Examining Students’ Needs for English as Required Course in Diponegoro University

Abstract

This study is aimed at finding out what students need in taking English as required course, what students want to learn, and how they want to learn. The data were taken from 500 questionnaires distributed to students. The data revealed that most of the students do have positive attitude in learning English, and because of this the students have more chances to take the best of their learning. However, as most of the students also take English because they are required to do so, there are also some factors that may discourage learners’ motivation in learning, i.e. materials selection, and teaching methods. Kajian ini ditujukan untuk mengetahui apa yang diinginkan oleh mahasiswa dalam mengambil mata kuliah MKDU Bahasa Inggris, secara spesifik untuk mengetahui materi apa yang mereka ingin pelajari, dan bagaimana mereka ingin mempelajarinya. Data diambil dari kuesioner yang disebarkan pada 500 mahasiswa. Analisis data menunjukkan bahwa sebagian besar siswa memiliki sikap bahasa yang positif dalam mepelajari Bahasa Inggris, dan oleh karenanya mahasiswa memiliki kesempatan lebih banyak untuk mengambil keuntungan terbesar dari perkuliahan tersebut. Namun demikian, karena sebagian besar mahasiswa mengambil mata kuliah tersebut karena kewajiban, ada beberapa hal yang menyurutkan motivasi mahasiswa, yakni pemilihan materi, dan metode mengajar dosen Bahasa Inggris.

Teaching Project Based Learning in English for Specific Purposes

“…The departments understand that their students should master English and be able to use it to demonstrate their main competence of their field of study. This is also supported by the students' respond who also acknowledge the fact that they need English for academic reasons [3]. Therefore, the goals set for the action research is in accordance with what students' and departments' wants.…”

“…The action research is on the project based learning and collaborative learning focusing on the teaching of English for academic purposes and specifically on academic writing. The class design and teaching materials are decided based on the analysis of the questionnaires given to the head of the departments in Diponegoro University [2] and the need analysis resulted from the questionnaires given to 500 students at Diponegoro University [3].…”

“…[2022], [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] Available online at: http://ejournal.undip.ac.id/index.php/culturalistics related with the content, and they only need to concentrate more on demonstrating that topic with their English either in written or in spoken English. It is true that not all students are comfortable to speak in English.…”

“…In general, they take English because they want to improve their mastery of English. Furthermore, they also target themselves on more specific goals such as they want to be able to utilize their English to help them mastering their field study competence, to help them with their abstract writing, to get a higher score in TOEFL, and to have better opportunity to continue their study [3]. The purposes mentioned by the students highlight that academic features of English should be the focus in English course.…”