Needs Assessment in Curriculum Development: An ESP Look through the Munbyan Model
Montazeri, M., Fekri., N., & Hamidi, H. (2016).
Abstract:
One of the attempts made at making language instruction and learning more effective is language needs analysis, or assessment, arising from, or in line with, the attention diverted towards ESP in second language instruction. It is the process through which the needs for which learners learn a language are arranged and prioritized. It further surveys students on their backgrounds and goals, consults faculty regarding course requirement, classifies assignments, observes students in authentic settings, and identifies linguistic and behavioral demands. This paper aimed to substantiate needs analysis in second language learning taking it into a more specific consideration from communicative perspective by assuming communicative syllabus as the requisite to language instruction in today’s world where utmost need for communication is seriously tangible. In so doing, it investigated Munby’s (1978) model of needs analysis, as one of the most comprehensive frameworks developed in needs analysis in second language instruction, proposed in the attempt for designing a communicative syllabus as a the requirement of today’s language instruction, and elaborated on its components in detail. This paper finally made accounts of such criticisms thrown on this model as being complex, learners-centered, constrained, not yielding a sequential framework of things to be included in second language syllabus design.