Ch3 Needs analysis

9710008M Venus
9710009M Carl
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Introduction
What are needs?
Wants, desires, demands, expectation, motivations,
lacks, constraints, and requirements
(Brindley 1984) P54
What are needs analysis?
Procedures for collecting information about learners
needs
When did needs analysis introduced into
teaching?
1960s; through the ESP movement (P28)
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The Purpose of needs analysis

1. To find out what language skills a learner
needs
2. To help determine if an existing course
adequately addresses the needs of potential
students
3. To determine which students are most in need
of training in particular language skills

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The Purpose of needs analysis

4. To identify a change of direction that people
in a reference group feel is important
5. To identify a gap between what students are
able to do and what they need to be able to
do

6. To collect information about a particular

problem learners are experiencing
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The Purpose of needs analysis

Needs also includes students rights
Its schools responsibility to take into account the
cultural, political, and personal characteristics of
students . in order to plan activities and objectives
that are realistic and purposeful.
(Linse, 1993)
Immediately needs: 1. employment; 2. students right
Not so immediately needs: 1. compulsory subject
2. consider best for ss
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The Purpose of needs analysis

Needs also includes perceived and present
needs, potential and unrecognized needs
Needs analysis may take place
1. prior to
2. during
3. after a language program
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Examples of needs analyses conducted

prior to a language program
Method:
Staff questionnaire:
* background information about the course the
lecturer was describing
* overview of problems experienced by ESL
students
* linguistic demands of the course
* suggestions to which language skills should be
focuses on
* modifications made in teaching or in examinations
Students questionnaire
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What are needs?

Needs:
1. a linguistic deficiency
2. Its not a thing that exists and might be
encountered real-made on the street
(Porcher 1977)
3. language needsneed to survive in a
English-dominant society
Planning an ESL curriculum involves:
identifying ss language needs, but seeks to
enable them to critically examine and become
active in shaping their own role in it. (Auerbach
1995)
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The users of needs analysis

Large-scale needs analysis

curriculum officers in the ministry of education

Teachers
Learners
Writers
Testing personnel
Staff of tertiary institutions

Small-scale needs analysis

Teacher
Program coordinator
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The target population

Language learners or potential language learners

Policy makers
Ministry of education officials
Teachers
Academics
Employers
Vocational training specialists
Parents
Influential individuals and pressure groups
Academic specialists
Community agencies

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The target population

Subcategories of respondents
students currently enrolled in a foreign language course
students previously enrolled but no longer studying a language
students who have never studied a foreign language

An important issue in determining the

target population: Sampling
Sampling involves asking a portion of potential population
instead of the total population
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Administering the needs

analysis
Who will administer the needs analysis,
collect and analyze the results?
* academic or research assistant
* colleagues in different department
* students who piloted the questionnaire
* academic staff of the university
* secretarial support
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Procedures for conducting needs analysis

Questionnaires
Self-ratings
Interviews
Meetings
Observation
Collecting learner language samples
Task analysis
Case studies
Analysis of available information
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1. Questionnaires
a. advantages
prepare easily
make tables to analyze easily
b. Two types
Structured items (limited answers chosen)
Unstructured items (open-ended answers)
c. disadvantages
superficial or imprecise probably
need a follow-up to gain more understandings
many badly designed questionnaires
* Advice: to familiar with the principles of
good questionnaire design.

2. Self-ratings
a. using scales to rate knowledge or abilities
b. might be included as part of a questionnaire
c. a disadvantage
provide imprecise (impressionistic) information
3. Interviews (face-to-face or telephone)
a. allowing for a more in-depth exploration of issues
b. being useful at the preliminary stage
c. disadvantages
take time
being proper for smaller groups

4. Meetings
a. allow to collect many information in a short time
b. disadvantages
Impressionistic (imprecise information)
subjective
more ideas of outspoken members
5. Observation
a. learners behavior in a target situation
b. a disadvantage
perform not well while being observed
c. specialized-training observer

6. Collecting learner language samples

a. written or oral tasks
b. simulations or role plays
c. achievement tests
test the abilities in different domains
d. performance tests
test on job-related or task-related
7. Task analysis
a. analyze many tasks the learners carry out
future occupational or educational setting
Assessment of demands of the task
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8. Case studies
a. a single student or a selected group of students
through a relevant work or educational experience
in order to determine the characteristics of the situation
9. Analysis of available information
a. various sources of available information
books
journal articles
reports and surveys
Records and files
b. first step in a needs analysis normally
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Designing the needs analysis

1. being made on the practical procedures
a. collecting, organizing, analyzing, and reporting
2. avoiding information too much
a. collect the information that will actually be used
3. Procedures for larger-scale needs analysis:
a. literature survey
b. analysis of a wide range of survey questionnaires
c. contact with others
d. interviews with teachers
e. identification of participating departments
f. presentation of project proposal
g. development of a pilot student and staff questionnaires
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g. review of the questionnaires

h. piloting of the questionnaires
i. selection of staff and student subjects
j. developing a schedule for collecting data
k. administration of questionnaires
l. follow-up interviews
m. tabulation or responses
n. analysis of responses
o. writing up of report and recommendations

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4. Procedures for smaller-scale needs analysis:

a. initial questionnaire
b. follow-up individual and group interviews
c. meetings with students
d. meetings with other teachers
e. ongoing classroom observation
f. test

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Making use of the information obtained

1. Making a list
a. consisting of information from different sources and
summarized in ranking
2. Needing more analysis and research
a. in order to develop aims and objectives
3. Some changes needed
a. degree of importance of needs
b. immediate or longer-term
c. more consultation (discussion) needed
4. Stufflebeam et al. (1985) remind the goal of analysis
a. bring meaning to the obtained information
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5. Take various views into account

a. learners view
b. academics view
c. employers view
d. teachers view
6. The function of the result of needs analysis
a. provide the basis for evaluation
b. offer the basis for planning goals and objectives
c. assist with developing tests
d. help with the selection of proper teaching methods
e. provide the basis for developing a syllabus and materials
f. provide other information used as part of a course
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Thank you for listening !!

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