MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT OF READING FOR THE STUDENTS
OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION STUDY PROGRAM THROUGH
TASK-BASED LANGUAGE INSTRUCTION APPROACH
A Thesis
Submitted to the English Applied Linguistics Study Program in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of
Magister Humaniora
By:
CITRA HASAN
Registration Number: 809112024
ENGLISH APPLIED LINGUISTICS STUDY PROGRAM
POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL
STATE UNIVERSITY OF MEDAN
MEDAN
i ABSTRACT
Citra Hasan. Registration Number: 809112024. Materials Development of Reading for the Students of Business Administration Program Through Task-Based Language Instruction Approach. A Thesis. English Applied Linguistics Study Program, Postgraduate School, State University of Medan 2014
ii ABSTRAK
Citra Hasan. NIM: 809112024. Materials Development of Reading for the Students of Business Administration Program Through Task-Based Language Instruction Approach. Tesis. Program Studi Linguistik Terapan Bahasa Inggris, Sekolah Pascasarjana, Universitas Negeri Medan 2014
iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
It is a huge pleasure for the writer to acknowledge the following people for their contribution to her education and research. Her sincere gratitude and deep appreciation are addressed to Prof. Dr. Busmin Gurning, M.Pd., and Prof. Amrin Saragih, M.A., Ph.D. as her thesis advisers, for their guidance, encouragement, patience, and supports for improving and finishing this thesis.
It is also her pleasure to acknowledge the superb reviewers Prof. Tina Mariany Arifin, M.A., Ph.D., Dr. Eddy Setia, M.Ed. TESP, and Dr. I Wayan Dirgayasa Tangkas, M.Hum. for their effort and patience in helping, guiding, and advising her in this research.
Next, the writer would like to thank the head and secretary of English Applied Linguistics Study Program Prof. Dr. Busmin Gurning, M.Pd., and Dr. Sri Minda Murni, M.S for encouraging the writer to accomplish her thesis, and also Mr. Farid Ma’ruf Harahap as the administrative staff for his huge help in
administrative procedures.
iv An appreciation is also dedicated to Dr. Eddy Setia, M.Ed. TESP and Dra. Masitowarni Siregar, M.Ed. as the expert who validated the materials in this research. Their comments and suggestions are very meaningful for the writer.
Further, the writer expresses her gratitude to the director, vice director, head of business administration study program, English lecturer, and beloved students of Polytechnic of LP3I Sisingamangaraja Medan for their time and permission in conducting the research.
Great thanks are also dedicated to her energetic and smart classmates LTBI XVII-B for their warmth, solidarities, supports, and motivations during her study. The writer conveys her huge thanks to her not only mother, but also her best friend and motivator Hj. Nurimas Hutasuhut, her beloved role model and father Drs. H. Chandra Hasan Nasution, her smart and fabulous sisters Novalia Hasan Nasution, S.IP, Fauziah Hasan Nasution, SS., M.Hum, Nuri Yunita Hasan Nasution, her brothers-in-law Sofyan Hermanto, SE, Yudi Pratama, A.Md., and her cute nieces Malika Khaira Abi Sofyan and Hanna Maryam Abi Sofyan for all prayers, hopes, critics, and supports.
v The writer also gives gratitude to her special and truly best friend, debate partner, brother, and faithful supporter M. Ridwan Lubis, S.Pd., M.Or. for all his efforts in having faith in her.
Finally, the writer gives thanks to all people who can not be mentioned one by one in this part and hopes that this thesis can offer a contribution to the education, especially EFL (English as a Foreign Language) education.
Medan, March 2014 The writer,
Citra Hasan
vi
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ... 1
1.1 Background of the Study ... 1
1.2 Research Problems of the Study... 7
1.3 The Objectives of the Study ... 8
2.1.2 Business English (English for Business Purposes) ... 13
2.1.3 Business Administration Program Students as ESP Learners ... 13
2.2 Need Analysis ... 14
vii
2.4 The Nature of Reading ... 21
2.4.1 The Readability of the Text ... 21
2.5 Task-Based Language Instruction ... 23
2.5.1 Task-Based Language Design ... 25
2.5.2 Task-Based Learning Materials ... 27
2.5.3 Components of a Task ... 28
CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ... 33
3.1 Research Design ... 33
3.2 The Research Procedure ... 31
3.3 Data Sources ... 38
3.4 The Technique of Collecting Data ... 38
3.5 Research Instruments ... 39
3.6 The Technique of Analyzing the Data ... 40
CHAPTER IV: MATERIALS DEVELOPMENT ... 42
4.1 Data Analysis ... 42
4.1.1 Evaluation and Needs Assessment ... 42
4.1.2 Materials Development ... 44
4.1.3 Materials Validation ... 60
4.2 Findings ... 63
viii CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ... 70 5.1 Conclusions ... 70 5.2 Suggestions ... 71 REFERENCES ... 72-74
ix LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
x LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
1.1 : The Existing Syllabus ... 4
1.2 : The Existing Material ... 4
2.1 : The Classification of ESP by Professional Era ... 12
2.2 : Task Characteristics ... 28
xi LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix Page
1 CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Vocational education is a higher education that is directed on a specific mastery of applied skills. It prepares the learners for having a career or job based on the specific applied skills. To achieve this purpose, a vocational education institution as polytechnic gives a learning experience and adequate exercise to build a professional capability in science and technology through specific study programs.
The study program in polytechnic like Business Administration study program concerns that English as one of the courses has an important role. As BSNP (Badan Standar Nasional Pendidikan) (2010: 10) states that English course aims to equip learners in improving their abilities to understand English text for academic purposes and specific skill.
2 Due to the fact, students of business administration face some difficulties in mastering English especially reading ability. Even though the lecturer applies a good method, the facilities are well equipped, and the students are mostly active and follow the lesson, reading still becomes a difficult subject to be learned. The writer who observed these students found that existing materials do not properly address the students’ needs in reading.
Based on the English Leveling Test which was conducted by the institution and all English lecturers in order to measure the students’ ability in
English language, the average score of the Business Administration students was 61. It means that the students’ comprehension including reading was poorly low. The scores can be seen in table 1.1.
Table 1.1 Students’ Scores on English Leveling Test
No. Initial Name Total Scores
3
4 Figure 1.1: The Existing Syllabus
Figure 1.2: The Existing Material
5 need to be confident about the specific vocabulary and the types of language interactions, such as dealing with dissatisfied customer that they may encounter. Teaching and learning of English by mastering content area in subjects such as mathematics, social studies, science, and business which are taught in the target language (English) can help the students to deal successfully with their academic demands and to perform successfully in their disciplines and professional contexts. The result is that the learners need specific English based on their needs. For this reason, the learners who learn specific purpose should be given a special English lesson rather than English in general.
English for Specific Purposes (ESP) arose as a term in 1960’s as it became
increasingly aware that general English courses frequently did not meet learner or employers want. ESP is seen as an approach, not a product, which means that it is not teaching special form of a language but it can be identified as typical of a particular context of use. Dudley-Evans and St.John (1998: 1) mention that the main concerns of ESP have always been with needs analysis, text analysis, and preparing learners to communicate effectively in the tasks prescribed by their study or work situation. The key of ESP is to meet the students’ needs. Unlikely General English which study English in general, ESP is applied by analyzing the students’ needs first then designing the material. It is hoped that by doing the
analysis, the students are able to communicate English based on their own field.
6 which will allow them to operate in the world of English-medium commerce. There is a specific vocabulary and language events (presenting the colleagues, the language of contrasts, etc.) which are unlikely to appear in a general English course but which are vitally important for business students. And so teachers find themselves training classes in such procedures as the art of negotiating, the correct use of phones and e-mail, or the reading of business reports.
Indonesia is not an exception – Teaching English for Specific Purposes (TESP) began to draw more attention due to Indonesia’s fast economic
development in recent years. After Indonesia’s entering the World Trade Organization (WTO) since 1995, ESP seems to take lead in facing the demand. Schools, colleges, and universities which produce the future businessperson or else who will deal with business field apply ESP as one of their subjects in facing the international trade. It is hoped that the students will be able to face the world trade by using their mastery in ESP to communicate and compete with other countries.
In accordance with Hutchinson & Waters (1987: 8) that to improve the learners’ motivation and make learning better and faster, the lecturers should
prepare materials which are relevant to the students’ needs and interests. For
7 prior teaching practice. It should be up-to date to capture the students’ thought, willingness, and needs. Therefore, the learning materials should facilitate students to recognize their specific subject area, and vocabulary enrichment should be encouraged to achieve what they need.
In achieving the goal in the class, the materials should be developed based on a specific learning approach in order to have a clear foundation and direction (Sumardi; 2000). TBLI (Task-Based Language Instruction) is an approach which concentrates more on the particular students who have needs of their own. Branden in Priyana (2002) states that the goal of TBLI is mainly focusing primarily on meaning exchange and using language for real-world, non-linguistic purposes. The business administration students also have their own particular needs; the needs that may not be fulfilled by the recent learning materials. Subsequently, the goal of TBLI for this study can be drawn in the syllabus which is also task-based, in which the tasks developed are adapted to create the situation of the real life.
1.2 Research Problems of the Study
The problems of the study are formulated as the following:
(1) How are English reading materials for students of Business Administration Study Program at Polytechnic of LP3I Sisingamangaraja Medan?
8 Administration Study Program students at Polytechnic of LP3I Sisingamangaraja Medan?
(3) How the reading materials should be validated by the experts' viewpoints?
1.3 The Objectives of the Study
Based on the problem stated above, the objectives of the study are:
(1) to evaluate the existing English reading materials for students of Business Administration Study Program at Polytechnic of LP3I Sisingamangaraja Medan,
(2) to develop English reading materials through task-based language instruction approach which meet to the needs of Business Administration Study Program students at Polytechnic of LP3I Sisingamangaraja Medan, and
(3) to validate the reading materials by experts' viewpoints.
1.4 The Scope of the Study
9 1.5 The Significance of the Study
Findings of the study are expected to be significant and relevant theoretically and practically.
(1) Theoretically
This study is expected to provide relevant English reading materials especially for Business Administration Study Program students in Polytechnic of LP3I Sisingamangaraja Medan.
(2) Practically
The findings are contributed to:
a) the students who learn English at Business College and who want to master English that they need,
b) the teacher/lecturer who wants to provide relevant English writing materials especially for Business College students,
c) he/she who wants to go on to higher education and of course for his/her professionalism, and
70 CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
5.1 Conclusions
After developing the materials of reading, the conclusions were described as follows.
1. The existing materials of reading were not match with the needs of the business administration students, and the amount of the subject matters was too few to be studied. So that, the researcher made the materials of reading are provided for the students for one semester. In addition, the second subject matter (Company History) is not match with the needs of the business administration students. Thus, it was changed into more suitable topic based on the needs of students. 2. The new English syllabus and reading materials should be designed
through Task-Based Language Instruction Approach in order to meet the students’ needs. The reading materials should fullfil the
components of a task, namely goal, input, procedure, teacher and learner role, and settings.
71 5.2 Suggestions
Related to the conclusions, it is suggested that:
1. the English lecturer in business administration study program should provide the Reading materials which are match with the needs of the students of business administration.
2. the English lecturer can use Task-Based Language Instruction as his/her approach in teaching business English for business administration students.
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