University of Warwick
Centre for Applied Linguistics
MA in ELT / EYL/ESP
Term 2: Professional Practice
Needs analysis and setting your objectives
Annamaria Pinter
Week 1
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A. Needs analysis (Steps in syllabus design)
1. Needs assessment. What are my students’ needs in a given context? How can I
assess them so that I can address them?
2. Determining goals and objectives. What are the purposes and intended outcomes
of the course? What will my students need to do or learn to achieve these goals?
3. Conceptualising the content. What will be the backbone of what I teach? What
will I include in the syllabus?
4. Selecting and developing materials and activities. How and with what shall I
teach the course? What is my role? What are my students’ roles?
5. Organisation of content and activities. How will I organise the content and
activities? What systems will I develop?
6. Evaluation. How will I assess what students have learned? How will I assess the
effectiveness of the course?
7. Consideration of resources and constraints. What are the givens of my
situation? What constraints can be overcome?
(Graves 1996: 13)
B. Types of needs analysis
1. Language proficiency orientation:
 language proficiency and language problems,
 standardised tests and observation
 aim is to group learners in homogeneous groups so that teaching could be
targeted to a particular proficiency level;
2. Psychological/humanistic orientation:
 attitudes, motivation and learning strategy preferences,
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

observation, interviews and surveys
aim is to give individual characteristics some consideration and to help
learners become more aware and involved in decision making;
3. Specific purpose orientation:
 needs and interests,
 information of NS use of language in target situations,
 surveys of language use patterns;
 aim is to present learners with data relevant to their communication goals;
(Bridley 1989 cited in Nunan and Lamb 1996
Sample instruments (from Nunan and Lamb 1996):
General language needs survey
 Intended occupation
Language contact survey
 Do you want to improve your English to….
Methodological survey
 Do you like learning by memory?
Subjective experiences
 Feelings, likes and dislikes
Prospective course survey
 Which skill do you want to spend most time on?
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C. Contexts
Own context
School system
Age of learners
Type of institution
English and the rest of the
curriculum
Status of English
Background of teachers
Most important needs of
learners
Resources
Other factors
D. Describing the content of the syllabus – your objectives
A definition of objectives:
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the pedagogic intentions of a particular course of study to be achieved within
the period of that course and in principle measurable by some assessment
device at the end of the course. Widdowson (1983:7)
OBJECTIVES
PERFORMANCE
MACRO-SKILLS
e.g. oral seminar skills:
MICRO-SKILLS
holding the floor
avoiding the issue
summarising
ENABLING
learning how to learn
confidence growth
strategy deployment
TARGET TASKS
welcoming overseas
colleagues
negotiating agendas
KNOWLEDGE
LANGUAGE
words
phrases
patterns
intonation & stress
discourse patterns
meanings & use
SOCIO-CULTURAL
ASPECTS
social norms
conventions
The completed syllabus grid (Grid taken from Graves 1996 p 25)
Participatory processes:
Learning strategies:
Content:
Culture:
Tasks and activities:
Competencies:
Listening
skills:
Functions:
Speaking
skills:
Reading
skills:
Writing
skills:
Notions and topics:
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Communicative situations:
Grammar:
Pronunciation:
Vocabulary:
Other grids
Topic
Function
Genre
Writing/
reading
skills
Learning
strategies
Cultural
issues
E. Exploring ELT textbooks
1. Select an ELT textbook and find the author’s statement about what kind of
learner group it is for? What kinds of contexts is it intended for?
2. Compare different books
Reading
Key reading:
Graves, K. (Ed.) 1996 Teachers as Course Developers. Cambridge: CUP.
Other useful reading:
Annual Review of Applied Linguistics Vol 24 2004: Advances in language pedagogy.
Bourke, J. 2006. Designing a topic based syllabus for young learners. ELT Journal
60/3: 279-286.
Ellis, R. 2003. Designing a task based syllabus. RELC Journal 34/1: 64-81.
Gavioli, L. & Aston, G. 2001. Enriching reality: language corpora in language
pedagogy. ELT Journal 55/3: 238-246.
Johnston, B. and Peterson, S. 1994. The program matrix: A conceptual framework
for language programs. System 22/1: 63-80.
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Macaro, E. 2003 Teaching and learning a second language: a guide to recent
research and its applications. London: Continuum.
McDonough, K. & Chaikitmongkol, W. 2007. Teachers’ and learners’ reactions to a
task based EFL course in Thailand. TESOL Quarterly 41/1: 107-132
McDevitt, B. 2004. Negotiating the syllabus: a win-win situation? ELT Journal 58/1:
3-8.
McGrath I 2002 Materials evaluation and design for language teaching. Edinburgh:
EUP
Nunan D 1988 Syllabus Design. Oxford OUP.
Nunan, D. & Lamb, C. 2001. Managing the learning process. In Hall, D. & Hewings,
A. Innovation in English language teaching: a reader. London: Routledge.
Ricento T & Hornberger N 1996 Unpeeling the onion: language planning and policy
and the ELT professional. TESOL Quarterly 30/3: 401-428
Tomlinson, B. (Ed.) 2003 Developing materials for language teaching London:
Continuum.
White R V 1988. The ELT Curriculum: Design, Innovation and Management
Blackwell Publishers
Widdowson, H. 1990. The problems and principles of syllabus design. Chapter 9 of
Aspects of Language Teaching. Pp. 127-155.
Woodward T 2001 Planning lessons and courses. Cambridge CUP.
More reading: needs analysis
Ellis R 2003 Designing a task-based syllabus. RELC journal 34/1: 64-81.
Forey G 2004 Workplace texts: do they mean the same for teachers and business
people? English for Specific Purposes 23: 447-469
Gray, K. 1990. Syllabus design for the general class: what happens to theory when
you apply it. ELT Journal 44(4):261-271.
Green, C. 2005. ‘Integrating extensive reading in the task based curriculum. ELT
Journal 59 (4) 306-311.
Hodge R Pitt K & Barton D 2004. This is not enough for one’s life: perceptions of
living and learning English in Blackburn by students seeking asylum and refugee
status. Language Issues 16/2: 5-12.
Holme, R. & Chalauisaeng, B. (2006). The learner as needs analyst: the use of
participatory appraisal in the EAP reading classroom. English for Specific Purposes
25/4: 403-419.
Huth, T. & Taleghani-Nikazm, C. 2006. How can insights from conversation analysis
be directly applied to teaching L2 pragmatics? Language Teaching Research 10 (1)
53-79.
McCarthy, M. and Carter, R. 1997. Octopus or Hydra? IATEFL Newsletter 137: 1617.
Nitta, R. & Gardner, S. 2005. ‘Consciousness raising and practice in ELT
coursebooks’. ELT Journal 59 (1) 3-13.
Nunan, D. & Lamb, C. 2001. Managing the learning process. In Hall, D. & Hewings,
A. Innovation in English language teaching: a reader. London: Routledge.
Palfreyman D & Smith R 2003 Learner autonomy across cultures: language education
perspectives. London, Palgrave
Prodromou, L. 1997a. Global English and its struggle against the octopus. IATEFL
Newsletter 135: 12-14.
Prodromou, L. 1997b. From corpus to octopus. IATEFL Newsletter 137: 18-21.
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Seedhouse P 1995 ‘Needs analysis and the general English classroom’ ELTJ 49/1: 5965
Swan, M. 2005. ‘Legislation by hypothesis; the case of task based instruction.
Applied Linguistics 26 (3) 376-401
Uvin, J. 1996. 'Designing workplace ESOL courses for Chinese health-care workers
at a Boston nursing home.' in Graves, K. (ed) 1996 Teachers as course developers.
Waters A 1997 ‘Theory and practice in LSP course design’ in Pique J & Viera D (eds)
Applied languages: theory and practice in ESP. Valencia: University of Valencia
Widdowson H G 2003 Defining issues in English language teaching. Oxford: OUP
(especially chs 7,8,9)
Williams, M. 1988. Language taught for meetings and language used in
meetings: Is there anything in common? Applied Linguistics 9/1: 45-58.
Young J 2000 ‘Who needs analyses’ ELT Journal 54/1: 72-74
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