Exploring Business English Course Needs: Students’ Views on Types and Difficulty Levels

Business English is an important course designed to prepare students to engage in professional settings where English is needed. Tailoring the course materials to meet real-world demands is, therefore, essential. One of the ways is to conduct a needs analysis, the results of which will be the basis of the course syllabus and material development. This study explores Business English students’ perceptions of the course needs, specifically the types and difficulty levels, in the context of North Bali. The study employed a mixed-methods design by disseminating a questionnaire to 132 respondents and conducting a semi-structured interview with 15 respondents. The findings indicated that the students perceived that all listed needs should be included in the materials. Regarding the degree of difficulty, students found tasks such as reading contracts/agreements, writing contacts/agreements and business emails, listening to social meetings and negotiations, speaking in face-to-face meetings and negotiations, and implementing etiquette in dining and social talks to be challenging. In addition, translating contracts/agreements was also perceived as a difficult task.