View of EXPLORING ESP COURSE

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10.36597/jellt.v7i2.16591 This is an open-access article under the CC–BY-SA license. 13

EXPLORING ESP COURSE:

INSIGHTS FROM TEACHERS AND STUDENTS

Khairunnisa Dwinalida*

UIN Prof. K.H. Saifuddin Zuhri, Purwokerto, Indonesia [email protected]

*Corresponding Author

Abstract In the secondary school setting in Indonesia, English for Special Purposes (ESP) is taught in vocational schools. The competence of the results, however, falls short of what the workplace requires and expects. It suggests that there is a problem with the ESP-based teaching and learning process. This study attempts to find out how students and teachers perceive the ESP course at a vocational high school. 34 respondents in total, including 32 students and 2 English teachers, took part in the survey. Students were given a set of questionnaires with 34 closed-ended questions and 4 open-ended questions to help gain the information. Teachers were also interviewed to better understand their perspectives.

The findings show that students' English proficiency is lacking, as indicated by students and teachers. Students are aware of the significance, challenges, and demands they will have in the future with regard to the ESP program. Teachers and students both agree that the focus of English learning materials should be on what employers want in the workplace. Finally, a number of possible problems with the ESP program are raised, including the length of instruction, the nature of the ESP, and the qualifications of the teachers. The findings of this study suggested that a collaborative approach to teaching might be an alternative to the current ESP curriculum in order to partially address the issue.

Key Words: ESP program, teachers’ perception, students’ perception

How to Cite: Dwinalida, K. (2023). Exploring ESP Course: Insights from Teachers and Students. Journal of English Language and Language Teaching, 7(2), 13-28. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.36597/jellt.v7i2.16591

INTRODUCTION

One place in which the ESP program is conducted is vocational high school. The teaching of English for academic, professional, or vocational objectives is specifically referred to as ESP. Students in vocational schools are prepared to be English experts in every discipline.

According to Alfiyati and Maryana (2014), students in vocational high schools should be capable of showing their proficiency in both General English (GE) and English for Special Purposes (ESP). English is integrated with the professional knowledge and abilities of VHS students through the ESP program (Lo, 2012). It can be claimed that English in vocational

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Copyright © 2023, Journal of English Language and Language Teaching, ISSN 2579-6046 14 schools should be appropriate to the students' program. Shen (2009) adds that English courses should be designed to accommodate the goals of students in a particular setting.

In contrast, English is often taught at Senior High School. The term "SMK BISA" used by the Indonesian government to refer to a vocational school. As a result of this terminology, students in vocational schools should be experts in their specialty, including English.

Nonetheless, English language proficiency among students in vocational schools is poor (personal communication, 2022). Kavaliauskiene's research in 2003, students simply learn English to succeed in the short term, acquire good grades, and then for use in the future. That suggests that the students have a negative opinion of the ESP program.

Shen (2009) stated that institutions have designed curricula that reflect the objectives they have for their students. Moreover, Indonesia is affected. The demands of the students or their intended needs are not really reflected in the English materials. Both senior high school and vocational schools studied the same English textbooks as part of the curriculum (personal communication, 2022). Some issues arise in the ESP course as well, particularly in vocational high schools. These issues include teachers' negative attitudes toward the ESP course, the absence of ESP training for English teachers, inappropriate instruction and poorly designed syllabi, and students' failure to anticipate their ESP needs (England, 2006; Shen, 2009).

In order to better understand the issue of English instruction at vocational schools, a significant amount of research has been done in this area. The attitudes of students and teachers regarding status and English language learning in the setting of vocational high schools are still incredibly uncommon. The purpose of this study was to investigate how teachers and students of vocational fields view English language instruction in the setting of vocational schools.

LITERATURE REVIEW English for Specific Purposes

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is a movement that aims to meet the language needs of students who need to learn a second language in order to acquire content and practical skills rather than to become fluent in the language for its own sake. These students need to learn a second language in order to perform specific roles. ESP programs are created especially for academic sectors of work (Jouybar, 2013). (Dudley-Evans & St John, 1998) describe that ESP programs use distinct teaching methodologies for General English and are focused on improving learners' English proficiency in a variety of specific fields, such as tourism, nursing, medical science, business, or computer technology. Further, Dudley- Evans & John (1998) explain that ESP is classified into two sections. First, English for Academic Purposes (EAP), where we have English for Academic Medical Purposes, English for Academic Science and Technology Purposes and many more. Second is English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) like English for Business Purposes, English for Medical Purposes and others.

According to Steven (1998), ESP has three key characteristics: 1) it was created to address a particular set of learner needs, 2) its content is connected to specific professional knowledge, disciplines, and activities, and 3) it typically focuses on language that is

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Copyright © 2023, Journal of English Language and Language Teaching, ISSN 2579-6046 15 appropriate for tasks involving syntax, semantics, lexicon, and discourse. There is a similar statement made by Lorenzo (2005) who said, "ESP students are mainly adults who already have some experience with English and are learning the language in order to communicate a set of professional abilities and to perform particular job-related duties".

As ESP is entirely learner-centered and goal-oriented, the ESP instructor has a bigger workload and greater responsibility than a regular English teacher would.

It may be seen from the preceding explanation that ESP programs are goal-oriented and focus on the needs of the learners. The needs of the students and the context's relevance should guide the course's design.

Needs Analysis in ESP

One aspect that distinguishes ESP is needs analysis (NA). Designing the ESP syllabus, tasks, and resources requires NA (Montazeri and Hamidi, 2013). To provide a successful English learning experience, NA should be used before implementing English courses (Shen, 2009). Basturkmen (2006) adds, a critical element of ESP course design is that the syllabus should be based on an analysis of the needs of the students. Teachers, curriculum designers, and materials designers frequently have a tendency to predict students' future needs using their intuitions, which may result in limited success in the ensuing ESP course.

Dudley-Evans and Johnson (1991) in their book explain ESP goes above and beyond the typical EAP base to better meet the needs of students. Nonetheless, they emphasize that further study is required on the nature of spoken or written discourse and that it should be done by students taking ESP courses. They also underline how ESP-related research is starting to be used as a resource by other academic fields. NA in language instruction refers to the process of identifying the needs that a student or group of learners require a language for and prioritizing those needs. It can be said, while creating any ESP courses or materials, it is crucial to take into account the sponsors, subject experts, language course designers, teachers, and students' demands.

The responsibility of the ESP course developer in terms of syllabus design and course development is to determine the needs of the learners and design the particular course with those needs in mind (Basturkmen, 2010; Evans, 2013). In general, NA is a crucial component of the curriculum in successful educational programs (Evans, 2013). Before a curriculum can be designed for the teaching of a language, a needs assessment is typically necessary. Needs assessments are the procedures created to collect and analyze data regarding the target language needs for a particular group of learners in a current or projected setting in order to draw conclusions about the curriculum and make well- informed decisions.

Materials and Curriculum in ESP

In terms of content and skill development, learners would need to deliver not only academically but also professionally. The degree of relevance, authenticity, comprehensibility, and individual student involvement were taken into consideration

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Copyright © 2023, Journal of English Language and Language Teaching, ISSN 2579-6046 16 when the materials were created by the language center professors in cooperation with the subject matter experts. The development of the ESP curriculum is goal-oriented and learner-centered (Papadima-Sophocleous & Hadjiconstantinou, 2013). In addition to being sensitive to the socio-cultural contexts in which the students will use English for particular purposes, an ESP course should be designed to meet the specific learning and language usage needs of specified groups of learners (Johns & Price-Machard, 2001). The teaching materials should be created or chosen once the goals have been determined through earlier analysis and the ESP syllabus has been designed based on the linguistic needs of the learners. Authenticity is the essential idea when creating or choosing materials for ESP. Robinson (1991) explained the task and materials which are presented in learning situation should be authentic.

Hutchinson & Waters (1987) argued, it is impossible for a book or ready-made resource to be effective in a variety of ESP courses. Exchange rates may make items unsuitable even when they are readily available. One option is for an ESP instructor to create the materials themselves to meet the needs of specific students in the particular subject area. Producing resources could be time-consuming and tiring, but it might also help teachers become more conscious of what goes into teaching and learning. Collaborative teaching resources, according to Salsbury (2005), can assist teachers in meeting the requirements of their pupils. It becomes a useful substitute for teaching ESP courses.

It can be inferred that the authenticity and specificity of the materials are the major considerations when teachers create materials for ESP courses, regardless of the type of material that is used.

Problems and Challenges of ESP

ESP is typically created to meet the various needs of learners in certain circumstances. It presents more difficulties and is more difficult than English for General Purposes (EGP).

The objectives, content, techniques, and teaching strategies of the ESP courses differ.

Hence, ESP courses cover a wide range of topics and challenges. Previous research has looked into the issues and difficulties that arise in ESP classes, such as the students' poor English language proficiency (Basturkmen, 1998), the learning difficulties associated with ESP (Ferris & Tagg, 1996), the big classes and low student’s motivation (Strevens, 1980), the insufficient number of instructional hours (Strevens, 1980;Tsao, Wei, & Fang 2008), and the teacher's qualifications (Chen, 2000). All of them were viewed as negative variables that hampered the efficiency of ESP.

Perception and Expectation toward ESP

ESP is created according to the needs of the students. Through needs analysis, students understand their requirements and expectations for ESP classes, and ESP practitioners understand these needs and expectations and create authentic materials to meet each learner's unique needs in each environment (Shen, 2009). Students' perceptions of the conditions and demands of their intended contexts have a significant impact on how they perceive ESP learning. Nonetheless, there are inevitably perception inequalities between students and teachers. Learners' assessments of their own requirements could be

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Copyright © 2023, Journal of English Language and Language Teaching, ISSN 2579-6046 17 incorrect, partial, or poorly-founded (West, 1994). This might happen because students are too young to understand what they require (Huang, 1997).

As stated by Bacha and Bahos (2008), teachers and learners did not share the same opinions on the students' English proficiency or their needs. The differences in requirements for various class levels and course types, which cause the students to interpret their needs and expectations differently, may be one explanation for the variations between teachers and students. Also, students may have different preferences and viewpoints than teachers have about language proficiency and classroom activities.

Basturkmen (1998) in his words said engineering students believed that speaking was not very significant and that listening was the most crucial language ability. Nonetheless, because there were so many reading tasks involved, the teacher saw reading and listening as being nearly equally important.

The result presented above explained that student perceptions of the significance of ESP vary from person to person in light of their specialized development and individual needs.

METHOD

To gather information about how students and teachers perceived ESP, a mix-method approach was adopted in the current study. 32 students were present, including 11 TKJ students, 10 multimedia students, 11 audio video students, and 2 English teachers, one of whom is a full- time teacher with five years of classroom experience and the other is a part-time teacher with three years of classroom experience. Everyone who took part was from the same School.

Data collection tools for the investigation included a set of questionnaires and interviews.

A questionnaire was used, and it contained both closed- and open-ended questions.

Responses were graded on a 5-point Likert scale, with "strongly agree" being the most common response and "strongly disagree" being the least common. To find out how the students felt about the school's ESP program, questionnaires were given to the students.

This study's ESP curriculum emphasizes English as a topic. The questionnaire was adapted on Shen's (2009) study, which also examined how teachers and students felt about the ESP course in the engineering program at THVEI. The purpose of the interview was to learn what the teachers thought of the ESP program at their institution. This study used structured interviews to learn more about how teachers regard ESP programs. It included the perspectives of teachers regarding current ESP courses, the challenges they face when instructing ESP, the teaching and learning environment in ESP courses, as well as teachers' expectations and recommendations for upcoming ESP courses.

The results of the questionnaire were percentage using frequency and percentage in the SPSS 22.0 edition. In other words, the close-ended questionnaire was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Following the transcription of interviews, the data was analyzed qualitatively as follows: transcriptions of the interviews, coding the expressions relevant to the experiences was conducted, patterns and themes were identified, and the uncovering of the meaning or meanings

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Copyright © 2023, Journal of English Language and Language Teaching, ISSN 2579-6046 18 of the statements was conducted, and deciphered the common categories, patterns, and themes (McMillan & Schumacher, 2010; Auerbach & Silverstein, 2003).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Students’ Opinion toward current ESP course

The section highlights the student perspectives on current ESP classes, highlighting their challenges, the distinctions between ESP and general English, and the benefits of ESP training. This is a breakdown of each item's analysis.

Table 1. Frequency of students’ opinion toward current ESP Program

No Question 1 2 3 4 5

B1 The difficulty of ESP course is moderate 0 12.5 75 12.5 0 B2 The content of ESP course is practical 3.1 34.4 43.8 18.8 0 B3 The ESP material is interesting 3.1 0 21.9 62.5 12.5 B4 The pace of ESP instruction is moderate 0 6.3 9.4 7.9 12.5 B5 The ESP instruction suitable with my mayor study 3.1 3.1 37.5 34.4 21.9 B6 The ESP instruction benefits my future career 0 0 15.6 37.5 46.9 B7 There are not any differences between ESP course

and general English course

3.1 9.4 18.8 56.3 12.5 B8 ESP course benefits the most to my English

listening

3.1 0 21.9 50 25

B9 ESP course benefits the most to my English reading 0 0 15.6 56.3 28.1 B10 ESP course benefits the most to my English

speaking

0 0 15.6 65.5 18.8 B11 ESP course benefits the most to my English writing 0 0 21.9 65.5 12.5

Question B1-B4 (material and instruction): In accordance with the statistics, students believed that there were no significant issues with the teaching methods and materials that were provided by the teachers. It appears that the level of the instructional materials matched the competence of the students. The content's level of difficulty ought to be reachable and acceptable to learners because the majority of them lack basic English language abilities (Basturkmen, 1998; Chang, 2004; Tsoa, Wei, & Fang, 2008). The degree of relevance, authenticity, comprehensibility, and individual student involvement were taken into consideration when the materials were created by the language center instructors in collaboration with the subject matter experts. The development of the ESP curriculum is goal-oriented and learner-centered (Papadima-Sophocleous &

Hadjiconstantinou, 2013). Yet, 18.8% of the students felt that their course materials were not yet applicable to them.

Question B5-B7 (beneficial and differences between EG and ESP materials): The majority of students agreed that the course materials were different from those used in general English courses and appropriate for their mayor. The findings demonstrated that the majority perspectives also support the idea that ESP should differ from EGP in its goals, teaching resources, and instructional methods. Strevens (1988) asserts that ESP

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Copyright © 2023, Journal of English Language and Language Teaching, ISSN 2579-6046 19 comprises of English language instruction as opposed to Common English. In addition, Dudley-Evans and St. John (1998) suggest that ESP employ a different approach from general English in certain instructional contexts. The many learners also concurred that the resources would be helpful for their future careers. ESP prepares students to speak and write English in academic, professional, and workplace contexts (Mohammadi &

Mousavi, 2013). The students also concluded that taking ESP lessons would be beneficial for their future careers. ESP was crucial and helpful for their academic work as well as their future careers (Huang, 1997; Tsao, Wei, & Fang, 2008; Shen 2009).

Questions B8-B11 (language skills): talking about language skills, the majority of students (84.4%) identified reading and speaking as the language skill that would benefit the most from taking ESP classes, followed by writing (78.1%), and listening (75%) as the last.

Students’ expectation toward future English course

Students' expectations for the upcoming English course are present in this section. It discusses future ESP learning and instruction, ESP course development, and who the ESP curriculum should be focused on.

Table 2. Frequency of students’ expectation toward future English course

no Question 1 2 3 4 5

C1 ESP course should be suitable with the specialized field

0 21.9 40.6 28.1 9.4 C2 More time should be given to English

instruction

0 31.3 53.1 15.6 0 C3 The content of ESP should be easier 0 21.9 37.5 34.4 6.3 C4 ESP course should focus on the specialized field 0 37.5 37.5 12.5 12.5 C5 ESP course should focus on the general skills of

English

0 12.5 53.1 31.3 3.1 C6 More effort should be done to help students

with listening

0 0 6.3 75 18.8

C7 More effort should be done to help students with reading

0 0 12.5 68.8 18.8 C8 More effort should be done to help students

with speaking

0 0 15.6 62.5 21.9 C9 More effort should be done to help students

with writing

0 3.1 12.5 65.6 18.8 C10 ESP curriculum should be developed based on

students’ needs

0 0 21.9 65.6 12.5

Question C1-C5 (ESP instruction and learning materials): As shown by the data, the majority of students believed that the courses should focus on their technical discipline.

This outcome showed that learners expect to study English in a way that is tailored to their needs. Sultana (2013) explained ESP teachers must plan the course, select, and prepare the content in accordance with their demands. According to Richards and Rodgers (1986), instructional materials can nevertheless give precise topic standards

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Copyright © 2023, Journal of English Language and Language Teaching, ISSN 2579-6046 20 even in the absence of a syllabus. However, General English is still expected by the students in teaching and learning activities. It is because most of the students have lack of the English background knowledge.

The students placed a strong emphasis on time management when studying English in addition to the instruction and the resources. Robinson (1989) stated that "ESP courses are typically hampered by a paucity of time" and that "time is a key aspect that must be taken into account while conducting an ESP course" (p.398).

Questions C6-C9 (ESP Planning): Further assistance in reading, as well as other skills like speaking, listening, and writing, were deemed necessary by the students in the same portion (84.4%). This finding indicated that students believed their English were still insufficient and that they needed to improve in all areas of English language proficiency.

Question C10 (curriculum construction): A whopping 78.1% of the students concurred that curriculum should be developed in accordance with students' needs. It is recommended that because SMK and SMA are different, student needs should be taken into account while developing the curriculum. NA is the cornerstone of teaching English for Special Purposes (ESP), as constantly stated in the ESP literature, as claimed by (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987; Dudley-Evans & St John, 1998). Despite the fact that much emphasis has been placed on the target situation analysis producing the language, skills, and knowledge needed for the ESP learner to function in the target context, learning needs are rarely taken into account in research and practice.

English activities involved in ESP class

This section's objectives were to identify the activities that took place most frequently in ESP classes, determine whether they were successful in assisting students in their academic work, and match the needs of the students with potential career opportunities.

This component is divided into four subsections: reading, writing, speaking, and listening activities. The final subsection examined the English skill that students felt was most necessary for them.

Table 3. English activities involved in ESP class

No Question 1 2 3 4 5

E1 Read the syllabus ESP course 0 9.4 53.1 37.5 0

E2 Read the English textbook 0 3.1 31.3 59.4 6.3

E3 Read the instruction of the English assignment 0 3.1 25 68.8 3.1 E4 Read the journal articles of the specialized field 0 3.1 65.6 31.3 0

E5 Write the excerpts 0 3.1 12.5 81.3 3.1

E6 Write the outline of power point 0 28.1 43.8 28.1 0 E7 Write the subject assignments 0 3.1 37.5 53.1 6.3

E8 Write the report of a study 3.1 6.3 5.6 25 0

E9 Listen to teacher instruction in English 0 3.1 9.4 62.5 25 E10 Listen to teacher inquiries in English 0 0 15.6 59.4 25 E11 Response to teacher inquiries in English 0 0 15.6 84.4 0

E12 Give oral report in English 0 3.1 25 65.6 6.3

E13 Participate in discussion session in English 0 0 9.4 62.5 28.1

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Copyright © 2023, Journal of English Language and Language Teaching, ISSN 2579-6046 21 Questions E1-E4 (Reading Activities in the ESP Classes): Reading instruction for assignments was selected by 71.9% of the students, followed by reading from an English textbook by 65.7% of the students, reading from the English syllabus by 37.5% of the students, and reading from journal articles that related to their mayor by 31.3% of the students. The statistics indicate that students prefer to read the assignments and instructions as their reading activity. This finding suggests that teachers should increase their students' exposure to increasingly challenging texts while providing them with adequate encouragement.

Questions E5-E8 (Writing Activities): Writing a text excerpt, an assignment, and a power point outline were all deemed to be excellent writing activities by a cumulative 84.4% of students. Only 25% of students thought that writing a report was an interesting writing activity. In accordance with this finding, students are more motivated by simple writing assignments and would rather compose a text excerpt than a report.

Questions E9-E13 (Listening and Speaking Activities): Discussion was selected as the engaging activity by 90.9% of the students for speaking, followed by 84.4% for teacher talk and 71.9% for lectures. The majority of students (87.6%) thought that listening to teacher instructions and teacher enquiries (84.4%) were the two most engaging listening activities.

In the final section, students grade the necessity of English language proficiency for success in their future careers (from one, the most necessary, to four, the least important).

Speaking was ranked higher than listening, reading, and writing by 62.5% of students as the most necessary language skills for their future careers. Its result was similar to that of the subsection question results. Speaking was cited by the students as the mayor's most useful skill. The results from (Shen, 2009; Kadi, 2013) support it as well, indicating that students preferred speaking ability over other skills in their mayor since speaking was beneficial for their activities. (Jordan, 1997; Robinson, 1991; Harrabi, 2010) Speaking gives students opportunities to engage in English through pair work, group work, simulations, oral presentations in lectures, asking oral questions in seminars and workshops, and social interaction with other students.

The aforementioned study evidenced that students find sophisticated activities boring.

The data also reveals the learners' propensity for speaking. These findings show the necessity for teachers to enhance their students' understanding of the value of all language skills.

Opened-Ended Questions

The results of the closed-ended questionnaire also strength by the same results of opened-ended questionnaire as describe in the following table.

Table 4. Students’ open-ended questions

No Questions Category

1 Relation of current English materials with previous English learning

Relation Little No relation

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English

Lack of intensity Difficult vocabulary Lack of speaking materials Interesting

New knowledge 3 Situation while learning English Enjoy

Seriousness Conducive Bored 4 Students Expectation towards future

English teacher

Care Wise Creative Good rapport Friendly

Interesting learning Activities Fun Learning

Communicative Learning

The findings show that a large number of students believed there was a connection between the present and previous English materials (English in SMP). As according Far (2008), grammatical function, acquisition skills, and general English language content are significant and predominate in curriculum development and course design. In line with the statement, General English is now used to create classroom activities and English curricula in Indonesia without making a distinction between the curricula for SMA and SMK.

The students stated that there are certain problems in the present ESP course, including a lack of intensity, some parts that are hard to understand, and a lack of speaking resources. The students in the current ESP course, however, believed that the materials were helpful for their future careers because they learned new English-related information. Furthermore, simple to understand were the English resources. These findings align with the findings of the survey about the most recent ESP materials.

The third area discusses the challenges that students experience when learning English.

The majority of learners claimed that the environment was ideal for learning English.

They felt enjoyment and interest as well, but they took receiving the materials seriously.

But nonetheless, some learners occasionally had feelings of boredom and confusion. It is highlighted that teachers should generate positive learning environments and take into account students' motivation.

The fourth issue asked students what they expected from a future English teacher. Nearly all students stated that they need a teacher who is kind, wise, have good teaching circumstances, create fascinating resources, have a good rapport with them, is friendly, have exciting learning activities, and communicatively engaging. Based on the evidence, students prefer teachers who genuinely care about them. As stated by Brown (2007), this is the teenage level, where students search for what they need and desire to be.

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The table below will show the teachers’ perspective on teaching English in ESP class.

Table 5. Teachers’ interview

No The implementation of ESP Program Description 1. General English role in ESP acquisition Support

2 English skill priority to teach Speaking skill Reading skill 3 The weaknesses of ESP classroom Lack of practice

Lack of four skills coverage Students’ passiveness 4 The strength of ESP Classroom Various teaching Media

Important for future career 5 Teaching and learning atmosphere Lack of speaking practice

Bored

6 ESP realization Lack of Specificity

7 Teachers’ and students’ difficulties in teaching and learning ESP

Lack of learning resources No problem of ESP acquisition 8 ESP teacher Development Need of specific training 9 expectation and suggestion for ESP program Need of specific coursebook

Provision of specified syllabus

10 School Facilities Supportive facilities

11 Syllabus Unspecified syllabus

The data indicates how teachers’ perspective on ESP teaching and learning. There are those that are related to English proficiency and performance, ESP pedagogy that elicits teacher perspectives on students' difficulties, resources and facilities in teaching and learning activities, and teachers' perspectives on and ideas for ESP. These questions were intended to elicit instructor perspectives and perceptions of ESP courses as well as their expectations for the ESP pedagogy of the future.

The majority of the teachers stated that ESP was influenced by general English. As stated by the teachers, it will be simpler for them to explain the topics and use the English teaching method if the students have a clear understanding of general English. Students who are proficient in general English will find learning ESP easier and have better results.

In line, Alfiyati and Maryana (2014) stated students in vocational high schools should be able to show their proficiency in both General English (GE) and English for Special Purposes (ESP). The fundamental principle for students acquiring ESP is general English.General English is the basic term for students in learning ESP. The role of EG in ESP classes is to help the learners to comprehend the materials, so the learners can have a better understanding of the actualization of their connection in the real context (Far, 2008).

The second is the importance of the students' improving their skills through ESP class exercises. Because reading was the subject of every test at the end of the study, the

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Copyright © 2023, Journal of English Language and Language Teaching, ISSN 2579-6046 24 respondents claimed that reading was the most often occurring activity in class. In a while, speaking was regarded by all of the teachers as the most crucial language skill and the one that needed to be improved the most. Students' responses to open-ended and closed- ended questionnaires produced the same results. Although though the majority of teachers were aware that speaking was crucial for their students, they did not appear to provide enough opportunity for practice. The all teachers indicated that students generally lack the confidence to speak in front of a class. Here, teachers and students had different opinions. Students here claimed that they did not have sufficient speaking opportunities. On the other hand, teachers argue that students shy away from speaking in classroom. It suggests that teachers should use communicative teaching techniques to help students gain confidence when participating in speaking activities. Faculty and students may not necessarily have the same perspectives on students' English proficiency or needs, based on Bacha and Bahous' (2008) research.

The third topic concerns the ESP classroom environment. The teachers all agreed that the major weakness was the students' passivity. The teachers found it quite difficult to ask the students to practice speaking. The students' test will be formed on reading, so some teachers solely concentrate on reading and grammar. The focus on reading and grammar caused the learners to lack practice, particularly speaking practice, and to appear unmotivated. Teachers should be aware of these phenomena and the circumstances of their students. Providing entertaining and original materials might increase the students' desire to attend the class. Also, the desire of students for their English teachers supports it.

teaching ESP classes is difficult for teachers. The teachers said that the government did not provide any English sources for the vocational school. As a teacher, they should look for additional resources that complemented their curriculum. For instance, new content required the students to learn new terminology that was appropriate for their curriculum, but the textbook's explanation of that vocabulary was for a different program. They should therefore look for vocabulary that explain their program. They occasionally did this to practically all programs. Yet, there were no significant issues with the students' English learning. Since several English terms used in the subject's major also appeared in other disciplines. Its outcome is comparable to that of the students' closed-ended survey.

The realization of ESP in the classroom comes next. Although every teacher concurred that the classroom exercises distinguished the ESP course, they were not particularly specific to each major. Several portions of the teaching materials did not yet clearly illustrate ESP. Nevertheless, not always were the school's facilities available.

The next issue was teacher development. The majority of the teachers stated that ESP instructors need special training to be eligible to teach. That was due to insufficient English proficiency among teachers. There were a number of ESP words that teachers needed to be familiar with. The instruction should then be tailored based on the mayor of the school. As ESP differs from standard English, it is crucial for teachers. (Bojovic, 2012;

Hutchinson and Waters, 1987) ESP teachers are given the information and resources they

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Copyright © 2023, Journal of English Language and Language Teaching, ISSN 2579-6046 25 need to cope with the specialties of their individual students. Without qualified teachers, ESP programs are frequently of low quality and unproductive, claims England (2006).

Qualified ESP teachers are required to be professional in English language teaching and to have a higher level of subject knowledge.

The next term was the expectation and suggestion of the teachers. The respondents' responses pointed out that learners needed a coursebook that was appropriate for their specific subject. The course material ought to be tailored to the needs of the students. The teachers then hope that the government will offer a separate vocational school curriculum from the Senior High curriculum.

CONCLUSION

The core of English education has long been thought to be general English proficiency. As a result, the general level of English language proficiency among students has traditionally been seen as a sign of whether or not English learning has been successful. The results of this survey showed both teachers and students thought students' overall English proficiency was inadequate. Thus, the students shown a significant willingness to advance their command of the English language. It is because the majority of students noted that ESP is crucial and beneficial for both their academic personal development and professional careers.

The students emphasized that speaking is one of the necessary skills that they should master. The students, as reported by the teachers, are extremely challenging to practice speaking with. This suggests that educators should set up engaging and communicative tools to encourage their students' oral communication skills. Although taking ESP classes is good for students' academics and future careers, teachers said that the main issue with ESP courses is a lack of resources and inadequate school facilities to facilitate teaching and learning activities. The teachers claimed that there were few course materials and school resources that focused on the interests of the students. The teachers were forced by this issue to produce their own materials in addition to those they were required to produce for all mayors. Further, teachers’ challenges in ESP courses were syllabus for vocational school which was not focus on students need.

The students recommended that their needs be well explored prior to course design for future ESP courses. They want domain-oriented ESP programs, training materials that were tailored to their needs, and teachers who are kind, wise, experience, and friendly.

They also desired instructors who have engaging teaching methods and communicative learning styles. On the other hand, the teachers wanted ESP courses got the special attendance from the government. Students required access to a coursebook that was appropriate for their specific field. The teachers then hope that the government can supply the prescribed curriculum for the vocational school and based on the needs of the students since it would aid both teachers and students in meeting the demands of the real world.

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Copyright © 2023, Journal of English Language and Language Teaching, ISSN 2579-6046 26 The teachers recommended that the government organize a training program for English instructors who will teach in vocational schools. By engaging in this kind of activity, teachers can avoid providing resources that may not meet the needs of their students. The teacher in a certain subject area needs to be fluent in a few technical phrases. To make up for the shortcomings of the ESP education, collaborative teaching is another possibility.

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