Mehdi Sufi
Abstract
What is discussed under this heading needs analysis is that needs analysis is not unique to ESP courses, we have needs analysis in all language teaching courses and language assessment courses even. What makes it unique in ESP is the point that needs analysis is the corner stone of ESP. The initial definitions for needs analysis came into being started to come into existence in 1960s and 1970s in a group of ELT teachers for the first time who were assigned to teach ESP students in different science disciplines. Ok, they were language teachers, they had knowledge and grammar of vocabulary, general knowledge and grammar of vocabulary but when it came to teach English to science students, they didn't know what to teach and how to teach. They had little knowledge of what and how to teach ESP. So, they started collecting data regarding the needs of their science ESP learners. The most complete work for needs analysis is Mumby's model 1978. His model of needs analysis is the most complete model of needs analysis proposed so far. It is called communicative syllabus design, in his model, Mumby discusses a set of language functions and language syllabus design. There are some criticisms raised against his model. In his model in spite of the fact he discusses functions and situations, he doesn't discuss how these functions and situations should be prioritized and he doesn't pay any attention or any focus on learners' effective emotional factors. When beginner ESP teachers want to start the process of needs analysis, it would be very good idea to review the related literature before going to the learners before going to the colleagues in order to start the process of needs analysis. Reviewing the literature is a privilege here because as discussed on page 123, there are four actually points and four benefits to such literature review before starting the process of needs analysis. As indicated by four bullets when we review the literature we can understand the ideas and experiences of others and we would know what to ask, the second bullet says this way we wouldn't waste our clients' or student's time by asking irrelevant questions, the thirds one says we would appear more professional if we have knowledge of literature and then start the process of needs analysis and the fourth bullet says if we review the literature before starting the needs analysis process we would know how to analyze the data and what to do with the data actually. The point is, it doesn't …….. just to go and collect the data from our learner's about their needs from our colleagues about their students' needs, the other as important thing is to know what to do with the data to know how to analyze the data, to know what to exactly look for in the data. What is meant by needs? As discussed under this heading, needs are described as subjective or objective, as proposed by Brindly 1989. Perceived versus felt as proposed by Berwick 1989, target situations or goals oriented versus learning oriented we have on the other hand process oriented versus product-oriented needs also as discussed by Brindly 1989 and in spite of all these different types of needs we have the categories necessities wants and lacks. Let's see what each of this category of needs actually stands for. So, fist we start with objective and subjective needs. Objective needs or perceived needs are the needs as they are observed and seen and defined by outsiders and experts. So, if ESP teachers, and ESP experts and course designers define some set of needs for ESP learners to achieve, those needs would be referred to as objective or perceived needs. The opposite point would be subjective or felt needs. Subjective or felt