Once they are in the classroom, learners participate in a continual needs assessment process to plan what they want to learn and how they want to learn it. In-class needs assessment is most successful when learners understand its purpose and are comfortable with each other. For several days, some class time may be spent discussing where they use English, what they do with it, what problems they have encountered, and why they feel they need to improve their language skills and knowledge. Through this process, both the learners and the teacher become aware of the goals and needs represented in the class. A variety of level-appropriate techniques, like those mentioned above, are used to come to a consensus on the class instructional plan and to develop individual learning plans.
Learners select from both program-established curricular units and from their identified needs.
The class plan is revisited each time a unit is completed to remind the learners where they have been and where they are going and to enable the teacher to make changes or adjustments to content or instruction as new needs are uncovered. Whatever the focus and format, the basic purpose is to determine what learners want and need to learn. When curriculum content, materials, and teaching approaches match learners' perceived and actual needs, learner motivation and success are enhanced. Recruiting and retaining language minority students in adult literacy programs. Purposes and tools.