ROCHMATUL HASANAH

160210401078

ESP
The Critical Review of Needs Analysis and Curriculum Development in
ESP by Lynne Flowerdew

Since 1994 , needs analyses in ESP have assumed increasing importance since the use
of English as a lingua franca, which influences technology and communication. Needs
analysis deals with what and how the course is, which is the first stage of ESP in developing
the course, followed by curriculum design, materials selection, methodology, assessment, and
evaluation. Needs is like an umbrella that covers many aspects, such as learners’ goals,
backgrounds, language proficiencies, reasons for taking the course, teaching and learning
preferences, and the situations they will need to communicate in. According to the
explanation of needs analysis, we can see that knowing the learners’ needs is important in
order to make sure the teaching-learning activity goes well based on the learners’ expectation.
In this chapter, the needs analysis is defined in terms of the target situation analysis,
(TSA), what learners have to do, and present situation analysis (PSA), which draws attention
to the gap between what students are able to do at the beginning of the course and what they
need to do at the end of the course. The learners’ personal information and information about
the language teaching environment are two aspects to cover the PSA. In other words, the
TSA is concerned with needs, while the PSA addresses learners’ lacks and wants.
Negotiating syllabus is a way introduced in this chapter to deal with learners’ needs,
which can involve accommodation and compromise regarding not only what is to be learnt
but also taking into account students’ preferred ways of learning and cognitive style
(Brindley, 1989). Nevertheless, negotiating the syllabus with learners is not an easy work. As
I know, Indonesian teachers have to design and arrange the syllabus before the course begin.
If teachers have to negotiate the syllabus to find out the learners’ needs, it will take the
teaching-learning time in the classroom, since they have to negotiate at the beginning of the
course, which every student might have vary and many needs.
Expert intuitions, participant and non - participant observation, structured and
unstructured interviews, surveys and questionnaires, and criterion - referenced performance
tests are also methods noted by Long (2005) to collect data in needs analyses for ESP.
Interview is the best method to sort out the learners’ needs. However, it is not practical since
it takes a lot of time, budget, and effort. In fact, teachers have to teach based on the syllabus
and lesson plan that has been arranged sequentially. It means that teachers are busy and by
doing such interview will seize their time. Therefore, in my opinion, survey and questionnaire
might be the better to choose due to the practical reason.
Needs analysis procedures can be achieved in three ways: triangulation, conclusions
are developed using a range of data sources, research methods or investigators; prolonged
engagement, the use of repeated observation and collection of sufficient data over a period of
time; and participant verification, the analysis is discussed with participants and its “ reality ”
verified by them. These procedures are good but they need a lot of time, budget, and effort.
Therefore, it is not only the teachers’ responsible but other education experts like curriculum
designer, researcher, and government.
Needs Analysis in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) usually take a skills-based
approach at the macro-level, for instance the needs in academic writing, which is the major
focus of needs analyses in the academy. To consider the learners’ needs , wants , and lacks, it
needs a rights analysis, that is a tool for EAP teachers and students to consider possible
responses to unfavorable social, institutional, and classroom conditions. Here, students are
allow to choose their own tasks, as in the case of the negotiated syllabus. However, this might
be another problem for the students if they do not know they need and how to create their
own tasks. For instance, the beginner English learner who do not know anything about
English yet. They do not know their needs and wants due to the blind knowledge of English.
Needs Analysis in English for Occupational Purposes ( EOP ) takes account of
various constraints. Some students unwilling to take certain course which they could not see
any immediate value to their future occupation. Hence, needs analysis found mismatch
between the intended target needs and student want. This is the major discussion in my ESP
class. The curriculum of English in Vocational High School is the same with the English in
Senior High School, which triggers a big question in our head. There should be a
reconstruction of English in Vocational High School, since learners need specific English for
their future job. The reality shows that Vocational High School students do not know certain
lexises related to their course.
The chapter written by Lynne Flowerdew about needs analysis in ESP in very good.
Flowerdew try to explain everything not only using explanation of theory, but also with detail
example in realia. This makes the readers understand what she write better. However, the
language and style used in her writing is quiet difficult for me to understand, hence I need
someone to explain it further.