Identifying English language needs of the Turkish National Police academy students: A needs-based syllabus suggestion for law enforcement English course

The primary objective of this study was to identify English language needs of the Turkish National Police Academy (TNPA) students. A secondary aim was to suggest a needs-based syllabus design for the Vocational English (Law Enforcement English) course taught to the fourth year cadets at the Faculty of Security Sciences based on the identified needs. The data for this study were collected through the questionnnaires and interviews from the students, graduates, English instructors, and administrators. Needs analysis questionnaires were administered to 100 fourth year students taking the Vocational English course and 50 graduates working at various departments of the Turkish National Police (TNP). Then, some of the students, English instructors and administrators at the TNPA were interviewed to obtain deeper information about their perceptions towards English language needs of the cadets. The results of the study revealed the participants' perceptions about the effectuality of the current Law Enforcement English course, their difficulties with the use of English, the reasons of the difficulties with English use, the necessity of English in their profession, their competencies in main language skills and some areas of knowledge, the importance of main language skills and some sub-skills in their profession and their suggestions for the methodology and content of the future courses. Furthermore, based on the findings, the implications for a needs-based syllabus design of the Vocational English (Law Enforcement English) course were outlined. Keywords: English language needs, needs analysis, Vocational English course