Needs analysis of the Egyptian students of Spanish Language for the elaboration of a didactic dictionary of Spanish idioms.

Document Type : Original Article

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1 Department of Spanish Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts, Cairo University

2 Department of Spanish Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt

Abstract

Abstract

Needs analysis is considered as an essential tool in language teaching and learning. Generally, this tool is used for designing and planning of foreign languages courses, especially those intended to teach languages for specific purposes. The main novelty of this article lies in using the needs analysis as a preliminary phase for the elaboration of a monolingual dictionary for the teaching of Spanish idioms. We start from the idea that a good dictionary should respond to the needs and the expectations of its users. Therefore, we carried out a needs analysis through a questionnaire aimed at Egyptian students who study Spanish in the Department of Hispanic Language and Literature at the Faculty of Arts of Cairo University. The questionnaire was filled in by a group of 247 students from all learning levels. The analysis of the answers that were given to the questions of the questionnaire permitted us to fulfill the following objectives of the study: first, to determine the preferences, demands and objectives of the students when consulting the dictionaries; second, to identify the lacks or the deficiencies that students usually encounter while consulting the dictionaries, especially the specialized phraseological dictionaries; and, third, specify the wants and expectations that students believe an idioms dictionary specially designed for them should meet.

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