

information (F), the learners’ needs from course (G), and environmental situations (H). The interview questions for the sampled students encompassed all of the factors of the needs analysis model of this research. For example, they were asked to describe their background education, and to identify, explain, and justify their selections on the English language skills questionnaire, and their difficulties with English language skills and what language skills they needed to improve.

In phase two, the same group of sampled students were interviewed with the same questions as in the first phase. The sampled students were asked to explain how and why they had changed any of their perceptions about the difficulties and needs during that time. The data obtained were used to compliment the quantitative data from the questionnaires and to answer Research Question 4 about the changes in their needs. Three students in this sampled group that had interned at food factories during a semester break before the interview in phase two were asked about the English language skills they used in the workplace, and about their difficulties and needs in the food factories. The responses from the sampled students answered all four research questions of this research.

The interview questions with the ESP teachers related to their teaching in the ESP programme, which helped to provide the professional information about the learners (A), the learners’ lacks (D), and the environmental situations (H) from the needs analyis model of this study. For example, they were asked to justify the selection of the workbook, describe the classroom activities, the students’ difficulties, and the policy of the university in supporting ESP teaching and learning.

Similar questions were asked to the subject teachers in relation to the academic and occupational contexts that covered professional information about the learners (A), the learners’ lacks (D), and the environmental situations (H). The researcher asked them to describe

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the situations in which their studerts used their English language skills in their major subjects, their difficulties in using English, and the English language skills they needed the students to improve upon. Their responses illustrated the use of English language skills in both the academic and occupational contexts.

In the same vein, the former students were interviewed about the English language skills they had learnt from the ESP programme, the language skills they used in their major subjects and at work, and their difficulties and needs regarding their English language skills. Similarly in their interviews, the employers were asked to indicate the English language skills they used at work, the students’ difficulties in using their English language skills, and the English

language skills that the students needed to be prepared for before they interned at the factory.

Each interview with each participant took approximately 30 minutes, a reasonable amount of time to talk to them and sufficient for transcription and analysis purposes (K. Richards, 2009). With permission from the participants, all of the interviews were recorded. These interview tapes were later transcribed. During the interviews, the researcher’s understanding was checked with the participants and clarification was sought about any issues that were not completely clear, as suggested by K. Richards (2009). The settings of the interview were carefully selected to ensure minimal disturbance. The position of the researcher and the interviewing participant was chosen to ensure eye contact, and easy recording and note taking (Drever, 1997). The sampled students were interviewed in the researcher’s office. The ESP teachers and the subject teachers were interviewed at their offices where they were seated separately from their colleagues. The former students and the employers were interviewed individually in a meeting room at each company.

Each interview was semi-structured and carried out with all available participants at a convenient time. Twenty-three interviews were conducted during phase one, but the six sampled students from the same group were interviewed during phase two in order to obtain

101 more in-depth information from their responses from the questionnaires in each phase and also to understand any changes in their perceptions about their needs and difficulty in English during the two phases. Interviews with other participants were done only in phase one to gather information about the factors of the needs analysis model of the study. The schedules for the interview varied according to the availability of the participants, as shown in Table 3.2.

Table 3.2 Time schedule for interviewing the participants in phase one and phase two

Weeks Participants

7 (December 7, 2011)

Phase one

2 subject teachers 8 (December 12-16, 2011) 6 sampled students

2 ESP teachers

10 (December 28, 2011) 1 subject teacher

13-14 (January 16-27, 2012) 6 former students 6 employers

6 (July 9-10, 2012) 7 (July 19-20, 2012) 8 (July 24-25, 2012)

Phase two

2 sampled students (low-level students)

2 sampled students (intermediate-level students) 2 sampled students (high-level students)