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According to ENA Guidelines (2018). "Needs analysis is the process of understanding and addressing a student’s social, emotional and cultural learning needs, as well as their strengths". It is used to collect information about learners, focusing on the study of learners’ perceived and present needs, as well as their potential and unrecognized needs.

It requires collecting, reviewing and analysing personal, health, and educational information from a range of sources and determining the need for additional interventions and services.

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IMPORTANCE AND USE

The purpose of Needs Analysis is to enable the teacher to translate the Learner’s needs into linguistic and pedagogical terms in order to teach an effective course (Mackey, 1978).

Taking into account the quote it can be said that the importance of needs analysis is to identify performance requirements and the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed by learners to achieve the requirements.

Needs analysis is an important mean of conducting research prior to designing and evaluating lessons/materials/syllabus.

Knowing that needs analysis involves doing some kind of activity with a learner in order to find out what their learning needs are, a good understanding of learner needs can contribute to successful course planning.

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HOW TO EVALUATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE AND BACKGROUND

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HOW TO EVALUATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE AND BACKGROUND

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At first it is important to define these concepts: Background knowledge and prior knowledge are terms that are often used in the fields of education and cognitive psychology. They both refer to information or experiences that an individual has or has had that influence their learning and memory abilities in various contexts.

Then Why is it important to assess prior knowledge and background?
Assessing students' prior knowledge allows an instructor to focus and adapt their teaching plan.

HOW TO EVALUATE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE AND BACKGROUND?
How they process and integrate new information will, in turn, affect how they remember, think, apply, and create new knowledge. There are several different methods to assess prior knowledge and background in students.  Some are direct measures, such as tests, concept maps, portfolios, auditions, etc, and others are more indirect, such as self-reports, inventory of prior courses and experiences, etc.

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Learning needs analyses are undertaken to determine the gap between the existing skills, knowledge and abilities and those desired. Once this gap is determined, decisions can be taken as to the type of training required.
The procedure for conducting such an analysis can be quite simple, but usually requires quite a bit of time before a training.

it is important to plan the course on a clear understanding of the participants and their organisation. This requires a ‘learning needs analysis’ to take place prior to the training course, allowing sufficient time for course planning and materials preparation (WESTCOTT 2006).

Possible methods include:

Questionnaire survey of participants

Telephone/e-mail survey of participants

Interviews/meetings

Interviews/meetings to clarify their expectations of the course

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Designing and Administering a Needs Analysis Survey to Primary School Learners about EFL learning: a Case Study. Retrieved from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268811602_Designing_and_Administering_a_Needs_Analysis_Survey_to_Primary_School_Learners_about_EFL_learning_a_Case_Study

ENA Guidelines. (2018). "Educational Needs Analysis Guidelines" STUDENTS IN STATUTORY OUT-OF-HOME CARE. Retrieved from: https://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/teachers/health/ENAGuidelines_appendices.pdf

Mansur, E. (2022). "How to conduct a needs analysis". Retrieved from: https://www.macmillanenglish.com/us/blog-resources/article/how-to-conduct-a-needs-analysis

Mejía, N. (2007). "ANALYSIS OF CURRICULAR EDUCATIONAL NEEDS IN THE
PRIMARY EDUCATION AIMED AT NICARAGUAN CHILDREN
MIGRANTS IN COSTA RICA". Retrieved from: file:///C:/Users/Marlyn%20Julieth/Downloads/Dialnet-AnalisisDeNecesidadesEducativasCurricularesEnLaEdu-4781026.pdf

Satish, S. (2020). "Learning Needs Analysis". Retrieved from: https://sswm.info/train-trainers/pre-training-preparations/learning-needs-analysis