Day 1: The Icebreaker:
In EAL and non-EAL classrooms alike, there always seems to be some type of icebreaker activity. However, in an EAL classroom, the icebreaker activity can serve a dual purpose for the teacher as it may aid in the needs assessment process.
- A teacher may choose to begin the class with the standard "go around the room and introduce yourself to the class" activity. This process is relatively straightforward, but there are some specific icebreaker questions that a teacher my want to be sure to remember if this activity is also being used for needs assessment purposes.
- First Language: Alongside the standard, "what is your name" etc. questions, this question is very important in a needs assessment setting. Different languages have different syntax, grammars, structures, etc. that may make learning English more or less difficult. Use this question to gauge how similar or different than English the majority of your class's first language is and plan lessons appropriately.
- Educational/Work Experience: A major factor in the English language learning process that is infrequently discussed is the learner's literacy proficiency in their L1. Asking explicit questions about a person's literacy level is invasive. However, asking questions about where they went to school or what their profession in their home country was are far less invasive and may help a teacher gauge the majority of the class's literacy level in their mother tongues. Learners who are highly educated and highly literate in their native language will have fewer barriers to learning than learners who struggle with literacy in their own language...never mind a second one! Lessons should be planned with this sensitivity in mind.
- Do you live on your own or with family?: Another barrier to success may be the support the student has in their life outside the classroom. This is another factor that may be sensitive or invasive the ask about explicitly. However, teachers can attempt to gauge the level of support their students have in their learning process based on the combined factors of age and who they live with. A single mother will likely have much less support than an 8-year-old living with two parents. Of course, it may not be accurate to make generalizations, but a teacher an attempt to guess and tailor lessons based on what appears to be the majority of the classroom's external support system.
Going Forward, How was your day?:
When I was a student in a French L2 classroom, an activity that our teacher did with us was to ask each student what they did yesterday and what they plan to do tomorrow. Depending on the level of your classroom, the complexity of your "how was your day" question might vary. Perhaps, instead of asking for plans, simply as "how are you today" and build up to more complicated questions that involve past and future tenses. Regularly checking in with students in this way each class is a useful way to consistently re-analyze your class's needs. Firstly, these questions may inadvertently reveal things about your students' lives that were not revealed through your icebreaker questions. Secondly, it can be a way to gauge your students' growth. Do they seem ready to answer more complicated questions about their days? Or do you need to stick to simple questions or perhaps simplify the questions you're already asking?
Of course, neither of these activities will compensate for paying close attention to your students as individuals instead of treating them as a faceless mass. However, if you are in a classroom with a lot of faces, one on one assessment can be challenging. These activities are simply suggested needs assessment strategies that some teachers may find useful to analyze their students' needs while teaching them the language at the same time.
The Tools
Questions about background can be a helpful way to assessing your students' communication skills while gaining some insight into their potential struggles. However, diagnostic tests that analyze specific aspects of their English language skills may still be needed. Speaking, listening, and writing all require different language skills and it is certainly possible for a student to be comfortable in one of these areas but uncomfortable in others.
FluentU discusses the SLRW importance scale that allows adult learners to let a teacher know which English language skill is most important for them to learn. SLRW stands for Speaking, Listening, Reading, and Writing. During your beginning needs assessment, allowing students to rate each of these skills on a scale of 1-4 for highest to lowest priority (which I think is simpler than the percentage system suggesting by FluentU) can be a very straightforward way for a teacher to quickly recognize what future lesson plans should focus on the most. Now, what about their skills in each of these areas? Once you have discovered what your students' priorities are, recognizing their level is the next important step!
Speaking: To analyze your students' speaking levels, there are several different activities you may choose to use. The aforementioned icebreaker questions and everyday greetings can be a useful way to continually analyze speaking skills. TEFL.net also suggests conducting a interview with your student, especially if you are in a 1 on 1 learning environment. They also draw attention to the usefulness of presentation assignments in your classes that push students to practice their spoken English for a specified amount of time.
Listening: I believe that listening proficiency is the most difficult language skill to gauge. It is impossible to capture perfectly with a questionnaire or an interview, and it is very easy for a student to just say they understood to continue the lesson instead of truly understanding. Another post from FluentU draws attention to TPR (Total Physical Response) as a useful way to assess listening skills. They suggest that while teaching students a verb, the teacher can ask the student to perform the verb that has been said. If they are unable to perform the correct verb, this is a sign that they have not understood and they are unable to just say "yes" to keep the lesson moving. In some ways, this may seem like a limited, beginner-oriented listening assessment activity, but I think it can be expanded to more complex words for more advanced learners. Instead of telling a student to simply "walk" a more advanced learner may be told to "walk to this part of the classroom" or to "move the pencil from the desk on the left to the desk on the right." Put simply, this activity can expand beyond a simple verb to a full set of instructions for more advanced students.
Reading: TEFL.net draws attention to the use of questionnaires on paper as tools for needs assessments. If a teacher is only analyzing a student's reading ability, a multiple choice activity can be useful. Instead of having a student "fill in the blank," which while exercising their reading ability also uses writing ability, the activity may involve a word bank that allows students to select the most appropriate term for the blank. For more beginner learners, it may be better to analyze their reading ability with matching activities that involve them matching the appropriate word to a corresponding image.
Writing: If the focus of the class is more on writing than speaking, than it is possible for your introductory interview to be a written questionnaire instead. The simplicity of this questionnaire can vary greatly depending on the students' levels. More advanced and intermediate learners may also benefit from writing short essays or stories that may help a teacher follow their growth. Comparatively, it may be more appropriate to use fill in the blank or label the image activities for more beginner learners.
Needs assessments are not a one and done deal. While it is important to conduct one at the beginning of the class, periodic "check-ins" have their value too. A student's needs may certainly change throughout their lessons as their proficiency grows. It is also possible that a student's SLRW priorities may change as a result of realizing where they struggle, or due to the dynamic needs of their home, work, and/or school environments. Therefore, it is always important to remember that needs assessment is always in the back of the teacher's mind with every lesson and not just in the designated times to perform one.
FluentU discusses the SLRW importance scale that allows adult learners to let a teacher know which English language skill is most important for them to learn. SLRW stands for Speaking, Listening, Reading, and Writing. During your beginning needs assessment, allowing students to rate each of these skills on a scale of 1-4 for highest to lowest priority (which I think is simpler than the percentage system suggesting by FluentU) can be a very straightforward way for a teacher to quickly recognize what future lesson plans should focus on the most. Now, what about their skills in each of these areas? Once you have discovered what your students' priorities are, recognizing their level is the next important step!
Speaking: To analyze your students' speaking levels, there are several different activities you may choose to use. The aforementioned icebreaker questions and everyday greetings can be a useful way to continually analyze speaking skills. TEFL.net also suggests conducting a interview with your student, especially if you are in a 1 on 1 learning environment. They also draw attention to the usefulness of presentation assignments in your classes that push students to practice their spoken English for a specified amount of time.
Listening: I believe that listening proficiency is the most difficult language skill to gauge. It is impossible to capture perfectly with a questionnaire or an interview, and it is very easy for a student to just say they understood to continue the lesson instead of truly understanding. Another post from FluentU draws attention to TPR (Total Physical Response) as a useful way to assess listening skills. They suggest that while teaching students a verb, the teacher can ask the student to perform the verb that has been said. If they are unable to perform the correct verb, this is a sign that they have not understood and they are unable to just say "yes" to keep the lesson moving. In some ways, this may seem like a limited, beginner-oriented listening assessment activity, but I think it can be expanded to more complex words for more advanced learners. Instead of telling a student to simply "walk" a more advanced learner may be told to "walk to this part of the classroom" or to "move the pencil from the desk on the left to the desk on the right." Put simply, this activity can expand beyond a simple verb to a full set of instructions for more advanced students.
Reading: TEFL.net draws attention to the use of questionnaires on paper as tools for needs assessments. If a teacher is only analyzing a student's reading ability, a multiple choice activity can be useful. Instead of having a student "fill in the blank," which while exercising their reading ability also uses writing ability, the activity may involve a word bank that allows students to select the most appropriate term for the blank. For more beginner learners, it may be better to analyze their reading ability with matching activities that involve them matching the appropriate word to a corresponding image.
Writing: If the focus of the class is more on writing than speaking, than it is possible for your introductory interview to be a written questionnaire instead. The simplicity of this questionnaire can vary greatly depending on the students' levels. More advanced and intermediate learners may also benefit from writing short essays or stories that may help a teacher follow their growth. Comparatively, it may be more appropriate to use fill in the blank or label the image activities for more beginner learners.
Needs assessments are not a one and done deal. While it is important to conduct one at the beginning of the class, periodic "check-ins" have their value too. A student's needs may certainly change throughout their lessons as their proficiency grows. It is also possible that a student's SLRW priorities may change as a result of realizing where they struggle, or due to the dynamic needs of their home, work, and/or school environments. Therefore, it is always important to remember that needs assessment is always in the back of the teacher's mind with every lesson and not just in the designated times to perform one.
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