Defining needs analysis

Needs analysis is the first step in the course-design cycle in ESP and refers
to the systematic analysis of what learners need in order to operate in the
target communicative situation. This is contrasted with the learner’s current
communicative ability. The ESP course is usually based on the gap between
these two. A present-situation analysis may be conducted to discover the
learners’ immediate needs. These are likely to differ from target needs.
Brown (2016, 4) defines needs analysis in ESP very succinctly as “the
systematic collection and analysis of all information necessary for defining
and validating a defensible curriculum”.

Reflection 2.1

Experience with needs analysis

All language courses are informed by a needs analysis to a greater or

lesser extent.

If you have teaching experience, give an example where you tried to

accommodate learners’ needs in your teaching.

If you do not have teaching experience, how do you think you might be
able to reflect student needs in your teaching?

To what extent do you think the needs of the student can be reflected in
an ESP course?

Whose needs are important?

 How do you think needs can be assessed?

When do you think needs analysis should be carried out?

A focus on needs analysis emerged in the early 1970s with the work of the
Council of Europe (Richterich & Chancerel, 1977), driven by the language
needs of the European Union. In this early work, needs were conceived as a
‘target situation’ analysis. This refers to the language required to function in
the discipline setting – for example, in EBP, an analysis of the language and
vocabulary of a business report may be conducted. Based on this idea, John
Munby investigated how needs could inform course design in a systematic
way. His communicative needs processor (CNP) is a text-based model that
identifies parameters of processing to produce a profile of needs. It analyses
needs with a high level of precision by considering variables of interlocutor,
setting, content, variety of English, attitude and purpose. Munby’s work has
been extremely influential in the area of ESP course design. Any course
designer who plans to engage in a form of needs analysis will find food for
thought in Munby’s classification of needs by language and pragmatics.
However, the micro-focus of the CNP is rather complex and not easily
applied to practice.
Much of the early work in needs analysis tended to focus on an analysis of
the language used in the target situation (Trimble, 1985). This continues
today in a much more contextualised manner with work in genre (see Chapter
9), discourse analysis (see Chapter 10) and the use of corpora (see Chapter
11). Huchinson and Waters (1987) were the first to focus on the learner
rather than exclusively on the discourse of the target situation, making ESP
more relevant to the individual.
In addition to considering the end goal – the target communicative situation
– it is necessary to consider where the learners are currently in terms of
language competence. This is referred to as ‘present situation’ analysis
(Robinson, 1991). Further considerations include the analysis of ‘lacks’
(Hutchinson & Waters, 1987); this focuses on the difference in skills between
the current situation and the target situation. West (1994) also considers
learners’ pedagogic needs: the learning strategies required to follow an ESP
course. We can also consider what a learner ‘wants’ or thinks he or she
needs; and it should be noted that this perception of needs may not be
accurate, as the student may not be fully aware of what the target situation
requires. The final part of this puzzle is consideration of ‘constraints’
(Hutchinson & Waters, 1987), also referred to as ‘means analysis’ (Holliday,
1994). This refers to possible resources, such as staff, materials and
classrooms.

Figure 2.1 Synonyms for needs analysis

Source: adapted from Brown (2016).

Brown (2016) lists some of the large number of synonyms for needs, as
shown in Figure 2.1.

Stakeholders’ perspectives
The early view of ESP tended to view needs analysis as objective and
neutral. However, in any ESP course there are a number of stakeholders: the
students, teachers, governing bodies, sponsors and employers. The
perceptions of needs, wants, lacks and constraints may differ between the
different stakeholders and with the actual requirements of the target
communicative situations. Varying levels of power within the stakeholder
network can impact on the ESP course that eventuates. For example, Jasso-
Aguilar’s (2005) seminal study into the needs of hotel maids in Hawaii found
that the stakeholders had different perceptions of the target situation and thus
of needs and wants. This was in opposition to the actual communicative
needs of the maids themselves, which were identified by participant
observations. This study highlighted the critical perspective in ESP, whereby
the rights of students are also taken into consideration (Benesch, 2001). A
further perspective is that stakeholders may not know what the students need.
For example, a student who enrols on an EAP course prior to postgraduate
study at an English university may have limited knowledge of the writing
skills required during the postgraduate course. Conversely, the subject
specialist on the postgraduate course may have limited knowledge of the
language needs and limitations of international students. Hutchinson and
Waters (1987) make the distinction between student needs and wants. For
example, in Jasso-Aguilar’s (2005) study, the hotel maids did not really need
much English, but the hotel wanted them to have English skills to enhance the
hotel’s image. The communicative situation can be conceptualised as a
network with all members impacting on the needs. As an example I have used
Jasso-Aguilar’s (2005) study to generate a network of stakeholders who may
impact on a needs analysis. Figure 2.2 shows the network of interlocutors in
this situation.
Figure 2.2 Network of stakeholders in ESP course: needs analysis
Source: based on Jasso-Aguilar (2005).

As well as the immediate network of interlocutors in the target situation, a

course designer may consult current practitioners, domain experts, past
students and past teachers. Inherent in a broad view of needs analysis is
research methodology. In addition, the published and unpublished literature
on needs analysis of similar courses and the work of researchers in the field
should be consulted. Considering needs and data from a large range of
sources will make it more likely that the needs identified for analysis will be
met.

Methodologies used in collected data about needs

Information about learner needs can be collected using quantitative methods,
such as questionnaires, language audits and language tests, and/or qualitative
methods, such as interviews, observations and discourse analysis.
Traditionally, data is collected from stakeholders using questionnaires.
Typically, a single questionnaire is given to the sponsor and the intended
students. The data is then analysed according to frequency. However, rather
than using a universal approach, Long (2005) recommends that data should
be collected from a range of sources including research in the area, previous
students and courses and domain experts. He argues for triangulation of data
sources and methods.

Figure 2.3 Some methods that can be used to collect needs-analysis data

Needs-analysis data may be collected in a range of ways (Figure 2.3) and

may involve the students, teachers and domain specialists. This type of data
collection would also include information about the present situation,
reflecting what the students already know and their preferred learning styles.
While these methods provide essential information to help with course
design, there is a need for empirical data, too. Empirical data can be
collected from target communicative events using methods such as discourse
analysis, text analysis and authentic target task observation. Such data is very
useful in accurately identifying the actual linguistic and pragmatic
requirements of the target situation.
An example of how different methods may be used to collect data is that of
Wozniak’s (2010) study of the language needs of French mountain guides (see
the needs-analysis example in Chapter 15). The analysis started with
unstructured interviews with different stakeholders which led to the
generation of a needs-analysis questionnaire. In addition, the students’
proficiency and issues relating to certification were collected. Such
triangulation can minimise the occurrence of error and enhance the
credibility of the data (Cowling, 2007).

Task 2.1

Methods of needs analysis

Choose a potential or existing ESP course. Using the list of methods in

Figure 2.3:

1. Discuss which of the methods would be most appropriate.

2. Who would you consult?
3. How would you collect the data?

How could you achieve triangulation? (sources and methods)

Settings of needs analysis

The setting of an ESP course influences needs analysis and subsequent
course design.
In an academic setting the focus of ESP tends to be on skills. Reading and
writing are often highlighted, as these are the major vehicles for the
transmission of information and for academic assessment in the target
situation. Needs analysis in this setting is often less likely to involve the
learners, as institutional demands tend to be inflexible. What this means is
that the students are obliged to adhere to norms laid down by the institution
rather than be involved in the negotiation of needs as may be the case in other
types of ESP course. Benesch questions the power balance inherent in this
type of EAP and suggests a critical approach to EAP by proposing a rights
analysis. She defines this as “a theoretical tool for EAP teachers and students
to consider possible responses to unfavourable social, institutional and
classroom conditions” (Benesch, 1996, 102). In critical EAP, the context is
viewed as an instrument of social change (Macallister, 2016).
EOP may occur in different settings. It may happen in universities and
training institutions or in the workplace. Needs in such settings will differ: in
universities and training institutions the present-situation needs of the
students will differ greatly from the target-situation needs as students are in
the process of learning about the subject and need to fulfil course
requirements. As the students are also likely to be pre-experienced, they will
be less able to contribute to needs analysis as they have limited knowledge
of the communicative situations they will experience in the workplace. In
workplace ESP needs analysis can be very focused as the content field may
be narrow. Typically, a workplace needs analysis involves the analysis of
authentic tasks through on-site observations and ethnographic research.

The learner and needs analysis

It seems only common sense to place the learner at the centre of any needs
analysis. Such analysis should take into consideration the learners’ lacks and
present-situation and target-situation communication needs. However,
learners are not always aware of their needs. For example, EGAP students
enrolled on a pre-sessional course may be unaware of their academic needs
in relation to their chosen degree programme as the educational settings of
their prior experience may be quite different. However, it is a good idea to
include learners in the needs-analysis process because then they have a sense
of ownership and responsibility which can be a motivating force. Holme and
Chalauisaeng (2006) refer to needs analysis as an iterative process and
formulate a series of qualitative techniques focusing on participatory
appraisal to involve learners more in the process of identifying needs and
solutions to learning problems. The methods focused on reading and
involved class and group discussions and brainstorming.

Task 2.2

Application of methods in needs analysis

Chapter 15 shows three needs analyses:

Example 1 Mountain guides’ needs analysis

Example 2 English for engineering
Example 3 Academic Legal English

1. What areas do the instruments target?

2. What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of each instrument?
3. What would you do with the information gained from these needs
analyses?
4. Could these instruments be used or adapted to suit your ESP teaching
situation?

Figure 2.4 presents a framework comprising the major areas that can be
used to inform needs analysis as a basis for ESP course design.
Figure 2.4 A framework for needs analysis

Task 2.3
Needs-analysis framework

Using Figure 2.4, discuss the framework in relation to a potential or existing

ESP course

Figure 2.5 Steps in needs analysis in ESP course design

Moving from needs analysis to course design

Needs are the basis of most courses in ESP. Needs-analysis data is translated
into course objectives and teaching aims though a series of steps. A