Situation analysis and needs analysis are important tasks at the planning stage of curriculum design in most educational contexts, because they provide a basis for setting goals and objectives. Nevertheless, in Chinese EFL contexts, it is not uncommon that goal setting is managed around language outcomes which are prescribed by the teacher or teaching institution, without making reference to learners' needs and the larger context within which instruction takes place. This paper presents a piece of practical work by conducting a situation analysis and needs analysis in a senior high school in South-west China. In providing the rationale as well as the logistics and the outcomes of conducting the situation analysis and needs analysis, the paper attempts to illustrate a practical way to take account of learner factor and situational factors at the curriculum planning stage in Chinese EFL contexts, especially in the underdeveloped area of China.
