English for Microbiologist and Chemistry Analyst: target situation needs analysis

Abstract

Nowadays, English becomes the most demanded language which can be used as lingua franca for communication in the world (Chauhan, 2015). The demand of English language teaching with specific purposes is growing rapidly. Along with the development of English education, needs analysis has emerged to become one of the most important parts in the process of developing an English language course. The aim of this study was to investigate the English language communicative needs of Microbiologist and Chemistry Analyst professionals in order to provide empirical data to develop an ESP program for Post-Harvest Technology education in SMK Negeri 1 Temanggung and higher education which provide English subjects for Microbiologist and Chemistry Analyst students. The study used a theoretical framework of needs analysis to investigate the extent of English language used by Microbiologist and Chemistry Analyst professionals, the level of English skills, i.e. reading, listening, speaking and writing needed to perform different tasks, and the perception of Microbiologist and Chemistry Analyst professionals towards English language subjects during their study. The study focused on two Microbiologists and three Chemistry Analyst professionals who had graduated from Post-Harvest Technology in SMK Negeri 1 Temanggung. Through interviews, the findings revealed that English was highly used by professionals of Microbiologist and Chemistry Analyst and took an important part to support their tasks. The findings also pointed out that the receptive skills (reading and listening) were extensively used rather than the productive skills (speaking and writing). And finally, the findings reported that the English language subjects which had been taken by Microbiologist and Chemistry Analyst were not sufficient enough to support their professional lives.