ESP C

OURS
E DES
IGN

NEED ANALYSIS
Elysa Ratna Astuti
1502912

Definition:
Brown (1995)
Identification of language forms that students will likely need to use in the
target language when they are required to actually understand and produce
the language.
Richard, Platt, and Weber (1985) :
The process of detemining the needs of which a learner of group of
learners requires a language and arranging the needs according to priorities.
Stufflebeam, McCormick, Brinkerhoff, and Nelson (1985):
The process of determining the things that are necessary or useful for the
fulfillment of a defensible purpose.
Pratt (1980):
Need assessment refers to an array of procedures for identifying and
validating needs and establishing priorities among them.

Needs can be stated

in terms of goals and
objective which, in
turn, can serve as the
basis for developing
tests, materials,
teaching activities,
and evaluation
strategies

Need
analysis

Refers to the activities involved in

gathering information that will serve
as the basis for developing a
curriculum
That will meet the
learning needs of
particular group of
students

The analysis
is intended to
guide the
creation of a
new
curriculum or
to reevaluate
existing
perception of
the students
needs

To accomplish the need analysis, there are

three basic steps should be followed. They
are...
First, making basic decisions about the needs analysis

Second, gathering information

Third, using information

There are several things to be considered in

making basic decision about need analysis

WHO
Will be involved
in the NEED
ANALYSIS

Making Basic Decision

About
NEED ANALYSIS

Target
group

Is made up of those people about whom information will ultimately be gathered.

The usual target group is the students in a program, but sometimes the teachers
and/ or administrators are also targeted

Audience

For a needs analysis should encompass all people who will eventually be required
to act upon the analysis. The group usually consists of teachers, teacher aides,
program administrators, and any governing bodies or supervisors in the
bureaucracy above the language program

Need
analysts

Are those persons responsible for conducting the needs analysis. They may be
consultants brought in for the purpose, or members of the faculty designated
for the job.

Resource
group

Consists of any people who may serve as sources of information about the target
group. They can be parents, financial sponsors, guardiance, future employers,
professors.

According to Stufflebeam, there are

four divergent philosophies will affect
the types of information that will be
gathered

Discrepancy philosophy:
Needs are viewed as differences
or discrepancy between desired
performance from the students
and what they are actually
doing. This might lead to
gathering detail information
about what is needed to change
students performance.
For example observing students
performance in pronunciation.

WHAT
types of information
should be gathered
Based on the
philosophies

Democratic philosophy: is one in

which a need is defined as any
change that is desired by a majority
of the group involved. The
democratic philosophy would lead to
a needs analysis that would gather

Analytic philosophy: a need is

whether the students will
naturally learn next based on
what is known about them and
the learning proceses involved
whatever hierarchy of language
development. This philosophy
may lead to a survey of the
existing SLA in search of the
hierarchical steps involved in
the language learning process.

According to Stufflebeam, there are four divergent philosophies will affect the types of
information that will be gathered

WHAT types of information should be gathered Based on the

philosophies
Discrepancy philosophy:
Needs are viewed as differences or discrepancy between desired performance
from the students and what they are actually doing. This might lead to gathering
detail information about what is needed to change students performance.
For example observing students performance in pronunciation.
Democratic philosophy:
is one in which a need is defined as any change that is desired by a majority of
the group involved. The democratic philosophy would lead to a needs analysis
that would gather information about the learning most desired by the choosen
group(s).

 Analytic philosophy:
A need is whether the students will naturally learn next based on what is
known about them and the learning proceses involved whatever
hierarchy of language development. This philosophy may lead to a
survey of the existing SLA in search of the hierarchical steps involved in
the language learning process.
Diagnostic philosophy:
A need is anything that would prove harmful if it was missing. This
philosophy might lead to an analysis the important language skills
necessary for immigrants to survive in their adopted country. Thus a
study might be conducted concerning the daily needs of immmigrant and
then be extended to the type of language required to accomplish such
survival needs.

Which point of view should be taken?

The point of view taken on each of these dichotomies will

turned be related to influenced by the philosophy that is
dominant in a given program
Situation Needs VS Language Needs
The first dichotomy is one that distinguishes between two types of information found in
any language program. Needs related to center on the programs human aspects (that is,
the physical, social, and psychological contexts in which learning takes place) will be
labeled situation needs. Such needs related to any administrative, financial, logistical,
manpower, pedagogic, religious, cultural, personal, or other factors that might have an
impact on the program.
The sort of information is about the target linguistic behaviors that the learners must
ultimately acquire. These target linguistic behaviors will be labeled language needs.
The distinction between situation needs and language needs is not a clearcut
dichotomy because the two categories are often interrelated.but the analysts
should consider the balance in defining their viewpoints. Because the
distinction between situation and language needs is so fundamental to the
results that are obtained and curriculum that evolves.

Objective Need VS Subjective

Need
Objective Needs are those needs determined on the basis of clear-cut,
observable data gathered about the situation, the learners, the
language that students must eventually acquire, their present
proficiency and skill levels, and so forth.

Subjective Needs are generally more difficult to detemine because

they have to do with wants, desires, and expectations.
This distinction between objective needs and subjective needs with
the types of data, quantitative and qualitative, that could be gathered
on either objective or subjective needs. The most important thing is
either objective and subjective needs has to be observable.

Linguistic Content VS Learning

Process
Another dichotomy that is important to keep in mind while sorting

through the information in a needs analysis is that between specifying

needs in terms of content that the students must learn versus
specifying need in terms of learning process.

The linguistic content position tends to favor needs analyzed

objectively from a language needs perspective and spelled out in
linguistic terms, whether they be phonemes, morphemes,
grammatical structures, case rules, utterances, functions, notions, etc.
The learning process position leans toward needs specified from a
situation needs perspective; these tend to be more subjectively
analyzed needs in the affective domain, such as motivation and selfesteem.

Type of questions
In the process of gathering information, different types of questions should be
considered. Rossett (1982), cited in Brown (1995), identified five categories of
questions designed to identify the following: problems, priorities, abilities,
attitudes, and solutions.
Problem: the purpose of these questions is to identify the problems are being
experienced by people under assessment in the target group.
Priorities: among the main, four skills, the analysts should have to be more
interested in determining which of the subskills are viewed as most important.
Abilities: questions focus on the ability of the students themselves, usually to
determine the abilities of the students at the entry.
Attitudes: attitude questions are created to uncover information about
participants feelings and atitudes toward the elements program.
Solutions: the last class of questions elicits ideas for solutions to perceived
problems in terms of what changes might bring about compromise and
resolution.