Needs Analysis In Language Learning

2. Review of Related Theories

A. Teaching and Learning Model Development

It is a fundamental process where series of activities are done to plan, develop, and evaluate the existing model to meet the needs and expectations of all parties involved. The output of the development is a better teaching and learning system supplemented by empirically and consistently improved materials and strategies to achieve the goals (Harjanto, 2011). Wahono (2013) proposes clear objectives, goals-curriculum relevance, objectives coverage, strategies, interaction, motivation, contexts, materials and scaffoldings, goals-materials relevance, materials quality, ease, systematic structure, simulation, evaluation, and feedback as vital aspects of teaching and learning

Nation and Macalister (2010) proposes that a model contains three external circles (principles, environments, needs) which are strongly related to one internal circle (objectives) and supported by three components (structure, format and presentation, monitoring and assessment). In addition, there are several goals of doing need analysis in language learning as proposed by Richards (2001) such as identifying learners’ expected role in using a language, selecting appropriate teaching and learning materials, grouping learners’ levels of proficiency and needs, recognizing individual potentials in the group, detecting learners’ feasible reach and outreach in learning, and collecting learners’ experience in dealing with issues in language

It discusses the situations and conditions of the language users (community) which later influence the language either in forms or functions. These elements interact with each other without isolation (Fishman, 1972; Kridalaksana, 1978; Chaer & Agustina, 2004). In addition, Siregar (1998) argues that social identity plays a crucial role in manipulating language use in multilingual community. The social identity is reflected in aspects such as age, sex, education, job, and social status presented within their communication among community members (Wardhaugh, 1990; Nababan, 1994; Holmes, 2001). According to Chaer (2004), there are seven areas of research within the study of sociolinguistics such as social identity of the user, social identity of the interlocutor, the social environment of the occurrences, synchronic and diachronic analysis of the local dialects, users’ interpretation of the utterances, linguistics variations, and practical implementation of sociolinguistics studies.

In accordance to the above elaboration on sociolinguistics, it is necessary for the learners to acquire sufficient understanding on socio-cultural aspects of a language (English) in order to make the most of their learning experience in its real-contexts