An Analysis On Learner Needs Segmentation-Based On The Research Of Students Of Science And Engineering

Study on need analysis catches more and more attention at home and abroad. Alearner-centered need analysis will be the foundation for the future foreign languageclass design and improvement. This thesis takes the learner-centered need analysis asthe starting point, segmenting various needs for language study into different groups.Questionnaire research was carried out among six different universities and collegeinside and outside Hunan Province; participants are all students of science andengineering. Results shows that，to enhance the importance of need analysis will havea far-reaching influence on the future English teaching.In consideration of the diversity and complexity of learners’ need analysis, theresearch segmented various needs into six different groups; they are segments ofCareer-oriented, Knowledge Seeker, Socio-economic Advantage, Stepper, Undecidedand Multi-Purposed. Questionnaire was designed on this base and students of scienceand engineering from six different universities and colleges were invited to be theparticipants. Questionnaires were then recollected and validated, after analyzing thelogging data by using SPSS, we got the results predicted. Results of thepost-interview among volunteers further underpinned for the vital position of learners’needs analysis in the whole English learning process. However, the segmentation andanalysis of learners’ needs will cause the role transition of instructors, learners anduniversities and colleges, and finally, changes and improvement will also occur inEnglish syllabus designing.Need analysis belongs to objective investigation of practices, its final target is tohelp make some decisions and put them into teaching practices. The researchdemonstrated the variety and diversity of learners’ needs for English study. Attachingand promoting great importance to need analysis have extremely important practicalsignificance for English education.