45 Due to the opening of the new class branch of SMA St. Fransiskus situated in
Kampung Ambon Jakarta Timur, the Senior High School expanded later on into SMA St. Fransiskus 1 and SMA St. Fransiskus 2.
According to the school’s statistic data in the academic year of 2014-2015 see appendix G, p. 146, the total number of the students was 51 students. Those
students were classified into three grades, in which grade 10 had 14 students, grade 11 had 16 students and grade 12 had 24 students. It can be concluded that
the number of the students was decreasing each year. A discussion the writer made with the chairperson of the foundation about this phenomena concluded that
the lack of facilities the school has and the rapid competition with fully-facilitated newer schools as the causes of this number reduction. The discussion also
concluded that in order to gain more students enrol at this school, the school must have something special to offer to the candidates. An English course was thought
to be one of the tools the foundation is going to conduct to gain more students.
b. The Testimony of the Chairperson of Yayasan Santo Fransiskus
Jakarta on the Importance of the English Course for the Students
Even though the English course in SMA St. Fransiskus 1 Jakarta is an extracurricular program, it does not mean that this program is apart from the
school curriculum supervised by the foundation which run this school. Since this program was intentionally ordered by the foundation, the testimony of the reason
that the school decided to conduct an English course is a matter. The writer saw that the testimony of the chairperson of the foundation would give the context to
46 the course based on the foundation’s depiction on the students’ needs of self-
improvement. The testimony was based on two basic questions of why the students
needed an English course and what characteristics the students had. The main reason for the foundation to conduct an English course is resulted from the
calculation of the students committed time for an English learning which was thought to be insufficient to reach appropriate English communicative skill.
Another reason of holding the English course is the foundation’s view of the English course which is a breakthrough in developing a more interesting English
course. Those two reasons are concluded from the testimony of the chairperson as it was received by the writer as follows:
Pertanyaan : Mengapa perlu ada kursus bahasa Inggris?
Jawaban : Jam belajar Bahasa Inggris sebenarnya sudah ada
dalam program pembelajaran resmi di sekolah sebagai tuntutan kurikulum. Yayasan Santo Fransiskus merasa
perlu untuk mengadakan kursus bahasa Inggris bagi setiap siswa-siswi karena jam pembelajaran resmi
dirasa kurang mencukupi dan proses pembelajaran dalam kursus juga dilihat sebagai terobosan untuk
membuat proses belajar bahasa Inggris menjadi lebih menarik. Metode dan arah pembelajaran dalam kursus
lebih bermuara pada upaya untjuk meningkatkan kecakapan
berbahasa Inggris
tiap siswa-siswi
sehingga mereka terampil dalam berkomunikasi dalam hidup mereka sehari-
hari.” Question
: Why do you think the students need an English course?
Answer : English has been one of the compulsory subject in the
school in line with the national curriculum. Yayasan Santo Fransiskus as the foundation considered it as
47 necessary to have an English course for the students
due to the limited time frame the curriculum has and the potential of it would be a breakthrough to a more
interesting English learning process. The method and te
aching process were directed to increasing students’ English communicative skill beneficial for daily
communication
The second testimony dealt with the characteristics of the students. These characteristics were not traced by a research, but it was merely observed from the
chairperson’s point of view. Knowing the characteristics of the students would give big impact to the foundation and the tutors in applying appropriate teaching
method used in the English course. The characteristics of the students, namely the English course participants, were also thought to be closely related to the question
of why the foundation decided to open an English course. The chairperson’s testimony on the students’ characteristics stated that many students of the school
were economically weak. Many of them came from middle to low family in terms of their financial power. As English is a demanding skill to be acquired by
today’s students in order to be survive in this more competitive world of study and job, there is an increasing need of English courses. However, for families
with low financial power, many English courses are unaffordable. Hence, the English course conducted by SMA St. Fransiskus 1 Jakarta was an answer to the
problem of affordable English courses which are available for students from middle to low class families. The English course which is conducted by SMA St.
Fransiskus 1 Jakarta charges the students with only IDR 27,000.00 per month, which is considered as affordable for the majority of the students.
48 The ch
airperson’s testimony said that many of the graduates of the school would not continue their study to the higher level, as it stated as follows:
Pertanyaan : Bagaimana karakteristik anak-anakpara siswa?
Jawaban : Siswa-siswi SMA dan SMK Fransiskus kebanyakan
berasal dari
ekonomi menengah
ke bawah.
Kebanyakan dari mereka tidak melanjutkan studi ke jenjang yang lebih tinggi. Oleh karena itu, kecakapan
berbahasa Inggris menjadi satu modal yang dapat kita siapkan bagi mereka untuk siap terjun dalam hidup
dan perjuangan di tengah-
tengah dunia ini.” Question
: What are the characteristics of the students? Answer
: The students of SMA and SMK Fransiskus mostly come from the middle to low family in terms of
financial power. Most of them would not continue their study to the higher level. Therefore, English skill
would be a weapon for them to be well-prepared in the
real life’s struggle
This statement indicates that English is considered as an important thing that the students have to acquire in order to be more competitive in dealing with
the demand of the working world. It is so because most of the students might not continue their study to the higher level. English, therefore, can be considered as
one of some factors that probably determine their further successes. 2.
The Expectation of the Students of SMA St. Fransiskus 1 Jakarta
In depicting the course participants’ expectation on the English course held by the school, the researcher also displays the tutors
’ opinions on the course participants’ expectation in joining the English course. The tutors’ opinions on
the course participants’ expectation is considered as important to draw clearly
49 whether the tutors have also realized what their students wanted from the course
they conducted. A matched perception between the course participants and the tutors would be a beneficial support to the whole learning process. The tutors’
opinions on the course participants’ expectation would, in other case, their
compassion and emphaty towards the learning process in general, and to the course participants in particular.
a. The Course P
