Presentations text content in English For Construction: A Needs Analysis
Slide1
English For Construction: A Needs Analysis
Kelsey Parker
Slide2Lit Review
R.
Jasso
-Aguilar (1999)
Needs analysis for hotel Maids in a popular Waikiki hotel
looked
at daily tasks performed by the hotel maids and the language involved in these tasks & the needs and wants of the maids and the representatives from the hotel
G.
Storer
(1999)
part of an ongoing study of language needs of bar-based male sex workers in Thailand
Slide3Lit Review Cont.
Wozniak (2010)
Language needs analysis of French mountain
guides
Li So-
mui
(2000)
Analysis of communication needs of textile and clothing
merchandisers
West (1984)
Needs assessment in occupation-specific
VESL
All three contributed to my methodology
Slide4Introduction
NA for native Spanish speakers currently employed at Parker General Contractors
Small Construction Company (under 10 employees
)
Goal was to assess language needs of ESL employees and eventually develop VESL materials to train current and future employees.
Limited Data on VESL and NO data on Englis
h for Construction
Slide5Methods
Two 4 hour job site observations
6 short (20 min.) interviews, and one longer follow up interview
Authentic workplace
texts
Slide6Sources
Jim
-
owner
Tom- foreman
Steve
-
NS employee
Luke
-
NS employee
Oswaldo
-
NNS employee
Bonnie
-
NNS
employee
Slide7Results
Workplace observation and interviews revealed that the following things are important for an ESL speaker to succeed in a construction job:
Tools and Materials
Measurements
Safety
Basic Communication
Detailed/ Skilled work
Employment opportunities
Perceived needs
Slide8Tools and Materials
Kelsey: “If someone new started working here that didn’t know very much English. What um… would be the most important thing for them to learn… quickly… in order to uh…be successful?”
Bonnie: “I think the important thing is that they have to learn Uh. If they don’t communicate with our boss like Jim or Tom. Almost.. It’s a lot of Mexicans working on construction. So like Tom had a lot of Mexicans and they didn’t talk English. So Tom would tell me to tell them. So uh they would have to learn uh the
the
tools names in English and the wood lumber… and all that stuff… that’s the important thing”
Slide9Measurements
Kelsey: “If a non-native speaker came to this country and wanted to get a job quickly working construction and they had limited English… what are some of the most important things you think they would have to like pick up on?”
Luke: “Well definitely numbers… reading off a measuring tape, and fractions… you know uh being able to be able to communicate math…well that’s the basic stuff. I’m sure it goes on and on and on from there. Knowing the sizes of stuff. That’s it
Slide10Safety
Kelsey: “What kind of errors do new workers make and how are they handled?”
Jim: “Um they make mistakes with safety mostly, and we just correct them… tell them what they need to do right and show
em
how to do it, and that’s about it”
Kelsey: “What common errors do new workers make?”
Tom: “Umm… I’d say… not cleaning up…and uh cutting things wrong. Or getting hurt.”
Slide11Basic Communication
Kelsey: “In what specific areas have you had problems communicating with non-native speakers?”
Tom: “I guess um… just trying to explain to them how to do a certain job”
Kelsey: “Do you feel that your employees need to improve their English? Or umm maybe think about past employees? How could they have improved their English?”
Tom: “
Uhh
… honestly if they can’t speak English… they’re not
gonna
last too long”
Slide12Detailed/ Skilled Work
Kelsey: “Do you think it’s important that your coworkers speak
English
? And how fluently?”
Steve: “Well it depends on what you want done. There’s a lot of work you can do that you can just say… go do this… and they can understand it. But if its uh very detail oriented… the more details involved with it like.. the more they need to understand English. Or I need to understand their language. One of the two”
Kelsey: “So what kind of things would be that like detail oriented sort of work?”
Steve: “
Uhhhh
maybe stairs are more intricate, roofs are more intricate… the more intricate the job the more they need to know”
Slide13Employment Opportunities
Kelsey: “Can you give me some ideas of what you mentioned earlier… the more uh detailed tasks, that people might need to know more than just, like, conversational English for?”
Jim: “Stuff like finish carpentry where it’s real detailed… because it’s hard to explain to them exactly what you want. But if its just rough carpentry or labor work its usually just
tellin
’
em
directions of where to put things or where to move things. Pick it up. Put it down. That kind of stuff. So again, the more specific the task the more they would need to learn English. Like electrical work. Plumbing work. Maybe if they had to go pick up supplies I could have a really hard time explaining exactly what I needed. Any tech- technical trade… so uh… audiovisual… plumbing, electric like I mentioned.”
Kelsey: “And… are those all trades that you could hypothetically learn on the job? I mean, you wouldn’t have to go to trade school or anything?”
Jim: “No most of them they could learn on the job… yeah they would just have to be able to pick it up”
Slide14Perceived Needs
Kelsey: “Are there specific things you think you need to know for your job… or just…. For life?”
Oswaldo
: “For life and for my job. Yeah. It’s like….It’s I don’t know how to call that stuff… and yeah… a lot of stuff I have to learn”
Kelsey: “Do you feel that your employees need to improve their English in any specific areas?”
Jim: “Some of them do, but it’s for their own good… like I wouldn’t say they really needed to for work. Usually we can get by… someone can always translate for them”
Slide15Pedagogical Implications
For speakers with a very limited level of English:
Instruction should focus on basic vocabulary (tools, materials, equipment, numbers, measurements),
safety instructions, and
communication strategies needed to understand directions and report back to
employer
Once employees have reached a more advanced level:
Instruction should focus on more technical vocabulary and the understanding and communication of detailed instructions in order to give employees the chance to learn a
trade
Further instruction:
Help employees to improve their English both in and out of the workplace so that they can be productive members of the English speaking community
Slide16Limitations and Further Research
Limitations
Quantitative research
Cannot be
generalized
Failed to triangulate methods and sources
Due to safety precautions I could observe but not get close enough to record authentic workplace communication
Surveys could have been useful
Authentic texts did not reveal very much
Further research should look at the current materials for English for Construction and see if they meet the needs of ESL employees
Slide17References
Jasso
-Aguilar, R. (1999). Sources, methods and triangulation in needs analysis: A critical perspective in a case study of Waikiki hotel maids.
English for Specific Purposes, 18
(1), 27-46.
Li, S. F., & Mead, K. (2000). An analysis of English in the workplace: The communication needs of textile and clothing merchandisers.
English for Specific Purposes, 19
(4), 351-368.
Marra
, M. (2013). English in the Workplace. In
Paltridge
, B. &
Starfield
, S. (Eds.),
The Handbook of English for Specific Purposes
(175-192). Malden, MA: John Wiley & Sons.
Peirce, B. N., Harper, H., & Burnaby, B. (1993). Workplace ESL at levy Strauss: "dropouts" speak out.
TESL Canada Journal/Revue TESL Du Canada, 10
(2), 9-30.
Storer
, G. (1999). Working the bars.
English for Specific Purposes, 18
(4), 367-374.
West, L. (1984). Needs assessment in occupation-specific VESL or How to decide what to teach.
English for Specific Purposes,
3: 143-152.
West, L. (1984); Readings from
Responses to ESP
(2000).
Wozniak, S. (2010). Language needs analysis from a perspective of international professional mobility: The case of French mountain guides.
English for Specific Purposes, 29
(4), 243-252.
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English For Construction: A Needs Analysis
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