Sandra Ayala

Part A: For my 5th grade class I created a questionnaire as a needs assessment to

give to future students.
Questions in the needs assessment pertaining to problems the learners might be
experiencing include:

Things I do not like about school include:

______________________________________.
Which of the following do you find the most challenging?
o Writing English? Reading English? Speaking English?

Questions pertaining to the learners priorities include:

My favorite things about school are: ____________________________________

because______________________________________________________________.
I think it's important to learn about
____________________________________________ because
________________________________________________.
"Which of the following do you like doing in school?
Learning vocabulary
Learning grammar
Doing puzzles
Getting corrected by the teacher
Doing good on tests
Trying to speak English
Listening to English sounds, and speech"
(Example from Woodrow, 2001, p.38)
Questions based on the learners strengths and weaknesses include:
What do you think is the hardest part of school? ______________________________.
What parts of school do you find easier? _________________________________.
Do you prefer to read or write? _____________________________________________.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how hard is English for you?
Questions based on the students attitudes toward school include:

What learning tools do you like using in the classroom?

_____________________________.
Examples: Computer, Dictionary, Magazine, Book, Group work
(Example from Woodrow, 2001, P. 37)
Do you like working in groups? _____________ why? _____________________.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how much do you enjoy school? ______.
Questions to learn about the students personal life include:

At home my family speaks __________.

How much English do you parents speak? _______________________.
Some of my favorite things to do are ____________________________.
When I grow up I want to be ___________________________________.

I live with __________________________________________________.

Part B: Justification
There are many factors that need to be considered when making a needs
assessment, Brown (1995) talks about how educators should not overlook the
importance of different factors such as personality, language, and economic factors
(p.1). Although it is important to focus on English and overcoming the learners
language barrier it is also important to understand the student as a whole and collect
information to learn more about the student. For this reason I think that creating a
questionnaire for students is important. These questions will allow you to see how your
students learn and how they feel about school, these answers will help you create a
goals and objectives which can guide the curriculum making process (Brown, 1995).
Woodrow (2001), talks about creating questionnaires as a method to get to know your
students. It doesnt not focus solely on ELLs but can be applied to the entire
classroom as well. This questionnaire would be passed out to all students on the first
day of class to allow me to learn more about them. It would show me what ways the
students learn best, how they feel about school and what they want from me as a
teacher. This would help me create goals because I am able to see how students learn
best and create lessons through the answers they give me. It would also make the
students feel more comfortable learning. The questionnaire benefits both the students
and the teacher. There aren't many people left out because the whole class is able to
fill out the questions.