Longman Dictionary of

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needs hierarchy
b the OBJECTIVES and purposes for which the language is needed
c the types of communication that will be used (e.g. written, spoken,
formal, informal)
d the level of proficiency that will be required
Needs assessment is a part of CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT and is normally
required before a SYLLABUS can be developed for language teaching.
see SITUATION ANALYSIS
needs hierarchy n
the theory that individuals instigate, direct, and sustain activity to
satisfy certain needs that are hierarchical in nature, beginning with biological
needs and progressing upwards to psychological ones. The psychologist
Maslow proposed a hierarchy of needs containing five levels
of needs:
1 physiological
2 safety and security
3 belongingness and love
4 esteem
5 self-actualization
Need hierarchies have sometimes been referred to in research in
motivation and language learning, since learners may have different
motivations for learning a language associated with their varying
needs.
negation n
contradicting the meaning or part of the meaning of a sentence. The main
NEGATOR in English is not, often in its contracted form n’t and combined
with an auxiliary, for example:
She isn’t going / hasn’t gone / didn’t go / doesn’t want to go.
but there are other negators, e.g. never.
Although he lived quite close, he never visited us.
Negation can be expressed by NEGATIVE PRONOUNS, e.g:
There was nobody there.
or by negative affixes, e.g.:
That was really unkind!
Some varieties of English may use a DOUBLE NEGATIVE, such as:
I haven’t done nothing.
This does not mean that the two negators cancel themselves out and make
the sentence again a positive statement. Double negation is merely used
for emphasis. Often double negation is frowned on as being nonstandard.
However, it is typically used in a number of English DIALECTS
and it follows a definite pattern, e.g. the use of no instead of any-:
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