For the purposes of this assignment I used the Bridge Mills Handout: An Extract by Ian Thompson entitled ‘Japanese speakers’- taken from the book ‘Learner English’ Swan and Smith Pages 296-309. This book is referred to in the following assignment as (Thompson: Followed by the page number).
Part One
Needs Analysis
The student I interviewed was Japanese. Her name was Emiko. Emiko learned English in secondary school and she found it quite difficult. After leaving school she did a secretarial course and spent some time working as a secretary. She has a passion for cooking. She found out about the Ballymaloe Cookery School and she became very interested in pursuing a cookery course there. Her research confirmed that the school had indeed a very good reputation and Emiko became anxious to experience the cookery school for herself. Emiko attended English classes in Japan with a clear goal of improving her oral English. She was not altogether happy with her progress rate and decided to come to Ireland to learn English in an English speaking country and to get a feel for the way English is spoken in Ireland. Emiko has been in Ireland since October 2010 and is happy that she came here to learn English. She is looking forward to her cookery course in Ballymaloe which will conclude her stay in Ireland. She hopes to use English in the future and believes that a good standard of English will help her achieve well paid employment in Japan.
Emiko therefore would benefit from some teaching targeted towards her one week stay in Ballymaloe which she hopes to be the high point of her stay in Ireland. She would benefit from looking closely at the varied phrases used in cooking and cookery books. Some focused teaching in this area would boost her confidence as she embarks on her cookery course. Generally speaking Emiko would benefit from plenty of exposure to and participation in real conversations in order to increase her oral fluency and