TEFL Master 2 2020-2021

Lesson One: Needs Analysis

1. Introduction
2. Definition of Needs Analysis
3. Making Decisions
3.1. Those Involved in the Needs Analysis

3.2. Philosophies of Needs Analysis

3.3. Types of Needs

4. Gathering Information
4.1. Types of Questions

4.2. Types of Instruments

4.3. Characteristics of Procedures

5. Language Needs Analysis

5.1. Discourse Analysis

5.2. Text Analysis

6. Conclusion
-------------------------------
1. Introduction

Needs analysis is relatively new in language teaching. However, needs

analyses have been conducted informally for years by teachers who wanted to
assess what language points their students needed to learn. In order to perform

1
a needs analysis, we need to consider some basic decisions about the needs
analysis and the means of gathering information.

2. Definition of Needs Analysis

Needs analysis, or needs assessment, refers to the activities of gathering

information that will serve as the basis for developing a curriculum/syllabus
that will meet the learning needs of a particular group of students: how much
the students already know and what they need to learn.

Once identified, needs can be stated in terms of objectives which serve as the
basis for developing the content, the materials, the teaching activities and the
tests.

Brown James Dean (1995: 36) summed up the main points of needs analysis
specifying that needs assessment is “the systematic collection and analysis of
all subjective and objective information necessary to define and validate
defensible curriculum purposes that satisfy the language learning
requirements of students within the context of particular institutions that
influence the learning and teaching situation”.

3. Making Decisions

3.1. Those involved in the Needs Analysis

3.1.1. The Target Group: those about whom information will be gathered,
usually the students in a program but sometimes the teachers and/or
administrators.

3.1.2. The Needs Analysts: those responsible for conducting the needs
analysis: the members of the institution designated for the job or consultants
brought in for the purpose.

2
3.1.3. The Audience: those who will be required to act upon the analysis:
teachers and/or administrators.

3.1.4. The Resource Group: those who may serve as a source of

information about the target group: parents or future employers or teachers
from the students’ other courses.

3.2. Philosophies of Needs Analysis

Stufflebeam (1977, cited in Stufflebeam, McCormick, Brinkerhoff and
Nelson 1985) identified four philosophies that can be followed in a needs
analysis: the Discrepancy p philosophy, the Democratic philosophy, the
Analytic philosophy and the Diagnostic philosophy.

1. The Discrepancy philosophy implies that needs are viewed as

differences or discrepancies between a desired performance from the students
and what they are actually doing. It involves gathering detailed information
about what is needed to change students’ performance based on the observed
difference between the desired performance and the one the students are
producing instead.

2. The Democratic philosophy implies that a need is defined as any

change that is desired by the majority of a group. It leads to a needs analysis
that gathers information about the learning most desired by a group.

3. The Analytic philosophy implies that a need is what the students will
naturally learn next based on what is known about them and the learning
processes involved. It leads to a survey of the existing literature on second
language acquisition in search of the hierarchical steps involved in the
language learning process.

3
4. The Diagnostic philosophy implies that a need is anything that would
prove harmful if it was missing. It leads to an analysis of the important
language skills necessary for a group of learners.

3.3. Types of Needs

3.3.1. Situation Needs versus Language Needs

Situation needs refer to needs related to any administrative, financial,

manpower, pedagogic or other factors that might have an impact on the
program.

Language needs refer to target linguistic behaviours that the learners must
ultimately acquire: details about the methodology in which the language will be
used, the dimensions of language competence involved, the learners’ reasons
for studying the language and their present abilities with respect to those
reasons.

3.3.2. Objective Needs versus Subjective Needs

Objective needs refer to needs gathered from observable data about the
situation, the learners, the language that the students must eventually acquire
and their present proficiency level.

Subjective needs refer to the students’ desires and expectations.

3.3.3. Linguistic Content versus Learning Processes

The linguistic content refers to needs analyzed objectively from a language

needs perspective and expressed in linguistic terms: phonemes, morphemes,
grammatical structures, functions and notions.

4
 The learning process refers to needs specified from a situation needs
perspective; they tend to be more subjectively analyzed needs in the affective
domain such as motivation and self-esteem.

Conclusion about the three dichotomies:

Once decisions have been made about what position(s) a particular needs
analysis will take with regard to the above dichotomies, their interrelationship
must be considered.

4. Gathering Information

Gathering information implies identifying the type of questions we need to

ask, the type of instruments needed and respecting specific characteristics in
order to develop a suitable needs analysis.

4.1. Types of Questions

In the process of gathering information, different types of questions should
be considered. Rossett (1982) identified five categories of questions: Problems,
Priorities, Abilities, Attitudes and Solutions.

4.1.1. Problems: The purpose of this type of questions is to identify the

problems that are being experienced by the target group. These questions are
usually open-ended, for example: “What problems have you been having with
the Grammar module?”

4.1.2. Priorities: Questions of this type can be asked of a resource group to

find out which topics, language skills are considered most essential for the
target group.

4.1.3. Abilities: This type of questions is usually used to determine the

abilities of the students at the beginning of the year and is answered by using

5
pre-tests results. Such information is important for establishing a starting
point for the course and for delineating the range of abilities of the students.

4.1.4. Attitudes: Such questions are given to uncover information about

participants’ feelings and attitudes toward the course.

4.1.5. Solutions: This type of questions elicits ideas for solutions to

problems in terms of what changes might bring about compromise and/or final
solutions.

4.2. Types of Instruments

The instruments to be used to gather information vary in relation to the
objectives of needs analysis. They can be the Existing Information, Tests,
Observation, Interviews, Meetings or Questionnaires.
4.2.1. Existing Information: This can include files that may be on hand at
the institution when the needs analysis begins, or external data sources such as
library resources or letters exchanged with other existing programs in other
institutions with similar students.

4.2.2. Tests: They are vital for collecting a need analysis. They assess the
general ability level of the students (Proficiency tests), possible ability
groupings necessary for a course (Placement tests), specific problems that
students may be having with the language (Diagnosis tests) and their
achievement in previous courses (Achievement tests).

4.2.3. Observation: This involves watching an individual or a group of

individuals and recording their language behaviours either informally or
formally as a study.

4.2.4. Interviews: They allow for gathering personal views privately. This
confidentiality can lead to insights into the real opinions of the participants.

6
They may best be used to explore what issues should be pursued in a follow-up
instrument using more structured procedures such as questionnaires.

4.2.5. Meetings: They are organised for specialists in the field to discuss
specific tasks.

4.2.6. Questionnaires: They are more efficient to gather information on a

large scale than are some of the other procedures discussed above. They can
be designed as Biodata surveys used to elicit facts about the background of
the participants (age, address, sex, marital status, number of years of
language study....); or Opinion surveys designed to uncover opinions and
attitudes about the program (the objectives, the materials, the tests....); or Self-
ratings which require individuals to rate their own abilities, interest level,
motivation.....which are useful to obtain practical insights into the self-image
of individuals.

4.3. Characteristics of Procedures

To ensure that a needs analysis is efficient, we have to follow three

characteristics (criteria): Reliability, Validity and Practicality.

4.3.1. Reliability: Reliability is defined as the consistency with which a

procedure obtains information: the results obtained are the same or very similar.
It can be checked statistically or by commonsense examination of the results.

4.3.2. Validity: Validity is defined as the degree to which an instrument

measures what it claims to measure.

4.3.3. Practicality: This issue has to do with the degree to which a

procedure is practical to use: if it is relatively easy to administer (to hand in),
to score and to interpret the scores.

Conclusion about the three characteristics:

7
 Reliability, validity and practicality are interrelated: a procedure must
logically be reliable, valid, and practical within a given context before it can
be effectively used in a needs analysis.

5. Language Needs Analysis

This involves a needs analysis at the level of the discourse and at the level of
the type of texts.
5.1. Discourse Analysis

Munby (1978: 190-198) suggested a framework for a language needs

analysis for gathering information about the types of discourse that the
students will need to use with nine parameters:

1. Participant: biographical facts and language background about those

involved in the needs analysis.
2. Purposive domains: the specific purposes for which the language will be
used.
3. Setting: physical and psychological characteristics of the environment
where language is learned.
4. Interaction: the social relationships involved between two or more
people.
5. Instrumentality: channel of communication: oral or written or both.
6. Dialect: regional or class related language.
7. Target level: language characteristics required.
8. Communicative event: the type of language needed to communicate.
9. Communicative key: attitude relevant to the functions and notions identified.
5.2. Text Analysis: If the learners need to encounter the target language
primarily for purposes of reading or writing, text analysis may help in
determining what the students will ultimately have to read and/or write.

8
Many different genres (types of texts) need to be under scrutiny, for example
scientific texts and newspaper articles.
6. Conclusion

A number of basic decisions must be addressed before starting a needs

analysis: who will be involved, what type of information will be gathered,
what tools can be used followed and what criteria should be followed.

_________________

REFERENCES

1. Brown, James. Dean. 1995. “The Essentials of Language Curriculum”.

Newbury House Teacher Development.

2. Munby, J. 1978. “Communicative Syllabus Design”. Cambridge University

Press.

3. Pratt, D. 1980. “Curriculum Design and Development”. Harcourt Brace

Jovanovich.

4. Richards, J.C; Platt, J and Weber, H.1985. “Longman Dictionary of

Applied Linguistics”. Longman.

5. Rossett, A. 1982. “A Typology for Generating Needs Analysies”. Journal

of Instructional Development 6 (1) 28-33.

6. Stufflebeam , D.L; Mc Cormick, C.H; Brinkerhoff, R.O and Nelson, C.O.

1985. “Conducting Educational Needs Assessments”. Boston : Kluwer-
Nijhoff . ____________