The Background of the Study Problem Identification

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

This study addresses Designing English Academic Writing Instructional Materials for the Dentistry Students at Gadjah Mada University Yogyakarta . This study intends to develop instructional materials for academic writing. To establish the purpose of this study, chapter one consists of several main parts. This chapter discusses the Background of the Study, Problem Limitations, Problem Formulations, Objectives of the Study, Benefits of the Research, Definitions of Terms.

A. The Background of the Study

The ability to write in English is very important in current times. English is considered the most acceptable language among other international languages. This has created a need for mastering English. Many people study an English course to become competent with the language or learn it by themselves through books. Nowadays, in Indonesia, university students must produce academic papers written in English as a prerequisite to completing their study. Therefore, the immediate need to write in the English language motivates the students to take an English academic writing course. Undergraduate students face many kinds of writing tasks as they study their chosen degree program. 1 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI Naturally, these tasks are different from one-degree program to another. They are, however, similar in two respects. First, the tasks become more complex. Second, they need to be written in appropriate academic language. Writing skills are considered the most difficult aspect of language skills because it takes a long time to process and may be considered as a boring activity. Writing skills require students to express their ideas, opinions and thought in written form. Sometimes ideas just come out spontaneously; therefore, writing is a good tool to record our ideas without having lost any of the ideas. Another reason why writing in English is considered as one of the most difficult requirements is because they know what to write but they do not know how to phrase their ideas appropriately into their paper. Moreover, many students think in their first language and translate their thoughts a sentence per sentence as they write in English, rather than translating the broader ideas from the first to the second language.

B. Problem Identification

The students of Dentistry Faculty in Gadjah Mada University are required to pass an English course that is offered by Dentistry Curriculum for Undergraduate students. Most students of the Dentistry Faculty have already mastered Basic English grammar but these students still have many problems in their writing. There are a few students of Dentistry students who write their thesis in English. The reason for this is that in Indonesia, not many research studies exist on writing courses designed to help such students complete a thesis writing to an acceptable standard. The Dentistry Department of Gadjah Mada University needs to reconstruct its old instructional materials and create a new English design subject. The reason is that the old design does not cover all the students’ needs in order to understand English textbooks and write academic writing well. It means that the design consists of one subject materials that are translating materials. There are many assignment papers and English books available as references that may be used in the Dentistry faculty. The students need guidance in writing skills in order to be able to write good paragraphs and summarize the books. Furthermore, there are not many alternative materials that are especially designed for Dentistry study. The materials used were authentic texts that did not represent the Dentistry field. There were no English materials or textbooks available for this department based on the Dentistry curriculum. Moreover, the Dentistry Department of Gadjah Mada University needs to design a new English syllabus because it is important in order to promote positive student behavior by addressing students learning needs. The problem with the Dentistry students’ lack of English writing ability is attributed to a number of factors. Firstly, students do not have sufficient knowledge and guidelines of how to write well. Secondly, writing activities are mostly applied to assignments when the lecturer cannot come to PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI the class. As a result, the lack of English writing skills and achievement of Dentistry students becomes an obstacle in producing good English writing, although several techniques have been applied to teach writing. Students still have trouble when they are asked to write. Thirdly, the students face difficulties in formatting a paragraph, summarizing, and organizing ideas to form well-developed English academic piece of writing.

C. Problem Limitation