Needs Analysis and TBLT for effective

Language Learning
How can needs analysis be used in EFL/ESL classes in
Korea for effective learning?

Ee-Chan Kevin Noh

SLS 480P: TBLT

Noh, 2

Intro

In most of Asian countries, including South Korea, students learn English as a mandatory
language course for more than 6 years; three years of junior high and another three in high
school. Other than taking classes in school, many students attend language institutes or get
tutors for extra language learning. Some start learning English in elementary or preschool.
There are number of preschools and elementary schools that are taught only in English in Korea.
From these examples, students from Korea seem to be fluent in English. Studying a language so
intensively for more than six years must make the learners somewhat fluent in the language.
However, the reality is that students from Korea cannot order food at a restaurant, cannot ask for
directions, and some even have hard time getting into English speaking countries, because they
cannot answer simple questions during immigration process.
So, what is the problem? I have attended Korean public school system from preschool to
middle school. English classes focus mostly on grammar and translations, which gives no room
for learning of listening and speaking. The goal of teaching and learning purely focuses on
success in college entrance exam. This is why students are not or minimally exposed to listening
and speaking practices, which limits their ability in communicating with native speakers of
English. Many educators and researchers in Korea have raised questions and problem in such
education system in the last decade, but no change has been made. No one could come up with a
solution.
For more effective language learning, it is very important to effectively analyze learners
needs and design class or program according to the analysis. This is what EFL and ESL
programs need to do in Korea. For being a student from Korea, I would like to be a part in

Noh, 3

improving English education in Korea. Therefore, I am going to discuss about how to

effectively assess students needs analysis and adapt the results into designing effective TBLT
activities for communicative skills.

Needs Analysis

Before moving on to effective ways for needs analysis, the definition must be clarified
first. Titcomb defines needs analysis as, the process of identifying and evaluating needs in a
community or other defined population of people. (Titcomb, 2000) In other words, needs
analysis is acknowledging what learners need and their goal in learning the language. Therefore,
needs analysis is future focused, rather than past focused, which focuses on what was done
previously. Since it identifies what students need and their goals are, language class or programs
can be designed accordingly to the results. This promotes more effective teaching and better
learning experiences for teachers and students.
In order to analyze students needs, there are five steps that must be followed, Titcomb
(2000) states. First, audiences and the purposes for analysis must be identified. Second, target
population and service environment has to be described. In this stage, there are three levels of
target groups; direct recipients of the service, individuals or groups that deliver the service, and
resources and inputs of the solution. In the third step, description of the problem and possible
solution of it must be addressed. Fourth step is when evaluation of the identified needs is made.
This step is also called needs assessment. In this step, level of importance of problems, and
conflicts between identified problems are to be thought of. In the last step, the results of the
analysis are communicated with the identified audiences. (Titcomb, 2000)

Noh, 4

There are few methods of how to assess needs analysis; secondary data analysis, surveys,
and group procedures. Secondary data analysis does not directly communicate with the learners,
but uses previous data to identify problems and their needs. Group procedures include public
hearings, group forums, and such that people gather as a group and share ideas. Amongst the
three methods, surveys are most commonly used for classroom purposes. Students are often
given paper with survey questions and are required to answer them. This method is convenient
and the records can be kept for long time and be looked over without much limitation.
In addition to various methods used for needs analysis, there are cautions to be kept in
mind. Titcomb argues in his article that such cautions like, missing primary target population,
confounding means with ends or needs with wishes, using only one method for gathering
information, and assuming levels of need are similar across levels of target groups, must be kept
in mind. (Titcomb, 2000)
After all the procedures are done and cautions are carefully looked over, the results can
be used to design classroom teaching. Classroom designing can range from class materials to
activities, which directly affect students learning of the target language. It is very important for
instructors, teachers, and program designers to come up with materials and activities that satisfy
the students needs. In the case of Korean education, what the students need the most is listening
and speaking practices and activities that focus on them. Most essential way for satisfying such
goal is by using TBLT method.
TBLT

TBLT, which is an abbreviation for task based language teaching, is a teaching technique
that bases on teaching and learning by tasks. In two articles it defines TBLT as, Task-Based

Noh, 5

Language Teaching (TBLT) is an educational framework for the theory and practice of teaching
second or foreign languages. It is based on a constellation of ideas issuing from philosophy of
education, theories of second language acquisition, empirical findings on effective instructional
techniques, and the exigencies of language learning in contemporary society. Though there is
broad interest in the potential value of TBLT to foster worthwhile language teaching and
learning, there is also considerable diversity in the theoretical scope, applied practice, and
research that corresponds with the TBLT name (TBLT 2007; TBLT 2009). This technique was
first started in the 1970s in the need for teaching both grammar and meaning in language
acquisition. After gaining success in secondary school in Banglore, India, it had gained great
recognition in the Second Language Acquisition field. Some scholars believe TBLT has derived
from communicative language teaching, because they share very much similarity, however,
TBLT has its own rationales, philosophies, and instructions in language teaching. Also,
according to Hill, It is not just another methodology in language teaching, but a curriculum
design principleconstitutes a coherent, theoretically motivated approach to all six components
of the design; needs and means analysis, syllabus design, materials design, methodology and
pedagogy, testing, and evaluation (Hill, 2011). Recently, TBLT has widened its field from only
language acquisition to field of general education. Since TBLT puts great amount of importance
on students individual experiences and authenticity, it could be used not only as a way of
language acquisition, but also in other fields of education. (MSU, 2010)
Because TBLT puts emphasis on authenticity and focus-on-form, it is a great way of
teaching meaning of the target language. McDonough states in his article, it is an ideal medium
for implementing focus on form, a methodological principle in which learners attention is drawn
to form in a context of meaning (McDonough, 2007). He also argues that focus-on-form is

Noh, 6

closely related to analytic syllabi, which is organized according to learners needs and must meet
the goals of the learners. (McDonough, 2007) Another benefit of TBLT is that the activities
promote communication between students in L2 or the target language. In order to solve the
tasks given, learners must comprehend, discuss, and execute in the target language; if these are
not done, the tasks assigned cannot be completed in which leads to the failure of the activity
given. Gonzalez-Lloret states in an article, Several theories postulate a relationship between
language acquisition and output during the interaction process and interaction facilitates
comprehension better than conditions without the interaction component (Gonzalez-Lloret,
2003) Such arguments and statements from scholars prove the benefits of TBLT in teaching
listening and speaking for language learners.

Discussion

As far as I know, Korean public and private educations have not yet adopted TBLT or
have adopted very limitedly. Like I have argued in introduction paragraphs, what Korean
English learners need is ability to listen and speak. In order to teach them along with grammar
and meanings of English, TBLT is the best teaching method. Because it promotes language
interactions between students in English, interactive way, and meaning of English at the same
time, TBLT will greatly improve listening and speaking skills along with comprehension and
grammar of Korean learners of English.
To adapt TBLT in English classrooms in Korea, needs analysis must be done first in
order to prove that the learners are willing to learn listening and speaking skills. Because of the
large number of students, it would be easier to use surveys for the analysis. The needs analysis

Noh, 7

must be done with the students parents also, since they are legal guardians of the students. The
same method could be done for private educations, like tutoring or language institutes called
hak-won.
Based on the results from needs analysis, teachers and program designers can prepare for
whether or not to use TBLT in the setting, which I assume they will have to, and materials and
activities for classes. Assuming the needs analysis results will lead to adaption of TBLT in
Korean education of English, scholars and educators will have to cautious about various
considerations. McDonough states in his article, An important issue is whether teachers create
their own materials or obtain commercially available textbooks. If commercially existing
textbooks are used, teachers must ensure if it can follow the goal and activities of the course
(McDonough, 2007). He also argues the program must give teachers and students to become
familiar with the philosophy and method. These arguments of McDonough apply same for the
education setting in Korea. In order to prevent chaos in wide-ranged chaos in education system,
few schools can be selected and run pilot courses using the TBLT. If the results are successful,
then it can be applied to other schools nation-wide, and if not, changes could be made and the
same process can be done until successful result.

Designing TBLT
Needs Analysis
Like I have stated in the previous section, because there are too many learners, it would
be best to use survey for needs analysis. Using information from records would be a good way
also. The survey could be provided for students in paper forms in classrooms in schools, and
internet could be used for additional comments. Internet is spread widely in most parts of Korea,

Noh, 8

which can make it more comfortable for learners to access during free-time. Information of
period of time for needs analysis can be provided in schools, internet, television and radio
advertisements, and posters on streets.
Questions for needs analysis can include,

What is your current purpose of learning English?

What are some methods you are using?

Are you satisfied with the education method? Why or why not?

If not, how would you like to learn?

If there are any changes to be made, what would they be?

And etc.

After the period of time given for needs analysis, the information could be gathered and
assessed. If the results meet the philosophy of TBLT, educators can move on to the designing
part of TBLT. However, few schools or classrooms can be chosen for pilot classes to see if the
designed TBLT meets the students and learners needs.

Materials
I have not seen any textbooks that are specifically designed for TBLT available, yet, in
Korea, therefore it would be better to make new textbooks instead of using existing textbooks.
The new textbook must include description of what TBLT is, and its philosophy, methods, and
brief history. Inside the textbook, it should include some description of situations of
conversation and examples, vocabularies for students to learn, and activities they can work on.
However, because Korean students are not familiar with TBLT, grammar and reading can be

Noh, 9

provided to have some similarities with previous textbooks the learners are used to. The
difficulties of each version of textbook can be divided by the learners age and grade level.

Activities
Activities that learners must participate in can include situations where they might have
to use English.

Immigration desk at airport.

Restaurants

Hotels

Making reservations on phone.

Asking for directions.

And such.

One thing the teachers must be cautious about, though, is giving specific and wellprepared instructions and examples. Learners have limited understanding of English;
therefore, activities cannot be too hard or difficult.

Assessments
Assessment for each course can be done through completing tasks given by teacher. For
example, teacher can explain a situation to students what kind of situation and place they are in,
what they need to do, and how they can do it. Teacher can watch and observe what students are
doing and grade them according to the completion of the task, and how well they can
communicate with each other to solve the task. It is similar to regular activities, but in a tested
form. Result of passing or not can be decided according to the students accomplishments.

Noh, 10

Conclusion

Adapting TBLT in Korean education system in English classroom settings may greatly
improve learners abilities in listening and speaking. Because TBLT focuses on authenticity,
focus-on-form, and learners experience in real-life environment, learners would gain great
amount of practices and familiarize with situations they must use English. Learning a language
is not all about test scores and remembering grammar structures and vocabulary, but general
understanding of the target language, and ability to use what is learned in real-life situations.
TBLT, I believe, is the best way to learn such aspects; therefore, TBLT can be highly beneficial
for learners of English in Korea. There are many aspects to be considered, researched, and
reinforced to be adapted in the environment of Korean English education, though.

Noh, 11

References
Titcomb, A. L. (2000). Needs Analysis. Retrieved May 5, 2014, from
http://extension.arizona.edu/evaluation/sites/extension.arizona.edu.evaluation/files/docs/n
eeds.pdf
TBLT. (2007). 2nd International Conference on Task-Based Language Teaching. from
http://www.hawaii.edu/tblt2007/index.html
TBLT. (2009). 3rd International Conference on Task-Based Language Teaching. from
http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/events/tblt2009/index.htm
Task-Based Language Teaching. (n.d.). In Gaining Ground in Teaching - Resources. Retrieved
May 5, 2014, from http://gaining.educ.msu.edu/resources/node/412
Gonzalez-Lloret, M. (2002). DESIGNING TASK-BASED CALL TO PROMOTE
INTERACTION: EN BUSCA DE ESMERALDAS. Language Learning & Technology,
7(1), 86-104.
doi:https://laulima.hawaii.edu/access/content/group/MAN.87180.201430/Supplementary
%20readings/Gonzalez-Lloret%2003.pdf
McDonough, K., & Chaikitmongkol, W. (2007, March). Teachers and Learners Reactions to a
Task-Based EFL Course in Thailand. TESOL QUARTERLY, 41(1), 107-134. Retrieved
May 4, 2014, from
https://laulima.hawaii.edu/access/content/group/MAN.87180.201430/Supplementary%20
readings/McDonough%20Chaikitmongkol%2007.pdf