THE GAP BETWEEN LEARNING NEEDS AND ITS’ IMPLEMENTATION IN ENGLISH FOR HOSPITALITY SPECIFIC PURPOSES PROGRAM

ENGLISH REVIEW: Journal of English Education Volume 6, Issue 1, December 2017 p-ISSN 2301-7554, e-ISSN 2541-3643 https://journal.uniku.ac.id/index.php/ERJEE THE GAP BETWEEN LEARNING NEEDS AND ITS’ IMPLEMENTATION IN ENGLISH FOR HOSPITALITY SPECIFIC PURPOSES PROGRAM Dian Kardijan Department of English Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, University of Siliwangi Email: Emzir Language Education, Postgraduate Program, State University of Jakarta Email: Zainal Rafli Language Education, Postgraduate Program, State University of Jakarta Email: APA Citation: Kardijan, D., Emzir & Rafli, Z. (2017). The gap between learning needs and its’ implementation in English for hospitality specific purposes program. English Review: Journal of English Education, 6(1), 125-135. DOI: 10.25134/erjee.v6i1.779. Received: 26-08-2017 Accepted: 24-10-2017 Published: 01-12-2017 Abstract: This study is to reveal the gap between the English language communicative competence required by students of the hospitality department and English learning program provided at state of Vocational High School 1 Tasikmalaya, Indonesia, drawing through qualitative evaluation approach, including semi-structured interviews and observations. It explores how learning needs is implemented in teaching-learning process and the respondents’ description, what they saw and what they felt. Findings show inconsistency between learning needs in enrichment students’ English communicative competence and teaching-learning process. This prompts a re-instructional design of English learning for hospitality specific purposes program at this department currently. It provides to support of graduating required at hospitality industry workplace. Lead of recommendations, in terms of both the instructional design including materials development, teaching method usage and the professional development of ESP teachers, to address an understanding of the gap identified, so that students will enable to communicate more effectively with the English, in such contexts graduates can hire at the hospitality industry workplace. Keywords: learning needs, pre-vocational English field, authentic materials and teaching methods INTRODUCTION Learning needs is an effective ways of teaching and learning process to achieve the learning objectives of the students’ competency targeted. It is one of the ‘Needs Analysis’ component in which ESP principles showing the important of learning needs analysis, target situation analysis, and present situation analysis. Learning needs involves teaching methods and authentic materials that must be implemented by the teachers to facilitate students’ needs in improving English communication skill. Learning needs is related to participants’ specific learning needs based on the personal needs of teaching content, interests, and motivation (Xie & Adamson, 2015). DudleyEvans and St. John in Basturkmen state learning needs is language learning information: Effective ways of learning the skills and language to facilitate the learners’ 125 Dian Kardijan, Emzir, & Zainal Rafli The gap between learning needs and its’ implementation in English for hospitality specific purposes program lack in English learning (Basturkmen, 2010, p. 18). In relation to students’ need of tourism vocational high school in learning English, in terms of language skills, they expect to improve their speaking ability, and listening ability. This makes sense because the two skills are closely interrelated (Amin, Arifudin, & Nurahmadi, 2017). In order to help the students to communicate English meaningfully, the teachers need a variety of teaching approach, in which communicative language teaching can be covered to develop students’ communicative competence. This ‘authenticity-centered’ approach directly informs the design of language learning materials-exemplifying the symbiotic relationship between the approach to learning and the content/materials used in applying it (Mishan, 2005, p. ix). Strategies employed to develop communicative competence might include the use of authentic texts and teaching methods. The use of authentic materials and appropriate methodology can support real-life language by providing meaningful exposure to language as it is actually used. Basturkmen (2010) defines “The materials presented the students with complex information/ideas communicated through the second language” (p. 10). Furthermore, Patel and Jain (2008) state “Methodology is systematic and scientific way of teaching any subject and it guides teacher "How to teach" and "How his teaching may be effective” (p. 70). Employing such materials and methodology of teaching that covered by broader of communicative language teaching approach can be engaging and motivating, where learners need to communicate effectively in a specific work. ESP is goal oriented and focused English teaching and learning, designed for the specific learners according to learners’ academic and professional needs (Rahman, 2015). Pedagogically, the course needs to reflect this diversity and offer support which can be tapped according to a greater range of individual learning needs (Tomlinson & Whittaker, 2013, p. 102). Hospitality Students of Vocational High School need the tasks and activities at the beginning of the course about what they can do in English learning with the specific subject for workplace demands. Furthermore, Dudley-Evans & St. John state “English for Vocational Purposes (EVP), PreVocational English specifically, concerns with finding a job and interview skills and it also deals with succeeding in a job through an understanding of employer expectation and policies” (1998, p. 7). Therefore, the learning process and the English material should really be able to contribute positively and relevant to the interests and needs of the students vocationally. The strategies of cooperative activities, role-play, creative tasks, and drilling helped students to speak, as well as concerned oral production (Syafrizal & Rohmawati, 2017). An understanding toward the kind of language required at the workplace, there are different types discourse that needed by employees. The types of hospitality workplace discourse include interpersonal and transactional utterance in language use. The transactional sense is a particular kind of negotiation to get things done in language or exchanging information to develop an understanding of the self and the other in communication, in which people interact and communicate” (Liddicoat & Scarino, 2013, p. 66). It describes various types of communication activities that promote the kind of comprehension that may lead to message acquisition. Rutherford and O’Fallon (2007) state that the prospective qualification of hospitality employees should be able to read, write and communicate in English and they have good organizational skills. Through interactions with customers, important messages about their needs and expectations can be received by se (...truncated)