ELT CURRICULLUM NEED ANALYSIS

What is a needs analysis?

According to Nunan (1988), a needs analysis contains the following 3 elements;

·         An analysis of the learner’s language.

·         Information about the learner.

·         Beliefs about the learning process .

Why do needs analysis?

·         To help negotiate the gap between learners ‘and teachers’ beliefs about language English learning

·         To encourage the student to think about their reasons and motivations for learning English

·         To determine the gap between what the learner wants/ needs to do with the language and what he/ she is currently able to do (Nunan 1988).

·         To inform the teacher’s planning decision:

§  To help identify learning goals

§  To help select/ adapt/ create relevant and useful course content.

·         To find out about your student(s) e.g. their background, experience, job, intrests

When should we do a needs analysis?

·         Before a course.

·         The first day of the course.

·         Every activity/ lesson.

What to include in a needs analysis at the beginning of a course?

·         Previous/ background.

·         Motivation

·         Availability

·         Areas for improvement

·         Needs and wants

·         Learning (or teaching) style or preferences

·         Level

·         Beliefs about learning process

Task; order the above from the most important to least important, 1 being the most important, 8 being the least important.

Creating a needs analysis

Task; write one question for each of the categories below;

·         Previous experience/ background

·         Motivation

·         Availability

·         Areas for improvement

·         Needs and wants

·         Learning (or teaching) style or preferences

·         Level

·         Beliefs about learning process

Sample questions

·         How long have you been learning English?

·         Why do you want to learn English?

·         When can you attend classes?

·         What are your strengths in English? What are your weaknesses?

·         What do you use English for?

·         What kind of activities do you like to do in class?

·         What is the best way to learn a language?

Guidelines for writing needs analysis questions

·         Open-ended question (e.g. “how do you feel about error correction?”)

·         Use graded language.

·         Avoid loaded question (e.g. “why can you learn a language by memorizing vocabulary?” or “what was wrong with your last teacher?”)

·         Avoid double barreled questions (e.g. “what are your strengths and weakness?”)

Task; read the following written responses by a student. What are the question?

·         I can write very good

·         Saturday is better time for me

·         I’m no very good in speaking

·         I use English for write. I must write many e-mails.

·         I like talk. I don’t like when the professor explains us the grammar all days.

·         I need English for many jobs. Is very important for me.

·         I learning English since I was child

·         Communication is the more important way.

Answers

Task; base on this students responses:

1.       What are your strengths in English? “I can write very good”

2.       When can you attend classes? “Saturday is better time for me”

3.       What is your weakness? “ I’m no very good in speaking”

4.       What do you use English for? “I use English for write. I must to write many e-mails”

5.       What kind of activities do you like to do in class? “I like talk. I don’t like when the professor explains us the grammar all days”

6.       Why do you want to learn English? “I need English for many jobs. Is very important for me”

7.       How long have you been learning English? “I learning English since I was child”

8.       What is the best way to learn a language? “Communication is the more important way”