Second Language Needs Analysis

Cambridge Applied Linguistics

by Michael H. Long (Editor)

The studies in this volume explore needs analysis in the public, vocational and academic sectors, in contexts ranging from service encounters in coffee shops to foreign language needs assessment in the U.S. military. In each chapter, the authors explicitly discuss the methodology they employed, and in some cases also offer research findings on that methodology. Several studies are task-based. Contributions include work on English and other languages in both second and foreign language settings, as well as a comprehensive overview of methodological issues in needs analysis by the editor.

384 pages

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long argues that collecting and analyzing language from actual events, instead of using the intuition and guesses of textbook creators and linguists, generates better models of language. He uses tasks as the unit of analysis. He also provides general principles to aid in needs analysis: gather your material from a wide range of people, use a variety of techniques to collect your data, and cross check your data sets against each other. He explains all this in great detail in the first chapter.

Later chapters work as case studies. They highlight various points brought up in chapter one. Overall, they are informative and useful examples. A few towards the end suffer from academic-bloat and lack succinctness.

It’s a decade and a half old. Not sure how much influence it’s had on academia. For my money, it’s a good read because it’s useful and provides a better way to help learners. You could go through the first chapter to get an understanding of the principles guiding the book and then cherry pick chapters of interest.

[Belkys · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent review on Needs Analysis methodology. The key to language teaching design.