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English For Construction:
A Needs Analysis
Kelsey Parker
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Lit Review
 R.
Jasso-Aguilar (1999)
 Needs analysis for hotel Maids in a popular
Waikiki hotel

looked at daily tasks performed by the hotel
maids and the language involved in these tasks &
the needs and wants of the maids and the
representatives from the hotel
 G. Storer (1999)
 part of an ongoing study of language needs of
bar-based male sex workers in Thailand
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Lit Review Cont.
Wozniak (2010)
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Li So-mui (2000)
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Analysis of communication needs of textile and clothing
merchandisers
West (1984)
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
Language needs analysis of French mountain guides
Needs assessment in occupation-specific VESL
All three contributed to my methodology
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Introduction
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NA for native Spanish speakers currently employed at Parker
General Contractors
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Small Construction Company (under 10 employees)
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Goal was to assess language needs of ESL employees and
eventually develop VESL materials to train current and future
employees.
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Limited Data on VESL and NO data on English for
Construction
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Methods
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Two 4 hour job site observations
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6 short (20 min.) interviews, and one longer follow up
interview
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Authentic workplace texts
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Sources
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Jim - owner
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Tom- foreman
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Steve- NS employee
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Luke- NS employee
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Oswaldo- NNS employee
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Bonnie- NNS employee
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Results
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Workplace observation and interviews revealed that the
following things are important for an ESL speaker to succeed
in a construction job:
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Tools and Materials
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Measurements
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Safety
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Basic Communication
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Detailed/ Skilled work
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Employment opportunities
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Perceived needs
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Tools and Materials
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Kelsey: “If someone new started working here that didn’t
know very much English. What um… would be the most
important thing for them to learn… quickly… in order to
uh…be successful?”
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Bonnie: “I think the important thing is that they have to learn
Uh. If they don’t communicate with our boss like Jim or Tom.
Almost.. It’s a lot of Mexicans working on construction. So like
Tom had a lot of Mexicans and they didn’t talk English. So
Tom would tell me to tell them. So uh they would have to
learn uh the the tools names in English and the wood
lumber… and all that stuff… that’s the important thing”
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Measurements
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Kelsey: “If a non-native speaker came to this country and
wanted to get a job quickly working construction and they
had limited English… what are some of the most important
things you think they would have to like pick up on?”
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Luke: “Well definitely numbers… reading off a measuring
tape, and fractions… you know uh being able to be able to
communicate math…well that’s the basic stuff. I’m sure it
goes on and on and on from there. Knowing the sizes of stuff.
That’s it
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Safety
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Kelsey: “What kind of errors do new workers make and how
are they handled?”
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Jim: “Um they make mistakes with safety mostly, and we just
correct them… tell them what they need to do right and show
em how to do it, and that’s about it”
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Kelsey: “What common errors do new workers make?”
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Tom: “Umm… I’d say… not cleaning up…and uh cutting
things wrong. Or getting hurt.”
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Basic Communication
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Kelsey: “In what specific areas have you had problems
communicating with non-native speakers?”
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Tom: “I guess um… just trying to explain to them how to do a
certain job”
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Kelsey: “Do you feel that your employees need to improve
their English? Or umm maybe think about past employees?
How could they have improved their English?”
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Tom: “Uhh… honestly if they can’t speak English… they’re
not gonna last too long”
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Detailed/ Skilled Work
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Kelsey: “Do you think it’s important that your coworkers speak
English? And how fluently?”
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Steve: “Well it depends on what you want done. There’s a lot of
work you can do that you can just say… go do this… and they
can understand it. But if its uh very detail oriented… the more
details involved with it like.. the more they need to understand
English. Or I need to understand their language. One of the two”
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Kelsey: “So what kind of things would be that like detail oriented
sort of work?”
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Steve: “Uhhhh maybe stairs are more intricate, roofs are more
intricate… the more intricate the job the more they need to
know”
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Employment Opportunities
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Kelsey: “Can you give me some ideas of what you mentioned earlier…
the more uh detailed tasks, that people might need to know more than
just, like, conversational English for?”
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Jim: “Stuff like finish carpentry where it’s real detailed… because it’s
hard to explain to them exactly what you want. But if its just rough
carpentry or labor work its usually just tellin’ em directions of where to
put things or where to move things. Pick it up. Put it down. That kind of
stuff. So again, the more specific the task the more they would need to
learn English. Like electrical work. Plumbing work. Maybe if they had to
go pick up supplies I could have a really hard time explaining exactly
what I needed. Any tech- technical trade… so uh… audiovisual…
plumbing, electric like I mentioned.”
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Kelsey: “And… are those all trades that you could hypothetically learn
on the job? I mean, you wouldn’t have to go to trade school or
anything?”
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Jim: “No most of them they could learn on the job… yeah they would just
have to be able to pick it up”
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Perceived Needs
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Kelsey: “Are there specific things you think you need to
know for your job… or just…. For life?”
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Oswaldo: “For life and for my job. Yeah. It’s like….It’s I don’t
know how to call that stuff… and yeah… a lot of stuff I have to
learn”
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Kelsey: “Do you feel that your employees need to improve
their English in any specific areas?”
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Jim: “Some of them do, but it’s for their own good… like I
wouldn’t say they really needed to for work. Usually we can
get by… someone can always translate for them”
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Pedagogical Implications
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For speakers with a very limited level of English:
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Once employees have reached a more advanced level:
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Instruction should focus on basic vocabulary (tools, materials,
equipment, numbers, measurements), safety instructions, and
communication strategies needed to understand directions and
report back to employer
Instruction should focus on more technical vocabulary and the
understanding and communication of detailed instructions in
order to give employees the chance to learn a trade
Further instruction:
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Help employees to improve their English both in and out of the
workplace so that they can be productive members of the English
speaking community
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Limitations and Further Research
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Limitations
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Quantitative research
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Cannot be generalized
Failed to triangulate methods and sources
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Due to safety precautions I could observe but not get close
enough to record authentic workplace communication
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Surveys could have been useful
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Authentic texts did not reveal very much
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Further research should look at the current materials for
English for Construction and see if they meet the needs of ESL
employees
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References
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Jasso-Aguilar, R. (1999). Sources, methods and triangulation in needs analysis: A critical
perspective in a case study of Waikiki hotel maids. English for Specific Purposes, 18(1), 27-46.

Li, S. F., & Mead, K. (2000). An analysis of English in the workplace: The communication needs
of textile and clothing merchandisers. English for Specific Purposes, 19(4), 351-368.

Marra, M. (2013). English in the Workplace. In Paltridge, B. & Starfield, S. (Eds.), The Handbook
of English for Specific Purposes (175-192). Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons.
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Peirce, B. N., Harper, H., & Burnaby, B. (1993). Workplace ESL at levy Strauss: "dropouts" speak
out. TESL Canada Journal/Revue TESL Du Canada, 10(2), 9-30.
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Storer, G. (1999). Working the bars. English for Specific Purposes, 18(4), 367-374.

West, L. (1984). Needs assessment in occupation-specific VESL or How to decide what to teach.
English for Specific Purposes, 3: 143-152.
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West, L. (1984); Readings from Responses to ESP (2000).
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Wozniak, S. (2010). Language needs analysis from a perspective of international professional
mobility: The case of French mountain guides. English for Specific Purposes, 29(4), 243-252.