The Importance of Needs Assessment in Planning ESL Class Activities

By Andrew J. Wykretowicz

With the education environment going more and more digital, our old ways of class planning and preparation are being replaced by new technology. One could ask a simple question: how many teachers are still using needs assessments? And why do we still need them, especially now when all things are electronic? I admit, there was a time where I did not see any value in using it. After all, most programs have placement tests and progress tests in place, and instructors usually get the test results for their students. Shouldn’t that be enough? Maybe for some teachers who only want to do what’s required of them, it is enough. However, I think that most, if not all, ESL teachers have a greater calling, as we should not only teach language skills but also life skills that enable our students to function successfully in their communities, get better jobs, schedule doctor’s appointments, do banking, etc.

What is needs assessment?

Even many experienced teachers have a hard time defining what needs assessment is, usually because they get it confused with needs analysis. For the majority of people, those two terms are interchangeable, which is an honest and unintentional mistake. However, not only does this lead to some confusion, but it can have a potentially negative impact on your class. Needs assessment is a process which identifies gaps between the current and desired state. Simply said, this is the difference between what your students expect and what they get in your class. If you want to have happy students, you need to know their expectations and try to meet them. Needs analysis, on the other hand, is the evaluation of needs assessment. This is the process where you work out how you are going to fill those gaps and meet your students’ expectations. As pointed out by Ulum: “Upon examining the students’ needs and specifying the language course objectives, materials meeting the needs of the students might be chosen for instance. Therefore, needs analysis is the base on which curriculum content, teaching materials and methods are constructed” (Ulum, 2015, p.16). The purpose of the whole process is to enhance students’ experience and motivation, which leads to much better achievement.

What does needs assessment tell us?

What does needs assessment tell us that we don’t already know from the results of placement or progress tests? Most placement and progress tests focus on certain skills, namely reading comprehension and writing. There is no speaking and listening component, so you are already missing some information. Some tests ask students for their purpose in studying English, but those answers are rarely exhaustive enough to give you the whole story. If the student answers that they want to study English for work, we still don’t know what type of work, where, if they want to apply for it, or if they need additional specific language skills, like writing or speaking. In addition, those tests do not tell you your students’ backgrounds and feelings towards certain things. There is no information about their education, multiple languages they may speak, and other non-language skills such as technology or previous work experience. All this additional information could change how you plan your class. Another aspect missing from regular placement tests is students’ cultural background. Knowing this information is often critical in planning how to approach certain subjects and avoid stereotypes, which can help create a welcome and inclusive environment conducive to learning. For example, in certain cultures, you are not expected to speak among strangers, so if you have students from such a culture, you need to let them get acquainted with the class before you call on them to speak. I’ve worked with a refugee family where women were not supposed to talk to a man when the head of the family (in this case the grandfather) was present. Only the head of the family could speak on their behalf. I had to work around their culture to be able to teach, which meant to negotiate with the head man to allow others to speak. This may be a somewhat extreme example, but if we don’t have that knowledge, we might simply give up on that student, thinking that they don’t want to participate, and we move on to others who are eager to participate.

What should your needs assessment look like?

The answer depends on the class level you want to teach. I have various versions, and, depending on who I am teaching, I pick the one which is closest to the student group assigned to me. As a general rule, I tend to design a simple questionnaire. This is not a SAT test but a tool to gather more information about your students. Sometimes, you could do an oral interview and ask your questions rather than using a written test. This takes more time, but it gives you an opportunity to ask additional questions. Other times, if, for example, you know the group is not very proficient in speaking, setting up interviews is not very productive, as the teacher ends up talking the most, and students usually give yes/no answers. Also, remember that the questionnaire can be confusing or even intimidating if the questions are difficult and complex. Therefore, my questionnaire has a handful of basic questions that usually yield good results and provide needed information such as home language, English proficiency, and educational background. Here are some examples:

Is English your first language?
Can you speak another language? If yes, what language?
What language do you speak most often with your friends?
What language do you speak most often with your family?
How many years were you in school in your native country?
How many years were you in school In the United States?
Where do you need to the most help? Speaking? Listening? Reading? Writing?

For intermediate-level groups, you could have questions with predetermined answers and ask the students to check the right one. For example:

When people speak English to you, how much do you understand? Check the right answer.

everything most some a little very little

Subsequently, for the low beginners, I use pictures, charts, and various diagrams, making it easy for students because they only have to circle things to answer questions.

How can we use the information to benefit our students?

Some of the questions survey the home language and the amount of home language use in students’ daily activities. This will be helpful in designing class activities, dividing the class into groups for those activities, and making seating arrangements. Identifying educational background questions will help to choose the right complexity and variety of material. These questions will also help to determine the literacy levels and previous experience with English. This information will also help to make decisions on what additional materials and themes to pick for the class. Questions related to educational background and academic experience as well as the questions on reasons for studying English will help teachers to know how much time should be allocated to explanation of homework and exercises. If your students are taking the class because they want to go to college, you should give more detail in explaining grammatical rules and parts of speech. But if they only want to know enough to get a job, there is no need to explain to them all the syntactic rules of the language. Also, these questions will help to determine if the teacher needs to focus more on social or academic vocabulary. If the outcome is that the group reading skills are good but the speaking skills are lagging behind, there is no need to plan discussion groups until those skills are improved.

The initial needs assessment is an important tool because it engages students in a dialogue with the teacher as explained by Graves: “First, the information gathered can help to shape the course right from the start to meet learners’ needs. Second, initial needs assessment activities signal to the learners the teacher’s intention to engage them in dialogue and decision about their learning. However, initial needs assessment activities may not necessarily give one the information desired” (Graves, 2000. p.113).

This is why the needs assessment tool and its outcome should be treated not as the set-in-stone roadmap for the entire semester but rather as the initial road sign pointing the teacher in the right direction. The teacher, by observing and taking notes, can make further assessment to change and tweak their syllabus so that they fit their current class expectations. As teachers, we may teach the same material, but we should not always teach the same way.

References

Graves, K. (2000). Designing Language Courses, A Guide for Teachers. Boston. Heinle & Heinle.

Ulum, O.G. (2015). A Needs Analysis Study for Preparatory Class ELT Students. European Journal of English Language Teaching, Volume 1, Issue 1.

Andrew J. Wykretowicz (MA TESOL) is an experienced EFL/ESL instructor. He currently teaches at Oakton Community College in Skokie, IL, as well as other non-profit organizations in Chicago. He previously taught ESL in Manhattan College, NY, a private school in CT, Refugee Resettlement Office in VA, and abroad in Canada and Poland. He is also an active member of ITBE and TESOL.


The Importance of Needs Assessment in Planning ESL Class Activities By Andrew J. Wykretowicz With the education environment going more and more digital, our old ways of class planning and preparation are being replaced by new technology. One could ask a simple question: how many teachers are still using needs assessments? And why do we still need them, especially now when all things are electronic? I admit, there was a time where I did not see any value in using it. After all, most programs have placement tests and progress tests in place, and instructors usually get the test results for their students. Shouldn’t that be enough? Maybe for some teachers who only want to do what’s required of them, it is enough. However, I think that most, if not all, ESL teachers have a greater calling, as we should not only teach language skills but also life skills that enable our students to function successfully in their communities, get better jobs, schedule doctor’s appointments, do banking, etc. What is needs assessment? Even many experienced teachers have a hard time defining what needs assessment is, usually because they get it confused with needs analysis. For the majority of people, those two terms are interchangeable, which is an honest and unintentional mistake. However, not only does this lead to some confusion, but it can have a potentially negative impact on your class. Needs assessment is a process which identifies gaps between the current and desired state. Simply said, this is the difference between what your students expect and what they get in your class. If you want to have happy students, you need to know their expectations and try to meet them. Needs analysis, on the other hand, is the evaluation of needs assessment. This is the process where you work out how you are going to fill those gaps and meet your students’ expectations. As pointed out by Ulum: “Upon examining the students’ needs and specifying the language course objectives, materials meeting the needs of the students might be chosen for instance. Therefore, needs analysis is the base on which curriculum content, teaching materials and methods are constructed” (Ulum, 2015, p.16). The purpose of the whole process is to enhance students’ experience and motivation, which leads to much better achievement. What does needs assessment tell us? What does needs assessment tell us that we don’t already know from the results of placement or progress tests? Most placement and progress tests focus on certain skills, namely reading comprehension and writing. There is no speaking and listening component, so you are already missing some information. Some tests ask students for their purpose in studying English, but those answers are rarely exhaustive enough to give you the whole story. If the student answers that they want to study English for work, we still don’t know what type of work, where, if they want to apply for it, or if they need additional specific language skills, like writing or speaking. In addition, those tests do not tell you your students’ backgrounds and feelings towards certain things. There is no information about their education, multiple languages they may speak, and other non-language skills such as technology or previous work experience. All this additional information could change how you plan your class. Another aspect missing from regular placement tests is students’ cultural background. Knowing this information is often critical in planning how to approach certain subjects and avoid stereotypes, which can help create a welcome and inclusive environment conducive to learning. For example, in certain cultures, you are not expected to speak among strangers, so if you have students from such a culture, you need to let them get acquainted with the class before you call on them to speak. I’ve worked with a refugee family where women were not supposed to talk to a man when the head of the family (in this case the grandfather) was present. Only the head of the family could speak on their behalf. I had to work around their culture to be able to teach, which meant to negotiate with the head man to allow others to speak. This may be a somewhat extreme example, but if we don’t have that knowledge, we might simply give up on that student, thinking that they don’t want to participate, and we move on to others who are eager to participate. What should your needs assessment look like? The answer depends on the class level you want to teach. I have various versions, and, depending on who I am teaching, I pick the one which is closest to the student group assigned to me. As a general rule, I tend to design a simple questionnaire. This is not a SAT test but a tool to gather more information about your students. Sometimes, you could do an oral interview and ask your questions rather than using a written test. This takes more time, but it gives you an opportunity to ask additional questions. Other times, if, for example, you know the group is not very proficient in speaking, setting up interviews is not very productive, as the teacher ends up talking the most, and students usually give yes/no answers. Also, remember that the questionnaire can be confusing or even intimidating if the questions are difficult and complex. Therefore, my questionnaire has a handful of basic questions that usually yield good results and provide needed information such as home language, English proficiency, and educational background. Here are some examples: Is English your first language? Can you speak another language? If yes, what language? What language do you speak most often with your friends? What language do you speak most often with your family? How many years were you in school in your native country? How many years were you in school In the United States? Where do you need to the most help? Speaking? Listening? Reading? Writing? For intermediate-level groups, you could have questions with predetermined answers and ask the students to check the right one. For example: When people speak English to you, how much do you understand? Check the right answer. everything most some a little very little Subsequently, for the low beginners, I use pictures, charts, and various diagrams, making it easy for students because they only have to circle things to answer questions. How can we use the information to benefit our students? Some of the questions survey the home language and the amount of home language use in students’ daily activities. This will be helpful in designing class activities, dividing the class into groups for those activities, and making seating arrangements. Identifying educational background questions will help to choose the right complexity and variety of material. These questions will also help to determine the literacy levels and previous experience with English. This information will also help to make decisions on what additional materials and themes to pick for the class. Questions related to educational background and academic experience as well as the questions on reasons for studying English will help teachers to know how much time should be allocated to explanation of homework and exercises. If your students are taking the class because they want to go to college, you should give more detail in explaining grammatical rules and parts of speech. But if they only want to know enough to get a job, there is no need to explain to them all the syntactic rules of the language. Also, these questions will help to determine if the teacher needs to focus more on social or academic vocabulary. If the outcome is that the group reading skills are good but the speaking skills are lagging behind, there is no need to plan discussion groups until those skills are improved. The initial needs assessment is an important tool because it engages students in a dialogue with the teacher as explained by Graves: “First, the information gathered can help to shape the course right from the start to meet learners’ needs. Second, initial needs assessment activities signal to the learners the teacher’s intention to engage them in dialogue and decision about their learning. However, initial needs assessment activities may not necessarily give one the information desired” (Graves, 2000. p.113). This is why the needs assessment tool and its outcome should be treated not as the set-in-stone roadmap for the entire semester but rather as the initial road sign pointing the teacher in the right direction. The teacher, by observing and taking notes, can make further assessment to change and tweak their syllabus so that they fit their current class expectations. As teachers, we may teach the same material, but we should not always teach the same way. References Graves, K. (2000). Designing Language Courses, A Guide for Teachers. Boston. Heinle & Heinle. Ulum, O.G. (2015). A Needs Analysis Study for Preparatory Class ELT Students. European Journal of English Language Teaching, Volume 1, Issue 1. Andrew J. Wykretowicz (MA TESOL) is an experienced EFL/ESL instructor. He currently teaches at Oakton Community College in Skokie, IL, as well as other non-profit organizations in Chicago. He previously taught ESL in Manhattan College, NY, a private school in CT, Refugee Resettlement Office in VA, and abroad in Canada and Poland. He is also an active member of ITBE and TESOL.
Spring 2021 - Spring 2021