needs analysis

5/19/2018 Needs Analysis

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Needs analysis

A cornerstone of ESP Essential step in ESP course designWhat distinguishes ESP from EGP is not the existenceof

a need as such but rather an awarenessof the need(Hutchinson & Waters, 1987, p. 53)

Origins of the term:First appeared in the 1920s in India In ESP from the 1960s Munby (1978) Communicative Syllabus Design: communicative needs

processor

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Definition of needs analysisClassification of needsProcesses in needs analysisKinds of information and sources

Instruments and proceduresA practical example of Needs Analysis.


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the purpose of needs analysiswhat are needs?the users of needs analysistarget population

administering the needs analysisProcedures for conducting analysisa. questionareb. interviewc. meetingcollecting language sample


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a family of procedures for gathering information about

learners and about communication tasks...

(Nunan, 1988, p.75)

DEFINITION

systematic collection and analysis of all subjective and

objective information necessary to define and validate

defensible curriculum processes that satisfy the language

learning requirements of students within the context of

particular institutions that influence the learning and

teaching situation. Brown, 1995, p.36


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THE USERS OF NEED Analysis

the ministry of educationto gain information to evaluate curriculum, syllabus and materialteachers who will teach from the new curriculumwriters who are preparing new textbookstesting personnel, (school or course assessors)school staff to create school decision

Private InstitutionTrainerEmployee who is interested in developing staff performance


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TARGET POPULATION

policy makerministry of education officialsteachers

studentsacademicsemployersvocational teaching specialist


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Needs analysis

as a step in course design In the course design cycle, when is it conducted?

A) As a first step, before course design

B) On-going: during the course

C) After the course

Needs analysis Course design Teaching/Learning

Evaluation Assessment

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Types of needs

Need = umbrella term

Hutchinson & Waters (1987) 1. Target situation needs = needs defined in relation to the situation in

which the learner will eventually need to function A. Necessities = what the learner needs to know in order to function

effectively in the TS

B. Lacks = what the learner already knows and does not know

C. Wants = what the learner feels s/he needs

Q: Which of these are subjective and which objective?

2. Learning needs = needs of the learning situation (what ismanageable at present)

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Learner 1:

What are his necessities, lacks and wants?

Karl Jensen is a German engineer who has a frequent and important needto read texts in English. He also needs to talk to overseas colleaguesoccasionally, for example, at the annual planning conference. Thecompany he works for is a multi-national company and the operatinglanguage for communication outside national boundaries is English,

although the majority of workers are non-native speakers. By anyquantitative analysis Karl Jensens need is for reading, because it is a muchmore frequent activity for him. But he feels a far stronger need to spendhis time in the English class improving his oral competence. Why? Theanswer lies in the way in which he identifies his own personality with theuse of a foreign language. He reads in private and at his own speed: he can

use a dictionary if he wants. But when he is speaking, his pride is on theline: his English competence (or lack of it, as he sees it) is exposed for allto see and he is under pressure to participate at a speed determined bythe discourse.

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Learner 2:

What are her necessities, lacks and wants?

Li Yun Zhen is a Chinese graduate in chemistry, who is going tostudy in the United States. She needs to be able to survivesocially and professionally in an English-speaking community.Fluency is, therefore, her greatest need. Li Yun Zhen, however,

prefers to spend her time improving her knowledge of Englishgrammar. Why? Her answer lies in her estimation of priorities.Inorder to be accepted for her course of study she must firstpass a test. The most important criterion in the test isgrammatical accuracy. She, therefore, sees as her priority need

as being to pass the test.

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Learner 3:

What are his necessities, lacks and wants?

Jose Lima is a Brazilian salesman. He needs to be able to talk on thetelephone to customers and to other colleagues. He also needs to readcatalogues and business letters. Jose is an outgoing, sociable man, who getson easily with people. His spoken English is not very accurate, but is fluent.His employer feels that Jose s real need is for greater accuracy in spoken

conversation, because it reflects badly on the companys image to have oneof its representatives speaking very incorrect English. However, Jose feelsthat his spoken English very good, and he resents the implication that it isnot. After all, he communicates very well. He sees the English classes as acriticism of his performance as a salesman. He, therefore, has littlemotivation to attend classes.

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Target situation analysis vs.

analysis of learning needs

Target situation analysisWhyis the language needed? (e.g., for study,

work)

Howwill the language be used? (speaking on thephone)

Whatwill the content areas be? (e.g., medicine)

Whowill the Ls use the language with?(native/non-native speakers,customers/colleagues)

Wherewill the language be used? (meetingsabroad)

Whenwill the language be used? (concurrentlywith ESP course/afterwards; frequently)

Analysis of learning needsWhyare the Ls taking the course? (e.g.,their

attitudes)

Howdo the Ls learn (what methodology willappeal to them?)

Whatresources are available? (materials, trainedESP teachers?

Whoare the Ls? (age, nationality, subjectknowledge)

Wherewill the ESP course take place? (classroomfeatures)

Whenwill the ESP course take place? (everyday/once a week)

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Types of needs analyses I

Dudley-Evans & St John (1998)

1.Target situation analysis

= objective, perceived, product-oriented needs

2. Learning situation analysis

= subjective, felt, process-oriented needs 3. Present situation analysis

= the learners current strengths and weaknesses (whatlearners already know)

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Target situation, learning situation or present

situation needs analysis?

1. I need to see vocabulary written down.

2. I have occasional meetings with British colleagues.

3. I find it difficult to write persuasively.

4. I pick things up by listening.5. Student X needs to read more widely.

6. I like problem solving.

7. I get my tenses mixed up.

8. I hate group work.

9. I have to write reports.

10. My problem is finding the right word.

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Types of needs analyses II

Holliday & Cooke (1982): means analysis

= analysis of the environment where the course will be run

- Factors in the environment are seen not as negativeconstraints but rather as relevant features

- Question to be asked: What is best given the situation?(rather than How can programme X be implemented?)

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Conducting needs analysis:

Sources of information (based on Long, 2005)

Literature: published (e.g., ESP research articles) and

unpublished (e.g., in-house reports)

Learners: current and former

Teachers and applied linguists

Domain experts /subject specialists

Employers

Documents

Triangulated sources

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Conducting needs analysis:

Methods of gathering data (based on Long, 2005)

Interviews (structured, semi-structured, unstructured)

Questionnaires

Language audits

Lesson observations Diaries and logs

Discourse analysis (spoken and written) using genre analysis,

computer-based analysis, etc.

Tests Triangulated methods

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How notto design a questionnaire:

What is wrong with the following items?

1. Do you need spoken and written language? Yes / No

2. Do you use a lot of English in your work? A) a lot b) a little

c) not much

3. do you prefer a friendly student-centred approach to a rigid

teacher-dominated one?

4. If you utterance is linguistically deviant, do you want: a)

peer correction, b) a metalinguistic signal, or c) language

correction

5. How much individual consultation with the teacher do you

think you should have on this course?

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Task

Suppose you were hired by the International

Academy to do a needs analysis in order for new pre-

sessional and in-sessional courses to be introduced

for MA students at Essex. What sources ofinformation and methods would you use to collect

information?

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Critique of needs analysis(based on Basturkmen, 2006)

Learners may not be reliable sources of information about

their own needs, especially if they are pre-experience learners

Learners may lack metalinguistic awareness

Objective needs are not the same as subjective needs

Perspectives of needs vary; whose perspective of needs

should be taken into account?

Language use is too unpredictable

Needs analysis often serves the interests of the institutionrather than learners

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Further reading

Long, M. (Ed.).(2005). Second language needs analysis. Cambridge: CUP.

For further information on methods and sources of information in needs

analysis see Longs own article in the volume.

For examples of needs analyses in various settings, see other chapters.

West, R. (1994). Needs analysis in language teaching. Language Teaching,

27(1), 1-19.

Good for the history and development of needs analysis.

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Article analysis

Cowling, J.D. (2007). Needs analysis: Planning a syllabus for a series of intensive

workshop courses at a leading Japanese company. English for Specific Purposes,

26(4), 426-442.

What was/were

1. the clients requirements?

2. the target group?

3. sources of information used for needs analysis?

4. methods of data gathering used?

5. methods of data gathering discussed but not used? Why were they notused?

6. information provided during each step in the data gathering process?

7. the most useful and the most disappointing step in needs analysis?

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