Needs Analysis for the Information System to Support Middle School Students’ Speaking Skills in English Classes

Abstract

The study aimed to determine the needs and expectations regarding an online information system which will support speaking skills of secondary school students in English lesson. The participants of the study comprised 4 secondary school students and 4 secondary school English teachers in a district of Burdur province in Turkey. In the selection of the participants, convenience sampling model was adopted on the volunteering basis. In the study, the phenomenology research model was utilized. The data were obtained from the semi- structured interviews conducted face-to-face with the participants. In the analysis of the data, the Content Analysis technique was used. The results of the study revealed that participants were willing to access to the system via technologicsl devices like smart phones, computers, tablet pc and smart board. Since communication is important, participants stated that there should be video chat, instant messaging, announcements, forum, social networks, storage and game components in the system. In addition to these, participants noted that the properties such as activities, uploading home works, grading students, student information, attendance shedule, feedback, and duties and responsibilities should be available in the system. Morever, the participants stated that the applicability of the system depends on the introducing the system, motivation, internet-free usage, technological infrastructure, updatability and competitive features. Hereby, it is hoped that the results of these study will be useful in the development of an online information system to support speaking skills of secondary school students in English lesson.