UNIT 2: LEARNER NEEDS

ANALYSIS
• Unit Objectives
• At the end of the unit, students are able to:
• describe the concept of ‘need’ in ESP;
• identify the different types of need;
• classify the various types of need with respect to
ESP learners’ target, present and learning
situations;
• outline the various techniques of needs analysis;
and
• conduct small-scale needs analyses to meet the
initial requirements of proposed ESP courses.
 Unit 2 Sub-Topics

1. Introduction
2. Defining needs analysis
3. Approaches to needs analysis
(a) Target Situation Analysis (TSA)
(b) Present Situation Analysis (PSA)
(c) Learning Situation Analysis (LSA)
 Unit 2 Sub-Topics (cont’d…)

4. Language audits
5. Methods of needs analysis
6. The timing of a needs analysis
7. Who carries out the needs analysis /
Who decides what the language needs
are?
8. Translating needs analysis outcomes
 Definition of ‘need’

• in education: “the gap between what is

and what ought to be”
• in ESP: “what the learner has to be and
do in the target situation using English”
• in ESP practice, definition of ‘need’
depends on the context and who is
doing the analysis
Hutchinson and Waters (1987) on needs
analysis in ESP :
• “…if we had to state in practical terms the
irreducible minimum of an ESP approach to
course design, it would be needs analysis, since
it is the awareness of a target situation – a
definable need to communicate in English – that
distinguishes the ESP learner from the learner of
General English.” (p.54)
 Needs analysis in ESP

For practical purposes, it involves:

• collecting and collating relevant
information about a single learner’s or
a set of learners’ common purpose(s)
for learning English, and
• interpreting the data so that choices
and/or decisions can be made about
defining objectives and principles for
course design and materials
 Concept of ‘needs’
• In general, ‘need’ = gap between what is and
what ought to be
• objective vs. subjective needs (Brindley, 1989)
• perceived vs. felt needs (Berwick, 1989)
• target needs vs. learning needs
• product-oriented needs vs. process-oriented
needs (Brindley, 1989)
• necessities, lacks and wants (Hutchinson &
Waters, 1986)
 General Categories
of Needs
A. Goal-oriented Needs (‘objective’ needs)
B. Process-oriented Need (‘subjective
needs)
• Goal-oriented needs (narrow
interpretation): elements of language,
and related knowledge, skills and
strategies s/he will have to use for study
and/or occupational purposes
• Process-oriented needs (broad view):
needs of the student qua (as) language
learner i.e. skills, strategies, styles of
learning, language proficiency, desires,
etc.
• Hutchinson 7 waters (1987): necessities,
lacks and wants
 NA framework in ESP

Based on approaches to needs analysis:

(a) Target Situation Analysis (TSA)
(b) Present Situation Analysis (PSA)
(c) Learning Situation Analysis (LSA
 Types of Input
into ESP Course design

ESP Course
TSA –
Design PSA – “Lacks”
“Necessities”

LSA –
“Wants”
 TSA
• Traditional approach for the purpose of
compiling information to identify language needs
and to determine objectives
• “…identifying language needs consists primarily
in compiling information both on the individuals
or group of individuals who are to learn a
language and on the use which they are
expected to make of it when they have learnt it.”
(Richterich, 1983: 2)
 TSA (cont’d…)

• key genres (text-types) used in the target

situation/context
• special language elements (‘register’)
• communicative purposes and functions of
language
• other conventions of language use in
particular fields of study and work
 A Working Model…
1. Target Situation Analysis
• Learners, genres, tasks, activities using English,
genre knowledge & skills** (necessities)
2. Present Situation Analysis
• Previous learning experiences, language
proficiency, cultural information; Means analysis –
resources, time, physical environment, etc. (lacks)
3. Learning Situation Analysis
reasons for attending course and expectations, attitude
to English, preferred ways of learning, styles,
strategies (wants)
**Professional communication information:
knowledge of genres, language and skills
used in target situation/context analysed
via:
Linguistic analysis (inc. lexical analysis)
Discourse analysis
Genre analysis
 A Target Situation Analysis framework
(Hutchinson & Waters 1987)

• Why is the language needed?

• How will the language be used?
• What will the content areas be?
• Who will the learners use the language
with?
• Where will the language be used?
• When will the language be used?
 A Framework for Analysing
Learning Needs
• Why are the learners taking this course?
• How do the learners learn?
• What resources are available?
• Who are the learners?
• Where will the ESP course take place?
• When will the ESP course take place?
 Example of a genre
and its moves
Research Article Abstract (adapted from Bhatia, 1993)
• 1. WRITER INTRODUCES PURPOSE OF STUDY:
The purpose of the study was to examine …
• 2. WRITER DESCRIBES METHODOLOGY: 50 high
school students in Kelantan participated in the study.
They were selected from …
• 3. WRITER SUMMARISES RESULTS OF STUDY: It
was discovered that …
• 4. WRITER PRESENTS CONCLUSIONS: High school
students in Kelantan, and probably in other similar
settings …
 PSA
• “A PSA seeks to establish what the students are
like at the beginning of their language course,
investigating their strengths and weakness.”
(Robinson 1991, p 9)
• Assessment of learners’ strengths and
weaknesses
• Hutchinson & Waters (1987): ‘lacks’
• language-based gaps feed into syllabus design
 LSA

• pedagogical, methodological and logistical

factors which will affect decisions about
the design of a course
• may subsequently impede or positively
influence the success of a language
learning programme
• sub-categorised as strategy analysis and
means analysis.
 Materials to collect - Authentic Texts

• What are authentic texts for classroom use?

– narrow and defined audience
– “owned” by discourse community
– used by people in the learner’s target context in the
course of their work

• Examples:
– written text types: emails, memos, reports, calls for
tender, contracts, project documentation, mission
statements, minutes of meetings, etc
– spoken text types: interviews, meetings, phone calls,
etc
Sample text
 Text Analysis

• Real Content vs. Carrier Content

– Carrier content: the subject of a text, what it
is about
– Real content: language items which the
teacher determines to be present in a text and
which he/she regards to be worthy of teaching
 Text analysis...
Dudley-Evans and St. John (1997):
technical vocabulary: specialized and
restricted meanings in certain disciplines
and which may vary in meaning across
disciplines
semi-technical vocabulary: used in
general language but has a higher
frequency of occurrence/use in the
specialist discourse of professional life
 Task Analysis
• What is the main communicative purpose of the
task?
• Which of the four skills does the task require?
• Are there preliminary and follow-up tasks
involved?
• What language functions can be expected to
play a role in the task?
• What text types does the task involve?
• Where can these texts be found?
 Methods of
Analysing Needs
• Tests
• Questionnaires
• Interviews /structured interviews
• Observation
• Case studies
• Learner diaries
• Previous research
• Participatory needs analysis (including
‘Shadowing’)
 Remaining issues
• The timing of a needs analysis
Pre-course (GNP specs)
In-course (formative assessment of LOs)
Post-course (course evaluation)
• Who carries out the needs analysis / Who
decides what the language needs are?
– JIJOE? (Alderson, 1996)
– Home-grown expert?
– Often the practitioner/instructor
 Remaining issues...

• Translating needs analysis outcomes – the

GNP (Generalised Needs Profile)
• Construct TSA, PSA & LSA specifications
for target group of learners
– Problem with heterogeneous groups
– Resolve within available means/resources
(Swales, 1989: ‘opportunity cost’)
 Remaining issues...
• Resolve mismatches in expectations to
establish “happy mean” (Richterich, 1983)
– e.g. How much ‘grammar’? How much focus on
speaking skills?
• Immediate needs and projected needs
• A key issue: how much data to collect and
analyse?
– Adopt pragmatic approach/stance
• Question of power: English specialist vs.
Content specialist
Question of power...