Term Paper - Need Analysis in ESP for Different Groups of Adult Learners

Vilnius University Institute of Foreign Languages

Need Analysis in ESP for Different Groups of Adult Learners Term Paper

Student: Džiuginta Spalbar

Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Z. Mažuolienė

Vilnius, 2012

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Table of Contents ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................. 4 INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................... 5 NEEDS ANALYSIS IN ESP......................................................................................... 6 ESP – DEFINITION AND BRIEF OVERVIEW................................................................6 NEEDS – DEFINITION AND CLASSIFICATION............................................................6 DEFINITION OF NEEDS ANALYSIS............................................................................7 TYPES OF NEEDS ANALYSIS IN ESP.........................................................................8 METHODS OF COLLECTING DATA FOR NEEDS ANALYSIS IN ESP...........................10 APPROACHES TO NEEDS ANALYSIS IN ESP...........................................................15 THE IMPORTANCE OF PERFORMING NEEDS ANALYSIS IN ESP...............................17 STEPS FOR IMPLEMENTING NEEDS ANALYSIS IN ESP............................................18 CRITICISM OF NEEDS ANALYSIS............................................................................18 CONCLUSIONS...................................................................................................... 20 REFERENCES........................................................................................................ 21 APPENDICES......................................................................................................... 22 Appendix 1 – NEEDS ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK....................................................22 Appendix 2 – SUMMARY OF NEEDS ANALYSIS...................................................23

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ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to discuss approac hes for performing needs analysis and its role for

designing an ESP (English for Specific Purposes) course for different groups of adult ESL (English as a Second Language) learners. In this theoretical study the importance for performing needs analysis prior to establishing the curriculum for a particular ESP course was looked into, as well as different ways of performing needs analysis to give constructive results were considered. The paper is divided into several parts. At first a term of ESP is defined and a brief overview of ESP is given. Second, we talk about what needs are and how they are classified. Then needs analysis is defined, taking into account different types of needs analyses that may be performed. Different models and approaches for needs analysis are discussed as well, followed by methods used for collecting relative data. At the end of the paper advantages and disadvantages of needs analysis are covered, together with conclusions show what has been learnt from this study.

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INTRODUCTION During recent years students of English have been more and more widely involved in the

process of designing ESL and ESP courses and it is being achieved by performing students’ needs analysis. It is important that students do not only learn the language, but learn it purposefully, profit from the course and put the gained knowledge into practice in real life situations. One of the reasons why teachers often need to perform needs analyses of their students and develop curriculums themselves is the fact that appropriate syllabuses simply do not exist. Thus extra burden is put on teachers’ shoulders, especially bearing in mind that usually they do not have relevant training for that purpose. After having conducted a quite extensive research on the topic of needs analysis in ESP, it has been observed that many researchers and authors talk about needs analysis from various perspectives, so there has been a lot of material to look through and a lot of effort has been put into systematising the findings. The paper is based on a number of different resources, including these books: Hutchinson and Waters’ “English for Specific Purposes: A learning-centred approach” and “English for Academic Purposes Cambridge” by R. Jordan, which proved to be a useful source of visual information and diagrams that helped to structure the wide spectrum of data available online and in printed resources. Besides the above-mentioned works, other online resources and articles were consulted and analysed in order to sort out information that would be most relevant for this paper.

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NEEDS ANALYSIS IN ESP ESP – DEFINITION AND BRIEF OVERVIEW English for Specific Purposes. As the name suggests, ESP is different from general English, which is usually taught at schools and in various courses. ESP may be defined as a course, prepared for a specific group of people, working in the same specialization area or having a common goal. According to Harding (2007), “ESP is a comprehensive term and it includes English for Business and English for Academic purposes” as well. Basturkmen (2010) suggests that “ESP courses are narrower in focus than ELT courses because they centre on analysis of learners’ needs” and she adds that “ESP views ESP views learners in terms of their work or study roles and that ESP courses focus on work- or studyrelated needs, not personal needs or general interests”.

NEEDS – DEFINITION AND CLASSIFICATION Before determining what needs analysis is, the term “need” should be defined and clarified. The term “needs” is differently interpreted by different authors. According to Dickinson (1991), “needs are those skills which a learner perceives as being relevant to him”. A need may be described as a median state real and ideal conditions. Another definition determines a need as “something that is recognized but it is not in any sense “discovered”, and its “existence” derives from whatever criteria are thought to be relevant in making the diagnoses” (Lawson 1979: 37). As Robinson (1991) suggests, considering different styles of teaching and learning, it is logical to assume that “a different group of analysts working with the same group of students would be highly likely to produce a different set of needs”, thus it is clear that there is no one clear set of needs that would be determined for a specific group of learners. In order to clarify what needs should be taken into account when designing an ESP course, it would be practical to take a look into different types of needs that have been identified by different authors. Widdowson (1984) and Brindley (1989) indicate the following types of needs:

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1. Goal-oriented (target) needs, which “refer to what the learner needs to do with the language once he or she has learned it” (Widdowson, 1984: 192). 2. Process-oriented (learning) needs, which refer to what the learner has to do in order to acquire the language, or where “the focus is on how individuals respond to their learning situation, involving affective and cognitive variables which affect learning” (Brindley, 1989 in Kaewpet). 3. Product-oriented needs, which are derived from goal or target situation, and where “learner needs are viewed as the language that learners require in target situations” (Brindley, 1989 in Kaewpet). Authors such as Nunan (1988) divide needs into “objective” and “subjective”, which derived by the outsiders from known and verifiable facts. 1. Objective (perceived) needs, which refer to needs felt by educators or the society. 2. Subjective (felt) needs, which refer to learners’ expectations. Similarly, Berwick (1989) distinguishes between perceived (educators’ judgement about other people’s experience) and felt (learners’) needs, which are derived from insiders and correspond to cognitive and effective factors. On the other hand, Hutchinson and Waters (1987) accentuate necessities, wants and lacks, the latter of which could be described as follows: “wants are a subset of needs, those which a learner puts at a high priority given the time available; and the lack is the difference a learner perceives between his present competence in a particular competence he wishes to achieve” (Dickinson 1991: 91). Necessities depend on the target situation demands – “what the learner has to know in order to function effectively in the target situation” (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987: 55). Lacks are defined as the gaps between what the learner already knows and the necessities that he or she lacks (p. 56).

DEFINITION OF NEEDS ANALYSIS Further, it is important to understand what needs analysis is and what it influences. The concept of analysis of needs is not new. It originated in 1920s by Michael West, when he 7

“was trying to establish why learners should learn English (answer: in order to read) and how they should learn English (answer: through reading)” (West, 1994 in Howard, 1997: 68). Some authors distinguish between the terms needs analysis and needs assessment, claiming that “assessment involves obtaining data, whereas analysis involves assigning value to those data” (Graves, 1996: 12), although these terms are often used interchangeably. Keeping this definition in mind, the concept “needs analysis” shall prevail in this term paper. Needs analysis could be defined as means for “obtaining “a picture” of our learners, as regards their needs and expectations, that is, objective needs such as their previous knowledge, what they know and the problems they have, their difficulties in learning, but also “subjective” needs such as passing the exam, working or studying abroad, etc., and ranking of preferences, that is, what they would like to learn and how they wish to study it, mainly concerning content and language skills.” (Isabel Balteiro in Gálová, 2007: 8). Harding (2007: 17) suggests that before performing needs analysis it is of great importance to learn about the students’ learning situation. She provides a list of questions to be answered as a starting point: •

Is it an intensive course (concentrated into one period of time) or an extensive course (spread out over a longer period of time)?

•

Is it assessed or non-assessed?

•

Is it meeting immediate needs (learners are working and studying in parallel) or delayed needs (students are pre-experience and will be working on the specialism sometime in the future)?

•

Is the group homogenous or heterogeneous? For example, are they all at the same level of English? Do they all have the same level of knowledge of, and involvement in, the specialism?

•

Is the course designed by the teacher or the institution or negotiated with the learner?

These are very important questions to consider and they should not be ignored, especially if the needs analysis in a particular case is being performed for the first time. A comprehensive visualisation of summary of needs analysis by Jordan (1997) is provided in Appendix 2.

TYPES OF NEEDS ANALYSIS IN ESP 8

Throughout the years, not only the definition of analysis of needs evolved, but also the ways that for performing it developed dramatically. Nowadays it covers “not only target situation analysis, but deficiency analysis, strategy analysis, and means analysis, and, in the case of a large organisation or a whole country, language audit.” (Howard, 1997: 4). Other authors supplement this list of processes with discourse analysis, present situation analysis, learner factor analysis, teaching context analysis (Basturkmen, 2010), genre analysis (Swales), register analysis and subjective needs analysis. In the next few pages we will look into some of these different types of analyses in more detail.

Target situation analysis (TSA) was formulated by Munby (1978), and it is also known as objective needs analysis, performed in order to look into the language use requirements in the contexts which the learners are likely to find themselves in where English language is needed. Deficiency analysis is used for determining the gap between present and target needs. Strategy analysis “sets out to establish learners’ preferences in terms of learning styles and strategies, or teaching methods” (West, 1994 in Howard, 1997: 71). Means analysis “examines the teaching environment in which the language course is to take place and establishes the constraints and opportunities of the ESP journey”, comprising classroom culture and learner factors, staff and/or teacher profiles, status of language teaching and change management (West, 1994 in Howard, 1997: 72). Language audits are operations of a considerably larger scale for establishing the practice of English for specific purposes courses. Discourse analysis involves descriptions of used language. Present situation analysis is performed in order to estimate the strengths and weaknesses of learners in their language skills and learning experience. Learner factor analysis is understood as “identification of learner factors such as their motivation, how they learn and their perceptions of their needs” (Basturkmen, 2010: 19). Learning analysis or subjective needs analysis is perceived as dealing with learners’ expectations of what the course should be like.

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Teaching context analysis is “identification of factors related to the environment in which the course will run” (Basturkmen, 2010: 19). Genre analysis. The term “genre” in the context of ESP was first introduced by Swales (1981). In ESP the term “genre” is defined as being “similar to such notions as schema, frame, prototype, speech activity, etc., and even the more general social structure” (Mayes, 2002: 18). Genre analysis “can be viewed as the study of situated linguistic behaviour in institutionalized academic or professional settings” (Bhatia, 2008: 10). Register analysis “can guide teachers in the selection and preparation of materials that should by their content validity motivate students to learn. Register analysis thus helps ensure appropriateness of content.” (DeMarco, 2011) Taking into account all of these different processes that constitute needs analysis, it becomes obvious that performing needs analysis is a complex task that needs thorough consideration.

METHODS OF COLLECTING DATA FOR NEEDS ANALYSIS IN ESP There are various ways of collecting data for conducing needs analysis for an English for specific purposes course. According to Robinson (1991), such techniques could be classified into information, obtained directly from learners and information, obtained from a target situation analysis. Information is derived from learners by asking them to fill in prepared questionnaires, interviewing and testing them, performing class discussions, filling-in personal journals. In the second case information is elicited by performing observations, case studies or analysing authentic data. Jordan (1997) suggests a diagram (Figure 1), where methods of collecting data are clearly represented. The choice of either of these techniques highly depends on a particular case and should be chosen individually according to circumstances.

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Figure 1. Methods of collecting data (Jordan, 1997: 39).

When performing needs analysis, there is a possibility to choose from a range of needs assessment types. In this paper, we will look into several types of data collection for needs assessment: questionnaires, interviews, observation, tests, participatory needs analysis, learner diaries, focus groups, inventories of language and literacy use, timelines, brainstorming. Although other means of data collection for needs analysis exist (e.g. case studies, authentic data collection, etc.), they will not be looked into in more detail because of their nature of being highly time-consuming and low degree of global adaptability.

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QUESTIONNAIRES Before performing a questionnaire survey, it is essential to initially try it out with a few respondents and see how it works. It is important to check whether the respondents understand the questions and to consider whether the answers will be easy to analyse and compare later on. It could be a good idea to design a questionnaire in such a way that it could be performed online or possible to analyse by a computer. The strong point of questionnaires is that it is relatively easy to distribute or send out by email to a large number of respondents. However, the drawback is such that the respondents might be reluctant in filling the questionnaires in or they might not understand the questions of the questionnaire correctly, thus it should be considered whether the questionnaire should be filled-in with the help of the course designer, so that the respondents would have a possibility to clarify some points of how the questionnaire should be filled in. It would also be beneficial to go through the questions of the questionnaire step-by-step together with the respondents In this case, however, the needs analyst might consider conveying an interview instead.

INTERVIEWS Conveying an interview with the potential course-taker is a more interactive way of conveying needs analysis, where a respondent is guided through the questionnaire by the interviewee. This method can be quite helpful when working with respondents who have special needs and might not be able to understand or respond to questions of the questionnaire because of their individual disabilities or shortcomings. Structured interviews and semi-structured interviews, discussed by Mackay (1978), are defined as “non-directive and allows the interviewee to speak for themself, to enable the researcher to understand the categories and meanings of the actor rather than (as in a questionnaire, for example), to impose those of the researcher” (Mackay 1978: 120). Semistructural interviews differ from ordinary interviews in a way that the questions of the questionnaire are covered in random order, allowing the procedure of the interview take as natural course as possible.

OBSERVATION 12

Irrespective of the comprehensiveness of a questionnaire or an interview, in order to get the “full picture” of a learner, supplementary observations are needed before the beginning of the course as well as during the course and might further influence the course design in the learning process.

TESTS Testing students before the beginning of each ESP course is a crucial part of needs assessment, especially when learners are not complete beginners in learning the language. Testing helps course developers reveal the level of learners’ language abilities and their weak points.

PARTICIPATORY NEEDS ANALYSIS Participatory needs analysis is yet another type of needs analysis, which could be rendered in a form of discussion, where students could express their opinions on what kind of results they should be able to accomplish at the end of the course or express their individual and collective needs.

Hyland (2003) suggests using different methods for collecting data, depending on the type of information that needs to be collected. An example of some methods for collecting needs data is provided in Table 1 below.

Type of information Students’ goals and priorities

Data collection method Brainstorming, group discussions, interviews, student

Learning preferences

diaries Interviews,

Background information (age, gender, prior learning,

observations, diaries Enrolment documents,

L1, L1 literacy, occupation, years in country) Current L2 proficiency (English literacy and writing

questionnaires, observations Placement or diagnostic tests, individual interviews,

experiences) Target behaviours

classroom observations, self-assessment Interviews with learners, interviews with “experts”,

group

discussions, individual

questionnaires, interviews,

literature reviews, genre analyses, observation of target tasks, observations of target sites, questionnaires, case

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studies

Table 1. Some common needs data collection methods (Hyland, 2003 in Hyland 2006: 277).

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APPROACHES TO NEEDS ANALYSIS IN ESP In literature there have been discussions on several different approaches to needs analysis, including systemic approach by Richterich and Chancerel (1977), Communicative Needs Processor by Munby (1978), a learning-centred approach by Hutchinson and Waters (1987), a learner-centred approach by Berwick (1989) and Brindley (1989) and task-based approach by Long (2005). However, here only a few of them will be discussed more broadly, considering them to be the more important in needs analysis today.

A SYSTEMIC APPROACH Systemic approach for identifying needs of adults, learning a foreign language, was suggested by Richterich and Chancerel in 1977. According to this model, learners are the centre of attention and their needs are thoroughly investigated before starting the course and during the course. It is important to note that these two researchers “recommend using more than one or two data collection methods for needs analysis such as surveys, interviews and attitude scales” (Kaewpet, 2009).

COMMUNICATIVE NEEDS PROCESSOR In 1978 another specialist in ESP, John Munby, developed a sociolinguistic model for defining the content of purpose-specific language programmes. This model is also known as Communicative Needs Processor or CPN. In this model two types of variables that affect communication needs are taken into account: “one set of constraints (a posteriori) that depend upon input from another set of constraints (a priori) before they can become operational” (Munby 1981: 32). Munby’s model consists of a range of questions concerning nine key communication variables that are: participant, purposive domain (e.g. educational), setting (e.g. at school), interaction (e.g. dialogue), instrumentality, dialect, target level (e.g. intermediate), communicative event (e.g. writing an email to a potential employer), and communicative key (e.g. on the phone). All of them relate to the learners' communicative requirements. However, despite of being one of the most comprehensive and prominent works on needs analysis at the time, Munby’s model proved to be rather complex and imperfect. 15

A LEARNING-CENTERED APPROACH A learning-centred approach that was introduced by Hutchinson and Waters in 1987, could be considered to be an improved substitute for Munby’s CNP. It is one of the most well-known approaches to ESP, claiming that it is more important to focus on how learners learn, rather than what their language needs are. As Figure 2 below illustrates, according to these two authors, basic distinction should be made between “target needs (i.e. what the learner needs to do in the target situation) and learning needs (i.e. what the learner needs to do in order to learn)” (Hutchinson & Waters 1987: 54).

Figure 2. A learning-centred approach by Hutchinson and Waters (1987).

As defined previously, Hutchinson and Waters introduced “target needs” as an umbrella term for necessities, lacks and wants. The latter are further divided into objective and subjective, and the conflict between these two groups of target needs of course designers and learners can be represented by Richard Mead’s (1980) analysis performed for Medicine, Agriculture and Veterinary students, illustrated in Table 2 below.

OBJECTIVE

SUBJECTIVE

NECESSITIES

(perceived by course designers) The English needed for success in

(perceived by learners) To reluctantly cope with a ‘second-

LACKS

Agricultural or Veterinary Studies (Presumably) areas of English needed

best’ situation Means of performance in Medical

for Agricultural or Veterinary Studies

Studies

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WANTS

To

succeed

in

Agricultural

or

To undertake Medical Studies

Veterinary Studies

Table 2. Necessities, lacks and wants (Hutchinson & Waters 1987: 58).

For analysing learning needs Hutchinson and Waters provide a comprehensive framework (see Appendix 1). It covers factors such as who the learners are (their age, gender, nationality, etc.), what are their reasons for taking the course, what their learning techniques are, what resources are available to them, as well as the place and time for taking the ESP course among other elements.

THE IMPORTANCE OF PERFORMING NEEDS ANALYSIS IN ESP Needs analysis is a great tool for helping teachers and course developers in developing ESL teaching materials and ensuring that the designed curriculums will be flexible rather than fixed. It is a useful tool not only for learners, but also for teachers and administrators. The learner, knowing that he or she is the part of a syllabus design process, might feel more motivated to learn. Richards (2001) states that needs assessment in language teaching can be used for a number of different purposes: •

To find out what language skills a learner needs in order to perform a particular role, such as sales manager, tour guide or university student.

•

To help determine if an existing course adequately addresses the needs of potential students.

•

To determine which students from a group are most in need of training in particular language skills.

•

To identify a change of direction that people in a reference group feel is important.

•

To identify a gap between what students are able to do and what they need to be able to do.

•

To collect information about a particular problem learners are experiencing.

According to Richards (2001), needs assessment assures a flexible, responsive curriculum rather than fixed, linear curriculum determined ahead of time by instructors.

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STEPS FOR IMPLEMENTING NEEDS ANALYSIS IN ESP In order to perform relevant needs analysis, it is important to decide who will conduct the study, what kind of information is to be selected, how the information will be collected and eventually how this information will be interpreted and analysed. Available resources and given time frame for performing the analysis has to be considered as well. When deciding about who will perform needs analysis, one could consider employing outside consultants for this task, although it might not be the most economical solution. Inviting trainees or university students, interested in the topic of ESP, could be invited to perform needs analysis. In such case collaboration with members of target institution is very important as not only learners’ needs are to be considered, but those of an institution as well. In other cases, when assistance from outside is out of question, needs analysis may be performed by educational members of the target institution. In any case, the decision has to be made depending on the comfort level with performing the research. The next step in implementation of needs analysis is decision about the types of data needed to be selected, which depends on whether the ESP course will be designed for an educational institution, for a specific cultural, social or other organization. The format for data collection has to be determined next. Usually it may be beneficial to utilise more than one of the methods mentioned earlier in this paper. The more varied the techniques, the more “clear picture” may be obtained. After the completion of the above-mentioned steps, interpretation of findings takes place and further steps of syllabus design are taken.

CRITICISM OF NEEDS ANALYSIS Despite of numerous advantages of analysing learners’ needs in order to design an ESP course, needs analysis has received criticism as well. Basturkmen (2006) indicates several criticisms and issues related to needs analysis and ESP courses in general, pointed-out by a number of authors. One of the relevant criticisms is that “the information too often comes from the institutions themselves, who already have definite expectations about what the students should be able to do, and thus needs analysis serves the interests of the institutions, often at the expense of the learners” (Auerbach, 1995 in Basturkmen, 2006: 19). In reality it

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quite often happens that educational institutions are not genuinely interested in learners’ needs, which are frequently superseded by those of institutions. Another interesting attitude towards needs analysis concerns immigrant learners. Tollefson (1991 in Basturkmen, 2006: 19), states that “language training for specific purposes can be a covert means to channel immigrants into marginal occupations, ensuring that they only have sufficient English to perform specific low-wage jobs and do not have good enough English to be able to move out of these jobs”. On the other hand, learners themselves might not be able to correctly identify their needs as they might not be sure of what situations they are likely to find themselves in further down the road. Even though this is usually the case with younger learners, similar situation might occur with adult learners as well, especially if they are in a process of deciding on what field of studies they should enrol in or what kind of job they will perform. As it was mentioned earlier in the example of Mead’s analysis, subjective and objective needs do not necessarily coincide. For example, IT students may not be solely interested in learning computer-related vocabulary and read texts that deal with information technologies. Individual learners have different ranges of interest, which they might want to be able to read or talk about outside of class, thus concentrating solely on technical topics may demotivate learners. Likewise, the way needs analysis is performed is likely to differ from one needs analyst to the other, suggesting that a syllabus, based on a particular needs analysis, is likely to differ quite significantly from the syllabus that another course developer would propose to the same group of learners. This observation raises an assumption that ultimately the course will be designed depending on the subjectivity of a course designer. It may also be problematic to ask students about their language needs, as they might not be aware or have relevant vocabulary to be able to describe what their language-related needs are, thus preventing sound decision-making process towards effective syllabus design (Chambers, 1980 in Basturkmen, 2006: 19). These insights on drawbacks of needs analysis show that in spite of all the different methods used for data collection and techniques for implementation of analysis of needs, one must be careful when proceeding to the next step, which is syllabus design for ESP.

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CONCLUSIONS The goal of this term paper is to provide an overview of needs analysis theoretically, with a possibility to expand this work into a more comprehensive study with practical implementation. We can draw the conclusion that needs analysis has influence on how students are placed in a subsequent course level-wise, it determines which materials are to be chosen and used in an ESP course, and which teaching methods are to be considered. Needs analysis should not be employed as a onetime activity, but rather as a continuous process, helping to adjust a syllabus at any given time during the course, depending on results of successive needs analyses. It is obvious that needs analysis is a starting point for designing a syllabus for a course in English for specific purposes, although it largely depends on objectivity of needs analyst and course designer. In order to obtain most relevant results, it is important to look into each situation individually and carefully select and analyse data needed for designing an ESP curriculum.

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REFERENCES 1. Basturkmen, H. 2006. Ideas and Options in English for Specific Purposes. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers. Mahwah, New Jersey, London. 2. Basturkmen, H. 2010. Developing Courses in English for Specific Purposes. CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne. 3. Bhatia, V. K. 2008. Advances in Discourse Studies. Routledge. 4. DeMarco, C. 2011. The Role of Register Analysis in an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Curriculum. Retrieved on November 1, 2012, from http://www.tesol.org/read-andpublish/newsletters-other-publications/interest-section-newsletters/teis-newsletter/2011/10/31/therole-of-register-analysis-in-an-english-for-special-purposes-%28esp%29-curriculum-%28fromwinter-1986-vol.-2-no.-2%29 5. Gálová, D. 2007. Languages for Specific Purposes: Searching for Common Solutions. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. 6. Graves, K. 1996. Teachers as Course Developers. Cambridge University Press. 7. Harding, K. 2007. English for Specific Purposes. Oxford University Press. 8. Hyland, K. 2006. English for Academic Purposes. An Advance Resource Book. Routledge. 9. Howard, R. 1997. Teacher Education for Languages for Specific Purposes. Multilingual Matters. 10. Hutchinson, T. and Waters, A. 1987. English for Specific Purposes: A learning-centred approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 11. Jordan, R. 1997. English for Academic Purposes Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 12. Kaewpet, C. 2009. A Framework for Investigating Learner Needs: Needs Analysis Extended to Curriculum Development. Retrieved on September 15, 2012, from http://eflt.nus.edu.sg/v6n22009/kaewpet.htm 13. Lawson, K.H. 1979. Philosophical Concepts and Values in Adult Education. Milton: Open University Press. 14. Munby, J. 1981. Communicative Syllabus Design. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dickinson, L. 1991. Self-Instruction in language Learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 15. Richards, J.C. 1996. Teachers as Course Developers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 16. Robinson, P. 1991. ESP TODAY: A Practitioner’s Guide. Prentice Hall International (UK) Ltd.

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APPENDICES Appendix 1 – NEEDS ANALYSIS FRAMEWORK (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987) Objective needs (target situation analysis framework) Why is the language needed? - for study; - for work; - for training; - for a combination of these; - for some other purpose, e.g. status, examination, promotion. How will the language be used? - medium: speaking, writing, reading etc.; - channel: e.g. telephone, face-to-face; - types of text or discourse: e.g. academic texts, lectures, informal conversations, technical manuals, catalogues. What will the content areas be? - subjects: e.g. medicine, biology, architecture, shipping, commerce, engineering; - level: e.g. technician, craftsman, postgraduate, secondary school.

Who will the learners use the language with? - native speakers or non-native; - level of knowledge of receiver: e.g. expert, layman, student; - relationship: e.g. colleague, teacher, customer, superior, subordinate.

Where will the language be used? - physical setting: e.g. office, lecture theatre, hotel, workshop, library; - human context: e.g. alone, meetings, demonstrations, on telephone; - linguistic context: e.g. in own country, abroad. When will the language be used? - concurrently with ESP course or subsequently? - frequently, seldom, in small amount, in large chunks.

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Subjective needs (framework for analysing learning needs) Why are the learners taking the course? - compulsory or optional; - apparent need or not; - Are status, money, promotion involved? - What the learners think they will achieve? - What is their attitude towards the ESP course? Do they want to improve their English or do they resent the time they have to spend on it? How do the learners learn? - What is their learning background? - What is their concept of teaching and learning? - What methodology will appeal to them? - What sort of techniques are likely to bore alienate them? What resources are available? - number and professional competence of teachers; - attitude of teachers to ESP; - teacher’s knowledge and attitude to the subject content; - materials; - aids; - opportunities for out-of-class activities. Who are the learners? - age / sex / nationality; - What do they know already about English? - What subject knowledge do they have? - What are their interests? - What is their socio-cultural background? - What teaching styles are their used to? - What is their attitude to English or to the cultures of the English-speaking world? Where will the ESP course take place? - Are the surroundings pleasant, dull, noisy, cold, etc.?

When will the ESP course take place? - time of day; - every day / once a week; - full-time / part-time; - concurrent with need or pre-need.

Appendix 2 – SUMMARY OF NEEDS ANALYSIS

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