Material Development of English For Chemistry Subject Based On The Needs Analysis of Students’ in Chemisty Education Study Program

Abstract

The increasing demand for international communication and competition in the global work field have required someone to not only being competent in their major field of study, but also competent in English language as the international media of communication, in both oral and written form. Hence, it is crucial that the English Language learning in University must be able to provide a comprehensive and professional English that not only relevant to their field of study but also meet the demand and needs of the target learning and work field. It is unfortunate that the process of learning English, particularly English for Specific Purposes (ESP) classes at the University level do not meet the basic competence and learning outcome as prescribed and expected. Lack of lesson planning, unmet needs and expectations of learners and teachers as well as irrelevant material to the field of the study, are found to be some of the influencing factors contributed to the success of the expected teaching and learning in ESP class. Based on this fact, it is important to conduct a study that put more emphasis in identifying learners’ needs (Needs Analysis). This is particularly useful to facilitate the expectation of the learners to have an English class that is relevant to their field of study. In line with this aim of the study, this current research was conducted in Chemistry Education Program of Pattimura University where the ESP subject has been inserted in the curriculum under the subject of English for Chemistry since the year of 2017. Thirty-three students were involved as the participants in the survey by answering 20 items provided in the questionnaire. The result shows that the majority of the students (39.4%) admitted that they would be interested in learning English if the materials are relevant to the Chemistry study, but still has the linguistics elements in English. This finding was also supported by 69.7% of the respondents who said that they would be motivated in learning if the teacher uses contextual English materials in Chemistry that are possible to be implemented in their daily life. Additionally, students also gave several suggestions for the improvement of English Learning in terms of the focus of English skill, the approach and activities in learning. These findings are principally constructive as the input to design and/or develop the English material (Material Development) that will be used to teach English for Chemistry subject in Chemistry Education study program.