ENGLISH FOR FUTURE HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS IN SAUDI ARABIA: A NEEDS ANALYSIS PROPOSAL
Literature suggests that a thorough language needs analysis is very essential for curriculum development whose goal is to help healthcare learners to be proficient and successful in English in both their academic study and professional workplace. Although English language course designers spend large amount of money in developing their curriculum, they often neglect the process of a needs analysis which is considered to be an important first step when planning any English language course. Unfortunately, English language courses taught at the Health Sciences Colleges in Saudi Arabia, too, have been developed without carrying out a needs analysis.  The purpose of this paper is to discuss the importance and necessity of identifying the academic and professional English language needs of students of Health Sciences Colleges in Saudi Arabia. It also proposes a needs analysis framework for the development of ESP course at these colleges .
The Second Language Curriculum: Needs assessment in language programming: from theory to practice
Introduction This paper is about how teachers and others involved in language programme planning can describe the language needs of prospective learners and about the tools they may employ to fashion their descriptions. It is also about the conceptual baggage planners inevitably bring to the planning situation – often unclarified beliefs and positions about learning and teaching which translate eventually into positions about learners' needs, needs assessment processes and syllabus design. I want to examine the juncture between theory and practice in language needs assessment first by outlining what I think are some essential concepts in educational planning which do not ordinarily receive the credit they deserve for influencing the ways language programme planners undertake language needs assessment. Next I will try to relate general concepts and methodologies in educational needs assessment to our particular concern with needs assessment in applied linguistics. Finally, in my conclusion, I will try to isolate several key variables in the needs assessment process which planners in institutional situations will want to consider before they are overwhelmed by the forces of a large-scale language needs assessment. Throughout the discussion I will stress that language needs assessment is shaped by the local work environment and especially by the commonsense thinking of practising teachers about their work. Ultimately my goal is to move beyond the aspects of methodology which ordinarily dominate needs assessments and to suggest what factors – largely subjective in nature – influence the interpretation and use of data during the assessment process.
Strategies for glass based photonic system integration
There is a clear tendency to integrate more and more opto-electronic and micro-optical components like optical fibers, laser diodes, modulators, isolators, beam-splitting components and micro lenses in also increasingly dense and complex assemblies. The paper will discuss thin glass as a very promising base material for that kind of photonic packaging on interposer and board level including optical interconnection using fibers.