Needs analysis plays an important role in curriculum design. In particular, needs analysis largely determines the goal and content of the course being designed. When selecting among the many tools available to analyze needs the course designer must consider practicality as well as validity and reliability. In this paper, I report on the novel use of narrative frames as a needs analysis tool in the design of an EFL curriculum for trainee seamen in Kiribati. The frames proved to be a practical tool for gathering information from a large group of serving seamen, and provided insights that would not otherwise have been possible. Furthermore, the seamen's stories could be adapted for materials design, meaning that trainees were engaged with authentic situations in their language learning. Thus narrative frames were found to be a valuable tool in the needs analysis for the new EFL curriculum and are a tool that could be used more widely in curriculum design. (Contains 2 figures.)