Learners’ needs analysis on business English: a group study

In Thai education, many foreign course books are chosen as core materials used in the classroom. Especially used in, International program, English program though English for specific purpose (ESP) course; which various kinds of subjects are taught through students’ book. Textbooks, requires giving sufficient attention in all English language learning contexts. Also at Communicative Business English 2 class of A Business School, Thammasat University, The Business 2.0 b1+ Intermediate Students’ Book, which is the core material used in the class, has been used for 5 years. This students’ book is the main source of input for the learners. Hence, knowing students’ needs through the use of students’ book could help the teacher plan and design what should have involved in the course. The purposes of the study were to examine learners’ needs and to explore the learner’s agreement regarding The Business 2.0 b1+ Intermediate Students’ Book. The participants were 30 students who enroll EL321 Communicative Business English 2 Course, Academic year 2017, Thammasat University. Meanwhile 5 interviewees were asked to give more information along the study. The 5-point Likert scale questionnaires and interview were as the instruments used in the study. The result revealed that the respondents assessed as Agree in most of statements in the questionnaire. They agreed that the students’ book in which contents part in both skills and topics should be improved especially, grammar which is very crucial to them. Increasingly, if the composition of the students’ book is very interesting, it will attract students’ attention to be more active in learning.