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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
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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

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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

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