Труды IV Республиканской научно-практической online-конференции «Образование XXI века: проблемы, тенденции и перспективы»
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University instructors’ views on needs analysis for further curriculum design
(Университет им. Сулеймана Демиреля)
In order to monitor students’ needs in the classroom, it is crucial to conduct needs assessments when teaching English. Every English class is unique because every student has a particular reason for wanting to learn the language and, ultimately, master it. The requirement to create a course that is efficient, effective, and relevant while also being specifically tailored to meet the needs of learners who are working professionals is a common challenge for both novice as well as experienced language teachers. The issue is exacerbated in professional and organizational contexts by the lack of experience most communication teachers have in these settings and by the level of social and linguistic complexity and diversity present in the workplace, which even experienced teachers in these settings cannot be expected to comprehend without a cogent analytical framework.This article reviews the studies which investigated the impact of needs analysis, its challenges and instructors’ perspectives on it.
– Needs analysis
The process of acquiring information is called a needs analysis (NA). It first appeared in language design in the 1970s, and the Council of Europe’s contemporary language program is largely responsible for its extensive implementation in the field. According to Tudor (1996), the rise of a need perception in communicative language teaching (CLT) in the 1970s had a significant impact on needs analysis work. According to Robinson (1994), NA is regarded as a fundamental English for specific purposes (ESP) principle, and ESP is where the majority of the early knowledge of NA originated. The process of conducting a needs analysis comes before creating any courses, curricula, resources, or other educational activities (Jordan, 1997). Programs for teaching languages should learn about and negotiate the importance of needs analysis. Based on this problem, an ESP program should be designed to examine students’ goals while also determining their needs (Rostami and Zafarghandi, 2014). The requirements analysis’ findings help teachers identify both the students’ language skills gaps and their professional needs in terms of language proficiency. Materials that fulfill the needs of the students may be chosen, for example, after assessing their requirements and defining the language course’s objectives.So far, on a deeper level, needs analysis is actually a step in the curriculum design process (Richards, 2001); it can be applied to curriculum development and should be, as many other significant factors are linked to students ’ needs in realistic educational settings. On its own, a needs assessment undertaken just before classes won’t result in a full comprehension of a student’s needs. Many benefits of the learner’s participation in what Robinson (1991) refers to as «participatory needs analysis» have been listed by Nunan (1988) :
– Students have a more accurate perception of what they can accomplish in a particular subject.
– Students have a clearer understanding of what it means to be a learner, and they become more sensitive to their position as language learners. Learning starts to be regarded as the progressive accumulation of realistic goals.
– Self-analysis becomes much more acute. It is possible to see how classroom activities relate to students’ actual requirements.
– Curriculum design
Curriculum is a fairly broad word that encompasses the complex of intellectual, social, and administrative elements that go into the preparation of an educational program (Allen, 1984). Most people agree that the three key stages of curriculum development are design, implementation, and evaluation (Richards, 2001). According to Brown (1995), developing a curriculum is a methodical procedure that occurs when a «dynamic system of interrelated elements» is developed (p. 9). Needs analysis, goals and objectives, language assessment, material development, language instruction, and monitoring and evaluation are some of the components. He emphasizes the need of meeting the demands of the learner while also taking into account other viewpoints. In addition to linguistic necessities, one ought to pay attention to contextual factors and human requirements. Likely, West (1994) stated that defining objectives is the first stage in creating a language syllabus or course. These will, whenever possible, be determined by an evaluation of the learners’ needs, which will then be stated in terms of the specific sorts of communication that the learner will need to engage in.
– Teachers’ views on needs analysis
Language instructors usually base their instruction on an intuitive or informal analysis of their students’ needs, but the idea of a systematic study of «the requirements which come from the use of that language in the myriad of situations which may arise in the social lives of individuals and adults» (Richterich, 1973: 32) was developed during the early 1970s, partly as a result of the work of those linked with the Council of Europe. Teachers in the study by Kirton et al. (2007) thought that the new pedagogical approaches took a lot of time. Students participating in self- and peer-assessment as well as more discursive and interactive lectures slowed down procedures and raised questions about whether the curriculum was truly discussed.
– Conclusion
There were many limitations found while exploring different articles. Firstly, the most basic issue still isn’t being aware that needs analysis is a tool for course design, along with more specific issues of familiarity and experience. However, little is known about the accuracy or dependability of the methods employed and the outcomes.
References
Allen, J.P.B. (1984). General-purpose language teaching: A variable focus approach. In C. Brumfit (Ed.), General English syllabus design: Curriculum and syllabus design for the general English classroom (pp. 61—74). Oxford: Pergamon Press, in association with the British Council.
Brown, J.D. (1995). The elements of language curriculum: A systematic approach to program development. Boston, Massachusetts: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.
Jordan, R.R. (1997). English for academic purposes: a guide and resource book for teachers. Cambridge, UK and New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Kirton, A., Hallam, S., Peffers, J., Robertson, P., & Stobart, G. (2007). Revolution, evolution or a Trojan horse? Piloting assessment for learning in some Scottish primary schools. British Educational Research Journal, 33 (4), 605—627.
Nunan, D. (1988). The learner-centered curriculum. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Richards, J.C. (2001). Curriculum development in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Richterich, R. (1973). Definition of language needs and types of adults. In Trim et al., 29—88.
Robinson, P. (1991). ESP today. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice International Hall
Rostami, F., & Zafarghandi, A. M. (2014). EAP needs analysis in Iran: The case of university students in chemistry department. Journal of language Teaching and Research, 5 (4), 924.
Tudor, I. (1996). Learner-centredness as language education (Vol. 279). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
West, R. (1994). Needs analysis in language teaching. Language teaching, 27 (1), 1—19.
Әсет Жігер
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І. Жансүгіров атындағы Жетісу университетінің)
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