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

B. Problem Formulation

This study aims to answer two problems in order to present English instructional speaking materials using task based learning for the staff of Bank Mandiri Yogyakarta. They are stated into two questions: 1. How are English instructional speaking materials using task-based learning for the staff of Bank Mandiri Yogyakarta designed? 2. What do English instructional speaking materials using task-based learning for the staff of Bank Mandiri Yogyakarta look like?

C. Problem Limitation

In order to enable an in-depth study, the scope of this study has to be narrowed by some limitations. Firstly, this study focuses on designing English instructional materials on speaking ability. Secondly, this study focuses on designing speaking materials for the staff of Bank Mandiri Yogyakarta. Finally, the pedagogical methodology underlying the designed materials is task based learning.

D. Purposes of the Study

The purposes of this study are to answer the questions stated previously on the problem formulation. The purposes of the study are as follows: 1. The study aims to find out how English instructional speaking materials using task-based learning for the staff of Bank Mandiri Yogyakarta are designed. 4 2. The study aims to present English instructional speaking materials using task- based learning for the staff of Bank Mandiri Yogyakarta.

E. Benefits of the Study

The results of this study are expected to be beneficial for the staff of Bank Mandiri as well as the future researchers in particular, and for the English instructors for bank employees and the staff of other banks in general. 1. The staff of Bank Mandiri The designed materials are expected to be helpful for the staff of Bank Mandiri to facilitate them in learning English in a motivational and meaningful way, so that they will be able to improve their speaking ability to communicate with foreign customers. 2. The instructors for bank employees The writer hopes that the designed materials may enrich their teaching resources, so that they will have more alternatives to apply in their teaching-learning activities. 3. The future researchers The results of this study can be used to carry out another study on English for specific purposes. The materials can be used as references in designing further materials. They can implement the designed materials to see whether the materials are effective or not. 5