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Meeting Students' Needs in Two EAP Programmes in Vietnam and New ZealandA Comparative StudyHue University, Vietnam, dthoangoanh{at}gmail.com
Key Words: Course management • EFL • ESL • flexibility • needs analysis • ongoing communication • strategies.
RELC Journal, Vol. 38, No. 3,
324-349 (2007) |
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Needs analysis is an issue of major concern for courses of English, both for English as a Second Language (ESL) and as a foreign language (EFL). In my study, I examined two EAP programmes at two universities—in New Zealand and Vietnam—to see if needs analysis receives any attention in these two programmes, and, if so, how needs analysis is carried out and if the process works effectively. Based on the findings, both sides can learn lessons and implications can be suggested for similar programmes. I used data collected from class observations—with some sessions being videoed—and interviews in both cases, with a qualitative ethnographic approach. The findings show that, though in both of the programmes, student needs analysis was considered, the level of focus and practice was different. In the New Zealand case, needs analysis was a highlight of the programme through a series of systematic data collection tools. In contrast, in the Vietnamese case, students' needs were assumed by the course designers, suggested in informal exchanges with students, or based on teachers' personal observation and experience. The New Zealand needs analysis system could well be a model for the Vietnamese classes, where formal needs analysis has not been a common practice.