The basics of needs assessment

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The basics of needs assessment

• Joe McVeigh
• Middlebury, Vermont, USA

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The basics of needs assessment

• No, really. Basics.

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Contexts

• In what type of situations do you need to
  perform needs assessments?

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What is needs assessment ?

• . . . The systematic collection and analysis of
  all subjective and objective information
  necessary to define and validate defensible
  curriculum purposes that satisfy the language
  learning requirements of students within the
  context of particular institutions that influence
  the learning and teaching situation.
• (Brown 1995)

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What is needs assessment ?

• Needs assessment is figuring out what you need
  to teach.
• (McVeigh today)

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So . . .

• How do we do needs assessment?

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The process of needs assessment(Graves 2000)

• Decide what information to gather and why
• Decide the best way to gather it when, how, and
  from whom
• Gather the information
• Interpret the information
• Act on the information
• Evaluate the effect and effectiveness of the
  action

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The process of needs assessment

• Involve the right people
• Pose the right questions
• Use the right instruments
• Analyze and interpret the data
• Construct the course

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An example

• We have a communications problem.
• Its a question of phraseology.
• The problem is their accent.
• The presenting problem.

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Involving the right people

• Stakeholders
• Anyone who will be affected by the outcome of the
  course or training.
• Students, ESL teachers, administrators, other
  teachers, employers, supervisors, customers,
  family members, whoever is going to pay for all
  this.

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Involving the right people

• Target group
• The learners or students who will be taking the
  course or training.

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Involving the right people

• Audience
• The people who will eventually be required to act
  upon the analysis or make decisions.
• Teachers, teacher aides, program administrators,
  senior administration or officials, supervisors,
  managers.

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Involving the right people

• Needs analysts
• The persons responsible for conducting the needs
  analysis.
• Teachers, course designers, consultants,
  materials writers.

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Involving the right people

• Resource group
• Any people who may serve as sources of
  information about the target group.
• Parents, financial sponsors, employers, future
  teachers, clients.

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Example

• Target group call center trainees
• Audience senior executives (VPs, CEO) training
  department, consultants, materials development
  team
• Needs analysts Consultant (external), consultant
  (internal), training staff
• Resource group Senior managers, line managers
  and supervisors, trainers, current employees,
  current trainees, human resources personnel,
  clients.

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Needs analysts
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Pose the right questions

• So, what exactly seems to be the problem?
• Is it the same as the presenting problem?

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Pose the right questions

• What is the current level of language ability of
  the students who will enter the course?

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Pose the right questions

• What is the desired outcome of the course or
  training?
• What do the students or trainees need to be able
  to do at the conclusion of the course?
• What kinds of language skills do they need?
  Setting? Functions?

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Pose the right questions

• What are the issues, attitudes, and underlying
  concerns of
• The future students ?
• The teachers ?
• The sponsor ?
• Do people get paid to learn? Time off? Is there a
  financial incentive? Do they care?

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Pose the right questions

• What resources are available to make this happen?
  What are the constraints?
• Money ?
• Time ?
• Human resources personnel ?
• Funds for materials/curriculum development ?
• Assessment concerns ?

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Pose the right questions

• Other questions to ask?

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Example

• What is the current level of trainees English and
  where do they need to go?
• What aspects of their language need improvement?
• How much time is available for training before
  they begin working?
• What types of language do trainees need to use in
  their work?
• How much experience does the training staff have?
• What type of training delivery should be used?
  How much technology?

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Use the right instruments

• Existing information
• Tests
• Interviews and meetings
• Questionnaires
• Observations
• Discourse analysis

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Use the right instruments

• Other instruments or methods of obtaining data?

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Example

• Existing information phraseology summit data,
  existing curriculum assessment
• Interviews and meetings execs, sr. managers,
  line managers, call center associates, training
  staff, trainees
• Observations existing classes, barging phone
  calls
• Discourse analysis notes on calls,
  transcriptions of L1 to L1 calls

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Discourse Analysis

• AGENT So it should be coming tomorrow or
  tomorrow.
• CUSTOMER Tomorrow?
• AGENT Right.
• CUSTOMER OK. Is there a tracking number or
  anything, so we can track it?
• AGENT Sure, um, one second please.
• CUSTOMER Sure.
• AGENT OK. You ready?
• CUSTOMER Yup.

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• AGENT Your tracking number is, 11 Its a long
  number ha ha ha
• CUSTOMER OK
• AGENT Ill start over uh huh 1101
• CUSTOMER OK
• AGENT 9008
• CUSTOMER Nine -- No, let me just ask you
  something, the oh - oh. . . are those zeros
  or
• AGENT Zeros
• CUSTOMER Zeros, OK, 008
• AGENT 8223
• CUSTOMER Wait a minute, now theres two 8s in a
  row?
• AGENT Right, two 8s in a row.

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• CUSTOMER 223
• AGENT 121
• CUSTOMER 121
• AGENT 80
• CUSTOMER 80
• AGENT 59
• CUSTOMER 59
• AGENT 9
• CUSTOMER 9
• AGENT Yes sir

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• CUSTOMER Let me read it back to you
  11019008822312180599.
• AGENT That is correct sir
• CUSTOMER OK and that would be RPS or Fed
  Ex?
• AGENT Yes sir, its RPS, do you have the
  number if not I can give that to you.
• CUSTOMER Yeah, if you would please
• AGENT OK

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Analyze and interpret the data

• What does the data mean ?
• How precise do you need to be?
• Do you need a formal report?
• Who makes the decisions?
• Dont discount your experience

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Analyze and interpret the data

• Other issues in data analysis and interpretation
  ?

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Example

• Accent problem? Yes, but . . .
• Keep it quick and dirty
• Time is of the essence
• Lets not forget culture and sociolinguistics

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Example

• Accent problem? Yes, but . . .
• Keep it quick and dirty
• Time is of the essence
• Lets not forget culture and sociolinguistics
• A variety of business processes

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Selected call center business processes
(Inbound customer service)

• Appliance repair (warranty or no ?)
• Insurance claims processing (car accidents)
• Department store customer service
• Home center customer service
• Credit card customer service
• Vehicle rental
• Medical equipment servicing
• B2B parts and inventory control

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Selected call center business processes
(Outbound collections)

• Debt collection for credit cards
• Debt collection for office equipment rental
• Special sales offers for stores credit cards

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Construct the course (Graves 2000)

• Determine the organizing principle(s)
• Identify course units based on the organizing
  principles
• Determine unit content
• Organize unit content
• Sequence the units

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Construct the course

• Other issues in course construction?

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Example

• Pronunciation, idioms and expressions, listening,
  grammar, culture
• General telephone etiquette and skills with
  modules for specific business processes
• Incorporate authentic materials
• Materials writers become skills area experts
• Ongoing piloting

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Every unit should contain

• ? Welcome
• ? Relaxation exercise (first 10 days)
• ? Affect work help learners with confidence,
  feelings, etc.
• ? Check home work (pertaining to previous days
  learning)
• ? Introduce the topic of the day
• ? Pretest to raise awareness
• ? Discuss pretest results and ask trainees their
  perceptions about the topic.
• ? Explain the topic supporting theory with
  practical examples.

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Every unit should contain

• ? Explain to the trainees how topic will enhance
  their performance on the floor.
• ? Give models examples of the language point
  for presentation
• ? Controlled practice of the language point
  (Repetition, reading scripts, listening and
  responding with short answers)
• ? Semi-controlled practice (cued dialogs, short
  controlled role plays)
• ? Free practice (role plays, mock calls,
  discussions, debates)
• ? Post-test
• ? Give home work
• ? Wrap up

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Units should contain some of the following

• ? Consonant routine or vowel routine
• ? Drill on the expressions of the day
• ? Syllable stress practice.
• ? British, Indian, and American English
  differences (5 min)
• ? A short listening exercise with comprehension
  questions.
• ? A brief (5 min) American culture capsule

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Resources

• Brown, J.D. (1995). The elements of language
  curriculum A systematic approach to program
  development. Boston Heinle Heinle.
• Graves, K. (2000). Designing language courses A
  guide for teachers. Boston Heinle Heinle.
• Hutchinson, T. Waters, A. (1987). English for
  specific purposes a learner-centred approach.
  Cambridge Cambridge University Press.
• Munby, J. (1978). Communicative syllabus design.
  Cambridge Cambridge University Press.
• Reeves, N. Wright, C. (1996). Linguistic
  auditing A guide to identifying foreign language
  communication needs in corporations. Clevedon,
  UK Multilingual Matters.

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Resources

• Other resources ?

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What is needs assessment ?

• Needs assessment is figuring out what you need
  to teach.

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The basics of needs assessment

• Questions and discussion.

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The basics of needs assessment

• Thanks for coming.
• Joe McVeigh
• jmcveigh_at_middlebury.edu

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Six stages in the linguistic audit

• Preliminary Initiate the audit
• Integrate the audit into the planning process
• Understand the organization
• Analyze postholders foreign language use and
  needs
• Assess postholders foreign language skills
• Report back (Reeves Wright 1996)