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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. 77–107

Chapter 4
Broadening needs analysis in primary school settings

An example from L2 Spanish in the United States

 | Indiana University
 | University of Wisconsin-Madison
 | Wabash County Diversity Coalition
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
This chapter provides empirical evidence demonstrating the feasibility and importance of needs analysis (NA) in the understudied primary school context. Specifically, we contextualize and detail a NA that informed the task selection, design, and sequencing of a task-based Spanish curriculum for a primary school in the rural midwestern United States. We describe the curriculum creation process and reflect on how NA in a primary school setting, at least in our general Spanish context, demonstrated the unique needs of these young learners, which are rarely a focus in task-based language teaching research (for an exception see Shintani, 2016). We argue for the centrality of NA in all task-based contexts, and for increased research in this understudied setting and age group.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Literature review
    • Primary school settings in the United States
    • The case for TBLT and NA in this generalized context
    • Existing research
  • The current needs analysis
    • Procedure
      • Phase 1: Survey
      • Phase 1: Participants
      • Phase 2: Interviews
      • Phase 2: Participants
      • Phase 3: Supplemental sources
    • NA findings
      • Questionnaire
      • Interviews
      • Consultation of supplementary data sources
      • Conclusions from the NA
  • Task selection, design, and sequencing
    • Task selection
      • Task design
      • Task sequencing
  • Discussion
  • Limitations and future directions
  • Conclusions
  • Reflection questions
  • Author queries
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Suggestions for further reading
  • References
  • Appendix
References (37)
Suggestions for further reading
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 Language Teaching 14(1), 121–147. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Serafini, E. J., (2021). 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
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