certain needs and demands. Thus, there is an approach to language learning which is called English for Specific Purposes ESP.
According to Hutchinson and Waters 1991, instead of a language product, English for Specific Purposes ESP is an approach to language learning,
which is based on learner need. Furthermore, the approach is used to make a decision about the content and method which will be used based on the learners’
purposes in learning. Supporting this view, Richards 2001 also states that ESP concerns to make language courses more relevant to learners’ needs. So, basically,
ESP is developed based on why people learn English and what for. From the other point of view, ESP is a movement based on the idea that all
language teaching should be tailored to the specific language use and learning needs of certain groups of learners Johns and Machado in Celce-Murcia, 2001.
In addition, Basturkmen 2008 states that typically, the purpose of ESP is to help language learners to deal successfully with the features of language or to develop
the competencies needed to function in a discipline, profession, or workplace. Thus, the language features in ESP teaching will be based on the target needs
which then can be identified by doing needs analysis.
b. Needs Analysis
In terms of linguistic deficiency, needs are often described as the difference between what learners can presently do in a language and what they
should be able to do Richards, 2001. While in the language-centred approach, needs are the ability to comprehend andor produce the linguistic features of the
target situation Hutchinson and Waters, 1991. The target situation itself refers to those learners should complete in their future jobs. So, in ESP context, needs are
language features that learners should have in order to be able to carry out their tasks.
In relation to this, Richards 2001 states further that in ESP, learner’s needs are often described in terms of performance or what the learner will be able
to do with the language at the end of a course of study. These should be identified before determining the content of any course because different types of learners
will have different language needs. An attempt which is usually made to discover learners’ true needs is
known as needs analysis Hutchinson and Waters, 1991. There are some procedures suggested for conducting needs analysis. These are questionnaires,
surveys, and interviews. According to Richards 2001, there are some purposes of needs analysis
in language teaching, for example, finding out what language skills a learner needs in order to perform a particular role, helping determine if an existing course
adequately addressed the needs of potential students, and determining which students from a group are most in need of training in particular language skills.
Besides, needs analysis is aimed to identify a change of direction that people in a reference group feel is important, identify a gap between what students are able to
do and what they need to be able to do, and collect information about a particular problem learners are experiencing.
In needs analysis, basic information that should be gathered are target needs and learning needs. Then, the information about the target situations must
be taken into consideration also. Hutchinson and Waters 1991 explain that target needs refer to what the learner needs to do in the target situation, and learning
needs are what the learner needs to do in order to learn. Meanwhile, target situations are those that are related to what occasion in which the learner performs
the language. In relation to the target needs, there are three important things to be
considered. They are necessities, lacks, and wants. Necessities can be defined as what learners have to know so that they can communicate effectively in the target
situation. This type of need is determined by the demand of the target situation Hutchinson and Waters, 1991. Then, lacks are identified by find out what
learners already know and do not know about the language used in the target situations. In other words, lacks refer to the gap between the existing proficiency
of the learners and the target proficiency. For the last term, wants are what learners expect during their language learning processes such as any kinds of
learning activities the learners expect. Beside the target needs, learning needs and target situation analysis are
also important to be taken into account. Dealing with learning needs, some points which need to be analyzed are the learners’ learning background, the learners’
interests and socio-cultural background, and the resources are available. The information about learning needs will be used to determine how the learning
activities will be. On the other hand, analysis of target situation needs is
concerned with language use Hutchinson and Waters, 1991. The information can be about the content of the area, how, when, and where the language will be used.
In sum, information for the needs analysis can be gathered from the learners and those who know the target situation well. Then, the information can
be used as the consideration to determine what kind of methods and materials which are appropriate for the learners.
c. Materials Development in ESP
