Needs Analysis in Practice: EFL (English as a Foreign Language) Needs Analysis in the Context of Adult Education in a Second Chance School
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Andra Dana Cozma [1]
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[1] Universitat d'Alacant
Universitat d'Alacant
Alicante, España
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- Localización: Approaches in Educational Research as a Basis for Interdisciplinary Knowledge / coord. por Antonio Cortijo Ocaña, Rosabel Martínez Roig, 2022, ISBN 978-84-19506-82-5, pág. 47
- Idioma: inglés
- Enlaces
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Resumen
Needs Analysis surveys help teachers and practitioners discover the needs of adult learners enrolled in educational programs. Conducting such surveys is considered critical inorder to decide on the most appropriate methodology, teaching methods, and coursebookselection. The purpose of this paper was to show in practice how the learning needs inrelation to the English language of a group of adult learners enrolled in a Second ChanceSchool in Greece could be explored and analyzed. Their language needs, interests, preferences for activities, topics, and approaches to work were explored in order to definetheir learning profile and decide on the most appropriate teaching methodology andsyllabus. A quantitative method of data collection was used and the answers of all themembers from the specific group were gathered. The findings have shown that the groupof adult learners prefer to engage in traditional ways of learning while they expressreluctance when asked about using more innovative methods of learning. The majoritydisplayed a genuine interest in the topics introduced, and they related learning Englishto practical matters like being able to communicate orally or in writing in different social situations. The needs analysis survey revealed also some difficulties associated withlearning the English language, most of the obstacles being linked to external factors liketime constraints and fatigue. What this small-scale research proved, was the importanceof conducting a needs analysis before designing and implementing any language coursefor adult students.
