Abstract
The purposes of this research were 1) to study the instructional needs of Japanese language for working individuals in seven aspects: Contents, Teaching Materials, Japanese Language Skills, Teaching-Learning Process, Teaching Activities, Teaching Approach and Instructor and 2) to gather supplemental suggestions from learners and instructors. Research samples were 46 Thai-Nichi Institute of Technology students in the first semester of the 2023 academic year, derived through a simple random sampling technique. The instruments used for gathering the data were the rating-scale and open-ended questionnaire. The statistics used for analyzing the data were frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. The results showed that instructional needs on Japanese for working individuals as a whole were at a high level (mean = 4.31, SD = 0.09). When considered in each aspect, it was found that their needs were at high level on Teaching Materials (mean = 4.49, SD = 0.54), Contents (mean = 4.47, SD = 0.63), Japanese Language Skills (mean = 4.43, SD = 0.69), Teaching-Learning Process (mean = 4.27, SD = 0.57), Instructor (mean = 4.21, SD = 0.09), Teaching Approach (mean = 4.15, SD = 0.74), and Teaching Activities (mean = 4.13, SD = 0.73) respectively. Instructors provided supplemental suggestions, emphasizing the need to adapt teaching methods and enhance their skills when developing Japanese language courses for working individuals, considering the situation and suitability for the learners.
