NeedsAnalysisoftheBusinessEnglishLearnersinXISUIntroductionNeedsanalysisconductedbeforeacourseworksforteachersinsettingteachinggoals,selectingteachingcontentandmaterials,andexploringapproachesofteachingandlearning.Courseswhicharebasedonthefindingsofpre-courseneedsanalysiswillbettermeettheneedsoflanguagelearnersandemployers.Underthetheoreticalframeworkofneedsanalysis,thispaperisaimedtoanalyzetheneedsofcollegeBusinessEnglishundergraduatewiththepurposeofinvestigatingwhatthestudents’objectiveneedsandsubjectiveneeds,targetneedsandlearningneedssoastojudgewhetherthecurrentBEcurriculumcanmeettheneedsofstudents.TheClassificationofBusinessEnglishLearnersEllisandJohnson(1994)categorizethreetypesofthoselearners.(1)Pre-experiencelearners.Theselearnerswhoarealwaysuniversitystudentswithoutanyworkingexperience.Theylearnthebusinessknowledgemainlyfromthetextbookschosenbytheschool.Andtheirneedoflanguageskillsinrealbusinessactivitiesisambiguous.(2)low-experiencelearners.TheseLearnersarelackofeffectiveworkingexperiencewhichisusedinsomeimportantcompanies’settings.Thus,theyneedsomeprofessionalBEtraining.(3)Job-experiencelearners.Theselearnersincludedifferentpeopleinacompanyrangingfromemployeestomanagers.TheirtargetsaretochooserelatedbusinessEnglishcoursestoimprovetheirtechniqueinordertorunthecompanysuccessfully.ThisthesisisaimedtoanalyzetheneedsofcollegeBusinessEnglishundergraduatestudyinginXISU.ThedefinitionofneedsNeedsaredescribedasobjectiveandsubjective(Brindle,1989:65),perceivedandfelt(Brick,1989:55),targetsituation/goal-orientedandlearning,process-orientedandproduct-oriented(Brindley,1989:63);inaddition,therearenecessities,wantsandlacks(HutchinsonandWaters,1987:55).Thesetermshavebeenintroducedtodescribethedifferentfactorsandperspectiveswhichhavehelpedthephilosophyoreducationalvalue,andmeritscarefulthought.ModelsofNeedsAnalysis(1)TargetSituationAnalysis(TSA)NeedsAnalysisinvolvesthecollectionofbothobjectiveinformationrelatingtothelearner’sbiographicaldata,learningpurpose,andlanguageproficiencyandsubjectiveinformationrelatingtothelearners’attitudes,preferences,wantsandexpectationsbeforeandduringinstruction(Brindley,2000,p.439).Aneedsanalysiswhichfocusesonstudents’needsattheendofalanguagecoursecanbecalledTargetSituationAnalysis(TSA)(Chambers,1980).ThebestknownmodelforaTSAtypeofneedsanalysisisformulatedbyMunby(1978)whopresentsacommunicativeneedsprocessor,acomplexandverydetailedanalytictoolthatallowedcourseplannerstobuildupaprofileofalearner’scommunicationneeds.Theseneedswerethentranslatedintolistsoflanguageskillsandmicrofunctionswhichformedthebasisofthetargetsyllabusspecification(Brindley,2000,p.439).(2)PresentSituationAnalysis(PSA)AsacomplementtoTSA,thePresentSituationAnalysis(PSA),sometimescalledalanguageaudit,seekstoestablishwhatthestudentsarelikeatthestartoftheirlanguagecourse,investigatingtheirstrengthsandweaknesses.ThreebasicsourcesofinformationshouldbecollectedinordertoestablishthePSA:thestudentsthemselves,thelanguageteachingestablishmentandtheuserinstitution,forexample,thestudents’placeofwork.Foreachoftheseweshallseekinformationregardingtheirrespectivelevelsofability;theirresources,forexample,financialandtechnical;andtheirviewsonlanguageteachingandlearning.Wemightalsostudythesurroundingsocietyandculture;theattitudeheldtowardsEnglishandtowardsthelearninganduseofaforeignlanguage....
