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Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyze research methods, data collection tools, and data analysis methods of the needs assessment studies conducted in the language education and teaching process. In this study, the general screening model, which is based on an examination of research on needs analysis, was used. The data collected in accordance with the general screening model were examined by the content analysis method based on the examination of the documents. The methods of these studies, data collection tools, and data analysis methods were reviewed. In accordance with the results from the review process, the frequency of use, efficiency, and functionality of the research method, data collection tool and data analysis methods used were evaluated. Next, during the needs assessment process, the importance and priority of students' and teachers' needs were discussed. The results of these discussions have been included at the end of the research. In light of the findings of the research and the results, suggestions were made regarding the importance of teacher and student needs factors in the process of identifying and analyzing language education needs. The classification made shows that researchers generally concentrate on four models which are mixed, survey, descriptive and experimental models. As for the data collection tools, it is understood that different data collection tools are used in the sample studies to determine the needs.
An Examination of Needs Analysis Research in the Language Education Process
Hülya Sönmez*
Education Faculty, Muş AlparslanUniversity, Muş, Turkey
Corresponding author: Hülya Sönmez, E-mail: hulya.sonmez@alparslan.edu.tr
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study is to analyze research methods, data collection tools, and data analysis methods
of the needs assessment studies conducted in the language education and teaching process. In this
study, the general screening model, which is based on an examination of research on needs analysis,
was used. The data collected in accordance with the general screening model were examined by
the content analysis method based on the examination of the documents. The methods of these
studies, data collection tools, and data analysis methods were reviewed. In accordance with the
results from the review process, the frequency of use, efciency, and functionality of the research
method, data collection tool and data analysis methods used were evaluated. Next, during the needs
assessment process, the importance and priority of students’ and teachers’ needs were discussed.
The results of these discussions have been included at the end of the research. In the light of the
ndings of the research and the results, suggestions were made regarding the importance of teacher
and student needs factors in the process of identifying and analyzing language education needs. The
classication made shows that researchers generally concentrate on four models which are mixed,
survey, descriptive and experimental models. As for the data collection tools, it is understood that
different data collection tools are used in the sample studies to determine the needs.
Key words: Needs Analysis, Language Education-instruction, Analysis, Language Educa-
tion-instruction, Method
INTRODUCTION
The term “need” may refer to an obligation, demand, and
necessity (Martins, 2017, p. 58). The term “needs analysis”,
which has become widespread in ESP (English for Specic
Purposes) and EAP (English for Academic Purposes) cours-
es, is also called “needs assessment”. The purpose of the
needs analysis is to identify the target language teaching/
learning needs in order to design an effective curriculum.
In assessing the special needs of students, we encounter the
term “need analysis”, which had different connotations in
the past than it does currently. The needs analysis was car-
ried out in the early stages of ESP (1960s and early 1970s) to
evaluate students’ communication needs and the techniques
of achieving specic teaching objectives. Nowadays, the
tasks of needs analysis vary considerably since the needs
analysis aims to gather information about students’ needs
(Otilia, 2015). Tarone and Yule (1989) reported four lev-
els of needs analysis according to learners’ learning needs,
which are the global, rhetorical, grammatical-rhetorical and
grammatical levels. Global needs analysis tries to deter-
mine which target conditions the target language will need
in order to realize the learning process effectively. Thus, it
determines the target needs of students in relation to the lan-
guage. Rhetoric and grammatical-rhetorical needs analyses
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Copyright (c) the author(s). This is an open access article under CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
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are related to each other as the grammatical-rhetorical needs
analysis tries to determine which linguistic forms are used
to realize the structure of knowledge at the rhetorical level.
Grammatical needs analysis is related to the frequency in
which grammatical forms are used in certain communicative
situations (Çelik, 2003).
Needs analysis in the language education process devel-
ops within the scope of certain objectives depending on the
purpose of the research. Objectives of the needs analysis in
the educational process are as follows: information on the
aims of students to follow a learning program on the basis
of information gathered through various sources, analysis of
the current situation in order to provide information on the
effectiveness of the program, which is carried out according
to the current and future needs of the students, information
on preferred learning or learning styles, information on the
preferences of learners for specic skills and preferences for
learning these skills, factors determining the role relation-
ship between teachers and students; and information related
to preferences for teaching-learning activities (Dudley-Ev-
ans and John, 1998, p. 125).
A needs analysis to be conducted based on these purposes
and an evaluation process resulting from such a needs analy-
sis consist of different stages which are closely related to one
another. The six key steps required to carry out a needs as-
International Journal of Education & Literacy Studies
ISSN: 2202-9478
www.ijels.aiac.org.au
ARTICLE INFO
Article history
Received: November 27, 2018
Accepted: January 20, 2019
Published: January 31, 2019
Volume: 7 Issue: 1
Conicts of interest: None
Funding: None
An Examination of Needs Analysis Research in the Language Education Process 9
sessment are listed as follows: determining goals, determin-
ing the boundaries of the universe in which the needs analy-
sis is to be conducted, determining the limits of the test case
(test), choosing the data collection tool, collecting evidence,
evaluating the data, and criticizing the study in terms of its
effectiveness (Schutz and Derwing 1981, cited in Jeczelews-
ki, 2016, p. 13). Duddley-Evans and John (2009) classify
needs analysis into ve groups according to the functions
of needs analysis: objective situation analysis and objective
needs analysis covering the tasks and activities that learners
will use to use English; linguistic analysis giving informa-
tion about how language and skills are used, discourse anal-
ysis, genre analysis; analysis of instructional needs covering
similar situations such as prior learning experiences, reasons
for participating in the curriculum, expectations, etc. This
means that subjective need factors that inuence learning
styles depend on the needs of the learners; appropriate case
analysis to identify students’ current skills and language use;
meaning analysis to give information about how the lesson
will be done or the environment to be studied.
Depending on the teaching process of ESP, Stern (1992)
focuses on four kinds of ESP teaching objectives, which are
prociency, knowledge, affective and transfer goals. These
objectives are described as follows: The provincial pro-
ciency targets; four skills in reading, writing, listening and
speaking. Knowledge objectives include the acquisition of
linguistic and cultural information. Language knowledge
consists of awareness of language analysis and systematic
aspects. Affective targets are related to the development of
positive emotions associated with the topic. Finally, trans-
fer targets include the ability to make generalizations from a
situation or at another time (cited in Otilia, 2015, p. 54-55).
In the 1970s, the target situation analysis (TSA) focusing
on “how much” and for “what”. This approach dealt with
determining requirements. Munby’s (1978) analysis focuses
entirely on needs analysis when the needs analysis is strong
(West, 1998, cited in Mohammadi and Mousavi, 2013).
Munby set up a “Communicative Needs Processor” (CNP)
analysis to determine curriculum achievements. This anal-
ysis includes a large number of different questions to deter-
mine the prole of learners’ language needs. Although Mun-
by’s model has shown various improvements and progress in
needs analysis, it has also been criticized for some aspects.
These criticisms are focused on aspects such as analysis’
being complex and time-consuming, excluding learners’
perceptions, neglecting socio-political conditions, bearing
logistical and administrative constraints and drawing skills
from social English (Jordan, 1997; West, 1994 cited in Mo-
hammadi and Mousavi, 2013). These criticisms of Munby’s
approach brought up the questions of “how” and “what”
to the agenda in the needs analysis. Thus, the question of
“what needs to be kept in mind?” became important in or-
der to determine language needs and to learn a language. In
addition to this, the question of “how” gained importance
in the language learning process. These questions led to
various pedagogic needs analysis approaches. These analy-
ses complement TSA (Target Situation Analysis); decien-
cy analysis, strategy analysis and means analysis (Jordan,
1997; West, 1994, 1998 cited in Mohammadi and Mousavi,
2013). The present situation analysis (PSA) was developed
by Richterich and Chancerel (1980, cited in Mohammadi
and Mousavi, 2013). This analysis is related to the concepts
“means needs” and “ends needs” and focuses on what learn-
ers like to learn when learning the target language. With re-
gard to these concepts, “means needs” help students to learn
their language needs while “ends needs” are related to the
current situation (learning needs). The “deciency analysis”,
which is a combination of TSA (Target Situation Analysis)
and PSA (Present Situation Analysis), is an approach based
on the analysis of the current state of the learners as well as
the current situation (e.g. Allwright, 1982; Robinson, 1991,
cited in Mohammadi and Mousavi, 2013).
After the 1980s, needs analysis studies seemed to change
direction according to learning styles. As a result of this
trend, the “language audit analysis” approach emerged. This
analysis covers large-scale research in a company, an organi-
zation or a country (Jordan, 1997; West, 1994). Therefore, in
this analysis, it is thought that students’ individual language
needs should be followed up with more advanced analy-
ses. As a result, the needs analysis has become a matter of
language planning, and language inspections involve large-
scale research in a company, an organization or a country
(Jordan, 1997; West, 1994, cited in Mohammadi and Mousa-
vi, 2013). Hutchinson and Waters (1987) addressed the
needs in two main categories. These are called target needs
(i.e. what the learner needs to do in the target situation) and
learning needs (i.e. what the learner needs to do in order to
learn). The target needs include the following content that
the individual needs to learn about the language. For exam-
ple, there are many ways to deal with the problem and wants
to learn the language. These are closely related to concepts
such as necessities, lacks, and wants. Dudley-Evans and
John (1998) emphasized concepts such as present knowl-
edge/required knowledge, objective/subjective needs, and
perceived/felt needs. Hutchinson and Waters (1987) tried
to identify the target situation analysis framework with the
following questions: How will the language be used? What
will the content areas be? With whom will the learner use the
language? Where will the language be used? When will the
language be used? Objective needs are related to the accu-
mulation of knowledge about the learners’ language learning
skills. Linguistic difculties and linguistic competencies that
a learner experiences during the language learning process
can be given as examples. Subjective needs point to learn-
ers’ perceptions, attitudes, and expectations about language
(Robinson, 1991; Brindley, 1989, cited in Martins, 2017).
The main difference between objective/subjective and per-
ceived/felt needs concerns the data collection processes of
these needs. Moving from these differences Stufebeam et
al. (1985) described the four philosophies involved in the
teaching of NAs in education: the philosophy of difference,
it is the distance between students’ language needs and their
current linguistic competencies; democratic philosophy,
these are the needs that are preferred by the majority of the
stakeholders involved in the language education process;
analytical philosophy, - when the learning characteristics
and learning processes are taken into consideration, needs
include the next stage; the philosophy of diagnosis, the rela-
10 IJELS 7(1):8-17
tionship between diet and drugs, needs are essential elements
of language performance; consequently they may be harmful
if not developed (cited in Mohammadi and Mousavi, 2013).
Researchers explain the characteristics of these seven
stages of processes as follows: (a) must be based primari-
ly on the philosophy of culture and organization; (b) must
be proactive rather than reactive,; (c) use a method that has
a distinctive feature that distinguishes learning needs from
other needs not addressed by education; (d) directly or in-
directly, interested in education and various organizational
actors interested in participating in the teaching; (e) focus
on the largely observable skills of leaders, managers, and
professionals; (f) consider the various uses of sampling tech-
niques and data analysis; and nally (g) to have a cost/benet
analysis at the end of the process (Wright and Geroy, 1992).
The following tools are often used to describe the needs
of language teaching-learning: questionnaire, interview, ob-
servation, discussion, telephone interview, and their combi-
nations. Among them, questionnaires are the most widely
used tools. Especially, the needs analysis based on speaking
was determined to be more effective. The features of a good
speaking analysis are as follows: be easy to understand and
ll in, be good for learners with little or no experience in
assessing their own ability, be easy to use as a basis for an in-
terview by an inexperienced interviewer, cover all important
aspects, give all information needed to tailor a course, not
require an interview (i.e. participants can do the needs analy-
sis at home), be good for analyzing many people at the same
time, be good for analyzing individuals, be easy to evaluate,
be easy to compare different individual needs proles (Ko-
houtova, 2006). In the following review, a detailed analysis
of the use of these tools was carried out. In the light of the
theoretical results presented by these studies, it is examined
how this theoretical knowledge is used in sample studies.
Thus, the theoretical framework of this study is to determine
the use of these results in experimental research. In brief,
the theoretical framework of this research focuses on how
needs analysis is done in language education. These results
are given in detail in the following sections.
Purpose, Scope and Research Question
The main purpose of this study is to identify methods, data
collection tools, and data analysis methods used in the needs
analysis in the needs assessment studies conducted in the
language education and teaching process. In line with this
purpose, the research consists of books, articles, and theses
published or issued between 2002 and 2017. The 74 studies
collected in this context were examined according to the de-
termined criteria. The result of the examination showed that
17 of them were not suitable for the purpose of the research.
With the omission of these 17 studies, 57 studies were exam-
ined. Based on the research process, an answer to the basic
research question has been sought. According to the data col-
lected from the sample studies, we focused on the following
research question. “How are the methods, data collection
tools and data analysis methods used in research on the lan-
guage education-teaching process?”
MATERIALS AND METHOD
The data were collected from the following databases: YÖK
Thesis Database; Marmara University, Boğaziçi University,
and Muş Alparslan University Library Database and Google
Academic Databases [Wiley Online Library, Web of Knowl-
edge (ISI), Proquest, PsycNet (APA)]. In order to collect the
data, the following keywords were written on the relevant
search engines: “learning needs, teaching needs, teaching
needs assessment, training, teaching needs analysis and
learning, teaching needs analysis, teaching needs evaluation,
corporate training, and university, development, and edu-
cation”. The studies were reviewed by the author and three
domain experts in accordance with the criteria provided in
Table 1.
In the study, a general screening model based on the ex-
amination of the data taken from a sample or samples from a
part of or the entire universe was used to reach general con-
clusions about the needs assessment studies conducted in the
language education and teaching process (Karasar, 2013). At
the same time, a content analysis based on the examination
of documents related to a certain subject area was used in
the research (Yıldırım and Şimşek, 2013). The methods, data
collection tools and data analysis methods used in the sam-
ple studies were determined. The collected data according to
the stages of the content analysis were analyzed according to
the following steps: determining the keywords to search for,
determination of categories, organization, and denition of
data according to codes and categories, categorization and
interpretation of ndings reached.
RESULTS
The model of the needs analysis, data collection tools, and
data analysis methods conducted in the eld of language
Table 1. The criteria to review the sample studies
Subject of study Explanation
Research purpose The researchers’ purposes in analyzing the needs are examined.
Research model Research models used in the needs analysis process were examined.
Data collection tools The data collection tools used to identify needs were examined in the research.
Data analysis method Data analysis methods used to analyze collected data in research were examined.
The sample The needs analysis was examined to determine groups’ needs.
The words used in the research instead
of the concept of need
The concepts used to identify and analyze needs were examined in the sample studies. These
concepts were compared to the concepts used in the literature in the process of needs analysis.
An Examination of Needs Analysis Research in the Language Education Process 11
education are examined in this part of the research. In this
context, the sample studies are examined in three categories
and in terms of the relations of these categories with one
another. The rst category covers the research models that
researchers use to determine needs during the language edu-
cation process. In this context, the model of each researcher
was determined and these are chronologically (Appendix A).
Then, the models used in the sample research are divided
into categories.
This classication shows that researchers generally con-
centrate on four models which are mixed, survey, descrip-
tive and experimental models. The frequency of use of these
models in the sample research is shown in Figure groups
(Figure 1). Among them, research based on experimental
models seems to be quite few. At the same time, the mixed
method is the second model that has been preferred less by
researchers. Apart from these, the ndings indicate that to
determine the needs of the language, the sample research
more often uses survey and descriptive models. These in-
clude more specic case studies. This nding suggests that
research concentrates on the identication of current needs
situations. A similar situation can be seen in surveys based on
screening models. In the research, the needs of the language
education-teaching process were determined by screening.
These results support previous research ndings (Ferreira
and Abbad, 2013, pp. 86-87).
Figure 2 shows that different data collection tools are used
in the sample studies to determine the needs. The reason why
the data collection tools differ stems from the combination
of several different data collection tools in one study. The
gure groups (Figure 2) shows that different data collection
tools are used. The utilization rates of these different data
collection tools are quite different from one another since
most of the surveys were used during the data collection
process. The reason for this is closely related to the research
model used because the questionnaire was used mostly as
data collection tools in descriptive and screening-based re-
search (Ferreira and Abbad, 2013, pp. 86-87). It has been de-
termined that these questionnaires used in the sample studies
are mostly structured and semi-structured. Interview forms
are the second most commonly used means in the sample
research. Interview forms have been used in these studies
because of the frequent use of interview techniques for gath-
ering data, especially in the models based on screening. As
a matter of fact, in the previous studies, it was determined
that the questionnaire is the most commonly used tool in the
needs analysis (Long, 2005, p. 39). On the other hand, ob-
servation forms, documents, scales, and tests were preferred
less by researchers.
Another issue covered in this section is the analysis
methods used to analyze data in the process of determin-
ing needs. When we look at data collection tools in Figure
groups (Figure 3), it is seen that more than one analysis
method is used in sample research. Researchers used SPSS,
content, mix, frequency, and percentage, coding, and needs
analysis to analyze their data. In terms of their frequency of
use, it appears that the analysis based on the SPSS program
constitutes a large majority. It has been determined that these
analyses made in the SPSS program are mostly composed
of descriptive analyzes. The reason for this is closely relat-
ed to the research model and data collection tools used. At
the same time, frequency and percentage analyses used in
the second rank are also closely related to the model used.
Therefore, in this section, we can make a general: It has been
concluded that the research model, data collection tools and
data analysis methods used in the research are compatible
with each other. Therefore, the type and characteristics of
the examinations made in all three charts (Figure groups) are
Figure 1. Research models
Figure 2. Data collecting tools
12 IJELS 7(1):8-17
quite similar. However, their effectiveness, their adequacy,
and functionality in the process of identifying and analyzing
the needs of language education and teaching are also dis-
cussed in the discussion section.
When the results of this research are compared with
Long’s research, a different nding shows up (2005,
pp. 31-32). This comparison shows that the data collection
processes used in the process of determining the needs have
varied over time. Long gives the data collection process
of the research carried out between 1970-2002 as follows:
“diaries, journals and logs; role-plays, simulations; content
analysis; discourse analysis; analysis of discourse; register/
rhetorical analysis; computer-aided corpus analysis; genre
analysis; task-based, criterion-referenced performance tests,
triangulated; non-expert intuitions; expert practitioner in-
tuitions; unstructured interviews; structured interviews;
interview schedules; surveys and questionnaires; language
audits; ethnographic methods; participant observation; non-
participant observation; classroom observation “. As is seen,
the data collection processes used in the years 1970-2002
are more different than they are in the sample studies. In oth-
er words, it can be suggested that the studies conducted be-
tween 1970-2002 involved more different processes than the
studies conducted between 2002-2017. This suggests that
the different methods used to collect the data in the language
need analysis decreased over time since researchers most-
ly (between years 2002-2017) preferred to use survey and
interview forms as data collection tools. At the same time,
descriptive and screening coding and frequency analyses
are the most frequently used analyzes. Appendix A provides
more detailed information about this section.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
Chegeni and Chegeni (2013) listed the research processes
of the needs analysis as “questionnaires, self-ratings, inter-
views, meetings, collecting learner language samples, task
analysis, case studies and analysis of available information”.
It is difcult to deduce that this arrangement is adequate to
determine the language needs. However, an examination of
Figure groups indicates that some of these concepts are used
in the sample studies. Survey and descriptive models are of-
ten used to identify needs in the sample studies. Although
survey and descriptive models have been used extensively in
these studies, it is difcult to say whether they are sufcient
and effective in determining the needs entirely. In this con-
text, it has been determined that the mixed method, which
is very effective in determining both qualitative and quanti-
tative needs, is not sufciently used in sample studies. This
factor needs to be taken into account in the needs assessment
studies. Thus, future studies should focus on research mod-
els in which both qualitative and quantitative methods are
used together since the purpose of the research varies qual-
itatively or quantitatively according to the topic or scope of
the research. Due to this variety, there is a need for model or
models of research in which different research methods are
used together in order to conduct appropriate and effective
research.
In the sample studies, data collection tools with differ-
ent features and functions were used. Their frequency or rate
of use shows that there is a large distribution of variance
since the majority of the data collection tools are comprised
of questionnaires. The reason for this is, of course, closely
related to the research model. But the tools used to identify
the needs are a very important element in the language ed-
ucation process because these needs are determined by the
data collection tools used. As it has been emphasized earlier,
the aims of the research are qualitative or quantitative, de-
pending on the research topic or scope. As a result of this
difference, the needs of language education should be exam-
ined both qualitatively and quantitatively. For this reason,
qualitative and quantitative data collection tools should be
used together to determine needs. On the other hand, it has
been observed that quantitative data collection tools are used
more often to identify needs in the sample studies.
The results of the study can be summarized as follows:
The classication made shows that researchers generally con-
centrate on four models which are mixed, survey, descriptive
and experimental models. The result of the classication in-
dicates that to determine the needs of the language, the sam-
ple research uses survey and descriptive models more often.
This nding suggests that research concentrates on the iden-
tication of current needs situations. This result shows that
research on needs analysis only focuses on specic models.
However, it is necessary to take advantage of different mod-
els for the needs analysis in language education.
A similar result is seen in the frequency of data collection
tools. A look at data collection tools shows that surveys were
Figure 3. Data analysis methods
An Examination of Needs Analysis Research in the Language Education Process 13
mostly used during the data collection process. The reason
for this is closely related to the research model used because
the questionnaire was used mostly as data collection tools
in the descriptive and screening-based research. Therefore,
data collection tools should be enriched depending on the
research models used in the needs analysis as this affects the
analysis methods used for need analysis.
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APPENDIX
Appendix A. Method, data analysis model, and data collection tools in sample studies
Researcher, year Study model Data analysis method Data collection tool
Bosher, S. &
Smalkoski, K. (2002)
Experimental Quantitative and qualitative analyses Interviews, observation, questionnaire
Arık, S. (2002) Experimental Quantitative Questionnaire
Çelik, S. (2003) Survey Quantitative Questionnaire
Yutdhana, S. (2004) Survey Quantitative, SPSS Questionnaire
Morita, M. (2004) Case study Categories and themes emerged
mainly from the collected data,
and preliminary hypotheses about
the settings and participants were
grounded in direct experience at the
research site
Student self-reports, interviews, and
classroom
observations
Watanabe, Y. (2006) Survey Quantitative and a principal
components analysis
Questionnaire
Huh, ( 2006) Mixed-method Quantitative and qualitative analyses Semi-structured interviews and a
questionnaire.
Kahraman, O. (2006) Survey Quantitative, SPSS Questionnaire
Kohoutová, İ. (2006) Experimental Quantitative and qualitative analyses Questionnaires
Guiyu, D. & Yang, L. (2006) Survey Target Situation Analysis (TSA) Questionnaires
Tavil, Z M. (2006) mixed-method SPSS, percentages, and frequency Questionnaire and informal interviews
Kusumoto, Y. (2008) Survey SPSS, percentages, and frequency Interviews, observations, and
questionnaires.
Kayı, H. (2008) Case study percentages and frequency of
responses
Questionnaire
Tsao, C. C.H., Wei, A. M.S.
& Fang, A. S.H. (2008)
Survey Quantitative, SPSS A self-made questionnaire
Külekçi, G. (2009) Survey Frequency distribution and SPSS Questionnaire
Eslami, Z. R. (2010) Survey Quantitative, SPSS Questionnaire
İnceçay, G. &
İnceçay, V. (2010)
Case study Qualitative Semi-structured interview
Chostelidou, D. (2010) Mixed-method Quantitative and qualitative analyses Questionnaire, semi-structured
interviews
Kaur and Khan, (2010) Mixed-method quantitative and qualitative analyses,
frequency counts and percentages
Questionnaires for the students and
semi-structured interviews
Akçadağ, T. (2010) Survey SPSS, percentages and frequency Questionnaire
Moslemi, (2011) Case study Quantitative and qualitative analyses,
SPSS
Interviews, questionnaires, and texts
Mehrdad, A. G. (2012) Survey frequency, SPSS Questionnaire
Alfehaid, (2011) Mixed-method Quantitative and qualitative analyses,
SPSS
Questionnaire, semi-structured
interviews, documents and interview
transcriptions
Baig, M. (2012) Descriptive Quantitative Questionnaires, textbook.
Kösterelioğlu, (2012) Survey SPSS, percentages and frequency Questionnaire
Aydın, (2014) Survey SPSS, percentages and frequency Questionnaires and interviews
Kim, H. H. (2013) Survey Quantitative, SPSS Questionnaire
Al- Hamlan, S. A. (2013) Mixed-method Frequency and percentage of
responses
Convenient sampling
Noom-ura, S. (2013) Survey Descriptive statistics of
frequencies, percentage,
quantitative
Closed-and open-ended
questionnaires
(Contd...)
An Examination of Needs Analysis Research in the Language Education Process 17
Researcher, year Study model Data analysis method Data collection tool
Jie, C. (2013) Case study Target-situation analysis, deficiency
analysis, strategy analysis
The tests of placement, observation
of classes, questionnaires, structured
interviews, and network based
interviews
Ayas, Ö. &
Kırkgöz, Y. (2013)
Survey Quantitative and qualitative, SPSS Questionnaires and interviews
Kazar, 2013 Case study Quantitative and qualitative Needs analysis questionnaire and a
semi-structured interview
Harrison, J. J. &
Vanbaelen, R. (2013)
Experimental Quantitative and qualitative Pre-tests and post-tests
Dehnad, A., Bagherzadeh, R.,
Bigdeli, S., Hatami, K., &
Hosseini, A. F. (2013)
Mixed-method Quantitative and qualitative, SPSS Ethical and demographic forms, needs
analysis questionnaires, and a form of
semi-structured interview
Khansir, A. A. (2014) Survey Quantitative, SPSS Background questionnaire; teachers’
questionnaire
Kazar and Mede, (2014) Mixed-method Quantitative and qualitative, SPSS The questionnaire, a semi-structured
interview
Saber, Z. (2014) Survey Quantitative and qualitative, SPSS Semi-structured and the questionnaire.
Zamanian, M. (2014) Survey Quantitative, SPSS The students’ and instructors’
questionnaires
Angus, K. B. (2014) Survey Quantitative and qualitative syllabi, questionnaires, and interviews
Kar, İ. (2014) Descriptive Frequency and percentage of responses Questionnaire
Rashidi, N. &
Kehtarfard, R. (2014)
Survey Quantitative, SPSS Questionnaires
Rostami, F. &
Zafarghandi, A. M. (2014)
Case study Quantitative , SPSS Questionnaires
Chovancov×a, B. (2014) Survey The actual target situations Questionnaire survey
Al-Hamlan, S. A. (2015) A descriptive
analytical approach
Quantitative and qualitative analyses,
SPSS
The questionnaire, a semi-structured
interview
Changpueng, P. &
Pattanapichet, F. (2015)
Mixed-method Quantitative and qualitative analyses,
SPSS
Questionnaire and interview
Ulum, Ö. G. (2015) Descriptive Quantitative and qualitative analyses,
SPSS
Questionnaire with open-ended
questions
Chan, V. (2015) Survey Quantitative Questionnaires
Pendidikan, S. (2015) Experimental Target situation analysis Questionnaires
Gborsong, P. A., Afful, J.
B. A., Coker, W., Akoto,
O. Y., Twumasi, R., &
Baiden, A. (2015)
Descriptive
survey
Quantitative and qualitative
paradigms
Reading proficiency
test (pre- and post-test design)
Interviews with staff and
Students
Rose, P. V. & Sookraj,
R. (2015)
Descriptive Quantitative, SPSS Questionnaires
Hajana, O. H. O. &
Adam, A. M. A. (2015)
Mixed-method Frequencies, percentage Questionnaire
BinObaid, R. (2016) Survey SPSS quantitative Questionnaire
Alebachew, S. (2016) Mixed-method Observation and document analysis,
SPSS
Questionnaire, observation and
document
Chen, I-J., Chang, Y.-H. &
Chang, W.-H. (2016)
Survey Quantitative Questionnaire with Likert’s 5 scales
Doruk, S. (2016) Descriptive Quantitative and qualitative , SPSS Questionnaire and interview
Nazim, M. &
Hazarika, Z. (2017)
Case study Quantitative and qualitative Likert’s 5 scales, semi-structured
interviews
Mohammed Ibrahim, A. S.
E. (2017)
Survey Quantitative and qualitative Questionnaire and interview
Appendix A. (Continued)
... To provide a well-designed curriculum for students of Arabic as a foreign language, educators must first conduct a need analysis to identify the areas of focus. Sönmez (2019) argued that the need analysis in the process of teaching and learning is to identify the level of knowledge students require to become at a specific level of proficiency in the language. This process is based on collecting data and information about the learning needs and desires. ...
... However, quality implementation requires systematic frameworks capturing authentic needs. Both teacher and student inputs provide crucial context (Sönmez, 2019). According to Long (2005), needs analysis powerfully aligns instructional approaches with learners' own motivations and priorities. ...
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... The statistical analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics V24. Descriptive statistics analysis was used to analyse the means and frequencies of the quantitative data (Alkutbi, 2018;Sönmez, 2019), whereas thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data collected from semi-structured interviews (Castleberry & Nolen, 2018). A high Cronbach's alpha value indicates the high reliability and validity of the questions. ...
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... Then, the overall means for the multiple-response questions were calculated (Dörnyei, 2007, p. 213). The question for ranking the language skills' priority order was also analysed with descriptive statistics displaying means and standard deviations (Sönmez, 2019). ...
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This study aims to find the needs of the Public Administration Study Program related to Public Speaking to prepare graduates who are competent in speaking in public using English as a provision to face the global era. There is a desire and hope that graduates of the Public Administration Study Program have global competitiveness in addition to science related to administration. To maximize the potential of the next candidate for Public Administration graduates, a material design is needed to improve Public Speaking skills by first analyzing the Public Speaking skill needs that are most needed by the study program. This study analyzes the needs of expected materials from a semi-structured interview with the Head of the Public Administration Study Program. The results of the research show that the Public Administration study program wants to focus on learning objectives on improving communication skills based on the future job needs of graduates seen through tracer studies. Highlights: Effective Communication in English: Enhancing public speaking skills in English is crucial to prepare graduates for the global era and increase their international employability. Job-Oriented Learning Objectives: The study program aims to align public speaking materials with the specific needs of future jobs, identified through tracer studies, to make graduates more job-ready. Competency Beyond Administration: While the program focuses on administration knowledge, it also emphasizes developing well-rounded communication abilities, enabling graduates to excel in diverse professional settings. Keywords: Public Administration Study Program, Public Speaking, Global Competitiveness, Material Design, Communication Skills
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Thesis
The central objective of this study is to create a proposal for the development of the present English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course at Health Sciences Colleges (HSCs) in Saudi Arabia on the basis of a needs analysis and a course evaluation. It attempts to evaluate the ESP course and to investigate the needs of two groups of stakeholders, viz. ESP students and health professionals, as perceived in the first case by the students themselves, by their language teachers and by the course administrators and in the second case by graduates of the ESP course now working in health professions and by other medical staff. A mixed-methods approach was adopted: 246 questionnaires were administered to current students, graduates and language teachers; semi-structured interviews were conducted with 6 students, 7 graduates, 6 language teachers, 5 course administrators, 5 hospital managers and 11 English-speaking health professionals; and document analysis was employed as an ancillary research method. The triangulation of data collection tools, sources and places helps to increase the validity and reliability of the findings. The data collected from the documents and interview transcriptions were analyzed qualitatively by hand, while those collected from the questionnaires were analyzed quantitatively using the SPSS program. Findings of the language needs analysis show that all four of the language skills were important, both for the students’ academic studies and for their target careers. Generally speaking, the evaluation results indicate that while the ESP course was effective to some extent, it had some limitations including its curriculum organization and syllabus specifications, the teaching-learning materials used and the assessment procedures adopted. Accordingly, this study proposes a new ESP curriculum based on the students’ needs. The study also recommends the provision of teacher training and the recruitment of additional ESP teaching staff as first steps towards the necessary improvements. It is also concluded that the collection of multiple types of data from various sources and places is necessary to overcome many of the problems commonly associated with needs analysis and evaluation studies.