AN EFL SYLLABUS FOR VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOLS: ITS RELEVANCE TO THE SCHOOL-BASED CURRICULUM AND THE TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE SYLLABUS : A Case Study at a State Vocational High School in Cimahi.

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Ida Rosmawati, 2010

The background of the study ……….. Statements of the problems ………. The Objectives of the study ……….

Significant of the study ………

Curriculum and syllabus: Definition ……….

Issues and Development in Curriculum theory ………

Curriculum Development ………..

Syllabus Design ………..

2.4.1 Review on Different Types of Syllabus ……….

2.4.2 The Elements of curriculum ………. 2.4.3 English For Specific Purposes ……….

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Overview of the curriculum development in Indonesia ……… 2.5.1 The principles of the school-based curriculum development ……

2.5.2 The Principles of Syllabus Design………..

The characteristics of the 2006 curriculum for Vocational High School

2.7.1 Foundations ………

2.8.1 Factors affecting perceptions ………..….

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Ida Rosmawati, 2010 4.1

4.2

The Relevance of the EFL syllabus to the school-based Curriculum ……

4.1.1 Principles ………..………..

4.1.2 Objectives and Contents ………..

4.1.3 Approach ……….. 4.1.4 Assessment ……… 4.1.5 The Standard of Competences ………. Teachers’ perception towards the existing syllabus………..…… 4.2.1 Teachers’ understanding about school-based Curriculum ……….. 4.2.2 The clarity of the Syllabus ………

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CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS……… 85

5.1

Appendix 1: The Analysis of Competence Standard and Basic

Competences ………. 93

Appendix 2: The English Syllabus of Vocational high Schools………… 96

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1 Bases for language syllabus design ……… 19

Figure 2.2 Systemic Approach to Language Curriculum ……… 25

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ABSTRACT

The study is intended to investigate how the English syllabus applied at the State Vocational High School, Cimahi agrees with the curriculum developed by the vocational high school. The data gathered during the study was guided by the following two research questions: 1) to what extent does the EFL syllabus of Vocational high schools agree with the school-based curriculum? and 2) what are the teachers’ perceptions of the existing syllabus?

This study uses a qualitative approach, particularly a case study. The data for the study were gained through analysis of the school-based curriculum and the English syllabus applied at the vocational high schools and interviews done with four English teachers at the research site.

The result of the study reveals that basically the English syllabus implemented in the school is in line with the demand of the school-based curriculum of Vocational High School. The contents of the syllabus are selected referring to the condition of the students to meet the standard competences outlined in the curriculum and achieve the aims of the school. Concerning the teachers’ perceptions towards the existing syllabus, the result of the interview shows that in general, the teachers give positive responses with some suggestions and expectations for the improvement to be done in order to make it clearer and better. Besides, they also expect that the final examination can be conducted by the school instead of nationally.

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AN EFL SYLLABUS FOR

VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOLS: ITS RELEVANCE

TO THE SCHOOL-BASED CURRICULUM AND THE

TEACHERS’

PERCEPTIONS OF THE SYLLABUS

(

A case study at a State Vocational High School, Cimahi)

By:

Ida Rosmawati 057037

Approved by:

Main Supervisor,

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Co Supervisor,

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This chapter introduces the problems of the study starting with the background of the

study, which describes the issue of the new curriculum policy, overview of the English

teaching program condition in a vocational school and the reasons to conduct the study. The

purposes of the study, the statements of the problems, the significance of the study, the scope

of the study and the organization of the paper will be discussed afterwards.

1.1 The Background of the Study

School-Based Curriculum or KTSP is considered to be a new phenomenon of

curriculum development since the policy concerning the development is different from the

previous ones. The development of previous curriculum was completely done by the

government through the Centre for Curriculum and Educational Facilities Development

(Pusat Pengembangan Kurikulum dan Sarana Pendidikan) of the National Education

Department, the schools can only implement it. On the other hand, by the School-Based

Curriculum (KTSP) policy, the curriculum should be developed by the school components in

accordance with the principles stated by BSNP (Badan Standar Nasional Pendidikan or The

Council of National Education Standard). In other words, through The School-Based

Curriculum policy, each unit of level of education has got authority to develop their own

curriculum and design the syllabus. The school principals or the vice principals on curriculum

development affairs have to motivate and give chance to teachers to take part in the

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After the declaration of The School-Based Curriculum policy, the Subject Teacher

Association known as MGMP (Musyawarah Guru Mata Pelajaran) of English teachers at

Vocational High Schools in West Java initiated to design English Syllabus for Vocational

High Schools. The syllabus that has been implemented in some vocational high schools in

West Java and the State Vocational High School 1 (SMK Negeri 1) Cimahi is one of the

schools implementing the syllabus.

Vocational education is considered as a typical education where the system of

education is different from the education system of general schools. The students of

vocational high schools are prepared to become workers, though they might also be able to

continue their study to higher levels of education. In other words, the programs of learning in

vocational schools are focused on developing the students’ practical skills in various fields of

study in accordance with the fields of jobs available in society. This is in line with the

statement mentioned in the curriculum document, 2004 edition, which states that as one of

the institutions preparing work forces, vocational high schools are demanded to be able to

produce graduates expected by industries or the world of employment. Work forces or man

powers needed by industries are the human resources who are skillful in their field of jobs.

To meet the industrial needs of work forces, education programs in vocational high

schools should be designed in such a way that the learners master competency and skills as

required by industries in any field of jobs when they graduate. The government through the

Ministry of Education always does improvement and development in any areas of vocational

education. However, the quality of the graduates is not completely the responsibility of the

government but the school community plays very important roles. The empirical study has

shown that most vocational schools’ graduates are still unable to adapt themselves to the

changes and the development of science and technology (curriculum document, 2004). This

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learners’ competence. It might also indicate that some of the vocational schools’ graduates

could not meet the work requirements or the industrial demands.

The quality of the school graduates is closely related to the implementation of the

teaching and learning process which may be influenced by several aspects such as

curriculum, teachers, learning process, facilities, school management, environment climate

and industrial liaison. Curriculum does not only play as the document showing the directions,

aims, and philosophical foundation of the education, however, it must be used as the

instrument for evaluating the school program. Consequently, it must always be developed to

adapt the development of science and technology.

English becomes one of the subjects taught in vocational schools, as well as in other

education program, of which the curriculum has been developed several times. There were

1984 curriculum, 1994 curriculum, 1999 edition curriculum- considered as the revision of

1994 curriculum, 2004 curriculum known as competency-based curriculum and the

School-Based Curriculum. The newest government policy concerning curriculum called KTSP

(Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan) or School-based curriculum was firstly launched in

academic year 2006/2007 and socialized to teachers in most junior and senior high schools

level. It was declared that this policy should be initiated gradually since then and the

government through the Ministry of National Education expected that in 2010, all levels of

education should have implemented the new policy started from 2007. The declaration of the

Regulation of National Education Ministry No. 22, 23, and 24 2006 indicates the new reform

of curriculum in Indonesia (Kompas, 01 September 2006).

1.2 Statements of the Problems

Referring to the background described above, the research problems have been

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1. To what extent does the English syllabus developed by the MGMP of West Java

Province agree with the School-Based Curriculum of the Vocational High School in

Cimahi?

2. What are the teachers’ perceptions of the existing English syllabus for the vocational

high school?

1.3 Objectives of the study

Based on the statements of the problems above, the objectives of the study are stated

as follows:

1. To investigate how the English syllabus developed by the MGMP team of West

Java province agrees with the School-Based Curriculum of the Vocational High

School in Cimahi.

2. To identify the teachers’ perceptions of the existing English syllabus applied in

the research site.

1.4 Significance of the Study

The results of this study are expected to contribute and give some beneficial to

Vocational High School English teachers to think about the improvement of the English

syllabus in vocational high schools. The findings are hopefully able to provide some useful

information to the training institution, Technical Education Development Centre (TEDC)

Bandung, about the curriculum and EFL syllabus development for vocational high schools

which may help the institution to provide better and more appropriate training programs for

Vocational High School English teachers. Additionally, the study will also give contribution

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schools, and give input to other researchers who want to carry out another study in the same

field with certain interest.

1.5 Scope of the study

To avoid over claimed results of the study, this study is limited to the investigation of

how the existing English syllabus of the Vocational High School agrees with the

School-Based Curriculum developed by the state vocational high school, Cimahi. The syllabus

investigation was only specified to the English syllabus applied in the eleventh grade and the

perceptions of the English teachers towards the syllabus they have been implemented in the

school. The result of this study is expected to give contribution to the improvement of the

English teaching at the research site and other vocational high schools.

1.6 Clarification of Terms

A number of terms used in relation to this study need to be defined in order to avoid

misunderstanding, misinterpretation, or ambiguity. They are defined as follows:

EFL in this study refers to the English teaching and learning program conducted at the

vocational high schools. Syllabus in this study refers to the English syllabus developed by

the MGMP team consisting of English teachers of vocational high schools in west Java

province. It was published in September 2006 and applied in the research site since then.

Vocational High School in this study refers to the secondary high school with special

attention to vocational education providing technical and engineering skill programs. The

School-Based Curriculum refers to the school document and program developed by the

Vocational High School 1 in Cimahi.

Relevance in this study means the correlation between the EFL syllabus and the

vocational high school-based curriculum. Teachers’ Perception means what the respondent

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1.7 Organization of the Thesis

This thesis was organized in five chapters. Chapter One gives general description of

the introduction to the background of the study, the statements of the problems, the research

questions, the objectives of the study, the scope of the study, the significance of the study,

and the thesis organization. The theories related to the study are presented in Chapter Two.

Chapter Three discusses research methodology which gives description about research

design, data collection and data analysis. Chapter Four shows the findings and discussion.

Finally, chapter Five proposes conclusions and suggestions derived from this study.

1.8 Concluding Remarks

This chapter has elaborated the background of the study. The problems and the

purposes, the significance, the scope of study and the organization of the thesis are also

included in this chapter. The next chapter discusses the literature review of related theories to

research findings.

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CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter describes a set of methodology, which covers the overview of research

design and method of the study. It particularly discusses research site and research

participants. The process of collecting data, the techniques of collecting data (document

study and interview), and the analysis of the data are elaborated afterwards.

3.1 Research Design and Method

This research is a qualitative research used to discover the relevance of the English

syllabus for the Vocational High School and the School-Based Curriculum and the English

teachers’ perception toward the existing syllabus. To find the answers to the research

questions, it is necessary to apply a suitable method. In this study, the researcher used a

descriptive method to understand the relevance of the English syllabus for the Vocational

High School and the School-Based Curriculum and the English teachers’ perception toward

the existing syllabus by which events and actions take place (Maxwell, 1996:19). The points

to be highlighted to see the relevance are the objectives, the contents, the methods and the

assessment. In addition, Merriam (1998:16) states that a qualitative case study is an

intensive, holistic description and analysis of a single instance, phenomenon, or social unit.

3.2 Research Site

The research was carried out at the State Vocational High School (SMK Negeri) 1

Cimahi. This Vocational High School concentrates on technology and industry with nine

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Industrial Electricity, Network & Computer Engineering, Software Engineering, Mechanical

Control, Process Control, and Broadcasting.

This place was chosen as the research site with several reasons. Firstly, the school has

been promoted to be the school with International standard called SBI stands for Sekolah

Berstandar Internasional. Secondly, the school was considered to be the best Vocational

High School in Cimahi in which the graduates have achieved the highest score in the

National Final Examination in 2006 and 2007 among the Vocational High Schools in Cimahi.

Thirdly, the school has been appointed to implement the School-Based Curriculum policy

since 2006 which means that the school has got the authority to develop their syllabus by

their own. Fourthly, the researcher is familiar with most of the teachers in the school

especially the English teachers because the school has been one of the vocational high

schools under the guidance of Technical Education Development Centre (TEDC) Bandung

the place where the researcher works.

Before it was changed into State Vocational High School 1 (SMK Negeri 1) Cimahi,

the name of the school was Sekolah Teknologi Menengah (STM) Pembangunan or

Development Technical High School. This school is not exactly the same as other technical

high schools. The study programs have been designed for four year length of study which

means that the students have to complete their study in four years or eight (8) semesters

before they graduate.

3.3 The Participants

The participants of the study were four English teachers of SMKN 1 Cimahi who

have used the existing syllabus and implement it in the teaching and learning process. There

are five English teachers in the school, three of them are considered to be senior teachers

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only been teaching less than five years and are considered to be junior teachers. The vice

principal on curriculum development affairs has also been involved in giving information

needed by the researcher. In this study, the researcher has got chance to interview two of the

senior teachers and two of the junior teachers. They teach grade ten and eleven.

3.4 The Data Collection

The existence of the instruments of data collection is very important to reach the

research objectives. In other words, how researcher can collect the data to achieve the goals

of the study without applying an or some instruments). In line with this, Alwasilah

(2005:142) remarks that when you have the real objectives of study, you should know how to

achieve them.

Based on the research design described above, the data in this research were mainly

descriptive data gathered by interview and document study. The interview was conducted to

investigate the teachers’ opinion and perceptions of the existing English syllabus while the

document study was done to investigate how the syllabus applied in the school agrees with

the school-basd curriculum. Each will then be described briefly here.

3.4.1 Interview

Interview is one of the valuable ways to get the description of actions and events

(Maxwell, 1996 cited in Abdurahman, 2007). Interview is usually carried out to obtain

information by actually talking to subjects (Saliger and Shohamy, 1989). It is used to get

information or data needed in line with the purposes of study (Alwasilah, 2003).

Unstructured interview was used to identify the individual respondents’ responses

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broad freedom of expression and elaboration and often resemble informal talks (Seliger and

Shohamy, 1989:167).

Operationally, the sequence of questions (about 22 items, see appendix 3) to be

explored was used as an interview guide (Patton, 1990 in Alwasilah, 2003) to guide the

formal questioning of the English teachers and to ensure that the questions about the same

general topics related to the relevance of the English syllabus for the Vocational High School

and The School-Based Curriculum and the English teachers’ perception toward the existing

English syllabus were asked to each of them. Regularly, 4 (1 to 4) of 22 interview items

asked about teachers’ perception toward the existing syllabus, especially in terms of their

understanding about the School-Based Curriculum called KTSP. This was based on the

notion that the teachers should know how they see others and the world around them (Hybels,

S. et al, 2004:235). In addition, Gazda et al (1984) in previous study conducted by Hermiadi

(2007) mentions that perception is influenced by factors such as students’ needs, the teachers,

significant others, context, anticipation, hope, preference, students’ background, and defense

mechanism.

Meanwhile, 10 (5 to 14) of 22 interview items debated on the English teachers’ points

of view about the existing English syllabus. This was due to as stated by White (1988:69)

that it is the teacher who knows about the condition of the students and the clarity and

development of a syllabus. The rest of them discusses the teachers’ expectations and

suggestions. This was based on the notion that as the teachers are the objects in the school

who have very close relation with the syllabus, it would be wise to know their participation in

giving expectation and suggestion in implementing the school-based curriculum. In line

with this, Skillbeck (1998) argues that teacher participation in curriculum development will

help improving the quality and relevance what is taught and will strengthened teacher

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To get the information about how the English teachers perceive the existing English

syllabus, the interviews were debated to four English teachers in the school. Two of them

were interviewed individually and the other two teachers were interviewed in the same place

and at the same time. The interview was conducted by using the forms containing some

questions and it was done through recording. Besides, the vice school principal of the

curriculum development affair was also interviewed to get the information concerning

school-based curriculum development policy. The result of the interview was then grouped,

transcribed, coded and analysed according to the characteristics of the questions. The coding

used here such as Q#1 for question 1, Q#2 for question 2, etc., R1 for Respondent 1, R2 for

respondent 2, and so forth.

3.4.2 Document Study

To support and enrich the data acquired during the interview, some media were used,

such as a tape recorder and documentation. In this research, the documents studies were the

existing English syllabus used by the teachers and the vocational high school-based

curriculum document. The points to be focused on the syllabus analysis are something

concerning the objectives, the contents and organization, the approach, and the assessment.

Documents–broadly defined to include public records, personal papers, physical traces, and

artifacts–are a third major source of data in case study research (Merriam, 1988). They were

used especially to corroborate and augment evidence for other sources.

3.5 Data Analysis

According to Bogdan and Biken (1992:153), data analysis needs the systematic search

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understanding of the problem being explored. The data of this study were analyzed through

qualitative data analysis. As stated by Alwasilah (2003) the analysis of the data must be

conducted as soon as they are collected. Data analysis was done over and after the course of

the research program. It was done on the basis of the research questions stated in chapter 1.

They were classified into two central themes. First, the relevance of the English Syllabus for

vocational schools designed by the MGMP of West Java province to the Curriculum of 2006

edition. Second, the teachers’ perceptions towards the English syllabus they have been using.

To find out how the existing syllabus agrees with The School-Based Curriculum, the

analysis has been limited to the four areas, objectives, contents, approach, and assessment

stated in the curriculum. Additionally, the analysis was also done on the Standard of Graduate

Competence (SKL or Standar Kompetensi Lulusan) for English subject stated or determined

by the Ministry of Education. In terms of the existing syllabus, the analysis was focused on

the organization of components of the syllabus developed by the MGMP of West Java

Province.

To get the information about how the teachers perceive the existing syllabus, the data

was gathered from the interviews with English teachers were grouped based on the main

points of view. In this case, they were divided into three categories, the teachers’ general

knowledge of The School-Based Curriculum, the teachers’ opinions about the clarity and

appropriateness of the existing syllabus as well as their suggestions and expectation for the

syllabus improvement. The data collected from various sources and instruments were

categorized and analyzed.

3.6 Validity

To validate the data, trustworthiness was established to determine the accuracy and the

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collection and analysis techniques. This is in line with McMillan and Chumacher’s statement

(2001:407) that qualitative researchers use many strategies to enhance validity. Thus, a

number of techniques were used to ensure the trustworthiness, such as triangulation and

member checks.

3.6.1 Triangulation

Triangulation is using multiple methods of gathering data and multiple sources data to

confirm the emerging findings (Merriam, 1988:169). To ensure the validity of data,

interview transcripts and documentation were triangulated. The process of triangulation was

done by checking the answers of the participants with the English syllabus whether their

statements about perception toward the existing English syllabus were the same, or not.

3.6.2 Member Checking

According to Merriam (1988:169), member checking is taking data and interpretation

back to people from whom they were derived and asking them if the results are plausible.

Referring to Merriam’s statement, as data collection progressed, member checking by taking

data and interpretation back to the respondents and asking them to check whether all the data

transcribed and interpreted were the same as and in line with what they had said. Having all

respondents received and brought the interview transcripts and interpretations to be read in

their own home, they agreed to all interview transcripts and interpretations.

3.7 Concluding Remarks

This chapter has discussed methodology of the research, which used qualitative

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interview and documentation were analyzed. The validity of the research was maintained by

means of triangulation process and member checking. The analysis of the findings will be

elaborated on the next chapter.

The whole methodology is summarized in the following design:

Figure 3.1

Research Methodology

Background

Fact Problem

Theory

The Relevance of the existing English syllabus and The School-Based Curriculum

for the vocational high school

Research Questions

Validity Data Collection - Interview

- Documentation

Data Analysis Finding and

Discussions

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CHAPTER V

CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

This chapter discusses the conclusions of the present study, followed by some

suggestions proposed for the readers and other researchers interested in vocational

educations.

5.1 CONCLUSIONS

Having analyzed the data gained from the document study of curriculum and English

syllabus implemented in the vocational high school 1 Cimahi, and interview with respondents

the conclusions can be drawn are as follows:

As far as the curriculum model is concerned, the English syllabus applied in the

research site adopts the objectives model curriculum proposed by Tyler (1947),or the

means-end model. By ‘the Model’ here means that it looks at the relationship between the parts of

the process of the curriculum development and the syllabus design. These parts are

objectives, content, method, and evaluation. The national objectives of the vocational

education, the school objectives of the vocational high school, and the objectives of the

subjects are stated initially.

In terms of the approach, the school-based curriculum outlines the mastery learning

and the active learning to be adopted. The orientation of materials selection of the English

syllabus is on language functions and is competency-based that should cover four language

skills.

Regarding the evaluation, the syllabus recommends that the assessment of students’

performance be done both through paper test and practical test which may be conducted

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curriculum. In other words, the students’ performance should not only be evaluated based on

the written test but also practical test.

Dealing with the first research questions about the degree to which the syllabus agrees

with the school-based curriculum, the answer is that the English syllabus developed MGMP

of West Java province, to some extents is in line with the school-based curriculum especially

on the above points of view.

The result of the interview suggests that the English teachers perceive the existing

syllabus as effective and applicable for the students of the vocational high schools. The basic

competence and competence standard stated in the school curriculum can be achieved as they

are expected. Nevertheless, they made several notes such as book resources should not be

limited and the allocation of time should be re-adjusted.

5.2. SUGGESTIONS

As far as EFL is concerned, for the success of the implementation of the

School-Based Curriculum called KTSP or the School-based curriculum, the Subject Matter Teachers

Association of English teachers plays an important role in developing English syllabus and

other components regarding English teaching and learning activities such as RPP or Rencana

Pengembangan Program meaning the Plan for Program Development and learning materials

and assessment.

The autonomy for developing subject matter syllabus is a part of the curriculum

reforms. Therefore, it is recommended that the school facilitate and motivate the teachers to

always analyze and develop the English syllabus including the teaching method and the

instructional materials.

For further study, the scope should be expanded to other aspects such as the

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schools, the material development and the evaluation. This is required to match the teachers’