Situation Analysis

Situation analysis is an analysis of factors in the context of a planned or present

curriculum project that is made in order to assess their potential impact on the project.
Situation analysis complements the information gathered during needs analysis. Some
examples of language teaching changes that were attempted without an adequate
analysis of the context innovation will clarify the importance of situation analysis.
There are six factors that need to be considered in situation analysis as follows.

1. Societal Factors

Second or foreign language teaching is a fact of life in almost every country in

the world. Yet country differ greatly in terms of the role of foreign languages in the
community, their status in the curriculum, educational traditions and experience in
languange teaching, and the expectations that members of the community have for
language teaching and learning. More promotion of foreign language teaching is
consequently needed, and there is a greater interest in novel teaching methods. In
examining the impact of societal factors on language teaching, therefore, the aim is to
determine the impact of groups in the community or society at large on the program.
These group include:

- policy makers in government

- educational and other government officials
- employers
- the business community
- politicians
- tertiary education specialists
- educational organizations
- parents
- citizens
- students

In the case of projects of community oor national scope, questions such as the
following may be relevant:

- What current language teaching policies exist and how are they viewed?

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 - What are the underlying reason for the project and who supports it?
- What impact will it have on different sectors of society?
- What language teaching experience and traditions exist in the country?
- How do members of the public view second languages and secon language
teaching?
- What are the views of relevant professional such as academic and teacher
trainers?
- What do professional organizations such as teachers’ unions think of the
project?
- What are the views of parents and students?
- What are the views of employers and the business community?
- What community resources are available to support the innovation, such as
radio, television, and the media?

My conclusion to respon the term of societal factors is the curriculum developer

should consider some factors, such as: teaching policies, tradition, parents and
students expectation, and also the provided media that available in teaching
language innovation because different area also has different capability to provide
teaching media.

2. Project Factors

Curriculum projects are typically produced by a team of people. Members of the

team may be specialists who are hired spesifically for the purpose, they may be
classroom teachers who are seconded to the project for a fixed period of time, or the
project may be carried oiut by the teachers and other staff of a teaching institution as
part of their regular duties.

The are several factors that need to be considered as follows.

- Who constitutes the project group and how are they selected?
- What are the management and other responsibilities of the team?
- How are goals and procedures determined?
- Who reviews the progress of the project an the performance of its members?

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 - What experience do members of the team regard each other?
- What resources do they have available and what budget to acquire needed
resources?
- What is the time frame of the project? Is it realistic, or is more or less time
needed?
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3. Institutional Factors
A teaching institution is a collection of teachers, groups, and departments.
In some institutions, textbooks are the core of the curriculum and all teachers must use
the prescribed texts. In other institutions, teachers work from course guidelnes and
supplement them as they see fit. Institutional factors thus relate to the following kinds of
questions:
- what leadership is available within the school to support change and to help
teachers cope with change?
- what are the school’s physical resources, including classroom facilities, media
and other technological resources, and library resources?
- what is the role of textbooks and other instructional materials?
- what is staff morale like among English teachers?
- what problems do teachers face and what is being done about them?
- what administrative support is available within the school and what is
communication like between teachers and the administration?
- what kind of reputation does the institution have for delivering succesful
language programs?
- How committed is the institution to attaining excellence?

4. Teacher Factors
Teachers are a key factor in the successful implementation of curriculum
changes. In any institution, teachers may vary according to the following dimensions:
1. language proficiency
2. teaching experience
3. skill and expertise
4. training and qualifications

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 5. morale and motivation
6. teaching style
7. beliefs and principles
In planning a language program it is therefore important to know the kinds of
teachers the program will depend on and the kinds of teachers needed to ensure that the
program achieves its goals. Among the teacher factors that need to be considered in
situation analysis are the following:
- What kinds of teachers currently teach in the target schools or institutions? What
is their typical background, training, experience, and motivation?
- How proficient are they in English?
- What kinds of beliefs do the teachers typically hold concerning key issues in
teaching?
- What teaching loads do teachers have and what resources do they make use of?
- What are the typical teaching methods teachers used and believe in?
- To what extent are teachers open to change?
- What opportunities do they have for retaining through in-service or other inds of
opportunities?
- What benefits are the proposed new syllabus, curriculum, or materials liely to
offer teachers?

5. Learner Factors
Learners are the key participants in curriculum development projects and it is
essential to collect as much information as possible about them before the project
begins. Learners may effect the outcomes of project in unexpected ways. Among
relevant learner factors therefore are the following:
- What are the learners’ past language learning experience?
- How motivated are the learners to lear English?
- What are their expectations for the program?
- Do the learners’ views on language teaching reflect any culturally specific
factors?
- Are they a homogeneous or a heterogeneous group?

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 - What type of learning approach do they favor (e.g., teacher-led, students
focused, or small-group work)?
- What type of content do they prefer?
- What expectations do they have for the roles of teachers, learners, and
instructional materials?
- How much time can they be expected to put into the program?
- What learning resources will they typically have access to?
In my own conclusion considering the learner factors, I think the most important
thing that need to be considered first is learners’ motivation. Teachers and parents are
the key factors to support the learners’ needs and expectations.

6. Adoption Factors
Curriculum changes are of many different kinds. They may affect teachers’
pedagogial values and beliefs, their understanding of the nature of language or second
language learning, or they classroom practices and use of teaching materials. The
following questions therefore need to be asked of any proposed curriculum innovation:
- What advantages does the curriculum change offer? Is the innovation perceived
to be more advantageous than current practices?
- How compatible is it? Is the use of the innovation consistent with the existing
belefs, attitudes, organization, and practices within a classroom or school?
- Is the innovation very complicated and difficult to understand?
- Has it been used and tested out in some schools before all schools are expected
to use it?
- Have the features and benefits of the innovation been clearly communicated to
teachers and institutions?
- How clear and practical is it? Are the expectations of the innovation stated in
ways which clearly show how it can be used in the classroom?

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 Conclusion

The goal of situation analysis is to identify key factors that might be positively
or negatively afect the implementation of curriculum plan. This is sometimes known as
a SWOT analysis because it involves an examination of “a language program’s internal
strengths and weaknesses in adition to external opportunities and threats to the existence
or succsesful operation of the language program” (Klinghammer 1997, 65). Situation
analysis thus serves to help identify potential obstacles to implementing a curriculum
project and factors that need to be considered when planning the parameters of a
project. The next step in curriculum analysis and situation analysis as the basis for
developing program goals and objectives.

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