CHAPTER 5: NEEDS ANALYSIS (Continued)
Previous pages: 1, 2, 3

5.4 Needs analysis instruments
5.4.1 Introduction
As the programme continued (1998, 1999), ongoing needs analysis became a regular feature of class-work, needs analysis instruments were added to the textbooks (cf. section 7.3.2.2), and the programme was adapted to incorporate results from these and to include ongoing evaluation and reflection.

5.4.2 Beginnings
Given the vital importance of student perceptions about learning (section 4.3.1, page 175). an aim of the programme was to influence and inform student beliefs over the long term, rather than try to improve objective scores in the short term, and the needs analysis instruments used reflect this emphasis.  

The "20-questions" self-assessment instrument in TMM  (pages 22/3, 189/90) and NYT (pages 20/1, 157/8), part of which appears in appendix C-34, monitored perceptions at the beginning and the end of each book and provided students with feedback on how they perceived their progress (in terms of ability to communicate with a foreigner) over the first two years of the course of study (cf. section 7.3.2.2, section 8.3). Also in the Freshman book (TMM) was an introductory "Information section" including pair/group activities on objective course-needs, learning preferences, PSA, TSA, strategy analysis, and planning (goal-setting) (appendices C15-19).

This section (cf, section 7.3.2.2.) was added to the book after the pilot year, and was intended 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 three years. 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 (cf. Willis, 1996; Sinclair & Ellis 1992), in opposition to previous learning experiences and existing preferences, and before students had experienced the interactive programme that was being offered. There was also concern about the idea of "imposing" autonomy through explicit instruction (Willis 1996).

5.4.3 Development  

In the second year course, students were expected to become more aware of learner training, self-assessment, reflection, and goal-setting, and a whole chapter of the textbook (NYT, Chapter 2, pages 19-31) was given to "Study Skills". This section of the book specifically addresses the topic of study, and invites students to think about their learning styles and strategies. A "Class information" activity (appendix C-15) is followed by self-assessment "20 questions" (appendix C-34, cf. illustration above), and then by a "True/False" survey (plus discussion of results) on learning styles (NYT, pages 24-7, appendix C-35). Pages 27 and 29 then repeat a goal-setting/planning activity from TMM (Information section, appendices C-18/19). Being familiar with the activity, students can experience some sense of continuity and validity as they perform it.

Page 28 is a peer-dictation activity on an associated topic ("Concentration and memory", see illustration opposite). Page 30 invites students to find each others' email addresses in preparation for a self-directed email project, and page 31 is a "Free Talking" page in which questions on given photographs lead into discussion of "Education". Finally, the "Extra Activities" section at the back of the book has an activity on speed-reading The aim here (as in TMM) is to raise student awareness of learning needs rather than asking them or the teacher to act immediately on solving these needs. 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.

5.4.4 Integration
The third and final "Junior" year of the programme represented what for many students was their last (foreseeable) year of institutionalised language learning. Having concentrated on oral skills, basic learning strategies, and enhancement of self-confidence and motivation for two years, the programme now focused more on holistic learning needs (language learning as education), in its attempt to promote confident, motivated and independent citizens. The textbook ("The Way Ahead" - TWA) was more pro-active in terms of promoting autonomy, evaluation, reflection, and planning, and demanded more in terms of language, self-direction, responsibility, and self/peer-assessment, via a project-based format. In addition to the eight projects in the book, regular use of self-assessment sheets (TWA pages 100, 128, 148, 209-10), a peer-assessment sheet (TWA pages 198/99, appendix C-37), and a self-grading sheet (TWA page 200, appendix C-38) encouraged students to reflect on the process of learning (participation) as well as the product (performance).

The aim of TWA was to provide a format for autonomy and negotiation in the classroom, and to help students grow into that format. "Introduction" sections at the beginning of Parts 1 (TWA pages 12 - 31) & 2 (TWA pages 103 - 113) (cf. appendices C-39-52) thus encouraged students to think about the learning process by performing various interactive needs analyses, in preparation for the ongoing self-assessment and reflection that is a feature of the whole book (appendix A-41). Examples of these needs analyses are "Call My Bluff" (TWA page 27, appendix C-50) - in which the "bluff" words are related to learning skills - and "The Learning Contract" (see illustration below; TWA page 29, appendix C-51). The Learning Contract builds upon an earlier activity ("The Marriage Contract", cf. TWA page 22, appendix C-48), and asks students (and the teacher) to decide upon norms of behaviour that they feel is conducive to a positive learning environment.

"Learning Contract"

Another method of encouraging ongoing reflection was to build reflective instruments into the book at regular intervals. These instruments appear at the end of each project and Introduction section (cf. table A-42), and are mostly based on published instruments. These reflective points aim to promote consciousness-raising, in conjunction with reflection on performance during the project, and function as strategy analyses, leading to student awareness of learning issues.

A third method of promoting autonomy and negotiation was via the evaluation system in the Junior year (cf. section 7.3.4), in which evaluation (cf. the illustration of the Mid-term evaluation session, opposite) 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 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.

5.4.5 Research

Finally, research instruments 2 & 5 (sections 8.4, 8.7; tables A-55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 61) performed a dual role of i) giving evaluative information on the programme; and ii) providing washback information for students, teachers and programme designer. Where instruments in the textbooks aimed to raise consciousness and language-learning awareness, these research instruments offered regular points during the programme, when assessment and reflection could take place, leading to further goal-setting. Results from these instruments show positive attitude change and increased awareness of learning needs over a period of one year (December 1998 – December 1999), and were fed back into the programme. They were also seen as information for the students themselves, to be used in the reflective cycle of learning (figure B-16).

5.4.6 Summary of needs analyses

In order to illustrate the continuous focus on needs analysis in the programme under discussion, a summary of opportunities for reflection on learning needs is offered below: 

5.5 Conclusion
In view of West's (1994:14) observation that "most needs analysis procedures do not begin to handle the leap between needs analysis and methods/materials selection or development", and following Tudor's suggestion that students and teachers explore learning needs together (section 5.2.2), the aim of needs analysis in this programme was to help the students become aware of learning processes and to handle the "leap" of application through negotiation with the teacher (cf. Bloor & Bloor 1988:66-7). In the Freshmen year communication strategies were introduced as part of a focus on interactive communication: "All the students talking all the time" (cf. Prabhu's "half the class doing half the task" criterion - Prabhu 1984:277, and Hill's "90% of the students with normal ability can learn 90% of the material 90% of the time" - Hill 1976:3), and students were given the opportunity to develop oral skills in a non-threatening learning environment. Sophomore students had more explicit exposure to learning strategies than Freshmen, and the third year of the programme contained a number of learner-training instruments, as well as regular self-evaluations and peer evaluations, encouraging students to perform their own needs evaluations at any time, to reflect on the results, and to use them for goal-setting and planning.