A Study On The Construction Of Learning Materials In College English Self-access Center-from The Perspective Of Needs Analysis

With the concept of lifelong and self-access learning, it comes the continuousestablishment of Self-Access Center (SAC) in the universities and colleges. And thereare plenty of studies on the construction of SAC at home and abroad, most of which areabout how to promote learners’ self-access learning ability and improve their learningstrategies through the learning in SAC. As an important part of SAC, the learningmaterials provided in the English learning software play a decisive role in the process ofoperating the whole self-access learning system effectively, and whether they arerationally set or not, has a direct impact on the consciousness and initiative of Englishlearners. During the construction of SAC learning materials, learning needs of languagelearners should be the priority. While referring to all the available literature concerned,Needs Analysis (NA) has been mainly used to figure out ways of proper course designand teaching technique adjustment in English for General Purposes (EGP) and Englishfor Specific Purposes (ESP). In developing the computer-based learning system, theconstruction of SAC learning materials based on learners’ learning needs deserves moreattention. Most of the researchers proposed that learners’ learning motivation, learningstrategies and language deficiency should be considered to design proper SAC learningmaterials; however, systematic empirical studies are needed to support views of thissort.In order to explore the research questions, both quantitative and qualitativeapproaches are adopted in this study. And this paper aims at exploring English learners’learning needs and their satisfaction with the existing SAC learning materials to providesome references and suggestions for the further development of the materials. Thisstudy mainly focuses on the following topics:(1) The general learning needs (learningmotivation, learning strategies, language deficiency) of the learners in SAC learning;(2)Learners’ satisfaction with the existing SAC learning materials;(3) The properconstruction of SAC learning materials according to learners’ learning needs and theirmaterial satisfaction, and their views and expectations of the SAC learning, and effortscan be offered by the learners themselves to help with the materials construction. The questionnaire survey that composed of three parts (demographic survey,learners’ learning needs survey, the evaluation of SAC learning materials) wasconducted among242students who come from the Grade2012non-English major intarget university and220copies of qualified questionnaires are used for the dataanalysis. And further information about the construction of SAC learning materials wasexplored through the following interview.Firstly, findings of the study indicate that the majority of the participants attend thelearning in SAC in accordance with the curriculum requirement. Besides this, the resultof needs analysis shows that: comparing with the intrinsic motivation, the learners’English learning tends to be motivated by extrinsic one, in other words, their goal ofEnglish learning is still exam-oriented; the input-based learning approaches are farmore frequently used than the output-based ones, and correspondingly their productivelanguage skills are less proficient than their receptive language skills. Such a conclusionis also confirmed by the interview. Secondly, in regard to the evaluation of the existinglearning materials, the materials provided in New Horizon Language Learning Platform(hereinafter, NP) are much better than that of New Perspectives Language LearningPlatform (hereinafter, NH), but the overall satisfaction with these two learningplatforms is not high enough. As for the suitability of learning materials, both of the twoplatforms are short of authentic materials which can contribute to language immersionof learners. The materials are not quite suitable for the learners with different Englishlevels. And the practices for oral English and English writing cannot meet the needs oflearners. When it comes to the quality evaluation of the learning materials, it is claimedthat the learning material could neither prompt learners to take the learning procedureconsciously nor improve their overall language skills effectively; furthermore, thematerials are not attractive enough and not updated in a timely manner. Thirdly,considering what mentioned above, the construction of the SAC learning materialsshould be based on the target learners’ actual learning needs, and more attention shouldbe paid to the learners’ real interest, caring for the development of their productivelanguage skills and their life-long learning ability. It is suggested that the learners couldassist the material designers with their work to make the SAC function efficiently.