Needs Analysis

Mohammad AlipourIslamic Azad University, Ahvaz Branch

One major factor influencing the content of any syllabus is the learners’

assumptions about the purpose of language learning.

Learners’ purposes can vary according to how specific they are and how

immediately learners wish to employ their developing language skills.

Needs analysis

A sound educational system should be based on an analysis of learners

needs.

Needs analysis refers to a set of procedures to collect information about

learners and from learners.

These techniques have been borrowed from other areas of training like

industry and technology.

Needs analysis in planning educational programs emerged in the 1960s

through the ESP movement.

Needs analysis

To find out what language skills a learner needs to perform a particular role.

To help determine if an existing course adequately addresses the needs of

potential learners.

To determine which students are most in need of training.

To identify a change of direction that people feel is important.

To identify a gap between what students are able to do and what they need to

be able to do.

To collect information about a particular problem learners are experiencing.

Purposes of needs analysis

The term ‘needs’ is defined in a number of ways as wants, desires,

demands, expectations, motivations, lack, etc. they are often described in

terms of linguistic deficiency as the difference between what a learner can

presently do and what he/she should be able to do.

What are needs?

However, Porcher (1977) achieves that a need is not a thing that exists &

might be considered ready-made. It is a thing that is unstructured, the

center of conceptual networks.

What is identified as a need is dependent on judgment and reflects the

interests & values of those making such a judgment. So, all stakeholders

may have different views as to what needs are.

Immediate and unimmediate needs

Immediate: learners can easily determine their own language needs such as when

there is a specific program.

Unimmediate: learners are not aware of them, e.g. students learning English as a

secondary school subject in an EFL context.

Here learners are not consulted. Their needs have been decided for them.

Therefore, NA includes the study of perceived and present needs as well as

potential and unrecognized needs.

Apriori:

NA is part of the planning that takes place as part of the development of a

course.

Time & resources are available to plan, collect & analyze the relevant

information.

This apriority approach requires long term planning & assumes adequate

time & resources.

Apriori, during, and posterior needs analysis

During:

In some cases, long-term planning is not an option. Little may be known

about a group of learners.

Here, NA is carried out as part of the delivery of the course.

Goals, content & the teaching approach are shaped by information

collected during the teaching of the course.

Posteriori:

At other times, the bulk of information about the needs may be collected

after the course is finished.

It is used for obtaining a more comprehensive view of learners’ needs as a

basis for evaluating & revising the program.

Identifying the users of NA depends on its scale. With the small-scale NA, the

audience might consist of the teacher, other teachers & the program coordinator.

In case of the large-scale NA, there will be multiple audiences & determining

them is an important first step to ensure that the information they need is

obtained.

It is important to remember that not all key audiences are to be identified at the

beginning. Also, the relative importance of various audiences will change during

the study.

Users of needs analysis

The target population in a NA refers to the people about whom information

will be collected. Typically, in language programs, these will be language

learners or potential learners, but others are also involved.

Policy markers, ministry of education officials, teachers, students,

academics, employers, parents & so on. Within each target group,

subcategories of respondents might be needed to provide different

perspectives on needs.

Target population

It is important to note that in a large-scale NA, sampling is required.

Sampling involves asking a portion of potential population instead of the

total population & seeks to create a representative sample.

Not only on why learners want to learn the target language, but also about

such things as societal expectations, constraints & the resources available

for implementing the syllabus.

What information should be collected?

There are two major types of need analysis.

Learner analysis is based of information about the learner. The central

question is for what purposes is language being learned?

Task analysis is employed to identify & categorize the language skills

required to carry out real-world communicative tasks & often follows

learner analysis which establishes the communicative purposes for which

language is learned.

Central question is: what are the subordinate skills & knowledge required

by learners to carry out real-world communicative tasks?

Learner analysis vs. task analysis

Objective factual information does not require the attitudes & views of

learners to be taken into account. Biographical information such as age,

nationality, first language , etc. is said to be objective.

Subjective information reflects the perceptions, goals, & priorities of the

learners.

Subjective vs. objective information

This model is for syllabuses with a narrow focus such as ESP syllabuses.

The assumption is that there are certain aspects of the language which are

peculiar to contexts in which it is used. Therefore, they are different from

General English syllabuses.

Munby’s model includes the following nine elements:

1. Participant: It is about the learners’ language skills & identity. It is

similar to learner analysis.

Munby’s (1978) model

2. Purposive domain: It is about the purpose of language learning.

3. Setting: It is about the environment in which language will be

employed.

4. Interaction: It is about the people with whom the learner will interact

and also their roles.

5. Instrumentality: It refers to the medium (spoken/written,

receptive/productive), the mode (monologue/dialogue, written/ spoken,

heard/read), & the channel (face-to-face/indirect).

Munby’s (1978) model

6. Dialect: It is about any dialect or variety the learner needs to speak.

7. Target level: It is about the degree of mastery to be gained.

8. Communicative event: It is about productive or receptive skills to

master.

9. Communicative key: It is about specifying the interpersonal attitudes &

tones to master.

Munby’s (1978) model

NAs vary in their scope & demands from a survey of a whole school

population to a small group is a single institution.

Sometimes a team of personnel is assembled, & at times two or there

interested teachers are involved.

Administering the needs analysis

A variety of procedures can be used & the type of information required

depends on the procedures adopted. A triangular approach is advisable

since any one source is incomplete.

The followings are the most common types:

Procedures for conducting the needs analysis

1. Questionnaires: the most common instruments. Easy to prepare, with a

large number of subjects, information is easy to tabulate and analyze. Used

for different kinds of issues. They can be structured (close-ended) or

unstructured (open-ended).

Problem is that information obtained may be fairly superficial & will need

follow up steps.

2. Self-ratings: consist of scales that students or others use to rate their

knowledge. Problem is that information is only impressionistic &

imprecise.

3. Interviews: they allow a more in-depth exploration than a questionnaire.

Take long to administer. Feasible for small groups only. Usually used

before designing a questionnaire.

They can be structured or unstructured.

4. Meetings: allow a large amount of information in a short time.

Problem is that information may be subjective & reflect ideas of more

outspoken members of a group.

5. Observations: observing learners’ behavior in a target situation. It is a

specialized skill & requires training because people perform differently

when they are being observed (Hawrthorne & Halo effects)

6. Collecting learner language samples: data on how well learners perform

on different language tasks & documenting their problems. They can be

through written or oral tasks, simulations, role plays, achievement tests and

performance tests.

Because needs are not objectives facts but subjective interpretations of

information, a great deal of consultation is needed with the various

stakeholders to ensure that the conclusions drawn are appropriate and

relevant.