Abstract

Needs analysis (or needs assessment) refers to the systematic investigation of needs for the design of a language course and the optimisation of language teaching and learning, and has been identified as a defining characteristic in the field of languages for specific and academic purposes from the start (Upton, 2012). Needs analysis has a long history and, still today, “[a] confusing plethora of terms exists” (Dudley-Evans & St John, 1998, p.123) to refer to the concept of needs: demands, motivations, deficiencies, goals, gains, wishes, concerns, necessities, lacks, wants, requirements, desires, expectations, constraints, difficulties, preferences, communicative reasons, or communicative situations.