Jigjiga University
College of Social Sciences and Humanities
Department of English Language & Literature
Graduate Program in TEFL
: TEFL 306
:Abdi Ali Liban
Presentation Outline:
 Introduction
 Definition of needs analysis
 Characteristics of needs analysis
 Purpose of needs analysis.
 Advantages of needs analysis
 Procedures
Introduction
Aflah, Mita Nur, and Rahmani (2018) state that
curriculum needs analysis is the fundamental
building block for creating curriculum materials,
instructional strategies, and lesson plans that may
be used to boost students' motivation and
achievement during the learning process.

Continued
Gagne (1979), as explained by Miller and Seller
(1985, pp. 205–206), gave the needs analysis the top
priority among the 12 steps in curriculum design.
 According to Gagne (1979), it serves the aims of
"logical, systematic thinking" and "empirical test and
fact finding."
12 steps in the process of curriculum development
PHASE I: PLANNING
(1) Identify Issue/Problem/Need
(2) Form Curriculum Development Team
(3) Conduct Needs Assessment and Analysis
PHASE II: CONTENT AND METHODS
(4) State Intended Outcomes
(5) Select
Content
(6) Design Experiential Methods
PHASE III:IMPLEMENTATION
(7) Produce Curriculum Product
(8) Test and Revise Curriculum
(9) Recruit and Train
Facilitators
(10) Implement Curriculum
PHASE IV: EVALUATION AND REPORTING
(11) Design Evaluation Strategies
(12) Reporting and Securing Resources
Definition of needs analysis
According to Richards (2002, p. 54), the discrepancy
between what a student can currently do in language and
what he or she should be able to achieve is how needs are
frequently articulated.
•
• Richards (2002) makes clear that need is a construct that
depends on judgment and reflects the interests and values
of individuals exercising it.
Continued
 In curriculum development,the process of gathering and
analyzing data on learners in order to determine the
objectives and course materials of a language program based
on their needs is known as needs analysis (Kayi, 2008).
Songhori(2007, p. 21), also states that the concepts of needs
analysis include language information about learners, what
their current skills and language use are, and information
about their environment situation, which includes
information about the context.
Continued
Needs analysis are defined in terms of gaps in results as
needs are gaps between current results and the desired
results.(Kaufman,Oakley-Brown, Watkins, and Leigh 2003).
Thus, needs most commonly represent :
discrepancies—often deficits—between your ambitions and
goals. (see figure 1.).

Figure 1. Relating Needs to Discrepancies between
current results and desired results
Characteristics of needs analysis
A) Context-Specific and Needs-Driven Approach
B) Rigorous Data analysis
 C) Stakeholder participation
 D) Collaborative Needs assessment for improvement
Continued
A) Context-Specific and Needs-Driven Approach
An effective needs analysis is both context- and needsdriven.
B) Rigorous Data analysis
A thorough review of the data, including a variety of
high-quality data sets, is essential for a successful needs
analysis.
C) Stakeholder Participation
It is preferable to involve local stakeholders in a needs
Analysis process rather than leave it entirely up to a
select group of leaders or an outside organization.
—instead of just in the delivery of results—ensures that
the planning, data collection, identification of needs,
and analysis of underlying causes take into account the
input of a broad knowledge base, including a variety of
local perspectives.Louis, Leithwood, Wahlstrom, &
Anderson (2010); Bryk & Schneider (2002);
Continued
D) Collaborative Needs Assessment for Improvement
A list of needs, or prioritized areas of attention, is the main
output of the needs assessment process. These needs will guide
improvement activities.
 Priorities are decided together with stakeholders (as opposed
to being decided externally or alone) through the collaborative
identification of those needs.
Purpose of needs analysis
According to Richards (2001),needs analysis aims to
highlight the wide range of notably varied goals that might
be taken into account when planning the curriculum such
as to:
Find out what specific language abilities students need
can help educators.
plan for the learners' roles in the classroom.
Identify which students from a group are most in need of
specialized training
Gather specific information about the issue that students
encountered;
Continued
• Identify the students' cultural, political, and personal
characteristics (Linse, in Richards, 2001).
• Assess a location's capacity for resources, tools, supplies,
and facilities(means analysis).
• Determine the linguistic proficiency of the students at the
start of the program (current situation analysis).
Benifits of needs analysis
•
Needs analysis helps usdetermine the course’s
outline, materials and resources.
• Any course should be set up based on the
students’ needs and we should be “sensitive to
our learners and their needs” (Schmitt, 2000, p.
136).”
Continued
• we should carry out needs analysis In order to
devise a curriculum and prepare course materials
and methods based on the students’ and
institution’s objectives.
•
As Richards (2007) holds “a sound educational
program should be based on an analysis of
learner needs.” (p. 51).
Continued
• Needs analysis provide logical and disciplined methods
for collecting useful information and making decisions
based on that information.
•
Needs analysis helps us identify the aims, vision,
principles, goals, learners’ key competencies, desirable
characteristics, learning standards and indicators in
curriculum development process.
Procedures
There are two phases in the needs analysis process.
The first is procedures for conducting a needs assessment.
•
•
A number of techniques are aimed toward learning what is
needed and by whom relative to the identified issue.
Techniques covered in this section include: KAP - Knowledge,
Attitude, and Practice Survey; focus groups; and
environmental scanning.
Continued
• Analysis, the second part of needs analysis, describes
techniques on how to use the data and the results of the
information gathered. Included are:
• Ways to identify gaps between knowledge and practice; trends
emerging from the data; a process to prioritize needs; and
identification of the characteristics of the target audience.
•
Conclusion
Briefly stated, the purpose of needs analysis in language acquisition
is to understand a person's linguistic abilities based on context
and specific jobs, help group materials according to the needs
of language learners, identify gaps between what language learners
expect and what they can actually do, and gather information
about language learners/groups of language learners who
experience challenges in learning language (Aflah, Mita Nur.,
Rahmani, 2018).
~ The End
Thanks!!!