I Learn What I Need: An Analysis of Students’ Needs in Learning English

Abstract

Learning English in Vocational High Schools (VHSs) is different from that in Senior High Schools. The orientation of VHSs is to train students to be qualified enough for the world of work in the future. In other words, VHSs focus on the students’ readiness to do certain job expertise. In order to achieve this goal, the English teacher should provide English learning materials that are appropriate to their fields and based on the students’ need. Eventually, English teachers in VHSs are expected to have the ability to analyze the students’ needs, so that they can design appropriate instructional materials. The purpose of this research was to describe the need analysis results of students who were prospective workers as well as English learners. This study involved 21 eleventh grade students of Multimedia Study Program at vocational school SMK Negeri 5 Jayapura. The data were collected through a questionnaire and analyzed based on the interpretation of frequency and percentage. The results show that the needs of students towards learning English are to meet the academic professions and the future needs of the students, including the skills of the language and some of the language components. Keywords—need analysis, ESP, Vocational High School, learning needs