The catesol journal 0. • 2018 •

Stage 2 ITA Example
This example concerns an oral-proficiency course curriculum for 
ITAs at an American university in which most of the students were 
native Mandarin speakers whose goal was to pass an ITA speaking test 
and obtaining an academic job in the US. Accordingly, the instructor 
adopted an approach to intelligibility that was appropriate for high-
level learners. The course also adopted a GA pronunciation model. 
The importance of pronouncing field-specific words, conducting in-
structional tasks (defining terms, proctoring labs or discussions), and 
interacting with American undergraduate students (including dur-
ing office hours) informed the decisions on which tasks to include. 
From past experience, the instructor was aware that students often 
began the course feeling frustrated by the need to improve their Eng-
lish skills while at the same time not believing that it was possible 
to improve their pronunciation. The instructor predicted pronuncia-
tion challenges common to L1 Mandarin speakers, based on previous 
experience: placement and production of word- and sentence-level 
stress, intonation, challenging segmentals such as /ai/, /ʃ/ and /ʒ/, and 
dropped noun and verb final -s errors. 
Stage 2 considers learner factors in order to connect the curricu-
lum to each learner’s goal. Instructors use the learners’ goals to select 
pronunciation model(s) and tasks that create a more motivating cur-
riculum. Next, they identify critical cognitive factors that can promote 
successful skill development. Finally, a review of typical L1 challenges 
begins the narrowing process of identifying potential pronunciation 
needs to be addressed. In sum, analyzing learner factors connects a 
pronunciation-inclusive curriculum directly to the learners’ needs 
based on their goals, cognitions, and L1s.
Stage 3: Design Needs Assessment