Analyzing Needs Analysis in ESP: A (re) modeling

ABSTRACT: English for Specific Purposes (ESP) as a subdivision of English Language Teaching (ELT) is claimed to be relevant to the needs of an identifiable group of learners. This relevance is virtually achieved through needs analysis by which one can come up with what the learners already know, what they need to know, and, finally, what they want to know. The range of activities can be captured by a set of what, why, when, who, and how questions. The answers to these questions will feed into the process of course design so as to assure that the course is on the right track. In this article, first, some clarifications of terminology are made; then, a slightly modified version of a model for doing needs analysis is given. After that, some prevalent trends in needs analysis are discussed. And finally, some thorny issues are proposed which need to be solved or at least resolved or compromised.