Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T14:56:29.712Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

4 - Adapting and Advancing Task-Based Needs Analysis Methodology across Diverse Language Learning Contexts

from Part II - Tasks and Needs Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 November 2021

By
Ellen J. Serafini
Edited by
Mohammad Javad Ahmadian  and
Michael H. Long
Mohammad Javad Ahmadian
Affiliation:
University of Leeds
Michael H. Long
Affiliation:
University of Maryland, College Park
Get access

Summary

This chapter reviews the contextual diversity and methodological advances in task-based needs analysis (NA) as it has evolved over the last thirty years. After considering the theoretical foundations motivating task-based NA and desired methodological standards, a synthesis of task-based NA research carried out in educational and social contexts across the globe is provided. This synthesis prompts critical reflection on the need to more readily emphasize context in NA practice and to prioritize methodological flexibility and adaptability in order to maximize TBLT’s potential relevance and reach.

Keywords

Learner needsneeds analysisneeds analysis methodologyneeds analysis validityneeds analysis reliabilitydiverse contexts
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Task-Based Language Teaching , pp. 73 - 98
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Further Reading

Berwick, R. (1989). Needs assessment in language programming: From theory to practice. In Johnson, R. K., ed. The second language curriculum. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 48–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, J. D. (2009). Foreign and second language needs analysis. In Long, M. H. and Doughty, C., eds. The handbook of language teaching. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 269–293.Google Scholar
Lambert, C. (2010). A task-based needs analysis: Putting principles into practice. Language Teaching Research, 14(1), 99–112.Google Scholar
Long, M. H. (2005). Methodological issues in learner needs analysis. In Long, M. H., ed. Second language needs analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 19–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Long, M. H. (2015). Identifying target tasks. In Long, M. H., ed. Second language acquisition and task-based language teaching. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 117–68.Google Scholar
Oliver, R., Grote, E., Rochecouste, J., and Exell, M. (2013). Needs analysis for task-based language teaching: A case study of Indigenous vocational education and training students who speak EAL/EAD. TESOL in Context, 22(2), 36–50.Google Scholar
Riestenberg, K. and Sherris, A. (2018). Task-based teaching of indigenous languages: Investment and methodological principles in Macuiltianguis Zapotec and Salish Qlispe revitalization. Canadian Modern Language Review, 74(3), 434–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Serafini, E. J., Lake, J., and Long, M. H. (2015). Needs analysis for specialized learner populations: Essential methodological improvements. English for Specific Purposes, 40, 11–26.Google Scholar
Shehadeh, A. (2012). Introduction: Broadening the perspective of task-based language teaching scholarship: The contribution of research in foreign language contexts. In Shehadeh, A. and Coombe, C. A., eds. Task-based language teaching in foreign language contexts. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 1–22.Google Scholar
Van Avermaet, P. and Gysen, S. (2006). From needs to tasks: Language learning needs in a task-based approach. In Van den Branden, K., ed., Task-based language teaching in practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 17–46.Google Scholar

References

Abbott, A. and Martínez, G. (2018). Spanish for the professions and community service learning: Applications with heritage learners. In Potowski, K., ed. The Routledge handbook of Spanish as a heritage language. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 389–402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Adams, R. and Newton, J. (2009). TBLT in Asia: Constraints and opportunities. Asian Journal of English Language Teaching, 19, 1–17.Google Scholar
Adendorff, E. (2014). A task-based approach to improving the communicative skills of university students learning Afrikaans as an additional language. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus, 43, 1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bao, R. and Du, X. (2015). Implementation of task-based language teaching in Chinese as a foreign language: Benefits and challenges. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 28(3), 291–310.Google Scholar
Benesch, S. (1996). Needs analysis and curriculum development in EAP: An example of a critical approach. TESOL Quarterly, 30, 723–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benesch, S. (1999). Rights analysis: studying power relations in an academic setting. English for Specific Purposes, 18(4), 313–27.Google Scholar
Berwick, R. (1989). Needs assessment in language programming: From theory to practice. In Johnson, R. K., ed. The second language curriculum. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 48–62.Google Scholar
Brown, J. D. (2009). Foreign and second language needs analysis. In Long, M. H. and Doughty, C., eds. The handbook of language teaching. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 269–93.Google Scholar
Brown, J. D. (2016). Introducing needs analysis and English for specific purposes. Abingdon: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brindley, G. (1984). Needs analysis and objective setting in the Adult Migrant Education Program. Sydney: Adult Migrant Education Service.Google Scholar
Bryfonski, L. and McKay, T. H. (2019). TBLT implementation and evaluation: A meta-analysis. Language Teaching Research, 23(5), 603–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bygate, M. (2016). Sources, developments and directions of task-based language teaching. Language Learning Journal, 44(4), 381–400.Google Scholar
Carless, D. (2007). The suitability of task-based approaches for secondary schools: Perspectives from Hong Kong. System, 35, 595–608.Google Scholar
Carless, D. (2012). TBLT in EFL settings: Looking back and moving forward. In Shehadeh, A. and Coombe, C. A., eds. Task-based language teaching in foreign language contexts: Research and implementation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 345–58.Google Scholar
Chaudron, C., Doughty, C., Kim, Y., Kong, D., Lee, J., Lee, Y., Long, M. H., Rivers, R., and Urano, K. (2005). A task-based needs analysis of a tertiary Korean as a foreign language program. In Long, M. H., ed. Second language needs analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 105–24.Google Scholar
Crookes, G. (2009). Radical language teaching. In Long, M. H. and Doughty, C., eds. The handbook of language teaching. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 595–609.Google Scholar
Cumaranatunge, L. K. (1988). An EOP case study: Domestic aids in West Asia. In Chamberlain, D., and Baumgardener, R. J., eds. ESP in the classroom: Practice and evaluation. ELT document 129. London: Modern English Publications/The British Council, pp. 127–33.Google Scholar
Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. New York: Macmillan Company.Google Scholar
Dörnyei, Z. with Taguchi, T. (2010). Questionnaires in second language research: Construction, administration, and processing. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Dudley-Evans, T. and St. John, M. J. (1998). Developments in English for Specific Purposes: A multi-disciplinary approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Fairclough, N. (2001). Critical discourse analysis. In McHoul, A. and Rapley, M., eds. How to analyze talk in institutional settings: A casebook of methods. London and New York: Continuum, pp. 25–28.Google Scholar
Flores, N. and García, O. (2017). A critical review of bilingual education in the United States: From basements and pride to boutiques and profit. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 37, 14–29.Google Scholar
Flowerdew, L. (2005). Integrating traditional and critical approaches to syllabus design: The ‘what’, the ‘how’ and the ‘why’. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 4, 135–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freire, P. (1970/2005). The pedagogy of the oppressed. New York: Herder and Herder/Continuum.Google Scholar
Gilabert, R. (2005). Evaluating the use of multiple sources and methods in needs analysis: A case study of journalists in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia (Spain). In Long, M. H., ed. Second language needs analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 182–99.Google Scholar
González-Lloret, M. and Nielson, K. B. (2015). Evaluating TBLT: The case of a task-based Spanish program. Language Teaching Research, 19, 525–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hult, F. M. and Hornberger, N. H. (2016). Revisiting orientations in language planning: Problem, right, and resource as an analytical heuristic. Bilingual Review/Revista Bilingüe, 33, 30–49.Google Scholar
Hutchison, T., and Waters, A. (1987). English for specific purposes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iizuka, T. (2019). Task-based needs analysis:Identifying communicative needs for study abroad students in Japan. System, 80, 134–42.Google Scholar
Jasso-Aguilar, R. (1999) Sources, methods and triangulation in needs analysis:A critical perspective in a case study of Waikiki hotel maids. English for Specific Purposes, 18(1), 27–46.Google Scholar
Jasso-Aguilar, R. (2005). Sources, methods and triangulation in needs analysis: A critical perspective in a case study of Waikiki hotel maids. In Long, M. H., ed. Second language needs analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 127–58.Google Scholar
Jenkins, J. (2006). Current perspectives on teaching world Englishes and English as a lingua franca. TESOL Quarterly, 40, 157–81.Google Scholar
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as a source of learning and development. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Konoeda, K. and Watanabe, Y. (2008). Task-based critical pedagogy in Japanese EFL classrooms: Rationale, principles, and examples. In Mantero, M., Miller, C. P. and Watzke, J. L., eds. Readings in language studies. Vol. 1. St. Louis: International Society for Language Studies.Google Scholar
Lambert, C. (2010). A task-based needs analysis:Putting principles into practice. Language Teaching Research, 14(1), 99–112.Google Scholar
Leeman, J., Rabin, L., and Román-Mendoza, E. (2011). Identity and activism in heritage language education. The Modern Language Journal, 95, 481–95.Google Scholar
Leeman, J. and Serafini, E. J. (2016). Sociolinguistics in heritage language education: Promoting critical translingual competence. In Beaudrie, S. and Fairclough, M., eds. Innovative approaches in heritage language pedagogy: From research to practice. Washington DC: Georgetown University Press, pp. 56–79.Google Scholar
Leung, C., Harris, R., and Rampton, B. (2004). Living with inelegance in qualitative research on task-based learning. In Norton, B. and Toohey, K., eds. Critical pedagogies and language learning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 242–68.Google Scholar
Li, G. and Ni, X. (2013). Effects of a technology-enriched, task-based language teaching curriculum on Chinese elementary students’ achievement in English as a foreign language. International Journal of Computer-Assisted Language Learning and Teaching, 3, 33–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liakina, N. and Michaud, G. (2018). Needs analysis for task-based curriculum design: How useful can it be for general purpose L2 courses? Nouvelle Revue Synergies Canada, 11.Google Scholar
Lin, T. and Wu, C. (2012). Teachers’ perceptions of task-based language teaching in English classrooms in Taiwanese junior high schools. TESOL Journal, 3, 586–609.Google Scholar
Littlewood, W. (2007). Communicative and task-based language teaching in East Asian classrooms. Language Teaching, 40, 243–49.Google Scholar
Long, M. H. (1985). A role for instruction in second language acquisition: Task-based language teaching. In Hyltenstam, K. and Pienemann, M., eds. Modeling and assessing second language development. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, pp. 77–99.Google Scholar
Long, M. H. (2005a) Second language needs analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Long, M. H. (2005b). A rationale for needs analysis and needs analysis research. In Long, M. H., ed. Second language needs analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–16.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Long, M. H. (2005c). Methodological issues in learner needs analysis. In Long, M. H., ed. Second language needs analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 19–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Long, M. H. (2009). Methodological principles for language teaching. In Long, M. H. and Doughty, C., eds. The handbook of language teaching. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 373–94.Google Scholar
Long, M. H. (2013). Needs analysis. In Chapelle, C. A., ed. The encyclopedia of applied linguistics. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Long, M. H. (2015a). Second language acquisition and task-based language teaching. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Long, M. K. and Uscinski, I. (2012). Evolution of languages for specific purposes programs in the United States: 1990–2011. Modern Language Journal, 96, 173–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Malicka, A., Gilabert, R., and Norris, J. M. (2019). From needs analysis to task design:Insights from an English for specific purposes context, 23(1), 78–106.Google Scholar
Martin, A. and Adrada-Rafael, S. (2017). Business Spanish in the real world: A task-based needs analysis. L2 Journal, 9(1), 39–61.Google Scholar
McKay, S. L. and Rubdy, R. (2009). The social and sociolinguistic contexts of language learning and teaching. In Long, M. H. and Doughty, C., eds. The handbook of language teaching. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 10–25.Google Scholar
Mitchell, T. D. (2008). Traditional vs. critical service-learning: Engaging the literature to differentiate two models. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, Spring, 50–65.Google Scholar
Munby, J. (1978). Communicative syllabus design. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
National Service-Learning Clearinghouse. (2008). History of service-learning in higher education. New York: National Service-Learning Clearinghouse.Google Scholar
Norris, J. (2009). Task-based teaching and testing. In Long, M. H. and Doughty, C. J., eds. The handbook of language teaching. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 578–94.Google Scholar
Oliver, R., Grote, E., Rochecouste, J., and Exell, M. (2012). Addressing the language and literacy needs of Aboriginal high school VET students who speak SAE as an additional language. Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 41(2), 1–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oliver, R., Grote, E., Rochecouste, J., and Exell, M. (2013a). A task-based needs analysis for Australian Aboriginal students: Going beyond the target situation to address cultural issues. International Journal of Training Research, 11(3), 246–59.Google Scholar
Oliver, R., Grote, E., Rochecouste, J., and Exell, M. (2013b). Needs analysis for task-based language teaching: A case study of Indigenous vocational education and training students who speak EAL/EAD. TESOL in Context, 22(2), 36–50.Google Scholar
Park, M. (2012). Implementing computer-assisted task-based language teaching in the Korean secondary EFL context. In Shehadeh, A. and Coombe, C. A., eds. Task-based language teaching in foreign language contexts: Research and implementation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 215–40.Google Scholar
Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Phuong, H. Y., Van den Branden, K., Van Steendamn, E., and Sercu, L. (2015). The impact of PPP and TBLT on Vietnamese students’ writing performance and self-regulatory writing strategies. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 116, 37–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prabhu, N. S. (1987). Second language pedagogy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Rabin, L. (2015). Service-learning/Aprendizaje-servicio as a global practice in Spanish. In LaCorte, M., ed. The Routledge handbook of Hispanic applied linguistics. New York: Routledge, pp. 168–83.Google Scholar
Richterich, R. and Chancerel, J.-L. (1987). Identifying the needs of adults learning a foreign language. Oxford: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Riestenberg, K. and Sherris, A. (2018). Task-based teaching of indigenous languages: Investment and methodological principles in Macuiltianguis Zapotec and Salish Qlispe revitalization. Canadian Modern Language Review, 74(3), 434–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruíz, R. (1984). Orientations in language planning. NABE Journal, 8, 15–34.Google Scholar
Samuda, V., Bygate, M., and Van den Branden, K. (2018). Introduction: Towards a researched pedagogy for TBLT. In Samuda, V., Van den Branden, K., and Bygate, M. eds. TBLT as a researched pedagogy. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 1–22.Google Scholar
Sánchez-López, L. (2013). Spanish for specific purposes. In Chapelle, C. A. ed. The encyclopedia of applied linguistics. Oxford: Wiley- Blackwell.Google Scholar
Serafini, E. J. (2021). Service learning in heritage language education: A critical overview of motivation, design, and outcomes. In Torres, J. R. and Pascual y Cabo, D., eds. El español como lengua de herencia (Advances in Spanish Language Teaching Series). London and New York: Routledge Press.Google Scholar
Serafini, E. J., Lake, J., and Long, M. H. (2015). Needs analysis for specialized learner populations: Essential methodological improvements. English for Specific Purposes, 40, 11–26.Google Scholar
Serafini, E. J. and Torres, J. (2015). The utility of needs analysis for non-domain expert teachers in designing task-based Spanish for the Professions curricula. Foreign Language Annals, 48, 447–72.Google Scholar
Shehadeh, A. (2012). Broadening the perspective of task-based language teaching scholarship: The contribution of research in foreign language contexts. In Shehadeh, A. and Coombe, C.A., eds. Task-based language teaching in foreign language contexts: Research and implementation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 1–20.Google Scholar
Shehadeh, A. and Coombe, C. A. (2012). Task-based language teaching in foreign language contexts: Research and implementation. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Skutnabb-Kangas, T. and Cummins, J. (1988). Language for empowerment. In Skutnabb-Kangas, T. and Cummins, J., eds. Minority education: From shame to struggle. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, pp. 390–95.Google Scholar
Svendsen, C. and Krebs, K. (1984). Identifying English for the job: Examples from healthcare occupations. The ESP Journal, 3, 153–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swales, J. (1990). Genre analysis English in academic and research settings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tinker Sachs, G. (2009). Taking risks in task-based teaching and learning. Asian Journal of English Language Teaching, 19, 91–112.Google Scholar
Torres, J. and Serafini, E. J. (2016). Micro-evaluating learners’ task-specific motivation in a task-based business Spanish course. Hispania, 99, 289–304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Avermaet, P. and Gysen, S. (2006). From needs to tasks: Language learning needs in a task-based approach. In Van den Branden, K., ed. Task-based language teaching in practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 17–46.Google Scholar
Van den Branden, K. (2006). Task-based language teaching: From theory to practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Van den Branden, K., Bygate, M., and Norris, J. M. (2009). Task-based language teaching: Introducing the reader. In Van den Branden, K., Bygate, M., and Norris, J. M., eds. Task-based language teaching: A reader. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–13.Google Scholar
Van Dijk, T. A. (2015). Critical discourse analysis. In Tannen, D., Hamilton, H., and Schiffrin, D., eds. The handbook of discourse analysis. 2nd ed. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell, pp. 466–85.Google Scholar
West, R. (1994). Needs analysis in language teaching. Language Teaching, 27, 1–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woolard, K. A. and Schieffelin, B. B. (1994). Language ideology. Annual Review of Anthropology, 23, 55–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×