CHAPTER III

NEEDS ANALYSIS

Each area of specialization, Science, Geography, Home Economics,

Physical Education, Music, Art and so on, has its own body of

literature, which presents the content of that area in a language

and style of its own. Once we recognize that different bodies of

knowledge have their own literature and style, we can see that the

learning implications extend beyond the school scene to the world

of work and everyday life. (Morris and Stewart-Dore, 1984:21)

3.1 The Need for the Real World Tasks

For those language programmes whose goals relate to the development of

academic skills, or which are preparing the learners for further study, it has

been suggested that texts can be taken from subject areas in the curriculum.

As an instance, by reading the science texts, the learners will develop a feel for

scientific discourse. The way explanations and arguments are presented by the

scientists working in the particular branch of the discipline in question is a

matter to be taken into account. The above quoted passage by Morris and

Stewart-Dore establishes the idea.

Classroom tasks are generally justified or rationalized in either the real-

world or pedagogic terms. The tasks with a real-world rationale require

learners to approximate the sorts of behaviour required of them in the world

beyond the classroom. On the other hand, the tasks with a pedagogic rationale

require the learners to do things which unlikely to be done outside the

64

classroom. As they cannot be justified on the ground that they are enabling

the learners to rehearse real-world behaviour, they must have an alternative

rationale. In other words, while the selection of the real-world tasks will

proceed with reference to some form of needs analysis, the pedagogic tasks will

be selected with reference to some theory or model of second language

acquisition. The distinction being drawn by Nunan (2004:40) can be illustrated

as follows:

Communicative Classroom Tasks

Task type Real-world Pedagogic

Rationale Rehearsal Psycholinguistic

Reference Needs analysis SLA theory/research

Figure 4

Nunan’s (2004:40) model of communicative classroom tasks

An example of a real-world task might be:

The learner will listen to a weather forecast and identify the

predicted maximum temperature for the day.

Or

65

The learner will listen to a weather forecast and decide

whether or not to take an umbrella and sweater to school.

A pedagogic task might be:

The learner will listen to an aural text and answer the

questions afterwards on whether the given statements are

true or false.

According to Nunan (2004), the distinction between the real-world and

pedagogic tasks is not hard and fast. To him “it is a continuum” (Nunan,

2004:41). There will be some tasks which, though in principle authentic, are of

such unlikely occurrence that the learner will come across them only in the

classroom. There are some obviously pedagogic tasks for which it is possible to

create real-life contexts. And there will be some tasks residing at the centre of

the continuum which will be difficult to assign to one category or another.

Nunan believes that “the distinction is a powerful one” (Nunan, 2004:41).

Those who justify pedagogic tasks do so on the ground that, while the learners

might not want to carry out those precise tasks in the real world, the

involvement in the tasks will provide them with skills for those real-world tasks

which are difficult to predict in advance, or which are not feasible to practice in

the class. On the other hand, in some language courses all tasks are specified

in real-world terms. The learners progress towards the course goals by

undertaking the classroom activities which require them to practice repeatedly

the target real-world activities. However, it is unusual for the real-world tasks

66

not to be modified or adapted in some way when they are brought into the

classroom.

It is also possible to find the tasks which do not at all resemble the

things the learners will need to do outside the classroom. These may include

non-communicative or pseudo-communicative activity types such as repetition,

substitution and transformation drills. The justification for including these

activities and exercises would be on the ground that the tasks develop the

necessary prerequisite skills required by the learners for communicating in the

target language. There are communicative tasks which have little real-world

relevance but which have validity because they are none the less intellectually

valid and meaning-focused and therefore put the language to use, even though

they engage the learners in activities which are unlikely to occur in the world

outside the classroom. According to Prabhu (1987), the principal architect of

the Bangalore Project, there is no need to link the tasks to the real world:

. . . a procedural syllabus of tasks only envisages constant effort by

learners to deploy their language resources in the classroom, and

does not attempt either to demarcate areas of real-life use for

different stages of teaching or to bring about a „thorough‟ learning

of use in some functions at each stage. (Prabhu, 1987:93)

To Nunan, tasks in the Bangalore Project are justified on the grounds that

“they stimulate internal psycholinguistic processes of acquisition rather than

being justified on the grounds of their real-world value” (Nunan, 2004:42).

67

In his Bangalore Project Prabhu (1987) provides the following

communicative tasks. They are valid as they are meaning-focused:

Task Type Examples

1. Diagrams and formations Naming parts of a diagram with

numbers and letters of the alphabet

as instructed.

Placing numbers and letters of the

alphabet in given crossword

formats.

2. Drawing Drawing geometrical

figures/formations from sets of

verbal instructions.

Comparing given figures to identify

similarities and differences.

3. Clockfaces Telling the time from a clock face;

positioning the hands of a clock to

show a given time.

Stating the time on a twelve-hour

clock and a twenty-four hour clock.

4. Monthly calendar Calculating duration in days and

weeks (in the context of travel, leave

etc.)

68

5. Maps Finding, naming or describing

specific locations on a given map.

Constructing the floor plan of a

house from a description.

6. School timetables Constructing class timetables from

instruction or description.

Constructing timetables for teachers

of particular subjects from given

class timetables and vice versa.

7. Programmes and itineraries Constructing itineraries from

descriptions of travel or from a

statement of needs and intentions.

Working out feasible timings for

personal appointments consistent

with the requirements of work,

travel etc.

8. Train timetables Interpreting train timetables.

Selecting trains appropriate to given

needs.

9. Age and year of birth Working out year of birth from age.

Relating individual‟s age/year of

birth to given age requirements.

69

10. Money Working out the money needed to

buy a set of things.

Deciding on quantities to be bought

with the money available.

11. Tabular information Interpreting information presented

in tables.

Constructing tables from given

information.

12. Distances Working out the distances between

places, from given distances

between other places or from the

scale of a map.

13. Rules Interpreting sets of rules.

Applying rules to given

cases/situations.

14. The postal system Inferring the geographical location of

places from their postal code

numbers.

Deciding on the quickest way to

send a letter, given a set of

circumstances and the rules of the

Quick Mail Service.

70

15. Telegrams Composing telegrams for given

purposes, with the aim of

reconciling economy with clarity.

16. Stories and dialogues Identifying factual inconsistencies in

given narrative or descriptive

accounts.

17. Classification Finding the „odd man out‟ in a given

set of objects or a classified list.

Making classified lists from

unclassified ones.

18. Personal lists Finding items of information

relevant to a particular situation in

an individual‟s curriculum vitae.

(Prabhu, 1987:138-43)

The distinction between the real-world and pedagogic tasks may be more

apparent than real. Many may be justified both in the real-world and

pedagogic terms. It is unusual for the real-world tasks not to be adapted in

some way when they are brought into the classroom, and many real-world

tasks are transformed into games, simulations, role plays and the like in order

to make them appropriate for the classroom.

There is a basic distinction between top-down and bottom-up approaches

to language comprehension and production. Bottom-up approaches focus on

the various components of the language and then fit these together in

71

comprehending or producing language. Top-down approaches utilize

knowledge of the larger picture, as it were, to assist in comprehending or using

smaller elements. In designing communicative language tasks, it is to be

considered that the extent to which it is necessary to focus on linguistic form.

Some language specialists believe that it is not necessary to provide practice

activities which focus on individual linguistic components as a preliminary to

engagement in communicative tasks. They argue that involvement in

communicative tasks is all that is necessary to develop competence in a second

language. Some others believe that a linguistic focus, in the form of

grammatical consciousness-raising activities, should be incorporated into task

design.

The distinction between top-down and bottom-up corresponds to the

distinction between form-focused and meaning-focused tasks. There is one-to-

one correspondence between these two distinctions. Another major issue

relates to the real-world uses the learner has for the target language. This

point may prove a logical point of departure in designing a syllabus. The

various uses which a learner has for learning another language can be revealed

through various form of needs analysis. The tasks are then justified on the

ground that they will help the learner develop the skills they will need for

carrying out the real-world communicative tasks beyond the classroom. There

is controversy over the extent to which the classroom tasks should be made to

mirror the real-world tasks. Some people believe that the classroom tasks

72

should replicate the real-world tasks, and that the best way to learn is by

doing.

3.2 Needs Analysis of the Learners

Analysis of the students‟ needs has become increasingly important for

the language course designers since the appearance of Communicative

Language Teaching and English for Specific Purposes in the 1960's and 1970's.

With the incorporation of learner training into EFL course books the learners

have been encouraged to identify their own aims and objectives. However,

Richterich points out that the concept of language needs "has never been

clearly defined and remains at best ambiguous"(Richterich, 1972:2) and West

identifies a lack of awareness of the existence of needs analysis as “a tool in

course design, along with insufficient information on the validity and reliability

of instruments used and the results obtained” (West, 1994:13).

Needs analysis was an important part of this study, and a number of

instruments were used to monitor the student needs and adapt the programme

accordingly.

3.3 Objective Needs Analysis

Initial objective needs analyses focused on identifying learners' real world

communicative requirements so that the courses could be designed reflecting

these and preparing the users for their intended use of the target language.

Munby's model is the most well-known of this type, and became an

unavoidable reference point, though West mentions that its rigour and

complexity "tended to halt rather than advance development"(Munby, 1978:14),

73

and Tudor (1996) notes that it deals only with target situation analysis (TSA),

ignoring deficiency analysis ("present situation analysis" - PSA), strategy

analysis and means analysis.

Munby's (1978) model contains nine components, relating to the

learners' communicative requirements:

Participant

Purposive domain

Setting

Interaction

Instrumentality

Dialect

Target level

Communicative event and

Communicative key

Tarone and Yule later covered much the same ground with a four-

level framework:

i) global level (situations, participants, communicative

purpose, target activities);

ii) rhetorical level (organisational structure of the

communicative activities);

iii) grammatical-rhetorical level (linguistic forms required to

realise the forms in level ii); and

74

iv) grammatical level (the frequency of grammatical and lexical

constructions in the target situation).

(Tarone and Yule, 1989:59)

Both models imply that a needs analysis should progress from an

identification of the learners' target language needs, to an analysis of the

communicative activities they will need to perform in order to achieve those

goals, and the linguistic forms by which these activities will be realised.

3.4 Subjective Needs Analysis

As recognition grew in the 1980's and 1990's of the existence and

importance of psychological, cognitive, cultural and affective learning needs, a

"subjective" interpretation arose in which the needs are seen in terms of the

learner as an individual in the learning situation. Attention was given to

"factors of a psychological or cognitive nature which influence the manner in

which the learners will perceive and interact with the process of language

study" (Tudor, 1996:126), categorised in terms of:

i) individual differences (introversion-extroversion, tolerance

of ambiguity, risk-taking, cognitive style); and

ii) learning style (psychological, cognitive, sensory

differences).

Along with this expanded view of the learner, it was also acknowledged that

Robinson's call for the educator to access the "knowledge and conceptual

networks" (Robinson, 2001:21) involved in the students' specialist disciplines

was impractical in the majority of cases, especially at the beginning of a course,

75

and that instead, the learners needed training in identifying their learning

needs including specialist terms and concepts and formulating them into goal-

setting.

According to Brindley,

If subjective psychological needs felt by the learner are to be taken

into account as well as objective communication needs, then some

kind of mechanisms have to be built into the learning process

which allow for systematic consultation and negotiation between

the two parties. Information has to be exchanged about roles and

expectations” (Brindley, 1984:72-73).

Such a mechanism implies not only ongoing learner training in identifying the

learning needs, setting learning goals, planning a course of study, and

reflection (self-assessment and reappraisal of goals), but also a change of roles

and power structure as negotiation of course content and direction leads to

modification of teacher/learner expectations, and teachers gradually transfer

control of learning. This process of learning how to learn and of negotiating

classroom learning parameters takes time and is not always comfortable for the

teachers or students, as established truths are challenged and perhaps found

inadequate. However, the problems associated with the objective needs

analysis such as the impracticality of obtaining sufficient pre-course data, the

need for the teacher to be an expert in the students' special fields, and the

responsibility for producing a course to meet the students‟ needs in those

fields, tend to originate from a view of the teacher as all-knowing expert and

76

transmitter of required knowledge, which is rarely the case in specialised ESP

courses such as English for nurses, international trade, or accounting.

3.5 A Combination

Both the objective and subjective approaches have their advantages and

disadvantages. Widdowson states that “specifying precise product-oriented

needs results in restricted competence” (Widdowson, 1983:192). Tudor points

out that “objective needs analyses do not make sufficient use of the learners'

own knowledge of their learning goals, and that data collection is difficult to

realise” (Tudor, 1996:94). On the other hand, Dubin and Olshtain warn that

"assessment of individual needs could result in multiple course objectives"

(Dubin and Olshtain, 1986:102), while Reid (1987) and Tudor (1996) observe

that most teaching methods and teaching styles favour one set of learning style

preferences over another, and that a subjective needs analysis has to take this

into account, either by matching the teaching style to the students' preferences

(similarity), or by exposing the learners to various styles to enrich their

awareness of learning options (complementarity). Thus a simple analysis of

objective needs will not produce a teaching syllabus, but it can be a useful

beginning in a two stage objective/subjective approach, in which the

information on learners and their intended use of the TL is collected before or

at the start of the course, and is developed through collaborative exploration of

their communicative agenda and the process of language learning.

Brindley points out that negotiation "is a complex and subtle process"

(Brindley, 1984:76), and that flexibility, understanding, co-operation and

77

collaboration are important aspects. He proposes a model of a learner-centered

system, including negotiation, information exchange, awareness activities,

evaluation and feedback, learning activities, and objective-setting in

consultation, all of which help the learner to become aware of and reflect on

the learning needs, and to set future goals based on those needs. Brindley's

model can be seen as a continuous needs analysis, initiating a process of

learning. Notable is its cyclic nature, and its lack of an obvious start- or end-

point. Information exchange is the traditional place at which to begin needs

analysis, but the students have usually spent time in some sort of self-

evaluation and discussion of their learning needs prior to arriving on a course,

especially if they are participating by choice, and are typically conscious of

these concepts to some extent. Even the statement „I am not good at English‟

implies a level of awareness, evaluation, feedback, negotiation, and objective-

setting on the part of the speaker, whether this is well-informed or based on

prejudice and popular learning-myths, and whether it is used to enhance

future learning or to justify its discontinuation as „I cannot learn, so I will stop

trying‟. Thus Brindley's model describes a cyclic process of investigation of

objective/subjective needs, which can be entered at any point, and which can

continue during and after the course.

78

3.6 The Study

3.6.1 Deficiency Analysis - "Who are the Students?"

The present study begins with a brief description of the first and the

second year students of the following colleges. The study involved 250

students drawn from all the departments of the colleges:

1) Idhaya College for Women, Kumbakonam

2) Government Women‟s College (Autonomous), Kumbakonam

3) MASS College of Arts and Science, Kumbakonam

4) AVC College (Autonomous), Mannampandal, Mayiladuthurai

The maximum number of participants had no readiness whatsoever to use

English either in speech or in writing. They were given a pre-session, then

around five contact hours of instruction, spread over two weeks, and finally

were asked to face some of the tasks.

3.6.2 First Year and Second Year Students

When arriving at the college level, the new students were mostly aged 19

and came from farming communities in and around Kumbakonam and

Mayiladuthurai. Though considered as high income towns with all business

and farming, the farmers have not been major players in the economic miracle

of the past few years, and average income therefore tended to be lower than the

norm. The economic background of most students is lower middle income.

The families still retain the traditional characteristics in terms of size and

cohesiveness. The students often do not leave home till they are married, and

the grandparents often live with the family of their eldest sons. The families are

79

getting smaller; the young adults are leaving home to live by themselves. As a

result, the number of farming families is decreasing as the parents encourage

their children to get an education and a professional occupation. The climate is

therefore one of social change, typical of various developing countries.

Kumbakonam and Mayiladuthurai are known as the temple towns.

There are many ancient temples of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu. They possess

a number of famous cultural landmarks like the Mahamaham tank and the

river Cauvery. Traditional values are given due respect in both the towns.

Freshmen students at the university level usually have a learning history

of intensive knowledge-based study in the middle school, high school and

higher secondary scholl. They have tough competition in the public

examinations. They have to face two public examinations, one in their class 10

and another one in their class 12. These two examinations are conducted by

the Government of Tamilnadu. Open competition is there to win the state first

position with extremely very good marks in all the subjects. Hence the typical

high school students are expected to spend all day in the school studying up to

6 subjects, in addition to having private tutoring and attending special classes

on Sundays also.

The learning situation in high schools is teacher-controlled, and teacher-

student interaction shows characteristics of the large power-distance

dimension. In this formal, product-oriented environment, the students learn

that memorisation is the most effective learning strategy, and that intensive

study is justified by doing well in multiple-choice factual tests. The particular

80

mode of teaching English promotes instrumental motivation, and the

environmental atmosphere "seems to act as a barrier to English being used

outside the classroom, and to motivation inside the classroom" (Lee 44). Along

with the emphasis on „correctness‟ of grammatical forms in all interactions, the

students are generally convinced of their inability to use English, and arrive in

the University Conversation English class with inferiority complexes, low

motivation, and lacking ability or experience in the use of alternative learning

strategies, realistic goal-setting, or in organising their study time.

The students are aware of their status as poor learners from the rural or

urban areas. Based on his teaching experiences at Government Arts College

(Autonomous), Kumbakonam, AVC College (Autonomous), Mayiladuthurai and

MASS College of Arts and Science, Kumbakonam since 1999, the researcher is

aware that the students of these towns typically showed a deep sincerity of

spirit, a wish to do well by working hard, and a responsiveness to innovation.

Introduction of an interactive student-centred approach, and a focus on

learning skills was therefore not seen as a problem.

3.6.3 Target Situation Analysis (TSA): "What do the Students Need?"

When entering the pilot stage of the programme (August 2010), it was

difficult to make a prior needs analysis, since it was the time of the model

examinations or unit examinations in the colleges. Thus a provisional needs

profile was used. This profile was based on:

81

i) Educational policy and consensus in Tamilnadu, which identified

communicative competence as an important learning need for all

the students at college level;

ii) The author's knowledge of probable cognitive and affective needs,

based on twelve years of prior experience with the students of the

two towns mentioned;

iii) Interpretation of student needs in a humanistic "language-as-

education" framework, in the light of current educational

thinking on the Asian focus on care, nurture and benevolence;

and

iv) Characteristics that might be expected in new students coming

from High school:

a) low self-evaluation;

b) high instrumental motivation;

c) a positive perception of oral communication; and

d) a preference for a task-based approach to testing.

This needs profile included objective, holistic and subjective needs and

implied a student-centred process approach. It also kept its emphasis on,

learner training, autonomy, and reflection. The student needs according to this

profile were used as criteria for the execution of the tasks practised in the

classroom.

82

3.7 Objective Needs

The following points show the objective needs:

1. Communicative competence in the TL (for future general

communicative needs: business, travel, etc.):

development of oral skills through conversation practice;

2. Problem-solving skills (inferring and negotiating meaning,

identifying key concepts, skimming, scanning for information, organising

information):

a task-based "process" learning infrastructure and materials;

holistic needs

3. Educated members of society:

responsibility for learning;

learning skills;

individual ethics;

3.8 Subjective Needs

After finishing a consultation with students the following were listed as

the subjective needs of the learners:

4. Ability to direct learning (future learning needs: training, and re-

skilling):

learner training, leading to autonomous learning;

opportunity for reflection and evaluation (self-assessment,

goal setting, planning);

83

5. Attention to affective factors (especially self confidence,

motivation, and anxiety):

a non-threatening learning environment (atmosphere of trust

and respect).

3.9 Needs Analysis Instruments

3.9.1 Beginnings

Given the vital importance of the student perceptions about learning, the

programme aimed at the influence and inform student beliefs over the long

term, rather than try to improve objective scores in the short term. The needs

analysis instruments used to reflect this emphasis.

At the time of the pre-session there were some issues raised to the

students as to provide some basic knowledge of pair/group activities on

objective course-needs, learning preferences, strategy analysis, and planning

(goal-setting). This was done as a consciousness-raiser, introducing concepts

(self-assessment, reflection, etc.) which incoming students would mostly be

unfamiliar with, and which they would meet increasingly over the next years of

their study. Given the lack of attention to reflection and alternative learning

strategies in secondary schooling however, it was considered inadvisable to

spend a great deal of time teaching these at the beginning of the programme, in

opposition to previous learning experiences and existing preferences, and

before the students had experienced the interactive programme that was being

offered. There was also concern about the idea of imposing autonomy through

explicit instruction.

84

3.9.2 Development

After finishing the pre-session, the students were expected to become

more aware of learner training, self-assessment, reflection, and goal-setting,

and they were given some ideas to develop their language skills. At this point

the learners were expected to think about their learning styles and strategies.

With awareness, a train of thought begins, and other conscious-raising

activities assume greater meaning, the whole growing into an active

involvement with the process of learning. The aim of the study is to provide an

awareness of learner autonomy and negotiation in the classroom. The pre-

session thus encouraged students to think about the learning process by

performing various interactive needs analyses, in preparation for the ongoing

self-assessment and reflection.

3.9.3 Learning Contract

Another method of promoting autonomy and negotiation was via the

evaluation system in the class in which evaluation had the dual role of

assessment and reflection. In addition to assessing oral skills, the evaluation

sessions continued the process of ongoing needs analysis, and encouraged the

students to talk about whether their goals for the semester had been realistic,

whether they had been achieved, and what action they intended to take in the

future.

85

3.10 Research

The research instruments mentioned in chapter 5 performed a dual role

of i) giving evaluative information on the study; and ii) providing wash back

information for the students, teachers and programme designer. These

research instruments offered regular points during the study, when

assessment and reflection could take place, leading to further goal-setting.

Results from these instruments show the positive attitude change and

increased awareness of the learning needs. They were also seen as information

for the students themselves, to be used in the reflective cycle of learning.

3.11 Summary of Needs Analysis

In order to illustrate the continuous focus on needs analysis in the study

under discussion, a summary of opportunities for reflection on the learning

needs is offered below:

How do I like to learn?

What should I do to develop my language skills?

Self-assessment of abilities

Interview

My contribution in class

Do we need more of anything?

The teacher

The English lessons

The textbooks

86

3.12 Conclusion

West observes that "most needs analysis procedures do not begin to

handle the leap between needs analysis and methods/materials selection or

development"(West, 1984:14). Tudor recommends that “students and teachers

must explore learning needs together” (Tudor, 1996:27). The aim of needs

analysis in this study was to help the students become aware of the learning

processes and to handle the leap of application through negotiation with the

teacher.