The key information any needs' analysis should
provide is:
(which in a group environment is impossible anyway),
•
!
•
•
•
personal profile (Who)
needs, wants and expectations (What)
motivation(s) (Why)
learning preferences/styles (How)
It is best to collect this information over a series of
lessons - by getting your students to interview each
other, design their own questionnaires, compare and
contrast experiences, etc. As a teacher, you can
monitor and record, noting any relevant information
provided by your students as they are engaged in
communicative activities (for which they will also
receive language-related feedback) - everybody wins!
You can even get your students to design the course
syllabus for you (if you have this kind of freedom).
Why not run a pyramid activity: ask each student to
think of five language and five topic areas that they
want their course to cover. Put the students in pairs
and ask each pair to agree on a combined list, and
then do the same in fours or as a whole group. Make
note of items that don't make the final list as these will
also be relevant once you have covered the prioritised
items.
You will then know which students are taking the
course because the want to (to travel, to study, for
family reasons), which need to so that they can get
ahead (for an exam or a job) and which need to
because they have no choice (they risk losing their
job or their parents force them to). Once you've got a
degree of understanding of which students have
intrinsic (a personal interest or enjoyment in learning
English) or extrinsic (the potential reward for improved
English is the main factor) motivations; which
students have a predominantly visual, auditory,
kinaesthetic or tactile way of learning; which students
work best independently (field-independent) and
which work best in small groups (field-dependent);
and who is more logical and intellectual in their
learning (left-brain dominated) as opposed to those
who are more intuitive and subjective (right brain
dominated), what do you do? In short, you offer
variety:
Key challenges for us are to move away from
teaching according to our own learning styles and to
enable learners to gain a better understanding of their
own preferences. The idea is not to teach each
student exclusively according to their preferences
•
•
•
•
•
•
whole group, small group, pair and
individual tasks
pictures, graphics, timelines and realia
projects, problem-solving and casestudies
discussions, debates and role-plays
video clips, recordings, music and poems
gap-fills, matching, labelling and ordering
activities
collaborative and competitive activities
and tasks
but to aim for a blend of methods. If the right balance
is struck, learners will be taught partly in a manner
they prefer (leading to an increased willingness to
learn), and partly in a less preferred manner,
providing practic