Background of the Study
Most of the staff of Bank Mandiri Yogyakarta have some difficulties to communicate with the foreign customers who visit the bank. These difficulties hinder
the process of the service. Based on that, it is clear that English speaking ability is needed and is important for them in order to provide the best service to the customers.
Considering the fact that they have very limited time to study English because of their work, it can be concluded that it will be very difficult for them to learn
English from the basic level. Therefore, the most appropriate materials for them are the materials that are practical and applicable to their working situation. This
emergence of English learning needs in the working fields prompts the writer to design English learning materials based on the needs and interests in the target
situation which the learners experience. In other words, English for Specific Purposes ESP, particularly English for
Banking, is the one that suits their needs best. ESP is an approach which is based on the learnersx needs. It means that all the decisions related to the designing of the
materials will be based on the learnersx needs and interests. The result of ESP is a kind of materials that match directly with the condition that they are going to
encounter in their working field. This study is important because it aims to present appropriate materials to
help the staff of Bank Mandiri Yogyakarta in particular to improve their English speaking ability. By providing the materials which are practical and applicable to
their working field, they will be able to communicate with foreign customers well and provide qualified service to them. They will not have to learn English from the basic
level, which is highly impossible due to their heavy working hours, to fulfill the increasing demands of having good English competence.
The main point of task based learning lies in the experiential learning in which the learnerxs prior experience becomes the starting point which will improve along
with the task completion in the classroom. By doing the tasks, learners will be exposed to the target language. When the learners encounter problems, they will be
involved in the discussion which will broaden their opportunity to use the target language. They will also have the chance to fill in the gaps in their language
competence through the feedback in the discussion; which will improve their language mastery. Furthermore, tasks are also said to be motivational, as they require
learners to use authentic language, vary in format and operation, often include physical activities, involve partnership and collaboration, may call on learnersx past
experience and tolerate as well as encourage a variety of communication styles Richards and Rodgers, 2001.
Hence, this study intends to design English instructional speaking materials for the staff of Bank Mandiri Yogyakarta using task based learning. Since the biggest
difficulty that the staff of Bank Mandiri Yogyakarta experience is to communicate with the foreign customers who visit the bank, the designed materials will be focusing
on the speaking skill. 3