I.

Background
Designing the course could be the most important think before starting a
course in every single learning process. It is used help both of teachers
and students surely in learning process. There are several things that
should be considered in designing a course, one of them is need
analysis.

Need

analysis

isdirectedmainlyatthegoalsandcontentofacourse.It examines what the

learners

know

already

and

what

they

needtoknow.

analysismakessurethatthecoursewillcontainrelevantanduseful

Need

thing

to

learn.
There are five indicators in need analysis(the various focuses of need
analysis , discovering needs,need analysis tools, evaluating need
analysis, and Issues in need analysis).Good need analysis involves
asking the right questions and finding the answers in the most effective
way. Thats why this paper will elaborate briefly about need analysis of
the curriculum design process to discovered what need to be learned
and the learners want it to learn.
II.

Content
1. TheVariousFocusesofNeedAnalysis
The aim of this section of the chapter is to look at the range of
information that can be gathered in needs analysis.Hutchinson and
Waters (1987) divide needs into

Target

Learning

what the learner

What the learner

1. Necessities
needsWhat
to doisinnecessary in the learners
needs use
to doofinlanguage?
Forexample,

do

the

examquestions?(what

learners
the

have

learner

has

to
to

write

answers

know

to

to

function

effectively)

2. Lacks What do the learners lack? For example, are there aspectsof
writing that were not practised in their previouslearning (L1, L2)?
(what the learner knows and does not know already)
3. Wants What do the learners wish to learn? (what thelearners think
they need).
Another way to look at needs is to make a major division
between
Present
knowledge
Objective
needs

an
d
an
d

Required
knowledge
Subjective
needs

Lacks fit into present knowledge, Necessities fit into required

knowledge, and Wants fit into subjective needs
A. objective needs
Information about objective needs can be gathered by
questionnaires, personal interviews, data collection (for example,
gathering exam papers or text books and analyzing them),
observation (for example, following a learner through a typical day),
informal consultation with teachers and learners, and tests.
B. Subjective needs
Subjective needs are discovered through learner selfassessmentusing lists and scales, and questionnaires and
interviews.
The outcomes of need analysis must be useful for curriculum
design. It is not worth gathering needs analysis information if no
application can be found for it. It is therefore useful to do a pilot
study first to check for this.
Table 3.2 Questions for focusing on needs
goal
Language

questions
What will the course be
used for?
How proficient does the
user have to be?

Types of informantion
in the answers
vocabulary
grammatical
structures
functions
2

What communicative
activities will the learner
take part in?
Where will the language be
used?
ideas

What content matter will

the learner be working
with?

set phrases and

set sentences
tasks

Topics
Themes
texts

2. Discovering Needs
Necessities, lacks and wants may all involve some kind of
comparison orreference to lists of items which can act as the
learning goals of the course.An exception to this is to base the
course on what the learners request. Inthis case the lists are created
by the learners. This is effective if the learnershave very clear
purposes for learning English which they are aware of. Forexample,
a course for immigrants who have been in the country a fewmonths
could very effectively be based on a list of things that they
suggestthey want to be able to do in English. We will look more
closely at this in thechapter on negotiated syllabuses.

3. Need Analysis Tools

Need analysis tools is the technique or method and instrument to
gather the information that focus on needs ( Neccesities, Lacks, and
wants) . Let us look atpossibletoolsin more detailbytakingthe
caseofanEnglish for academic purposes course which is preparing
learners of English for university study.
Table 3.3 Methods and example of need analysis

Type of
need
Neccesities

focus

proficiency

method

Self reportProficiency
testing

example

Level of vocabulary
knowledge
Fluently in reading
speed

Lacks

wants

Situations of
use

SelfrepostObservation
and analysis review of
previous research
corpus analysis

Analysis of
textsAnalysis of tasks

Proficiency

Self-report testing

Vocabulary tests

Situation of use

Self-report
observation and
analysis

Examiners reports

Wishes

Self-report

use

observation

Records of choices of
activities teachers
obeservation

A. Neccessities.
We can call neccesities the type of need determined by the
demands of target tasks. That is, what will the learners have to
do when they do university study?Listening to lectures, writing
assignments and tasks, and sitting exams.For example focus on
profieciency:
The researcher (designer)

could analyze level of students

vocabulary knowledge by using self report proficiency testing.

Self report is any method which involve responsesto a structured
set of questions or to a sentence completion task. In testing level
of vocabulary the researcher will know how fluent the students
can improve their reading speed. The students who have large
vocabulary will more fluent in reading speed, because they know
more vocabulary then the students who have less vocabulary.
Lets take an assignment as an example focus on situation of
use:
1. We could analyze the kinds of language needed to do an
assignment, by doing vocabulary analysis. Is it necessary to
have a large vocabulary to write a good assignment or a
limited ones.
2. We can look at past assignment topics to see the kind of
discourse: descriptions, analyses, comparisons.
3. We could interview university staff to see what they expect
in a good assignment.
4. Another source of information would be to look in course
outlines and other departmental information to see if
there are any guidelines on writing assignments.
5. Access to assignments from successful students in
previous years could be a useful source of information.
6. We could also look at the timeframe involved in writing an
assignment.

B. Lacks
To identify neccessities alone, it is not enough. An important part
of needs analysis involves looking at where learners are at
present. For example focus on proficiency:
The researcher can measure what a learners knows of language
by using TOEFL test. At the begining class at course, the students
only get 300 score in TOEFL test, but the stake holder wants the
students will get 450 score as a minimal score. So between the
students knowledge and the goals there is a gap. Gap is the
lacks, how well the students can do it already to get 450 score.
Another way to look at an assignment is to look at the parts of
the writing process and to see what degree of skill in each part is
reflected

in

the

assignment

There are Sources of information about lacks;

1. Looking at the assignment that the learners have just
written.

(The

assignment

can

be

analyzed

from

an

information perspective, from a grammar perspective and

from the discourse perspective).
2. Observing students writing can give some insight into these
conditions. (Observation and analysis

involve process and

product)
3. Another source could come from the university lecturer who
marks the assignment. This information could be gathered by
using a think aloud protocol as the examiner marks the
assignment.Think aloud protocol method is a method used to
gather data in usability testing in product design and
development.

Think-aloud

protocol

involve

participants

thinking aloud as they are performing a set of specified tasks.

Users are asked to say or write whatever they are looking at,
thinking, doing, and feeling as they go about their task. This
enables observers to see first hand the process of task
completion (rather than only its final product).
4. The learners themselves are also a very useful source of
information. This information ca be gathered by interviewing
them.
6

- Learners general

proficiency contributes to the way

they handle any language task.To gather data about this, we

can interview them, get them to sit tests, or we can get
them to do self-assessment using a prepared checklist.
C. Wants
So far, the researcher have considered target needs only in an
objective sense, with the actual learners playing no active role.
But the laerners too, have a view as to what their needs are.
Information about students wants is useful in working out
whether the learners views and the needs analysts views are
the same or not. If they are not the same, then the curriculum
designer may need to rethink the results or persuade the
learners that there is a more useful view of what they need.
For example in the case, the students at the town need a
projector to learn about speaking.The material is including video
and movie from the native speaker, however students need and
the environment is not match. So as the designer we should find
the match way to solve this problem. If there is no projector, we
could read the conversation from the video or movie itself.
We can gather such information about lacks through an interview
and questuionare. Doing interview is better because questionares
are notorious difficult to designwell. However a well designed
questionare can be a very useful source informationwhichcanbe
reused for later courses.
According to explanation, we conclude that needs are changing so it is
important that needs are looked at from a variety of perspectives at
a variety of times. The perspectives can vary according to:
Type of need

: lack, necessities, wants; orpresent knowledge, required

knowledgeobjective and subjective needs.

Source of infor-mation: Present or past learners, teachers, present or
future tasks and materials, future colleagues, assessors, or teachers

Data gathering tools

: text analysis, frequency counts, interviews,

questionnaire, observation, negotiation and discussion, reflection on

experience
Type of infor-mation :learning

goals,

preferred

styles

of

learning,

learners commitment to learning.

The times of needs analysis :Before a course begins,during the running
of a course until, at the end of a course.if the course is to be repeated
with different learners, then need analysis at the end of course is useful.

4. Evaluating Needs Analysis

Needs analysis is a kind of assessment and thus can be evaluated by
considering reliability, validity and practicality.
a. Reliable

needs

analysis,

involves

using

well-thought-out,

standardized tools that applied systematically. Rather than just

observing people performing tasks that learners will have to do after
the course, it is better to systematize the observation by using a
checklist. The more pieces of observation and the more people who
are studied, the reliable the results.
Reliable means consistent. If we ask some questions to the student
that consist of 30 students, the answer that we got are 80% similar.
It means that the test is reliable.
b. Valid needs analysis, involves looking at what is relevant and
important. Consideration of the type of need that is being looked at
and the type of information that is being gathered is important.
Before needs analysis begins it may be necessary to do a ranking
activity to decide what type of need should get priority in the needs

analysis investigation. It means that the solution of the problem that

we got should be accurate. The necessities and wants or wish of the
stakeholder should be accurate.
c. Practical needs analysis is not expensive, does not occupy too
much of the learners and teachers time, provides clear, easy-tounderstand results and can easily be incorporated into the
curriculum design process. There will always be a tension between
reliable and valid needs analysis and practical needs analysis. A
compromise is necessary but validity should always be given priority
So, in need analysis, that should be evaluate are the instrument and the
items of the instrument that will be used. The example is TOEFL test.
TOEFL test evaluated before used to test. The data that collected was real
data and valid data and it was reliable to used. TOEFL test can be the
example of evaluating needs analysis because TOEFL test proved in the
world.

5. Issues in Needs Analysis

There are several issues in needs analysis that have been the focus of
continuing debate. Three are briefly discussed here.
a. Common core and specialized language
What are the content selection stages that a special purposes
language course should follow? From a vocabulary point of view, the
learners should first focus on a common core of 2000 words, then
focus on general academic vocabulary of their particular disciplines,
then focus on the specialized technical words.
The example of common core is simple present tense and simple
past tense. In structure, we learn about simple present tense and
simple past tense. When we talk about simple present tense or
simple past tense, all of the learners with all kind of background that
they have, know and understand about simple present tense and
9

simple past tense. It is because simple present tense and simple

past tense is familiar and often used in English.
The example of specialized language is passive voice or complex
sentences. Only some of the learners with special background know
and understand about passive voice or complex sentences. It is
because passive voice or complex sentences usually used in
medical or technical.
b. Narrow focus-wide focus
Detailed systems of needs analysis have been set up to determine
precisely what language learner with clear needs should learn. The
arguments in favor of a narrow focus include the faster meeting of
needs, the reduction of the quantity of learning needed, and the
motivation that comes from getting an immediate return from being
able to apply learning. If language learners have more than very
short-term goals for language learning not only satisfies immediate
needs but also provides the basis for the development of control of
the wider language system. The example is, student of English
Department is learn English in general. They are learn all about
English, such us English for teaching Business and technology,
English for nurse,etc. it means that the focus here is wide, they
learn English in general. But when a nurse, learn about English for
nurse, it means that their focus is narrow. Why? Because their
vocabulary, terminology, idioms is all about English for nurse. They
learn English for special purpose.
c. Critical needs analysis
Benesch (1996) points out with some striking examples that needs
analysis is affected by the ideology of those in control of the
analysis. That is, the questions they ask, the areas they investigate,
and the conclusions they draw are inevitably influenced by their
attitudes to change and the status quo. For this reason, it is worth
considering a wide range of possible viewpoints when deciding on
the focus of needs analysis, and seeking others views on where
change could be made.
10

III.

Conclusion
1. Discover learner needs by considering lacks, wants and
necessities or some other framework.
2. Good need analysis thus covers a range of need using a range
of data getting tool.
3. Needs are not always clear and always changing, so it is
important that needs are looked at from a variety of
perspectives at a variety of times
4. Decide what course content and presentation features will
meet these needs.
5. Need analysis makes sure that a course will be relevant and
satisfying to stake holder, owner, director, and learners.
6. As a designer, we should keep the procedures from the needs
of analysis.

References
Nation, I. S. P., & Macalister, J. (2010).Language Curriculum
Design. New York and London: Routledge/Taylor & Francis.
Richards, J.C. (2001).Curriculum development in language
teaching. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

www.wikipedia.com

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12

APPENDI
XES

13