NEEDS ANALYSIS

Results | Questionnaire 1 | Short questionnaire 1 | Questionnaire 2

Both Euromobil 1 and Euromobil 2 programmes were developed on the basis of a needs analysis survey conducted in the beginning of both projects in each of the nine countries involved (EUROMOBIL 1, 2000-2001 > questionnaire 1, short questionnaire 1: Finland, Germany, Great Britain and Hungary; EUROMOBIL 2, 2005-2006 > questionnaire 2: Czech Republic, France, Poland, Portugal and Romania).

The needs analysis survey was conducted to plan the contents of the programme. With the help of a questionnaire, exchange students were asked, for example, about their language proficiency in the host language, their impressions about the host country, differences between studying styles at home and in the host country as well as vocabulary that they considered important.

In the first EUROMOBIL project, different questionnaires were used on the different question rounds. The questionnaire was revised several times to get more specified information about student needs (see Developing the needs analysis).

Developing the needs analysis

The pilot version of the questionnaire was first developed in Finnish, German and English, it was tested in Finland, and after that revised to accommodate the specific features of the participating countries. Thus, slightly different questionnaires were used in Germany (Jena), Finland (Jyväskylä), and Hungary (Pécs) in the first year of the project. On the basis of the results from Jena, minor alterations were made in the German version, and a new survey was carried out in Dresden in the spring 2001. The results from these first, thorough analyses served as a basis for developing the raw version of the EUROMOBIL (level: advanced or beginner; structure: modules and studying situations).

In order to specify the needs, the original questionnaire was radically shortened. It was given out in Germany, Great Britain, Hungary and Finland during the second year of the project. In Finland, students could choose between filling in the FI, EN or DE questionnaire. The results of this survey were used particularly, in creating the activities for the language course, and designing the contents of the Good to know section.

Great Britain, that joined the project during the second year, applied the scheme of the German programme, in other words the level (advanced level) and the basic structure (modules and studying situations). Only the short questionnaire was used in Great Britain. Different colours in the questionnaires aim at illustrating differences in each country and the various stages in developing the questionnaire.

EUROMOBIL 1

In the second EUROMOBIL project, the questionnaire used was an adaptation of the slightly revised questionnaire from the first project. The revisions were made collectively by the six partners of EUROMOBIL 2, that is, the Czech Republic, France, Poland, Portugal and Romania, plus Finland, former partner and coordinator in EUROMOBIL 1. (The presence of the Finnish partner was judged important, both to insure continuity and consistency in goals and designing and for capitalizing upon the experience acquired in EUROMOBIL 1.) A single common questionnaire was produced for the needs analysis survey in EUROMOBIL 2, with a slightly different structure from the EUROMOBIL 1 questionnaire:a number of questions were reformulated and their position in the questionnaire within each section sometimes modified to facilitate the respondents’ task.

The questionnaire, which was developed in English, was also translated into French and Romanian. The needs analysis survey was conducted in the Czech Republic, France, Poland, Portugal and Romania in December 2005 – January 2006. The Czech team had a second round at provincial universities (University of Pardubice, University of Hradec Králové, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice) in spring 2006.

EUROMOBIL 2