Annie Gbaford

Tch Lrn 409: Dr. Omran

September 25, 2020

Needs Analysis Fieldwork

1.

Needs Analysis Revised Questions:

I didn’t revise my questions because I felt that my questions worked really well for most of the

students that I interviewed. My questions were perfect for my students Blessing Mawolo an 8-

year-old in second grade, Atheer a freshman in high school, and Eliana A 3rd grader. My

questions were able to extract the information that I felt was important in order to help them

succeed in school. My questions did not work for students like Catalina. She was fluent in

English and couldn’t relate to any of my questions.

Problems:

- What has been the hardest thing about learning English for you?

- What do you find most confusing about academic language in the classroom?

- What has been more challenging for you speaking or writing in English?

- What subject do you struggle the most in and why?

Priorities:

- How has pronunciation affected the way students or teachers respond to you?

- When given the task of reading and summarizing the information what is the
most difficult for you?

- How has your reading and writing abilities matched up with your peers?

Abilities:

- What is your favorite subject in school?

 - What has been the easiest thing to learn in English?

- What is something that you have been able to really excel in?

- How has your homelife impacted your language learning

Attitude:

- What has been your attitude about having to learn English?

- How have you dealt with challenges facing your language abilities?

- How were you able to push through obstacles in your education?

Solutions:

- How were you able to access extra support in classes when needed?

- How did your teachers provide you with the tools needed to succeed in the classroom?

- What steps have you taken in order to meet grade-level standards?

2.

a.) I provided enough information for Blessing Mawolo so I’m sticking with her as my student

because I was able to interview her for a much longer time and I knew her family which made

that easier on me. My questions were able to draw her out and I felt that we were both more

comfortable in a private setting.

b.) According to (Gottlieb, 2016, p.4) I think that Blessing is a linguistically and culturally

diverse student. Blessing is a student who speaks another language in addition to English at

home with her parents. I think that Blessing also qualifies as an English Language Learner

(Gottlieb, 2016, p. 4) In addition, she qualifies for language support in school. She still struggles

with reading comprehension and pronunciation. She has a problem with mainly understanding

academic language in the classroom which is why she needs extra support. Blessing Mawolo was

not old enough to go to school in Monrovia, Liberia. Her native language is Kru and she’s
learning English in school here in Portland, Oregon. Blessing growing up in Africa has a very

different take on things that we do in the classroom. She looks at things through her cultural

perspective and views.

c.) When I interviewed Blessing, I learned how important it is to be able to have a one on one

interview with students. When you as a teacher take time to get to know your students and their

needs, strengths, weaknesses, culture, and them as an individual you can better connect with that

student and help advocate for them. Blessing is growing up in a culture where it’s important to

not talk back to your elders and to be very quiet. Blessing struggles with sharing in front of the

class because of this. “I am not used to talking out of place. I’m trying to learn to be able to shout

out in class when the teacher asks us to” (Blessing, Mawolo). I grew up in the Liberian culture so

I can relate and understand a lot of the things that blessing goes through. I also struggle with

these very similar issues and as a teacher, you have to be willing to put in extra effort to make

them feel safe and comfortable. Blessing also is having struggle with pronunciation. When

reading in class she is too focused on trying to focus on making sure that she pronounces words

properly that she isn’t focusing on trying to understand what she is reading. Blessing is an

amazing speller and can excels in math but struggles with understanding word problems. “I

really like math it’s easy for me when we have just numbers, I get really confused when we have

to do word problems” (Blessing, Mawolo).

d.) From my needs analysis tool I have concluded that Blessing needs to be put in an ELL class

for extra support. I think it would benefit her having a smaller class where she’s given more time

to focus on her pronunciation. I think in a smaller environment she’ll probably be less nervous

and can take the time to focus on understanding rather than sounding correct. Pronunciation is

important but I think it more important for her to understand content rather than pronouncing
words correctly. It’s important that all our students have equal opportunity to learn and be

successful in the classroom (Gottlieb, 2016, p. 1). One of the best ways to do that for ELL

students like blessing is providing them with the extra support needed. A teacher can only do so

much in a class full of 20-30 students. They cannot give the time and attention to that individual

student that they would need in order to succeed. This is why we have Lau v. Nicholas the

supreme court saw that it was important to provide children with an equal opportunity in school

despite a language barrier (Gottlieb, 2016, p.2). My needs analysis tool helps me see how

important it is to get to you know your students and their individual needs.

e.)

Pros: The needs analysis tool that I designed got me the necessary data I needed to help my

student. Another pro I found is that in my interview with blessing she was a lot more comfortable

and relaxed with me. I noticed the difference from having to do the group interviews in class

versus the individual interview. I felt like it was hard trying to get to really know the students

and make them feel comfortable. I felt that it was inappropriate sometimes to ask them questions

about their parents and family member because I didn’t want to make them feel uncomfortable.

The conflict with that is that I felt the most important information for me to collect is what their

family dynamic looks like and their experience with language at home (Gottlieb, 2016, p.2). I

think this lets me know what support I need to have for students and their parents. Through my

need analysis I was able to understand that Blessing is having trouble in school because she is

more focused on the social aspect. She wants so badly for people to understand her she’s not

focused on understanding the topic or concept being taught. I was better able to understand why

she is struggling such topics.

Cons: The con of my need analysis tool is that it was specifically designed for one type of

student. That is a student who wasn’t born here and who still struggles with English. When I

interviewed Catalina, my questions didn’t apply for a student like her who was already very well

integrated into American culture.

 Citations

Brown, J.D. (1995). Needs Analysis: In The elements of language curriculum: A

systematic approach to program development. Retrieved September 2, 2020, from
https://learn.wsu.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-4077742-dt-content-rid-116843992_1/courses/2020-
FALL-PULLM-TCH_LRN-409-7604-LEC/Brown_1995 Needs Analysis(2).pdf

Gottlieb, M. (2016). Assessing English language learners: Bridges to educational equity:

Connecting academic language proficiency to student achievement. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Corwin.