3 NEEDS ANALYSIS ‘The following aspects of neéds analysis wil be considered in this chapter: ‘The target population - Procedures for large-scale neads analysis. - Making use of the information obtained Applying the findings of need analysis "+ The nature of needs ‘= Learners without specific needs ‘©. Larger-scale needs analysis “The goals of needs analysis “+ The users of needs analysis . Case study 6 Planning a course in technical communication Lindsay Miller. Case study 7 Developing a foundation course for college students Rob Haines Introduction it would seem obvious that in planning a language course the goat is to help prepare learners to use English beyond the classroom. For most, but not all, learners, therefore, language learning is not a goal in itself but a means fo an end, The goal is generally to develop skils in English that will factitate social survival, work, travel, education, and so on. Collecting information on the kinds of activities and purposes the learner will use English for is therefore an essential phase in curriculum development. Determining the nature of these activities and their Inguistic features and demands is known as needs analysis. As we saw in Chapter 3, needs analysis was introduced into language teaching through the ESP movement in the 1960s, drawing on procedures that had been developed in other areas of curriculum planning, From the 1960s, the demand for specialized language programs grew, and applied linguists increasingly began to employ needs analysis procedures in language teaching. By the 1980s, in many parts of the world, a “needs-based philosophy" emerged in language teaching, particularly in relation to ESP and vocationally oriented program design {Munby 1978; Brindley 1984). Needs analysis as a practical classroom procedure also emerged as part of the philosophy of learer-centereciness and learer autonomy in language teaching (Nunan 1988). It is @ core dimension of backward design in curriculum development. Caras goals “eC syllabus > izstrtion > (essesamen ) Needs analysis can be small in scale, such as when a teacher seeks to find out as much as possible about the needs of learners in his or her class. It can also have a much larger scope, such as when an institute or language training organization is contracted to develop a course for a specific group of leamers (¢.g., banking employees, flight attendants, international students in a US or British University) and uses a variety of needs analysis procedures to determine what might be relevant goals and content for such a course (Gonzalez-Lloret 2014). leamars you tear at you are familiar with) hi? How do yo for a gros have specific need 7980_* Curriculum Development in Language Teaching 4.1 The nature of needs . The term needs is not as straightforward as it might appear, and hence the term is sometimes used to refer to wants, desires, demands, expectations, motivations, lacks, constraints, and requirements (Brindley 1984, 28). The definition of needs depends on whose point of view we are addressing ~ the teamer, the teacher, or a school director. Needs from the point of view of the learner can reter to earners’ preferences for certain kinds of classroom activities as well as what they feel they should focus on in class (.8., subjective needs). A teacher or administrator, however, may consider needs in terms of gaps or deficiencies in the learner's performance, that is, the difference between what a leamer can presently do in a language and what he ar she should be able to do. This latter view of needs suggests that needs have objective reality and are simply there waiting to be identified and analyzed (objective needs). Porcher (1977, in Brindley 1984, 29} offers a differant perspective: "Need is not a thing that exists and might be encountered ready-made on the street. It is a thing that is. constructed, the center of conceptual networks and the product of a number of epistemological choices (which are not innocent themselves, of course).” What is identified as a need is dependent on judgment and reflects the interests and values of those making such a judgment. Teachers, learners, employers, parents, and other stakeholders may thus all have diferent views as to what needs are, and identifying the perceptions and beliefs of different stakeholders (also referred to as stakeholder analysis) is an important dimension of needs analysis (see section 4.4), For example, in considering the needs of immigrants, representatives of the majority population may see the immigrants’ needs as achieving cultural and iinguistic assimilation as quickly as possible and hence may want a needs analysis to identify the language skills immigrants require in order to survive, and ultimately, assimilate into the dominant culture. The immigrants themselves, however, may see their goals as concerned with communication for survival and independence, particularly economic survival, but may have no wish to assimilate into the dominant culture (Burnett 1998), Their need relates to housing, health care, access to schooling for their children, access to community agencies and services, and ways of addressing expioitation and discrimination in the workplace. How can the curriculum give learners the linguistic and other resources they need to understand and access resources they have the right to make use of in the community and to articulate and defend their owin rights and interests? Planning an ESL. curriculum in this case involves not only identifying students’ language needs, but also seeking “to enable them to critically examine {the existing order} and become active in shaping their own roles in it” (Auerbach 1995, 15). Auerbach has pointed out that English language teaching has often been viewed as a “neutral transfer of skills, knowledge, or competencies" and that such an approach is based on the needs of social institutions, rather than language learners, and ignores questions of power: Pedagogical choices about curriculum development, content, materials, classroom processes, and language use; although appearing to be informed by apolitical professional considera- tions, ave in fact inherently ideological in nature, with significant implications for leamers’ socioeconomic roles sor a gr you are familiar Apart from lang do your lea A ot @ a ther kinds of needs that a language program could address?4 Needs analysis + 81 4,2 Course design for learners who may have no specific needs Needs analysis is often a large-scale research activity that seeks to find information on the language needs of learners who are studying English for specific occupational, educational, or social purposes {Long 2015). However, many leamers may have no clearly defined purpose for studying English — indeed, it may simply be a requirement of the schoo! system, as it is for many young people in countries where English is @ required subject at primary and secondary school. As Cameron (2001, 30) observes: Many children do not use the foreign language much outside the classroom, except perhaps on holiday, with tourists to their country, and when using computers. Beyond these limited domains, their outside lives do not readily provide a needs-related syllabus for foreign lan- guage learning. Furthermore, their adult lives and possible needs for the language are still too far away to give content to lessons ... The be 1 do is aim for dynamic congruence: choosing activities and content that are appropriate for the children’s age and sociocultural experience, and language that will grow with the children we c Hence, for many young learners, learning English for use in the classroom becomes the primary goal, and the activities and experiences provided in the classroom serve as both means and ends of learning, With young learners there is often no formal language-based syllabus at this stage. Songs, games, and other motivational activities provide the source for learning and for language’use (Pinter 2002). Vale and Feunteun (1998, 33) suggest that the goals of teaching English to young learners are: * to build confidence * to provide the motivation to learn English. + to encourage ownership of lar * to encourage children to communicate with whatever language they have at their disposal (mime, gesture, key word, drawings, etc) + to encourage children to treat English as a communication tool, not as an end product * to show children that English is fun * to establish a trusting relationship with children and encowrage them to do the same with smates + togive children an experience of a wid environment. nge iglish tau hin the ourriculum? For older learners such as teenagers, the classroom may still be a primary source of contact with English; however, increasingly, aut-of-class experiences through travel, the media, and the Internet add another source of potential learning opportunities and would therefore fall within the scope of needs analysis. Legutke (2012, 118), commenting on teenagers as language learners, observes: Although the classroom has never been the only space for encounters with English, ne past gener- ation has had such wide out-of-school exposure to English. Three main sources have been identified: media, personal networks (family and friends), and intercultural contacts through travelling Unlike adults, who often study English by choice and who may have very specific needs for learning English, teenage learners may have had no choice in the fact that they are studying English. The82 © Curriculum Development in Language Teaching benefits of knowing English in the future may not be apparent to them at this point in their lives. They may not see the purpose of some learning activities, because unlike older learners, they do not look ahead to consider what the skils they are practicing will ‘ead to. Teenage learners tend to evaluate activities according to how intrinsically interesting or motivating they are, rather than in terms of how well these activities prepare them for something external to the classroom Courses for young learners and teenagers therefore require a different approach to neads analysis, 'n these cases teachers need to know as much as they can about their learners, including what their current proficiency level is in English, what their previous language learning experiences have been, how they like to learn, the kinds of topics and activities they prefer, how they see their role and that of their teacher in the classroom, and the kinds of problems they experiance learning English. Gathering information of this kind can also be considered as a form of needs analysis. For example, a needs analysis project for teachers in Spain, designed for a group of teenagers aged 13 to 16, sought information on three issues: * Learning needs (learning styles, motivations to lear, thinking styles, preferences and types of intelligences they use when learning) * Language nesds (skils they wanted to improve such as grammar, reading, speaking, listening, writing, vocabulary, pronunciation). * Social needs (background features, gender, culture, personality and interests). Information was obtained from surveys, observation and field notes, students’ personal journal, and an attitude scale, (See Joomag 2014.) In courses for young learners and teenagers, needs analysis may have a number of different purposes, For example: * To determine the learners’ current level of proficiency in English. * To find out what aspects of English learning they enjoy most and least, such as reading, listening, video viewing. * To find out about their previous expariences with language leaming * To determine their preferences for classroom learning activities. * To find out about their interests and the kinds of topics and content they would like to focus on. * To find out their preferences for learning arrangements, such as whole-class teaching, group work, or individual work * To find out their views and beliefs about such issues as the importance of grammar, vocabulary, error correction, fluency activities, group work, in this context needs analysis refers to relatively informal procedures thal teachers can use to identity the beliefs, predispositions, learning preferences, and so on that iearers bring to the classroom. For example, proficiency and diagnostic tests can be used to assess learners’ language level Questionnaires as well as conversations with the learners themselves can be used to find answers to many of the questions above (see Appendix 1). 4.3 Larger-scale needs analysis Larger-scale needs analysis is often necessary In developing programs with wide application, such as in planning national or institutional curricula for learners with specific needs. Needs analysis as a distinct and necessary phase in planning educational programs emerged in the 1960s as part of4Needs analysis * 83 the systems approach to curriculum development and was a feature of the prevalent philosophy of eclucational accountability (Stutfiebeam et al. 1988). if providers of training programs wanted public or other sources of funding in order to provide different kinds of training programs, they were required to demonstrate that a proposed program was a response to a genuine need (Pratt 1980). Subsequently, as Berwick (1989, 51) suggests, needs analysis developed into something of an industry. ‘The need for convincing precision in edy this period by the “behavioral objective scational needs assessment was also reinforced during movernent in educational planning, particularly in North America, which insisted on specifying in measurable form alt goals of iraportance with- in an educational system. The emphasis on precision and accountability clearly influenced the appearance of needs assessment as a form of educational technology and its diversification into a collection of educational research methodologies. In language program design, procedures for conducting needs analysis have been cleveloped particularly for use in planning ESP courses (see Chapter 3), EAP courses, and vocational courses, but are also essential in developing cliant-based courses {e.g., business English courses) in the private sector (Huhta et al. 2013) 4.4 The goals of needs analysis Needs analysis in language teaching is generally thought of as the starting point in many cases of course design ~ particularly within a backward-cesign approach ~ and as such may have a number of related purposes, such as the following: To understand the context in which a leamer uses or will use English. To find out what language skils a learner needs in order to perform a particular role, such as sales manager, tour guide, or university student To find out the most fraquent and most demanding situations for which the learner needs English. To find out the kinds of tasks and activities the learners need to use English for outside of the classroom. To identify a gap between what students are able to do and what they need to be able to do, sometimes callad the “training gap." To determine the learners’ preferred teaching and learning style. To ‘earn about differant stakeholders’ views of what the learners need. To help a teacher plan tessons that reflect learners’ needs, difficulties, and preferred learning styles. ‘To help determine if an existing course adequately addresses the needs of potential students. To determine which stucients from a group are most in nead of training in particular language skils. To collect information about a particular problem learners are experiencing. The first step in conducting a needs analysis is therefore to decide exactly what its purpose or Purposes ara. As Huhta et al. (2018, 10) comment: first it is essential to establish whose needs we ace interested in, This also involves considera- tion of not just one perspective or one context but multiple perspectives and multiple con texts, Needs may be investigated from the perspective of teachers, that of the learners or that of the employers who are funding the language course, Then within the learner group itself, perspectives on what can be learned, what should be learned and why will differ from learner to learner,84 © Gurriculum Development in Language Teaching sda analysis of your learners (or a group of le ec familiar § lye wse tocaryauta isis? lysis For example, when a needs analysis of restaurant employees is conducted, the purposes might be: * to determine current levels of language proficiency of employees; * to determine how many employees are in need of the language training; * to identify the restaurant owner's and management staff's perception of language problems employees have on the job; * to identify employees’ perceptions of language difficulties they face on the job; * to ascertain the types of transactions employees typically perform in English; * to determine the language characteristics of those transactions; * to assess the extent to which employees’ needs are met by currently available programs and textbooks, Those who have an interest in the outcomes of the needs analysis are known as stakeholders. Connelly and Clandinin (1988, 124) define a stakeholder as ‘a person or group of persons with a right to comment on, and have input into, the curriculum process offered in schools." As noted above, teachers, learners, parents, employers, and officials in a ministry of eclucation are all examples of stakeholders in a curriculum, and needs analysis seeks to obtain information from the different stakeholders invoived. In many cases, learners’ language needs may be relatively easy to determine, particularly if learners need to learn a language for very specific purposes, for example, employment in fields such as tourism, nursing, or the hotel industry. in this case the tasks employees typically cary out in English can be observed and the language needs of those tasks determined. The information obtained can then serve as a basis for planning a training program, ‘n other cases, learners’ neds may not be so immediate, as we noted above with young learners, and similarly for students learning English as a secondary schoo! subject in an EFL context. Hero English may be a compulsory subject that is considered an important part of a child's general ‘education. However, even though the students may not have any immediate perceptions of needs, curriculum planners will generally have consulted employers, parents, teachers, and others to find ‘out what knowledge of English they expect high school graduates to achieve. in many countries, the introduction of English or another foreign language in elementary or secondary school is based on what curriculum planners consider it best for students to study at schoo! in the same way that math, history, and physical education are included in the school curriculum. Learners are not consuited as to whether they perceive a “need” for such knowledge. Their needs have been decided for them by those concerned with their long-term welfare, Needs analysis thus includes the study of perceived and present needs as well as potential and unrecognized needs. ams in considering the nes secondary no wou © stakeholders be? Needs analysis may take place prior to, during, or after a language program, Much of the literature on needs analysis is based on the assumption that it is part of the planning that takes place during the development of a course. It assumes that time and resources are available to plan, collect, and analyze relevant information for a planned program of instruction. This a priori approach to needs4 Needs analysis + 85 analysis requires long-term planning and assumes adequate time and resources to devote to needs analysis, such as is proposed in Long (2005, 2015}. However, as Hall (2013, 2) points out, this is not always possible: “it is unfortunately the case that teachers often operate within very restrictive time and funding constraints, and it is unrealistic for most people called upon to design and deliver a specttio-purpose course to initiate a lengthy and in-depth investigation.” At other times, it may not have been possible to collect information prior toa course, and the bulk of the information that constitutes the needs analysis may be collected during the course or after the course is finished. The information collected can be used to fine-tune the course during delivery or as a basis for evaluating and revising the program. 4,5 The users of needs analysis A needs analysis may be conducted for a variety of different users, For example, in conducting a needs analysis to help revise the secondary schoal English curriculum in a country, the end users could include: * curriculum officers in the ministry of education, who may wish to use the information to evaluate the adequacy of existing syllabuses, curricula, and materials; * ieachers who will teach from the new curriculum; * learners, who will be taught from the curriculum * writers, who are preparing new textbooks; * testing personnel, who ara involved in developing end-of-school assessments; * staff of tertiary institutions, who are interested in knowing what the expected level of studants exiting the schools will be and what problems they face. With small-scale needs analysis, such as that carried out by a single teacher on his or her class, the audience might consist of the teacher, olher teachers, and the pragram coordinator. In cases of large- scale needs analysis, there will be multiple audiences for the results of a needs analysis. Determining the likely audiences is an important first step in planning a needs analysis in order to ensure that the information they need is obtained and that the needs analysis will have the impact it is designed to have. Stufflebeam et al, (1985, 25) comment: “It is important to remember that not all key audiences are likely to be identified at the start of a study, Also, it is entirely possible that the relative impartance of various audiences will change during the study.” In any situation where needs analysis is being undertaken, there are thus different stakeholders, that is, those who have a particular interest or involvement in the issues or programs that are being examined, and it is important to try to gat a sense of what their different agendas are. Different stakeholders will want different things from the curriculum. 4.6 The target population The target population in a needs analysis refers to the people about wham information will be collected. Typically in language programs, these will be language learners or potential language learners, but others are also often involved depending on whether they can provide information that is useful in meeting the purposes of the needs analysis. For example, in conducting a needs analysis to determine the focus of an English program in public secondary schools, the targat population might include policymakers, ministry of education officiels, teachers, students, academics, employers, vocational training specialists, parents, influential individuals and pressure groups, academic86 * Gurriculum Development in Language Teaching specialists, and community agencies. Within each target group, subcategories of respondents might be neaded to provide different perspectives on needs the Internationa) st ‘he target population consist 0! aerae tn determining the target population, an important issue is that of sampling. In some cases, the population is small enough for every learner to be included in the sampio. In other cases this approach is not feasible, and so decisions must be macle about the size of the sample to be included in a needs analysis. Sampling involves asking a portion of the potential target population rather than the whole of it and therefore seeks to oreate a sample that is capresentative of the total target population. A number of factors influence the approach to sampling, such as the homogeneity of the population in terms of the kinds of skils, attitudes, or knowledge being sought or the need to study subgroups within the sample ~ for example, based on sex, language group, or ather factors. Where the target population is large, specialized advice is often needed to determine what approach to sampling best suits the purpose of the study and the sources of information available. For example, Lambert (2010) desoribes an approach that was used as part of the planning of an English program at a Japanese university. To help provide a focus for the pragram, information was obtained on graduates’ future language needs. Five sources of Information were used: 1. Extant job placement records in the Office of Student Affairs, 2. interviews with two experienced informants. 3. An open-item direct-mail survey of graduates over the five-year period precading the study. 4, A follow-up email survey of a subgroup of respondents to the first survey. A closed-item direct-mail survey of graduates over the 25-year period preceding the study. a The study revealed that English majors at the university needed to be able to complete at least five types of tasks for positions in business and education (locating information, translating Japanese to English, summarizing information, editing English documents, interpreting Japanese-Engissh). 4.7 Procedures for conducting large-scale needs analysis A variety of procedures can be used in conducting needs analysis, and the Kind of information obtained is often dependent on the type of procedure selected (Huhta et al. 2013). Since any one source of information is likely to be incomplete or partial, a triangular approach (i.2., collecting information from three or more sources) is advisable, Many different sources of information should be sought. Far example, when a needs analysis of the writing problems encountered by foreign students enrolled in English-medium universities is conducted, information could be obtained from the following sources: * Samples of student writing. * Test data on student performance. * Reports by teachers on typical problems students face. * Opinions of experts. * Information from students via interviews and questionnaires, © Analyses of textbooks teaching academic writing, * Surveys or related literature.4Needs analysis + 87 «Examples of writing programs from other institutions. * Examples of writing assignments given to first-year university students. What @ be thres ways of lecting information on the lange Many different procedures can be used to collect information as part of a needs analysis and a number of these ara desorbed briefly below. Analysis of available information in any situation where a needs analysis is required, a large amount of relevant information can usually be acquired from sources such as books, journal articles, reports and surveys, records and files. Indeed, an analysis of such information is normally the first step in carrying cut a needs analysis because there are very few problems in language teaching that have not already been written about of analyzed somewhere, Expert advice Consultation with exerts or knowledgeable persons can also provide useful insights and advice. Aithough information of this kind is easy to obtain, it may represent the opinions of only one or two individuals and may not be reliable. Questionnaires Questionnaires are one of the most common instruments used in needs analysis. Thay are relatively easy to prepare, can be used with large numbers of subjeots, and produce information that is relatively easy to tabulate and analyze. They can also be used to elicit information about many different kinds of issues, such as language use, communication difficulties, preferred learning styles, preferred classroom activities, and attitudes and beliefs. Many such questionnaires these days are web-based. However, information Obtained from questionnaires may be fairly superticial or imprecise and will often need follow-up to gain a fuller understanding of what respondents intend. (See Appendixes 14 for examples of questionnaires ) Self-ratings Solf-ratings consist of scales that students or others use to rate their knowledge or abilities. (Self ratings might also be included as part of a questionnaire.) For example, a student might rate how well he or she can handle a job interview in English, The disadvantage of such an instrument is that it provides only impressionistic information that is not very precise. Learner diaries and journals As part of their regular language course, learners might keep a diary or journal in which they record accounts of succassful and unsuccessful attempts to use English, and monitor their language use and other aspects of their learning experience, Such accounts provide insider accounts of language learning, but they are not systematic or comprehensive and may be time-consuming to produce and analyze. Interviews Interviews allow for a more in-depth exploration of issues than is possible with a questionnaire, though they take longer to administer and are only feasible for smaller groups. An interview may often be useful at the preliminary stage of designing a questionnaire, since it wil help the designer get a sense of what topics and issues can be focused on in the questionnaire. A structured interview inwhich a set series of questions is used allows more consistency across responses to be obtained. Interviews can be conducted face to face, over the telephone, or on the Internet. Meetings A meeting allows a large amount of information to be collected in a fairly short time. For example, a meeting of teachers on the topic “studants’ problems with listening comprehension” might generate a wide range of ideas. However, information obtained in this way may be impressionistic and subjective and reflect the ideas of more outspoken members of a group. Observation Observations of learners’ behavior in a target situation is another way of assessing their needs. For example, observing clerks performing their jobs in a bank will enable the observer to arrive at certain conclusions about their language needs. However, people often do not perform weil when they are being observed, so this has to be taken into account. In addition, observation is a spacialized skill Knowing how to observe, what to look for, and how to make use of the information obtained generally requires specialized training. Shadowing Shadowing involves following an individual over @ period of time to observe his or her natural interaction, behavior, and language use. For example, a nurse may be shadowed for one or more days in order to collect information on his or her daily work activities and tasks and the language demands involved. However while relatively easy to set up, it is time-consuming and may not provide information that is reliable or representative. Participant observation This is a type of observation in which the observer locates him- or herself within the social setting to be observed and participates in it actively. For example, in order to learn about the communicative demands of tour guides, the observer may assist a tour guide during the course of the guide's regular work. An exampie of this approach is Astika (2004), who used obsarvation, interviews with tour guides, interviews with experts, and interviews with teachers of tour guides in order to identity tasks and subtasks for use in a course for tour guides. This produced the information presented in Table 4.1 below: Table 4.1 Tasks identified in a needs analysis for tour guides yes eave Cy4 Needs analysis + 89 While providing an “insider perspective” on the activity of guiding, information collected from participant observation may not be representative, as it is limited to only one kind of informant and is usually time-consuming to analyze. n the example above, the results do little to clarify the language demands of the tasks identified, which would be essential in designing a course, Collecting learner language samples Collecting data on how well learners perform on different language tasks (¢.g., business letters, interviews, telephone calls) and documenting the typical prablems they have are a useful and direct means of acquiring information about learners’ language needs. Language samples may be collected through the following means: * Whitten or oral tasks: Examples of students’ written or oral work are collected, * Simulations or role plays: Students are given simulations to cary out and their performance is observed or recorded. * Achievernent tests: Students are tested for their abilities in different domains of language use. * Performance tests: Students are tested on job-related or task-related behaviors, such as how weil a job interview can be carried out in English. Task analysis Task analysis refers to analysis of the kinds of tasks the learners will have to carry out in English in a future occupational or educational setting and analysis of the linguistic characteristics and demands of the tasks. For example, a hotel employee might have to perform the following tasks in English: Greet hotel guests. Inquire about their accommodation needs. Inform them of accommodation available at the hotel, Help them make a suitable choice of accommodation. Handle check-in procedures. (See the tour guide example in Table 4.1 on p. 88 where tasks were identified through participant observation.) Once target tasks have been identified, their linguistic characteristics are studied as a basis for designing a language course or training materials (Long 2005) Case studies With a case study, a single stuclent o a selected group of students is followed through a relevant work or educational experiance in order to determine the characteristics of that situation, For example, a newly arrived Immigrant might be studied for three months, during which time the student keeps a log of his or her daily language experiences in English, the situations in which the language is used, and the problems he or she encounters. Although it is generally not possible to generalize from a case study, it provides a very rich source of information that may complement information obtained trom other sources. cc @ 10m the procedures desarined above © the need arses working on a oF in studying90 © Curriculum Development in Language Teaching 4.8 Making use of the information obtained The results of @ needs analysis will generally consist of information taken from several different sources and summarized in the form of ranked lists of different kinds, such as the following: © Situations in which English is frequently used. © Situations in which difficulties are encountered. ° Differences between the learners’ current proficiency level and the desired target level. * Comments most often made by people on learners" performance. * Frequencies with which different transactions are carried out. * Perceived difficulties with different aspects of language use. * Preferences for different kinds of activities in teaching, © Frequencies of errors made in different types of situations ar activities * Common communication problems in different situations. * Suggestions and opinions about different aspects of learners" problems, * Frequencies of linguistic items or units in different texts or situations. One of the findings of a needs analysis of problems of ESL students attending university lectures was a list of the frequency with which students experienced difficulties with speaking and listening skils (Gravatt, Richards, and Lewis 1997, 36). The most common difficulties reported were foy rank): Large-group discussions Class discussions Interactions with native speakers Out-of-class projects Smail-group work Demonstrator interactions Chk NOQnona 8 participation However, such a listing provides little useful information about the precise types of problems the earners experience in relation to each event. Even if more detailed information had been provided, the results would stil be impressionistic, For example, in relation to event 1 (large-group discussions}, more detailed information could have been sought, frorn which a further listing might have resulted ~ the most difficult aspects of taking part in group discussions. Johns and Johns (1977) provide such a list based on a needs analysis of problems students have with discussions. The most frequent difficulties noted were as follows: 1. Difficulties in understanding spoken English due to the speaker's speed of speaking, idiomatic vocabulary, and unclear words. Inability to respond quickly to a question. Fear of saying something incorrectly. Inability to express a meaning in English. Unfamiliarity with the most appropriate way to express a function in English. OAREN Unable to enter into a discussion with other students because some dominate the discussion.4 Needs analysis » 91 Yet even with this more detailed breakdown, no direct application to program design is possible. More analysis and research would be needed to understand what is implied by “comprehension of spoken English” and before the information obtained could be used in course planning, Although the information gathered is useful, a number of questions still remain unanswered and therefore it stil has to be subjected to a great deal of interpretation before it can be usefully applied in program planning, 4.9 Applying the findings of needs analysis In the course of carrying out a needs analysis, a large number of potential needs may be identified However, these needs will have to be prioritized because it may not be practical to address all of them in a language program, especially in light of the time constraints of the program. Moreover, the mere fact that needs have been identified does not automatically imply that changes will have to be made in the curriculum. First, the existing curriculum (when there is one) has to be examined to see to what extent the needs that have been identified are being met. Decisions will therefore have to be made concerning which of the needs are critical, which are important, and which are merely desirable. In addition, some needs will be immediate and others longer term. Far same, solutions wilt be feasible; for others, they may be impractical. It is also important to ramember that because needs are not objective facts but subjective interpretations of information, from a large variety of sources, 4 great cleal of consultation is needed with the various stakeholders to ensure that the conclusions drawn from a needs analysis are appropriate and relevant. It often happens that some of the information may be contradictory. As Stuiflebeam et al, (1985, 111) remind us: ‘The process of analysis [of the re investigatory, systematic, and carefully The primary goal of anal fa needs analysis) involves efforts that are thoughtful, replicated and reviewed, aning to the obtained information and to do so in the and value positions that may be in conflict is is to bring mi some philosophy, relevant perspectives Thus, for example, in a needs analysis that formed part of curriculum renewal in a state education system, different views of problems in the curriculum emerged. A range of views was also expressed therefore about what should be changed: * Learners’ view: more support for learning nesded and reduction in the amount of material required to study. * Academics’ view: batter preparation for tertiary studies needed in terms of reading and writing skills, * Employers’ view: better preparation for employment required in terms of basic communication skills, * Teachers’ view: better grasp of grammar needed by learners. Brindley (1989a) discusses differences between learners and teachers’ views of needs and suggests the Importance of a negotiation process in order to satisfy and clarify each other's assumptions. The same is true of other stakeholders in the curriculum. Where there are several different audiences for the needs analysis (e.g., teachers, administrators, a funding body), the information obtained will have to be analyzed ~ and analyzed in a form that suits each group's interests. One group may require a brief overview of the findings, while another may be interested in detailed findings. The format for reporting the findings may also vary. For example, it might include a full written document, a short summary document, a meeting, a group discussion, or a newsletter,92 © Gurriculum Development in Language Teaching Needs analysis thus produces information that can be used Jn different ways. For example: * It may provide the basis for the evaiuation of an existing program or a component of a program. It may provide the basis for planning goals and objectives for a future program, * It may assist with developing tests and other assessment procedures. It can help with the selection of appropriate teaching methods in a program. * It may provide the basis for developing a syllabus and teaching materials for a course. * It may provide information that can be used as part of a course or program report to an external body or organization. In none of these cases, however, is there a direct route from needs analysis to application. eds analysis of your students (or a groun of one you wer el wv would you plan tom of the findings? Conclusions Needs analysis is usually considered the starting point in designing a language program ~ particularly one for older learners — and can serve a variaty of different purposes. On the one hand, it may be a way of exploring whal the learners' “subjective needs" are, that is, how the learners perceive their learning difficulties, their preference for particular types of classroom activities, their baliefs about the nature of language learning, and the ways they prefer to interact with the teacher and with other learners. Needs analysis may also focus on the learners’ “objective needs,” that is, on the kinds of situations learners will encounter outside of the classroom and the linguistic and other demands of those situations. For classroom teachers, needs analysis will typically refer to relatively informal procedures that can be used to assess the suitability af their course objectives and materials or to help them plan new courses for future intakes of students. The possibilities of carrying aut larger-scale needs analysis using some of the procedures reviewed in this chapter will depend on the scope of a language program and the amount of time and other necessary resources available, Although the design of language programs is a major application of needs analysis, before a program can be designed it is necessary to have additional information on factors that can have an impact on the program. The identification of such factors and the assessment of their likely impact form the focus of Chapter 5 Discussion questions 1. Needs analysis is of greatest use in situations where students have very specific language needs. However, it can also be used in situations where learners’ needs are not so specific, as in the case of students learning English as a foreign language in a school setting. What might the focus of a needs analysis be in this situation? 2. If you were planning a needs analysis as part of the review of a secondary school English curriculum, what information would you seek to obtain? 3. Discuss the concept of stakeholders in planning a needs analysis in relation to a context you are familiar with. How can the concerns of different stakeholders be addressed? 4. if you were designing a needs analysis for secretaries working in business offices, what target population would you include in the needs analysis? What kind of information would you need from each member of the target population?4 Needs analysis + 93 ‘Suggest four different needs analysis procedures that could be used to collect information about the language needs of hotel telephone operators. What are the advantages and limitations of each procedure? 5. 6. Suggest situations in which a case stucly would provide useful information during a needs analysis. 7. Design a short questionnaire designed to investigate the language needs of tour guides. What issues will the questionnaire address? What types of items will you include in the questionnaire? 8. Prepare a set of questions to be used in a structured interview for use in a needs analysis of the language needs of immigration officers at an airport 9. Choose an occupation that you are familiar with or that you would be able to observe and prepare an analysis of the tasks typically carried out by people in that occupation. Suggest the language requirements of each task 10. Read Case study § by Lindsay Miller and Case study 6 by Rob Haines at the end of this chapter. In each case consider the following: * What kind of information did the planners need to plan the course? * How did they obtain it? * — How did they make use of the information they obtained? APPENDIX 1 Questionnaire to determine learners’ subjective needs In developing courses for adult migrants in Australia, Willing (1988, 101-131) developed a questionnaire to determine their learning style preferences. While some of the questions ate now a {ttle dated, it provides a useful instrument for determining learners’ “subjective” needs. A rating scale is used for each item. The items on the questionnaire are: 1. In English class, | ike to learn by reading. 2... Inclass, | like to listen and use cassettes. 3. In class; | like to learn by games. 4. Incclass, | like to learn by conversations. 5. In class, | like to learn by pictures, films, video. 6. _ | want to write everything in my notebook. 7. like to have my own textbook, 8. _| like the teacher to explain everything to us. | 9. {lke the teacher to give us problems to work on. 10. like the teacher to help me talk about my interests. 11. [like the teacher to tell me all my mistakes. 12, like the teacher to let me find my mistakes. 13. [ike to study English by mysett (alone). 14. {like to learn English by talking in pairs. 15, like to learn English in a small group. 16. | like £0 learn English with the whole olass. 17. [like to go out with the class and practice English.94 © Curriculum Development in Language Teaching 18. like to study grammar, 19. | ike to learn many new words. 20. | like to practice the sounds and pronunciation, 21, like to learn English words by seeing them. 22, tke to learn English words by hearing them 23. like to learn English words by doing something. 24, At home, | lke to learn by reading newspapers etc. 25. At home, | lke to learn by watching TV in English. 26. At hame, | lke to learn by using cassettes. 27. At home, | lke to learn by studying English books, 28. | like to loam by talking to friends in English. 29. | like to learn by watching/listening to Australians. 30. | like to leam by using English in shops/trains. APPENDIX 2 Needs analysis questionnaire for non-English-background students (from Gravatt, Richards, and Lewis 1997) (Student questionnaire used at: the University of Auckland, New Zealand) Institute of Language Teaching and Learning NEEDS ANALYSIS OF ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE STUDENT — STUDENT VERSION This questionnaire is part of a project being carried out by the Institute of Language Teaching and Learning to determine what the language needs of students whose first or dominant language is not English (ESL. students) attending the University are, whether these are being adequately met and, it not, what can be done better. For this purpose the opinions of both staif and students in a verlety of departments are being surveyed. It would be appreciated if you could complete this questionnaire, which should take approximately 20 minutes, The term ‘N/A’ is used in this questionnaire. It means ‘Not applicable’ and is the appropriate response if a question does not apply to you. With which of the following groups do you Identify? (please tick the appropriate box): Pacific Island ~ which? Asian - which country? Other (please specify): How many years have you been studying at Auckland University {including 1997)? ‘What is your current course of study?with each of these skills? (please circ! Very often speaking English fiting English96 ° Curriculum Development in Language Teaching C. Speaking and Listening Skills 4 How often do the following happen to you? Always Often Sometimes Never N/A 1. Receive low grades in tasks involving 1 2 3 4 5 class participation. 2, Have difficulty working in small groups 4 2 3 4 6 during class. 3. Have difficulty working with other 1 2 3 4 5 students on out-of-class projects. 4, Have trouble leading class 1 2 3 4 5 discussions, 5. Have difficulty participating in large i 2 3 4 5 groups. 6. Have dificulty interacting with student 1 2 3 4 5 demonstrators in labs, tutorials, etc. i 7, Struggle with out-of-class 1 2 3 4 5 assignments which require interaction with native speakers of English. D. Speaking Skills How offen do the following happen to you? : Always Often Sometimes Never N/A 1. Have difficulty giving oral. 1 2 3 4 6 presentations. 2. Have trouble wording what you want 1 2 3 4 5 to say quickly enough, 3. Worry about saying something incase 4 2 3 4 5 you make a mistake in your English. 4, Not know how to say something in 1 2 3 4 5 English 5. Not know the best way to say 1 2 3 4 5 something in English. 6. Have difficulty with your pronunciation 1 2 3 4 5 of words. 7. Find it difficult to enter discussion. 1 2 3 4 5 8. Other (please specify): 1 2 3lave trouble wndertendng ‘Have trouble taking ‘effective | notes. 3, Have to ask staff questions to clarity terial you have been taught. lave trouble understanding lengthy. descriptions in English. : 9 troubl _uncersanding Sooke Jan one person is speakin group discussions.98 * Gurriculum Development in Language Teaching F. Writing Skills : With regard to written assignments, please indicate for each of the following: 1. How important the skill is, and 2. How often you have problems with the skill: Importance. Very important Important Q © 8 BO BO © © © & @ © B® ® Apotimportant Using correct punctuation and spelling. Structuring sentences. Using appropriate vocabulary. Organising paragraphs. ~ Organising the overall assignment. Expressing ideas appropriately. Developing ideas. Expressing what you want to say cleanly. ‘Addressing topic, Adopting appropriate tone and style. Following instructions and directions. Evaluating and revising your writing, Overall writing ability. ‘Completing written tasks (¢.g., exams, tests) within the time available, RPA ROR RB BOR eB ROR Bo BoP B® Not sue RN NN WRN WY YY RNY DD Other (please specify): Frequency of problems ‘Often ON NNN NN Sometimes NOR NM NR MN @ © 8 © © Oe 2 O 8 6 OO OO Never Sek SRR RR A RRR RR RR a_ Journal articles Newspaper articles rks of fiction : Vary often 10. Understanding the main points 1. in ofder to locate specitic jormation (scanning). Guessing Known ‘wotds ina100 « Language Teaching Vary often * Sometimes Never 15. Understanding text organisation, 1 2 3 4 5 16. Understanding specialist 1 2 a8) 4 5 vocabulary in a text, 17. Reading speed. 1 2 3 4 5 18. Reading in order to respond 1 2 3 4 5 critically. 19. Understanding a writer's attitude 1 2 3 4 5 and purpose. 20. General comprehension. 1 2, 3 4 21. Other (please specify) 1 2 8 APPENDIX 3 Needs assessment questionnaire for use in designing a course for adults at beginner level (from TAS 2011, Appendix K, pp. 81-82) Sample Student Needs Assessments SAMPLE. NEEDS ASSESSMENT. FOR BEGINNING HIGH (LAUSD) Student's name as Date Teacher's name. ES ES Ciass time _. Es PLEASE CHECK (¥) ALL ANSWERS YES OR NO. 4 Do you use English to fill out Do you need to use English to forms? Yes_.No__ fill out forms? Yes. No_. 2 Do you use English ... Do you need to use English... to talk with triends? Yes__NO__ to talk with friends? Yes_No_ to talk with neighbors’? Yes__No__ 40 talk with neighbors? Yes No_. 8 Do you use English... Do you need to use English... at your children’s school? Yes__No__ at your children's school? Yes__No__ at your school? Yes__No__.” at your school? Yes__No_- on the telephone? ~ Yes__No__ on the telephone?. Yes__No__ to ask for directions? Yes_.No_ to ask for directions? Yes__No_ at the post office? Yes__No_.' at the post office? Yes_No__ at the park or community center? Yes No___ at the park or community center? Yes. No.4 Needs analysis + 101 4 Do you use English... Do you need to use English... at the bank? Yes__No__ at the bank? Yes__No_! in stores? Yes__No__ in stores? Yes__No__. at restaurants?, Yes__No__ at restaurants? Yes__ No. to find an apartment or house? Yes. No___ to find an apartment or house? Yes__ No, to talk about housing problems Yes_No____ to talk about housing problems Yes. No_ 5 Do you need to use English... to become a US. citizen? Yes_No_ to understand driving laws? Yes No to understand police officers? Yes_ No. Do you need to use Englis! 6 Do you use English, to talk to. doctors, nurses, and Yes__No__ to talk to doctors, nurses, and Yes__ No. dentists? dentists? to fil out medical forms? Yes_No__ to fil out medical forms? Yes No_. at the drugstore? Yos__No__ . at the drugstore? Yes_Noi to keep your home safe? Yes_.No_.. to keep your home safe? Yes_. No. 7 Do you use English... Do you need to use English... at your job? Yes__No__ at your job? Yes__ No to look for a job? Yes No to get a better job? Yes_No_ APPENDIX 4 Questionnaire to prepare a professional profile for an occupational course for adults (from Huhta et al. 2013) Template of a CEF Professional Profile CEF PROFESSIONAL PROFILE A. BACKGROUND INFORMATION Field Education/Programme Specialisation(s) Degree/Quaitication Language Drawn up by Date / City and country / Organisation |Methodls used for collecting the linformation (methods, persons, dates)B. OCCUPATIONAL INFORMATION Typical examples of professions/ loceypations/jobs Typical organisations, companies, communities to be employed in Typical job descriptions: To what extent foreign languages are needed C, CONTEXT INFORMATION LOCATION. |PERSONS, COMMUNITIES, COMMUNICATION. | TEXT: AND COMPANIES, INSTITUTIONS | SITUATIONS DISCOURSE-TYPES. Work context Study. Texts: context D.. THE MOST FREQUENT ROUTINE SITUATIONS Situation 1. Situation: Place: Persons present/invoived: What is essential to make the communication successful: Details: Situation 2. ‘Situation: Place; Persons present/involved: What is essential to make the communication successful: Details: Situation 3. Situation: Place: Persons present/involved: What is essential to make the communication successful: Details:104 © Gurriculum Development in Language Teaching CASE STUDY 6 Planning a course in technical-;communication Lindsay Miller What is the context of the course? Technical Communication is an English for Academic Purposes (EAP) course for students from the Building and Construction Department at a university in Hong Kong, Students have to take two oredit bearing EAP courses as part of their degree programme at the university. The first course Is, ‘a general EAP course offered by the university's language institute. in this course students leam the basic conventions of academic reading and writing. The second course (Technical Communication) is a more specialized course offered by the English Department. Technical Communication takes the students a stage further to develop their language skills for acadernic and quasi-professional contexts. What are the goals of the course? ‘One of the main aims of this course is to enhance students’ research skils and allow them to become Independent learners. Students are given a simulation that helps train them to think in a more analytical way and gives them some hands-on practice in dealing with technical information relevant to their field of study. ‘The gaals of the course are to: a. develop research skills; b. write on technical topics in a clearly structured way; ¢. produce a wide range of professional documents including reports, memos and letters; cd. learn how to give an effective, professional presentation. In order.to achieve these goals, students learn about the different types of technical reports and how to write short email memos, reports and business letters, and a long formal technical report. They also devaiop their listening ski's by watching a variety of videos containing information about shopping malls, which are useful for a group project they have to complete. This project has to be presented by each group in class and so the course sensitizes students to the principles of giving a good presentation. What planning was involved in developing the course? Technical Communication has tun for a number of years now and the course has developed from its original format. To begin with, staff from the Building and Construction Department at the university were consulted as to the relevant academic and technical linguistic skills they required their students to have, Then, the general EAP course was examined to see what language skills students were practising with this course and to ensure that there was not too much overlap between the courses, After this, a staff member from the English Department with a background jin teaching science and technology courses designed the course. The course design was reviewed several times by colleagues from the Building and Construction Department in. staff/student meetings, English Department tutors who taught the course and from student feedback at the end of each semester. AS a result of these measures, small changes have been made over the years to ensure that the students receive enough support, both linguistic and contextual, and that the course now runs smoothly and its learning objectives are achieved,reased. The topic for each lesson in the second part of the course 's as fol106 + Curriculum Development in Language Teaching and answers in this part of the course. In addition, students are asked to complete group-work tasks, based on the information presented in the manual, to get them used to working together to solve problems. Then, in the second part of the course the emphasis changes to a lot more group work and collaborative learning, The teacher In this part of the course becomes more of a facilitator and guide. What is the role of materials and other resources? Students are given an 80-page manual to accompany the course which can be downloaded from the teaching management site of the university. All the material has been produced In-house with some references to other sources as illustrative examples of reports. Throughout the manual, there is a series of tasks. These tasks can be used as a way to create a lesson plan for each lesson, The following are some examples of the types of tasks for writing emails in the student manual: Task 4 ln groups, brainstorm what you think a good email memo should look like. s Task 9 4, Have 5 YOU. made any mistakes sending emalls? Have: aS ever received an. email by mistake or one “you think you should not be. reading? : 2, - How old were you when you wrote, your frst email? Did ee eae “What advice did they give you? 3, What-advice would you glve someone about to oe an emall for the first time? In addition to the student manual, the tutor Uses a variety of DVD materials on the topic of building a shopping mall and the problems of shopping mall design, When students are working on their group project, they are advised to use the Internet for researching their project. They also naturally use social media to chat with each other about their project. This mediated source of communication between the students for their group work has increased dramatically over tha life of the course. Did you experience any difficulties in developing the course? Two main issues with the course have emerged. Some tutors and students fee! that they have to move through the material quite quickly. However, as our students have an IELTS level of 6-6. and they have already taken the general EAP course, we féel that they should be able to handle authentic. written texts in their field of study. We try to push them a little out of their comfort zone in their reading, as that is what is expected of them in studying their main disciplines, or if they were working in an architect's office, for instance. The second issue that has come up is the forming of groups. Usually, students know each other when the class meets for the first time, but this is not always the case. in some instances the tutors have to form the groups, and occasionally there is some conflict between the students. Given that the main task on the course is a collaborative project, this can lead to some unhappy students. Fortunately, this problem does not happen often, but it is something the tutors are made aware of and asked to monitor as the course progresses. What role does assessment play in the course? The students are assessed both individually and: for their group work. The individual assessment is from the in-class quiz in Week 7 and forms 40% of their final mark (30% based on their ability to distinguish between different types of reports, write a short email and write a short technical4Needs analysis description; 10% on class participation and attendance). The group assessment is based on the wiiiten site report (30%) and the group's oral presentation (20%). Lindsay Willer is an associate professor in the Department of English at City University of Hong Kong. He has been responsible for designing, developing and teaching a wide vatiety of ESP courses, Lindsay's main areas of research have focused on self-access language learning, and academic listening, and he has co-authored two books in these areas for Cambridge University Press, Establishing Self-Access: From Theory To Practice (1999) and Second Language Listening: Theory and Practice (2005). His most recent publication is Managing Self-Access Language Learning (CityU Press, 2075). CASE STUDY 7 Developing a foundation course for college students Rob Haines. What is the context of the course? The English Language Leaming (ELL) course for the Scholarships for Education and Economic Development (SEED) program at Mt. Hood Community College is part of a grant-funded program that provides two-year scholarships to a cohort of 20 young adults (aged 18-25) from low-income families in Mexico, Central America, Haiti, and the Dominic Republic. What are the goals of the course? The ELL course for the SEED program is designed to establish a foundation of English language skils and content for students to build on as they begin the'r studies at the college. At the same time, the ELL course aims to complement the students’ studies by focusing on relevant functlons/skilis, such as giving presentations and taking notes, as well as on important vocabulary (e.g,, technical terrns) relevant. to thelr field of study (Le.,. environmental technology). Because the students stay with host families during the ELL course, another goal is to facilitate the relationships between students and host families, encouraging communication with host families by exposing students to vocabulary pertinent to living in a household, taking the bus, etc, and addressing students’ affective needs as they adapt to US culture. After the first year of the program, students move into apartments, which means that managing money and living with roommates become important topics. Ultimately, the overall goal of the ELL course reflects that of the SEED program, which is to support the personal and professional developrnent of the SEED scholars. What planning was involved in developing the course? Before | was responsibie for the course design, SEED students attended regular ESL courses at the college. The program coordinators hired me to tallor the course to the specific needs of the student population that the SEED program serves. So on a practical {evel, initial planning was necessary to determine the total number of contact hours and the schedule for the ELL course. The program coordinators wanted an intensive six weeks of 5-6 contact hours per day, since this was a period when the students would not be enrolled in any other classes, followed by a gradual decrease in the number of contact hours as the academic year unfolded. After the first year of teaching the course, | presented a pian to split the group of 20 into two smaller groups according to English language competency after the first six weeks of the course. There was some resistance to this change, as it was felt that dividing the group would be culturally inappropriate and lead to unhealthy competition and rivalry between the groups. Although there were individual cases of rivalry, the overwhelming majority of students felt they were afforded more learning opportunities in the smaller groups.108 * Gurriculum Development in Language ‘Teaching How is the course organized? . SEED students begin the ELL course In late summer (August) with 5-6 contact hours every day for six weeks. Next, for the first term of the academic year (Autumn), the students are enrolled in a Human Development class while they continue 4-5 hours per day in ELL. As the academic year progresses, the number of hours the students spend in ELL gradually decreases as they matriculate Into credit-bearing classes within their field of study, Environmental Technology, and other courses designed to enhance their personal and professional development. The students take their final ELL classes in early summer (June-July) and then compiste their second academic year while a new cohort of SEED students begin the ELL course anew in August, following the same schedule as the previous cohort. What teaching and learning methods do you use? in general, my approach is to follow my interpretation of Teaching Unplugged (aka Dogme) along with TBL (Task-Based Learning), PBL (Project-Based Learning), and a mix of more traditional method's such as TPR (Total Physical Response). The last of these methods was especially effective during the first couple of weeks of the course with false beginners. What is the role of materials and other resources? Because teaching “unplugged,” a materials-light approach to English language teaching, has so greatly influenced the development of the ELL course, the role of traditional materials is minimal. Students do, however, have access (0 a library of textbooks, graded readers, and reference materials such as dictionaries throughout the course. Resources for the course include texts {spoken and written) that students bring to class or produce themselves as homework or for projects. in terms of technology, students use personal computers, laptops, and devices specific to their ffeld of study, such as Global Positioning Systems (GPS). For the ELL course there are no requisite Uses of technology beyond word processing for written assignments, Students have made use of more sophisticated software to create short videos and presentations, however, and often students take a snapshot of the whiteboard after a lesson, in order to capture the vocabulary and notes there. Did you experience any difficulties in developing the course? The first six weeks of the course presented the challenge of affording learning opportunities to a group of 20 with very disparate English language competencies. Some students come with enough English to carry on basic conversations and write comprehensible short paragraphs, while others have only basic vocabulary and thus struggle to produce sentences in writing or speech. All other students fail somewhere in between these two groups. Once the groups are divided according to their ability to use English, this challenge is diminished but nat gone. ‘What role does assessment play in the course? The primary means of assessment for the course is a series of one-to-one meetings with students. | ask students to prepare for the meetings by bringing any questions or feedback they have for me as their teacher as well as a self-assessment of thelr work in the class, The self-assessment typically includes a combination of quantitative scores such as the grade average of a student's quizzes and exarns as well as qualitative evaluations such as feedback on assignments and the student's general impression of his or her performance on the course, Together we negotiate a grade according to a traditional point scheme as well as a qualitative assessment with an action plan to keep doing what works well and improve as necessary. The same goes for mejas a teacher, although | do not receive a grade as such.