1.6.1 Types of Needs
Needs vary depending on the process of analysis, but all take
the learner as a focus of analysis. They are defined as being the requirements
that the students have in order to be able to communicate effectively in the
target situation. Needs are also presented as what the students need to learn
and acquire the language for. Through the definitions we may distinguish
between two types of needs that a course designer should take into account
before and after designing any course.
1.6.1.1 Target Needs
They are generally defined as what students need to do in the
target situation, for example participating in a job interview. It is what they
find necessary in order to obtain their wants and cover their lacks in the
target language. For this purpose, Hutchinson and Waters (1987) have shed light
on three divisions and have differentiated between:
a. Necessities: They are determined by the
demands of the target situation». That is, what the learners need to
cooperate effectively in their occupation.
b. Wants: They are what learners expect,
desire and wish in order to reach their learning goals.
c. Lacks: According to Hutchinson and Waters
(1987), lacks are the missing necessities that are extracted from what the
learner already knows. This means lacks comprise all what learners don't know
and don't have in the target situation.
1.6.1.2 Learning Needs
They are seen as what the students need to do in order to
learn. Learning needs refers to the question `what knowledge or abilities will
the learner requires in order to be able to perform to the required degree of
competence in the target situation? (Hutchinson and
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The Review of Literature
Waters(1987). This means that learning needs are the gap
between the learner's current level of knowledge and skills, and the level of
knowledge and skills required to perform a task or a set of tasks. Assessing
needs is one of the fundamental concerns in learning needs. In fact, Needs
Assessment can not only help understanding the learners needs but also their
motivation, behaviors, what they do, how they do it, and why they do it so. In
addition, Needs Assessment allows teachers to make the right choice in choosing
the tool, the method, the data to use that can benefit the learners. For
example: what you learn from evaluating and assessing your learners needs will
inform which task to use or what you ask them about in an interview .
1.6.2 Instruments in Needs Analysis
Before doing the analysis of the needs, some information is
needed. Well successful needs analysis should be done through gathering the
maximum necessary data that can be helpful in order to get a number of
notifications that make the understanding of the actual and future needs and
concerns greatly clear.
According to Dudley-Evans and St. John (1998) the categories
of the main instrumentations in gathering data for Needs Analysis are
questionnaire surveys, structured interviews, observations, analysis of
authentic spoken and written texts and discussions.
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