Tasks for the Transition:

A Needs Analysis to Determine Bangladeshi High-school Students’ English Needs at University

Abstract

In Bangladesh, high school students have trouble doing English tasks when they enter university due to their high school’s medium of instruction and their need for both English and academic skills. One way to prepare students for university is to develop programs around tasks they will do at university. This study documents three phases of a needs analysis to design a summer English program for students at Notre Dame College (NDC) in Bangladesh. The three phases identified where students would need English when they graduate, tasks they would need to do, and situations in which they would do those tasks. In Phase 1, teacher interviews and student questionnaires revealed where students would need English. In Phase 2, to get a sense of situations and tasks in which students would need English, I interviewed teachers, spoke with students, and observed classes at four universities. In Phase 3, to understand how relevant situations, tasks, and media were to more students, questionnaires were given to 240 students across universities. Results were situations, tasks, and commonly-used media for developing the NDC curriculum.