Cover not available

In:From Task-based Needs Analysis to Task and Syllabus Design: Insights from across educational contexts
Edited by Roger Gilabert and Aleksandra Malicka
[Task-Based Language Teaching 20] 2026
► pp. 23–42

Chapter 2
Three decades of task-based needs analysis

What have we achieved and where are we going?

 | George Mason University
 | University of California, IrvineIrvine
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
Task-based approaches to language teaching have advanced the practice of task-based needs analysis (TBNA) to identify learners’ communicative needs, particularly in contexts where language is studied for specialized purposes in academic and occupational realms. While TBNA has gained momentum and influence over time, both among researchers and practitioners alike, this chapter identifies key gaps that limit the theoretical, empirical, practical, and social reach of TBNA research and can be organized in three thematic waves: (1) TBNA methodology, or the validity and reliability of methods used to identify target tasks in a given domain; (2) the transition from TBNA to deriving and sequencing pedagogic tasks for the classroom; and (3) the increasing practice of TBNA across a diverse range of learning and social settings. We conclude by discussing these gaps in connection to future directions in TBNA research and practice with the goal of broadening its scope and potential impact on diverse stakeholders.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Task-based needs analysis (TBNA): Origins and evolution
    • First wave: TBNA methodology
    • Second wave: What happens after TBNA
      • Target task selection, design, sequencing, and assessment
    • Third wave: Increased TBNA practice in diverse settings
  • Future directions in TBNA: Challenges and opportunities
  • Reflection questions
  • Author queries
  • Suggestions for further reading
  • References
References (66)
Suggestions for further reading
Brown, J. D. (2009). Foreign and second language needs analysis. In M. H. Long & C. Doughty (Eds.), The handbook of language teaching (pp. 269–293). Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Heineke, A. J., & McTighe, J. (2018). Using understanding by design in the culturally and linguistically diverse classroom. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Serafini, E. J. (2022). Adapting and advancing task-based needs analysis methodology across diverse language learning contexts. In M. J. Ahmadian & M. H. Long (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of task-based language teaching (pp. 73–98). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Torres, J., & Baralt, M. (2022). El enfoque por tareas en el aprendizaje del español como lengua de herencia. In D. Pascual y Cabo & J. Torres (Eds.), Aproximaciones al español como lengua de herencia (pp. 81–96). Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
References
Adendorff, E. (2014). A task-based approach to improving the communicative skills of university students learning Afrikaans as an additional language. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus, 43, 1–16. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bao, R., & Du, X. (2015). Implementation of task-based language teaching in Chinese as a foreign language: Benefits and challenges. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 28(3), 291–310. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baralt, M., Gilabert, R., & Robinson, P. (2014). Task sequencing and instructed second language learning. Bloomsbury. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Benesch, S. (1996). Needs analysis and curriculum development in EAP: An example of a critical approach. TESOL Quarterly, 30(4), 723–738. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berwick, R. (1989). Needs assessment in language programming: From theory to practice. In R. K. Johnson (Ed.), The second language curriculum (pp. 48–62). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brindley, G. (1984). Needs analysis and objective setting in the adult migrant education program. Adult Migrant Education Service.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brown, J. D. (2016). Introducing needs analysis and English for specific purposes. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bryfonski, L. (2021). From task-based training to task-based instruction: Novice language teachers’ experiences and perspectives. Language Teaching Research, 28(3), 1255–1279. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bryfonski, L., & McKay, T. H. (2019). TBLT implementation and evaluation: A meta-analysis. Language Teaching Research, 23(5), 603–632. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Camus, P., & Advani, M. (2021). Preparing for study abroad: A task-based needs analysis. Hispania, 104(3), 375–394. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Da Silva, L. (2020a). Critical tasks in action: The role of the teacher in the implementation of tasks designed from a critical perspective. Ilha do Desterro A Journal of English Language, Literatures in English and Cultural Studies, 73(1), 109–128. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Da Silva, L., & Farias, P. F. (2023). Critical tasks in Brazil: Locally produced epistemologies and praxis. In V. Tavares (Ed.), Social justice, decoloniality, and southern epistemologies within language education: Theories, knowledges, and practices on TESOL from Brazil (pp. 91–107). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dai, D. W. (2024). What do second language speakers need for real-world interaction? A needs analysis of L2 Chinese interactional competence. Language Teaching Research. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
De Oliveira, M., & Lemos, S. (2022). A task-based needs analysis of university-level Portuguese for business. Hispania, 105(3), 401–422. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dudley-Evans, T., & St. John, M. J. (1998). Developments in English for specific purposes: A multi-disciplinary approach. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Elsakka, N. S. (2023). Task-based language teaching and Arabic as a foreign language: A needs analysis for curriculum design (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Florida State University. DigiNole.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gass, S. M., & Mackey, A. (2020). Input, interaction, and output in L2 acquisition. In B. VanPatten, G. D. Keating, & S. Wulff (Eds.), Theories in second language acquisition: An introduction (pp. 192–222). Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gilabert, R. (2005). Evaluating the use of multiple sources and methods in needs analysis: A case study of journalists in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia (Spain). In M. H. Long (Ed.), Second language needs analysis (pp. 182–199). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2023). Where SLA and language education meet: The transfer from task-based needs analysis to task design. Education Sciences, 13(10), 1015. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gilabert, R., & Malicka, A. (2021). From needs analysis to task selection, design, and sequencing. In M. J. Ahmadian & M. H. Long (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of task-based language teaching (pp. 226–249). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2022). From needs analysis to task-based design: Methodology, assessment and programme evaluation. In N. P. Sudharshana & L. Mukhopadhyay (Eds.), Task-based language teaching and assessment: Contemporary reflections from across the world (pp. 93–118). Springer Nature. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
González-Lloret, M., & Nielson, K. B. (2015). Evaluating TBLT: The case of a task-based Spanish program. Language Teaching Research, 19(5), 525–549. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gurzynski-Weiss, L., Wray, M., Coulter-Kern, M., & Bernardo, J. (2024). Task-based elementary Spanish in rural Indiana: A practice-based collaboration. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 14(1), 121–147. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (1987). English for specific purposes: A learning-centred approach. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Iizuka, T. (2019). Task-based needs analysis: Identifying communicative needs for study abroad students in Japan. System, 80, 134–142. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Keller, S., & Gilabert, R. (2023). Bienvenidos a bordo: From task-based needs analysis to design: Spanish-destination flight attendants. Canadian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 26(2), 81–108. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kim, Y., & Michel, M. (2023). Linguistic alignment in second language acquisition: A methodological review. System, 115, Article 103007. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Loewen, S., & Sato, M. (2018). Interaction and instructed second language acquisition. Language Teaching, 51(3), 285–329. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Long, M. H. (1985). The role of instruction in second language acquisition: Task-based language teaching. In K. Hyltenstam & M. Pienemann (Eds.), Modelling and assessing second language acquisition (pp. 77–99). Multilingual Matters.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2005). Second language needs analysis. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2015). Second language acquisition and task-based language teaching. Wiley.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2022). The L in TBLT. In M. J. Ahmadian & M. H. Long (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of task-based language teaching (pp. 151–172). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Long, M. H., & Crookes, G. (1992). Three approaches to task-based syllabus design. TESOL Quarterly, 26(1), 27–56. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Malicka, A., Gilabert, R., & Norris, J. M. (2019). From needs analysis to task design: Insights from an English for specific purposes context. Language Teaching Research, 23(1), 78–106. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Martin, A., & Adrada-Rafael, S. (2017). Business Spanish in the real world: A task-based needs analysis. L2 Journal, 9(1), 1–25. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Munby, J. (1978). Communicative syllabus design. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Norris, J. M. (2009). Task-based teaching and testing. In M. H. Long & C. J. Doughty (Eds.), The handbook of language teaching (pp. 578–594). Wiley-Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Oliver, R., Grote, E., Rochecouste, J., & Exell, M. (2013). A task-based needs analysis for Australian Aboriginal students: Going beyond the target situation to address cultural issues. International Journal of Training Research, 11(3), 246–259. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Prabhu, N. S. (1987). Second language pedagogy. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Richterich, R., & Chancerel, J. L. (1987). Identifying the needs of adults learning a foreign language. Prentice Hall.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Riestenberg, K., & Sherris, A. (2018). Task-based teaching of indigenous languages: Investment and methodological principles in Macuiltianguis Zapotec and Salish Qlispe revitalization. Canadian Modern Language Review, 74(3), 434–459. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Robinson, P. (2001). Task complexity, task difficulty, and task production: Exploring interactions in a componential framework. Applied Linguistics, 22(1), 27–57. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Robinson, P., & Gilabert, R. (2007). Task complexity, the Cognition Hypothesis and second language learning and performance. IRAL — International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 45(3), 161–176. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rosenbaum, D. A., & Bui, B. V. (2019). Does task sustainability provide a unified measure of subjective task difficulty? Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 26(6), 1980–1987. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Seals, C. A., Newton, J., Ash, M., & Nguyen, B. T. T. (2020). Translanguaging and task-based language teaching: Crossovers and challenges. In Z. Tian, L. Aghai, P. Sayer, & J. L. Schissel (Eds.), Envisioning TESOL through a translanguaging lens: Global perspectives (pp. 275–292). Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Serafini, E. J. (2024). Integrating task-based language teaching, critical language pedagogy, and service-learning to foster critical language awareness. Spanish as a Heritage Language, 4(1), 108–124. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Serafini, E. J., Lake, J. B., & Long, M. H. (2015). Needs analysis for specialized learner populations: Essential methodological improvements. English for Specific Purposes, 40, 11–26. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Serafini, E. J., & Torres, J. (2015). The utility of needs analysis for nondomain expert instructors in designing task-based Spanish for the professions curricula. Foreign Language Annals, 48(3), 447–472. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Smith, G. F., Jung, H., & Zenker, F. (2022). From task-based needs analysis to curriculum evaluation: Putting methodological innovations to the test in an English for academic purposes program. English for Specific Purposes, 66, 80–93. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Swales, J. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Toker, S., & Sağdıç, A. (2022). A task-based language needs analysis of Syrian refugee parents in Turkey. In M. J. Ahmadian & M. H. Long (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of task-based language teaching (pp. 109–120). Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Torres, J. (2023). Critical tasks en acción in the Spanish HL classroom. Spanish as a Heritage Language, 3(1), 86–102. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Torres, J., Estremera, R., & Mohamed, S. (2019). The contribution of psychosocial and biographical variables to heritage language learners’ linguistic knowledge of Spanish. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 41(4), 695–719. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Torres, J., & Serafini, E. J. (2016). Microevaluating learners’ task-specific motivation in a task-based business Spanish course. Hispania, 99(2), 289–304. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Trager, V. (2022). A task-based needs analysis of primary school-aged children with migrant or refugee backgrounds in Austria [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Universitat de Barcelona.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Van den Branden, K. (Ed.). (2006). Task-based language teaching: From theory to practice. Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Van den Branden, K., Bygate, M., & Norris, J. M. (2009). Task-based language teaching: Introducing the reader. In K. Van den Branden, M. Bygate, & J. M. Norris (Eds.), Task-based language teaching: A reader (pp. 1–13). John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
West, R. (1994). Needs analysis in language teaching. Language Teaching, 27(1), 1–19. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2011). The understanding by design guide to creating high-quality units. ASCD.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue