Nation and Macalister 2010:161 explain that because of these reasons or reasons like these, the teacher may wish to adapt the course book. In this example,
the teacher does not have the option of abandoning the course book, perhaps because it is the required text for the course, the learners have already bought it, or
overall it has more positive features than negative features.
2.3. Instructional Materials in English for Specific Purposes ESP Courses
Vocational high schools aim to prepare the students to compete on their work field of their expertise. The hardest challenge is to compete with academy
graduates, especially in English mastery. English is one of the compulsory subjects to be taught. However, there is a difference approach to teach English in
vocational high schools. Putting ESP as one of approaches is the best way to learn English based on their specific skills. Vocational high school students, especially
those of Hotel service program, should learn materials designed in ESP approach to match their skills with what industry demands, besides general English. In
house curriculum answering what the students and industry need should be developed as a suplementary guide.
2.3.1. The Definition of ESP
Hutchinson and Waters 2010 in Javid 2013:138 argue that ESP is not a language methodology which teaches specialized varieties of English and
consists of a specific type of learning materials but it is an approach to language learning which is based on learner
’s need. ESP is an important subcomponent of language teaching that has its own approaches to curriculum development,
material design, pedagogy, testing and research. They added that ESP is designed to fulfill the specific needs of the learner based on needs analysis.
In conclusion, ESP is based on students’ needs in learning English. Since
students’ needs in ESP are very crucial, needs analysis should be conducted earlier before designing the materials.
2.3.2. The Needs Analysis in ESP
Needs analysis is the very first step before designing the ESP materials. It helps the materials developer to create an appropriate materials based on the
students’ need so that it helps the students comprehending the English materials based on their expertise. Richards 2002:52 lists a number of reasons
for conducting needs analysis before starting a course for a group of learners as follows:
to find out what languages skills a learner needs in order to perform a particular role
to help determine if an existing course adequately addresses the needs of potentials students
to determine which students from a group are most in need of training in particular language skills
to identify a change of direction that people in a reference group feel is important
to identify a gap between what students are able to do and what they need to be able to do
to collect information about a particular problem learners are experiencing
Hutchinson and Waters 1987 in Nation and Macalister 2010:24 define needs as the ability to comprehend and to produce the linguistic features
into two categories: target needs and learning needs. The target needs are what
knowledge and abilities the learner will require in order to be able to perform appropriately in the target situation. The analysis of the target needs is divided
into three points which are necessities, lacks, and wants. They can look at Nation and Macalister, 2010: 24-25:
Necessities
What is necessary in the learners’ use of
language? For example, do learners have to write answers to exam questions?
Lacks
What do learners lack? For ecxample, are there aspects of writing that were not
practised in their previous learning L1,L2?
Wants
What do the learners wish to learn?
Need analysis is really important to be conducted at the beginning before designing ESP materials since
students’ learning needs are the guidance in developing appropriate English learning materials. In line with ESP approach,
another approach of language teaching which is so called as Content-Based Instruction points the importance of the using of authentic materials in the
classroom process. The theories above were the basic points for the researcher to design
items of questionnaires and interviews in conducting need analysis. When designing some questions for the hotel managers, the main considerations were
on what they need towards the students and the students’ English performance
during the job training. For the senior students having done their training, the points of the interview were about how they performed their training program,
the obstacles, and what English materials were best taught to their juniors, including the topics or language use they would find in the hotels.
2.3.3. Material Development in ESP
Dudley-Evans and St. John 2012:4 refer to three points: 1 ESP is designed to meet the specific needs of the learner; 2 ESP makes use of the
underlying methodology and activities of the disciplines it serves; and 3 ESP is centered on the language grammar, lexis, and register, skills, discourse and
genres appropriate to these activities. The ―absolute characteristics‖ illustrate that an ESP approach concerns not only
learners’ language issues, but also the design of the methodology and activities related to students’ disciplines. Most
importantly, ESP views students’ needs as the first priority. The variable characteristics are seen in five points Dudley-Evans, 2012:5:
ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines ESP may use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology from that of
general English ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at a tertiary level institutio or in a
professional work situation ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students
Most ESP courses assume some basic knowledge of the language system, but it can be used with beginners
Richards 2002 states that ESP materials may therefore seek to provide exposure to the specialized genres and registers of ESP, to support learning
through stimulating cognitive processes and providing a structure and progression for learners to follow, to motivate learners through providing achievable
challenges and interesting content, and to provide a resource for self-study outside of the classroom. He also mentions that some teachers use instructionsl materials
as their primary teaching resource. The materials provide the basis for the content of lesson, the balance of skills taught, and the kinds of language practice students
take part in. For learners, materials may provide the major source of contact they have with the language apart from the teacher.
