Unit 14 LEARNER NEEDS

Unit 14 LEARNER NEEDS

 

Learners have different types of needs such as personal, learning and professional needs. Goals, learning expectations, praise or support are examples of personal needs. They vary according to age, gender, personality, motivation, etc. Specific target language, exam strategies, learner autonomy, etc are examples of learning needs that of course can change according to learning styles, availability of time, past language learning experience, so on. Some examples of professional needs are specific text types, specific functions, specific grammar or vocabulary. Those examples may vary depending on your pupils´ training education or language requirements for employment. Knowing how important learner needs are, I would apply distinctive tasks or activities inside my classroom, making my lessons relevant by preparing lessons that include whole class, group, pair or individual work in order to develop interaction patterns (personal needs). Of course, I would provide feedback at the end of each activity to fulfill my learners’ goals. Furthermore, to develop learnering needs, I would apply activities that help students to develop their listening, reading, speaking and writing skills and promote autonomy by asking pupils to do individual researches. Finally, training students by giving courses or one-to-one lessons about business or any topic that fulfill pupils` professional needs will help them to succeed professionally. Teachers cannot meet all their learners` needs, however they cannot say that learners do not have a particular need – they just have to learn English. Personally, I think that it is a wrong idea since learners` needs can affect many aspects related to your pupils’ leaning process that is why you should try to seek the correct methods or approaches, activities or tasks in order to satisfy your student’s needs successfully.

These pictures show some possible tasks or activities you can apply to satisfy your learners`needs

Personal Needs

      
Group work
        
                      

Pair work

Individual work

Leraning needs

         
Listening stories (listening skills) 
                        

 

                        Describing people (speaking skills)

Jigsaw reading (reading skills)

Professional needs

 One-to-one lessons

References for additional information

•   http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2014/sessions/2014-04-04/teaching-strategies-meeting-learner-needs-ielts. (2014).
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  •   PhD, N. (2012). Understanding Adult Learners’ Needs. Faculty Focus. Retrieved 6 December 2014, from http://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/teaching-and-learning/understanding-adult-learners-needs/