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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. 136–172

Chapter 6
Analyzing the needs of high school English as a foreign language (EFL) students in Catalonia, Spain

Teacher and student perspectives

 | Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
 | Universitat Pompeu Fabra
 | Universitat de Barcelona
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
Abstract
Task-based needs analysis (TBNA) has long been advocated as a fundamental principle underlying the design of any language program (Long, 2005). However, with a handful of exceptions (e.g., Park, 2015; Watanabe, 2006), very little empirical work has examined the linguistic needs of learners in general language learning contexts, such as primary, secondary, or tertiary level. Given this state of affairs, this study aims to identify the language needs of secondary school English language learners in Catalonia, Spain. By gathering data from teachers and students through interviews and surveys, the study seeks to compile a list of relevant tasks for this population. The findings are discussed in terms of their transfer to different stages of syllabus design for secondary school EFL learners.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Defining “general language learning context” (GLLC)
  • Challenges of conducting NA in general language learning contexts
  • Needs analysis in GLLCs: Zooming in on the literature
  • The current study
    • Rationale and objectives
    • Study context: English as a foreign language in the Catalan high school system
    • Method
  • Results
    • Teacher interviews
      • Teacher demographics
      • Teacher interview first part: Schools’ and teachers’ approaches to teaching EFL
      • Teacher interview second part: Target task descriptions
    • Teacher and student survey
  • TBNA as a starting point in EFL high school teaching
    curriculum development
    • Task selection
    • Task design
    • Task sequencing
    • Methodological implementation
    • Language assessment
    • Program evaluation
  • Conclusion
  • Limitations
  • Reflection questions
  • Author queries
  • Notes
  • Suggestions for further reading
  • References
  • Appendix
References (33)
Suggestions for further reading
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