Author: Alex Case
Type: reference material
Needs analysis: questions for the beginning of the course
About the present situation at work
What’s your job precisely?
Do you use English?
What do you do? situations/ medium/ channel/ genre (see Bus Needs 2)
What percentage of each?
Which of these do you find difficult/ need to improve?
What fields/ topics do you need to talk about/ need vocabulary of?
Which of these areas do you need most to improve your English?
What exactly do you need to do that?
About outside work
Are you doing anything to improve your English at the moment?
Do you do anything else in English? (CNN?, subtitled movies?, DVD?, business papers?)
What resources do you have at home/ work?
Dictionary- bilingual/ monolingual
Internet access
TV/ DVD
Press- general and specialised.
Do you travel to English speaking/ other countries?
About the past
Same questions as above for past.
What’s the last thing you did in English?
Have you studied English before?
How long/ to what level?
About the future
What are your short term and long term aims for English?
What’s the next thing you have to do in English?
Any big conferences / meetings / business trips / conference calls / presentations coming up?
How far do you want to go with your English (each skill)?
Wants
How do you like studying English?
What did you think of your previous lessons?
What’s the best way to learn a language?
How much homework can you do?
Negotiated Syllabus
Page One
Put these in order from number 1 (the one to spend most time on in class)
to 10 (the one
to spend least on)
Reading articles
Practising social and functional English
Listening to tapes
Watching videos
Discussing current affairs
Talking about your job
Written grammar exercises
Spoken grammar exercises
Learning specialist vocabulary
Learning general English vocabulary
Other (please specify)
1. ____________________________
2. ____________________________
3. ____________________________
4. ____________________________
5. ____________________________
6. ____________________________
7. ____________________________
8. ____________________________
9. ____________________________
10. ____________________________
Skills and language
Reading
Writing
Speaking
Listening
Grammar
Vocabulary
Which of the areas above do you most need to improve in your English (in
order)?
___________________________________________________________________________
_____
___________________________________________________________________________
_____
Written texts
Contracts
General interest articles
Specialist articles
Formal business E-mails
More informal/ chatty e-mails
Reports
Memos
Business letters
Faxes
Official notices
Agendas
Minutes
Websites (please give example)
Chat pages
Others (please name)
Which 5 of these do you write most in English (in order of use)?
___________________________________________________________________________
_____
___________________________________________________________________________
_____
Which of the others do you read most in English (in order of use)?
___________________________________________________________________________
_____
___________________________________________________________________________
_____
Which of the above do you need help with/ practise of (in order)?
___________________________________________________________________
Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2003
Taken from the business section in [Link]
Speaking and listening
Conferences
One to one meetings
One to one phone calls
Conference calls
Meetings of 3 or more people (please state numbers)
Presentations
Socialising
Which of these situations do you have to speak in?
___________________________________________________________________________
_____
___________________________________________________________________________
_____
Which of the remaining ones do you have to/ do you listen to?
___________________________________________________________________________
_____
___________________________________________________________________________
_____
Customers
Potential customers
Direct boss
Other superiors
Subordinates
Colleagues in same office
Colleagues in other office (please state where)
Which of these people do you have to speak English to?
___________________________________________________________________________
_____
___________________________________________________________________________
_____
What are the nationalities of the groups of people you speak to?
Native speakers (from?)
Non-native speakers (from?)
Mixed native/ non-native groups
___________________________________________________________________________
_____
___________________________________________________________________________
_____
Who do you find it most difficult to talk to/ understand and why?
___________________________________________________________________________
_____
Personal Details:
Name:
Nationality:
Main Language:
Date of Birth:
Male/Female:
Contact telephone number/email address:
Professional Details:
Current Job Title:
Basic Duties:
English Language:
Number of years you've studied English:
Rate your skills in the following (1-10, 1 being poor, and 10 being excellent)
Reading:
Writing:
Listening:
Speaking:
Pronunciation:
Grammar:
Which of the following would you like to improve:
Reading:
Writing:
Listening:
Speaking:
Pronunciation:
Grammar:
What is your main goal in studying English?
Is there anything that you'd like to focus on specifically?
Other comments: