Needs analyses
At CIP, we carry out needs analyses for all our courses and workshops in order to identify as accurately as possible course participants’ needs, wants and expectations. Needs analyses gather information about, for example, participants’ work tasks, strengths and weaknesses in the target language, and their own personal goals for the course.
Research areas
Our research generally follows one of two main strands: research into different needs analysis methods, and the effectiveness of applying these methods in in practice.
The first strand involves projects looking at the different methods available for carrying out needs analyses. The purpose behind doing this is to develop a strategy for selecting the best methods to apply in practice for different kinds of courses and workshops. Thus, we use different needs analyses to gather information for, for example, a one-to-one course compared to those we use when putting together a tailor-made course for a whole department.
The second research strand focuses primarily on refining our needs analyses in order to reflect as accurately as possible what participants need, want and expect to get out of the course they are going to follow. Results are compared to end-of-course evaluations and feed into the subsequent courses and workshops we hold.
An ongoing PhD-project on Danish for international faculty draws on both strands and discusses the role of language competence centres at international universities through a comparison between University of Copenhagen and a German university.
Case 1
One major project involved utilizing needs analyses to map the needs and wants relating to English language training for HR staff around the university. This involved designing and sending out questionnaires to a large sample of HR staff, semi-structured interviews with key staff (HR managers, union representatives, HR employees) and focus groups of about 10 HR staff for two hours. The project resulted in an HR Terminology Course, which is now run for HR staff on a regular basis at CIP.
Case 2
A second large project was carried out for staff at the Faculty of Humanities’ Finance Centre. This project also drew on semi-structured interviews and was useful in identifying a diverse body of needs for different kinds of language training at three levels. It became clear that while some staff needed quite extensive language training, other groups only needed to ‘top up’ their English skills with finance-specific terminology.
We employ a number of different methods to establish the needs and wants of participants on our courses and workshops. The most commonly used tool is the needs analysis questionnaire; these are sent out electronically to all participants before every course in order to ensure that as far as possible, the instructor can tailor the course to focus on the areas that that particular group of participants finds most important.
For one-to-one courses, the instructor will also hold a brief telephone interview with the participant before the course starts. Again, this is to ensure that the course meets the participant’s needs, wants and expectations as fully as possible.
Other methods employed include getting participants to send in samples of writing/slides and data mining (i.e. looking at websites and other documents relevant to the group of employees concerned).
Finally, CIP has developed and used diagnostic language tests as a method for identifying the language needs of students and lecturers. For example, the score results from the Test of English Proficiency for Academic Staff (TOEPAS) are accompanied by detailed descriptions of the strengths and weaknesses of lecturers’ English language use for teaching purposes at the university, as well as recommendations for improvement. These descriptions are used for the face-to-face feedback session and as the basis for developing one-to-one courses should the lecturer wish to take language training
We collaborate with participants from across the university on an ongoing basis as part of the continuous development and evaluation of CIP courses and workshops.
Please contact us at cip@hum.ku.dk if you are interested in a collaboration with us regarding the use of needs analyses.
Martin Carlshollt Unger is working on his PhD dissertation on language needs with regards to teaching Danish. The dissertation will be handed in by the beginning of 2021.
Jürna, Merike. (2014). Linguistic realities at the University of Copenhagen - Parallel language use in practice as seen from the perspective of international staff. I: Anna Kristina Hultgren, Frans Gregersen and Jacob Thøgersen (Eds.). English in Nordic Universities: Ideologies and practices (225−250).. John Benjamins. (Studies in World Language Problems; 5).
