The Categorization of ESP
OBJECTIVE i.e.
as perceived by course design
SUBJECTIVE i.e. as perceived
by learners
NECESSTIES The
English needed
for success in Aglicultural or
Veterinary Studies To
reluctantly cope
with a
‘second-best’ situation
LACKS Presumably
areas of
English needed
for Aglicultural
or Veterinary
Studies Means of doing
Medical Studies
WANTS To succeed in Aglicultural or
Veterinary Studies To
undertake Medical Studies
Table 1: Necessities, lacks and wants Hutchinson and Waters, 1987: 58
There are a number of ways to gather information about needs. Robinson 1991: 12-15 mentions the use of:
a Questionnaires Richterich and Chancerel as quoted by Robinson state
that the aims to use questionnaires are to find out whether the questions are comprehensible and the answers can be easily
analyzed and compared Robinson, 1991: 12. Meanwhile, Lonnfors as cited by Robinson states that questionnaires should
be easily understood by common people. She adds that “questionnaires can be used at short notice for certain types of
course and easily modified for others” Robinson, 1991: 12. Questionnaires provide information about “Target
Situation Analysis TSA” and “Present Situation Analysis PSA”. It can also be easily distributed to a large number of
people. However, questionnaire also has some disadvantages. Not many people will be happy to fill and return it.
b Interviews Mackay as cited by Robinson uses the “structured
interview” where the questionnaire is used by the interviewer to guide the interviewee Robinson, 1991: 12-13. Tarantino as
cited by Robinson states that the advantage of interviews is that the interviewer can help the respondents to clarify and record
their answers and explanations Robinson, 1991: 12-13. Mackay adds that the interviewer can elicit interesting
information that occurs while having a planned agenda to follow.
c Observation Observation is conducted to see the will-be students’
behavior and performances, for instance, in workplace. It is done to complete information in needs analysis.
d Case studies Case study is “one particular type of observation, in
which each individual is shadowed over a period of time.” According to Schmidt, as cited by Robinson, case study is used
to identify difficult linguistic features and provide information to support needs analysis Robinson, 1991: 13.
Schmidt as
quoted by
Robinson states
some advantages of using case studies as a method in needs analysis.
It is explained in the passage below.
Schmidt suggests that the advantages of the case study method are that it gives the ‘possibility of an in-depth study over a period
of time, the opportunity to appeal to the student’s intuitions