An Examination of Needs Analysis Research in the Language Education Process
The aim of this study is to analyze research methods, data collection tools, and data analysis methods of the needs assessment studies conducted in the language education and teaching process. In this study, the general screening model, which is based on an examination of research on needs analysis, was used. The data collected in accordance with the general screening model were examined by the content analysis method based on the examination of the documents. The methods of these studies, data collection tools, and data analysis methods were reviewed. In accordance with the results from the review process, the frequency of use, efficiency, and functionality of the research method, data collection tool and data analysis methods used were evaluated. Next, during the needs assessment process, the importance and priority of students’ and teachers’ needs were discussed. The results of these discussions have been included at the end of the research. In the light of the findings of the research and the results, suggestions were made regarding the importance of teacher and student needs factors in the process of identifying and analyzing language education needs. The classification made shows that researchers generally concentrate on four models which are mixed, survey, descriptive and experimental models. As for the data collection tools, it is understood that different data collection tools are used in the sample studies to determine the needs.