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Needs versus wants: comparing job-related and personal needs of non-academic university employees for English language training

In company-sponsored workplace training programmes, training developers have traditionally focused on employees' job-related needs when designing the training curriculum, in line with conventional wisdom in the practice of human resource development. The personal needs of employees that are not...

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Main Authors: Chan, Mei Yuit, Lee, Geok Imm
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universiti Putra Malaysia Press 2009
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/15787/1/19%20Pages%20187-203.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/15787/
http://www.pertanika.upm.edu.my/Pertanika%20PAPERS/JSSH%20Vol.%2017%20%282%29%20Sep.%202009/19%20Pages%20187-203.pdf
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spelling my.upm.eprints.157872015-09-17T01:09:55Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/15787/ Needs versus wants: comparing job-related and personal needs of non-academic university employees for English language training Chan, Mei Yuit Lee, Geok Imm In company-sponsored workplace training programmes, training developers have traditionally focused on employees' job-related needs when designing the training curriculum, in line with conventional wisdom in the practice of human resource development. The personal needs of employees that are not directly related to job demands, commonly labelled as 'wants', are often not considered as important. In the realm of English language learning, however, research and theories have pointed to the importance of learner factors and their motivation for language learning. The sources of motivation, in particular integrative motivation (Gardner and Lambert, 1972), that arise from the learners' personal lives should not be neglected. This study compares the job-related and personal ESL (English as a second language) training needs of a group of non-academic employees of a public university in Malaysia. It investigates the extent to which personal needs are important motivators as compared to job-related needs in workplace English language learning. The framework of this research on workplace learning is informed by theories and concepts developed in the fields of motivation (Gardner and Lambert, 1972; Dornyei, 2005) and domains of language use (Fishman, 1972), as well as workplace training literature (Kraiger and Aguinis, 2001 ; Machin and Treolar, 2004; Tsai and Tai, 2003 ). Data were collected through a questionnaire containing statements of personal and job-related needs. The needs were rank-ordered to identify the most important needs. The results showed that on the whole, the employees found both personal and job-related needs equally relevant. However, analysis of the most important needs indicated a clear preference for personal needs. The results have implications for both the design and instruction of workplace ESL programmes for the study's population, and challenge the common practice of focusing only on job-related language needs in workplace ESL programmes. Finally, the results provide empirical support for the conceptualisation of an L2 workplace training motivation model which takes into consideration personal needs as an important component. Universiti Putra Malaysia Press 2009-09 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/15787/1/19%20Pages%20187-203.pdf Chan, Mei Yuit and Lee, Geok Imm (2009) Needs versus wants: comparing job-related and personal needs of non-academic university employees for English language training. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities, 17 (2). pp. 187-203. ISSN 0128-7702; ESSN: 2231-8534 http://www.pertanika.upm.edu.my/Pertanika%20PAPERS/JSSH%20Vol.%2017%20%282%29%20Sep.%202009/19%20Pages%20187-203.pdf
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
building UPM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Putra Malaysia
content_source UPM Institutional Repository
url_provider http://psasir.upm.edu.my/
language English
description In company-sponsored workplace training programmes, training developers have traditionally focused on employees' job-related needs when designing the training curriculum, in line with conventional wisdom in the practice of human resource development. The personal needs of employees that are not directly related to job demands, commonly labelled as 'wants', are often not considered as important. In the realm of English language learning, however, research and theories have pointed to the importance of learner factors and their motivation for language learning. The sources of motivation, in particular integrative motivation (Gardner and Lambert, 1972), that arise from the learners' personal lives should not be neglected. This study compares the job-related and personal ESL (English as a second language) training needs of a group of non-academic employees of a public university in Malaysia. It investigates the extent to which personal needs are important motivators as compared to job-related needs in workplace English language learning. The framework of this research on workplace learning is informed by theories and concepts developed in the fields of motivation (Gardner and Lambert, 1972; Dornyei, 2005) and domains of language use (Fishman, 1972), as well as workplace training literature (Kraiger and Aguinis, 2001 ; Machin and Treolar, 2004; Tsai and Tai, 2003 ). Data were collected through a questionnaire containing statements of personal and job-related needs. The needs were rank-ordered to identify the most important needs. The results showed that on the whole, the employees found both personal and job-related needs equally relevant. However, analysis of the most important needs indicated a clear preference for personal needs. The results have implications for both the design and instruction of workplace ESL programmes for the study's population, and challenge the common practice of focusing only on job-related language needs in workplace ESL programmes. Finally, the results provide empirical support for the conceptualisation of an L2 workplace training motivation model which takes into consideration personal needs as an important component.
format Article
author Chan, Mei Yuit
Lee, Geok Imm
spellingShingle Chan, Mei Yuit
Lee, Geok Imm
Needs versus wants: comparing job-related and personal needs of non-academic university employees for English language training
author_facet Chan, Mei Yuit
Lee, Geok Imm
author_sort Chan, Mei Yuit
title Needs versus wants: comparing job-related and personal needs of non-academic university employees for English language training
title_short Needs versus wants: comparing job-related and personal needs of non-academic university employees for English language training
title_full Needs versus wants: comparing job-related and personal needs of non-academic university employees for English language training
title_fullStr Needs versus wants: comparing job-related and personal needs of non-academic university employees for English language training
title_full_unstemmed Needs versus wants: comparing job-related and personal needs of non-academic university employees for English language training
title_sort needs versus wants: comparing job-related and personal needs of non-academic university employees for english language training
publisher Universiti Putra Malaysia Press
publishDate 2009
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/15787/1/19%20Pages%20187-203.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/15787/
http://www.pertanika.upm.edu.my/Pertanika%20PAPERS/JSSH%20Vol.%2017%20%282%29%20Sep.%202009/19%20Pages%20187-203.pdf
_version_ 1643826029658112000
score 13.211869

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