Needs Assessment or "Wing It"

An anonymous reader writes:

Hi there, What are your suggestions on the initial assessment of new students? Do you have a particular type of assessment that you give students or do you "wing-it?"

Love you site -- what a resource!

My response:

Hi Reader,

As a starting point, I use a Needs Analysis form I've adapted from various other Needs Assessment forms I've run across in previous teaching jobs. I've hesitated to post it to my sites because I really do also wing it depending on the student, and I haven't edited the form I use to reflect this.

Since I usually work one-on-one with very advanced English language learners, they are usually able to articulate what it is they want to work on. Mostly, I listen to what they say and how they say it and then take notes on what I think needs to be improved. This helps me to be able to tell my potential student how I would proceed in working with them. If they want to work on their writing skills, I ask them to send me a writing sample before our first class, and I analyze that before we meet.

My first meeting with potential students is always free as I do a Needs Analysis to determine their strengths and challenges. It also gives us both a chance to decide if we would like to work together, with no obligation.

Another reason that it's important to have a "form" is that it lets potential students know that you're a professional. I've had numerous students comment on the fact that the process is very professional. They seem to appreciate this and want to work with me more.

Good luck,
Debra
Teaching ESL to Adults

Meeting a New ESL Student

I met with a new ESL student today to do a free Needs Assessment. I always offer a first free meeting to potential students. This gives me a chance to decide if I would like to work with the student and gives the student a chance to decide if he or she would like to work with me.

The potential student I met today is a philosophy professor from Russia. He's a visiting scholar here in the States. I enjoyed talking to him a lot. I'm really fortunate to have a lot of students who are very interesting and with whom I can have interesting conversations.

I look forward to working with this new ESL student.

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Professionalism with ESL Students

I always meet my potential ESL students for a free first meeting. This gives the student an opportunity to meet me, and me to meet the potential student so that we can decide whether we want to work together. This first free ESL meeting is as much for me as it is for them. If I get a weird feeling from the student, or just decide that we wouldn't be a good match, then the student has not spent his or her money needlessly. (I really don't believe that all that much teaching and learning can be accomplished in a first meeting with a student without knowing about the student.)

In our first meeting together, I always do a needs assessment. I follow a form that I've developed. Using this form and asking other relevant questions as needed shows the potential student that they are working with a professional. Since they are paying good money for my lessons, this helps to set the tone of what they can expect and it impresses the potential student.

Apparently, I'm one of a rare few ESL tutors in my area that offers a free first session. I don't understand why. It really pays off in the long run in finding quality students and happy students (and paying students!).

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Amazing ESL Survival Skills

I met with a potential new ESL student yesterday. I can usually tell a little bit about the level of potential students based on the email exchanges we have before our first meeting. Even when I get emails from very advanced level ESL students with absolute perfect grammar, I can still tell that they are English language learners. I've had a couple of students who are native English speakers but want to improve their writing skills. With this most recent potential student, I really wasn't sure what to expect.

It turns out that this ESL student was indeed an ESL speaker. She has been living here in the U.S. for several years. Her speaking was excellent. She had an accent, but that was the only thing that let me know she was an ESL speaker. I tried to do my regular Needs Assessment to find out what her weaknesses were. It took quite a while to hear any problems. She answered all my questions very well. I started to hear a couple of problems with verb tenses, but no consistent problems or serious ones.

As I asked various questions using different tenses, I finally heard what her problems were. The amazing thing was that she was able to maneuver around her English skills limitations. She was fluent and thoroughly grammatically correct with what she did say. However, for things she was unsure of, she just didn't use them. I think these are amazing ESL survival skills; to be able to speak so well that even an ESL tutor is slow to figure out the problems.

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Private ESL Tutoring vs. Classroom Teaching

Both have their pros and cons from the teacher/tutor’s perspective and from the students’ perspective. Speaking as a teacher who has done both, one of the biggest differences I notice is that in a private tutoring situation, the ESL learner has more input into the curriculum.

I always do a free Needs Assessment of each potential student. It’s during this time that I analyze the areas of improvement that I feel would help the student, but I also pay a lot of attention to what the student wants to improve and the reasons he or she wants to improve. I then design a curriculum for the student based on this needs assessment meeting. In a private tutoring situation, I’m free to change the curriculum as needed, so I keep the curriculum pretty loose. We may start out in one direction and I may find after a lesson or two that the student really needs more immediate help in another area.

Another difference between teaching in the classroom and teaching private lessons is that if something comes up in a tutoring session that I haven’t prepared for, that’s OK. I have enough experience that we can deviate from my lesson plan, if needed. (Flexibility is really one of the keys of a successful and happy ESL tutor.) I wrote yesterday about “air quotes.” I had a student a few days ago who wanted to know about these. It wasn’t a part of my lesson plan, but because it was just the two of us (as opposed to a whole classroom of students), we were able to deviate from my planned lesson.

The last difference between private ESL tutoring and classroom teaching, from the perspective of the teacher/tutor, is that the ESL student is, in many ways, “the boss.” After all, he or she is paying good money for the lessons. Of course, the ESL learner is also paying for my expertise in English; and he or she is also paying for my expertise in American culture. (This is one of the reasons many English language learners prefer a “native speaker.”) In an ESL classroom, the curriculum is usually dictated by the school administration and must be strictly adhered to. I appreciate the flexibility I have in being a private ESL tutor.

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Teaching ESL to the Elderly

The adult ESL students I work with as a private tutor have very specific purposes for improving their English language skills. Usually, the main purpose is to be able to advance in their jobs. This applies to ESL students living and working in the U.S., as well as those who are here for a year or so on a sabbatical (of sorts).

Elderly students who are no longer in the workforce have different needs and different reasons for studying English as a Second Language. In my experience, it's usually to be able to survive in an English speaking society. For whatever reasons, they are recent immigrants who often have not studied English in their home countries.

Doing a Needs Assessment with a student with little or no English language skills is very difficult. Obviously, there are some basic skills that the teacher can start with. I found this great website with information that can help ESL teachers and tutors, and other organizations working with recent immigrants. Here's their site: Coalition of Limited English Speaking Elderly.

Student Needs Assessment

A Student Needs Assessment (aka Student Needs Analysis) is essential when you are teaching students one-to-one. Completing this process gives you a beginning roadmap to follow for the first couple of lessons with your new student. You'll learn more about the student's needs as you spend time with your student.

I work with adults only. The majority of my students are advanced ESL students, so they are able to tell me the areas they would like to focus on. That doesn't mean I slack off in doing the Needs Assessment. Sometimes the student may not be able to articulate the precise areas they need to improve. They just know that they want to improve their listening skills, for example, but they don't that the problem they are having is identifying reductions commonly used by native English speakers.

I always set up a free first meeting with a potential new student. This allows me to do an English skills Needs Analysis and it also gives the student and me an opportunity to decide if we would like to work together. This meeting takes between an hour and an hour-and-a-half. Of course, for beginning English level students, it takes a lot less time.