A Systematic Language Need Analysis of the Undergraduate Learners with Special Reference to the Syllabus of General English, Manipur University, India

Abstract

The requirement to conduct a Language Needs Analysis before framing a syllabus or curriculum is universally accepted in the field of education. Although this practice is suggested and researched widely, most of the time it is not practically applied before or during the process of framing a syllabus. In many cases, learners’ language needs may be relatively easy to determine, particularly if the learners need language for specific purposes.  But, in other cases, the learners’ needs may not be immediate. However, even though the students may not have any immediate perception of needs, curriculum planners will generally have consulted the related stakeholders to find out what level of knowledge of English they expect college graduates to achieve. Needs analysis include the study of perceived and present needs as well as potential and unrecognized needs. This paper will systematically outline the process of conducting a language need analysis of the undergraduate learners of Manipur University (MU) and discuss the findings of the analysis. This paper investigates the present General English (GE) syllabus that claims to be a communicative syllabus of MU which is offered to the first and second-semester students who study in the colleges affiliated to MU. It will be followed up by conducting the needs analysis of the learners to check if the content of the syllabus matches the needs and requirements of the learners of MU. The findings of the needs analysis will show if the language needs of the learners are at par with the syllabus that is being offered to them. 17 colleges affiliated to MU were selected to conduct the study; both from rural and urban areas of Manipur. In all these colleges, GE is taught to the undergraduates.