Needs Assessment

Hasanova Mohira

Department of MA TESOL, Webster University in Tashkent

TESL5220: Lesson Planning and Curriculum

Dr. Sadikov Khoorshid

Description of learners

I am going to teach 11 students at "Lang Apex" language center, consisting of

6 boys and 5 girls, all aged between 15 and 16. Most of my learner's native

language is Uzbek but four of them are Tadjik. However, all of my students

study at Uzbek school number 11 in 9th and 10th grade at Namangan city.

Regionally, the learners share the same religion, Islam. Every Friday they go

to a speaking club with their peers which is held on American Corner and

created an online chat group where everyone chats in English only. Some of

them have Indian and Canadian friends on Facebook. So Students easily create

authentic English environments with their peers. My students learn English as

a foreign language and their current levels are intermediate. They have

recently leveled up. Learners have been learning English for 10 months. I have

tested them with IELTS materials which involve reading, listening, speaking,

and writing. It indicates that their IELTS score is 4 and 5. Five of my students

score 4.5 and six of them are 5. My students are good at speaking and

listening because they spend more time in speaking clubs and listening to

interesting podcasts, and "Nas daily" videos. Their weakness is reading and

writing. Most of my students consider reading as a boring activity. They do

not want to read long passages. In terms of writing, in the previous levels, they

were taught to write letters and mini-essays. Writing essays are the most
difficult for them. The lessons will be 2 hours. I am going to use different

methods and approaches such as sheltered, task-based, and content-based

approaches. I will integrate technologies and interactive online games into

lessons. They have different goals for learning English.

To analyze and meet students' needs I decided to give a needs analysis

question in the first lesson. The main purpose of this piece of writing is to

identify students' needs. In the following paragraphs, I will provide questions,

justifications, and students' answers. I referred to course readings written by

Linse (1993) and Viana et al. (2019).

Questions:

1. What are your strengths and weaknesses in English skills (reading,

listening, speaking and writing)?

Linse (1993) stated that how it is important to provide instructional methods

and approaches to address learner's specific needs. Identifying students's

weaknesses and strengths helps in tailoring activities and lesson plans.

2. What is your main purpose in learning English?

Viana et. al (2019) noted that knowing about the reasons for learning a

language is crucial. By identifying their reason for learning, teachers can

create more engaging and relevant lesson plans. This question also helps

learners to identify their main goals more clearly.

3. How much time do you spend on English? (Reading: Listening:

Speaking: Writing: )

Linse (1993) noted that teachers should allocate time for all students to learn

about their language learning routines. With the help of this information,

teachers can give them home tasks according to their spending hours and teach

them how to manage time productively.

4. In what ways do you like to learn English?

Viena et al. (2019) noted that learner's needs do not always equal or the same.

So that identifying in which ways students want and enjoy learning can help to

tailor activities to address their specific needs. Activities and tasks that are

appropriate to students' preferences and interests can enhance their motivation

for learning the language.

5. What prior knowledge do you have regarding the grammar of English?

Linse (1993) stated that teachers must determine students' academic and

structural knowledge of English. Teachers should determine students' learned

specific knowledge which is helpful to enhance the language acquisition

process.
6. What tools or apps did you use that might help learn English?

Identifying learners' apps, and tools that helped or interested them can help in

creating lesson plans and organizing lessons. Linse (1993) stated that students'

experience with language should be explored so that the program or

curriculum should include their existing language skills.

Answers:

1. What are your strengths and weaknesses in English skills (reading,

listening, speaking, and writing)?

Students A, B, D, and F: They can do listening tasks and speaking activities.

They enjoy listening to podcasts and watching videos. But it is so boring to

read long passages and memorize difficult academic vocabulary.

Students C, I, E: They want to read motivational books in English. It seems

easy and comprehensible to understand this kind of book. That's why their

reading skill is much better than other skills.

Student G, H, J: They enjoy speaking. In their spare time, they spent more

time chatting with my friends and shadowing famous person's speeches. They

think their listening is good. But their writing and reading are the lowest.

2. What is your main purpose in learning English?

Student D: My main purpose in learning English is to get an IELTS

certificate. And with this, I will be able to apply to universities.

Student G: My goal to earn English is to be able to communicate with native

speakers and live in The USA.

3. How much time do you spend on English? (Reading: Listening:

Speaking: Writing: )

Student H: After school and at night I spend on Reading 1 hour rarely

Listening : 3 hours Speaking: 2 hours, Writing: 2 hours 2 times a week.

Student J: Usually I spend 1 hour Reading, Listening for 1 hour, Speaking for

30 mins, and Writing for 40 mins.

4. In what ways do you like to learn English?

Student I: I enjoy learning through interactive online games like Kahoot,

Duolingo

Student A: I prefer learning grammar constructions through visuals and enjoy

watching videos about adventure.

5. What prior knowledge do you have regarding the grammar of English?

Student B: I know all tenses and Nouns, adverbs, and Relative clauses. I think

my grammar knowledge is better

Student D: I have a better understanding of grammar. I know basic grammar

topics, all tenses, gerunds, infinitives, Clauses, and Modals. I think my

grammar is better.

6. What tools or apps did you use that might help learn English?

Student F: I use Duolingo for building vocabulary

Student H: BBC Learning English is my best app for enhancing my listening

skills.
References

Linse, C.T. (1993). Assessing student needs. In Italiano, G., &

Rounds, P. (Eds). English as a Second Language curriculum

resource handbook. A practical guide for K–12 ESL programs (pp.

35-48). Kraus International Publications.

Viana, V., Bocorny, A. E. P., & Sarmento, S. (2019). Teaching

English for Specific Purposes. TESOL Press.