Designing English Materials for Students of Beauty Program in Vocational High

Schools

A Research Proposal
Cicilia Ani Derinenta
166332025

A. INTRODUCTION
1. Contextualization
English is a subject which has to be passed by students both in
senior high schools and vocational high schools. To support the teaching and
learning process, it is needed a book or materials. Besides, since in Indonesia
the teaching and learning process is elaborated based on curriculum 2013, the
materials or the books are organized by the ministry of education.
Unfortunately, the English books and materials provided by the government
did not have any specification for the students in vocational high schools. For
instance, the book used by the students in culinary and beauty and skin care
program is the same. Thus the books used by the teachers did not provide the
students with authentic materials which are related with their professions.
Moreover, the provided materials are still too general for students
in vocational high schools, including students in beauty and skin care
program. It can be assumed too general since there are no specifications in the
English materials or no authentic materials for students in particular program
in vocational high schools. Although the provided materials are believed to be
enough to be the resources to learn for the students, they still cannot meet the
students needs related to their program. By using the provided materials, the
students in vocational high schools may still find it difficult to relate the
English language with their own study programs.
 Based on the fact above, it is essential to design English materials
for students in vocational high schools, particularly for students in beauty
program. By designing the suitable materials based on the students needs and
interests, the teaching and learning process can be better facilitated. Besides,
the students can also be more motivated in achieving the goals of learning the
English language. In designing the materials, to enable the English materials
meet the students needs and interests, they are designed based on the result
of needs analysis (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987). Furthermore, in designing
the materials, it uses an approach called ESP (English for Specific Purpose)
in order to make them more suitable and specific with the students future
professions.

2. Feasibility

This study focuses on designing English materials for students in

vocational high schools, particularly the students in beauty program. The
materials are designed based on the Core Competence and the Basic of
Competences of Curriculum 2013. Furthermore, to enable the materials
support and motivate the students in learning English and achieving the goals
of the subjects, the materials were also elaborated by considering the result of
the needs analysis which deals with the students needs and interests.

3. Research Question
What is suitable English material for students of beauty program in vocational
high schools?

4. Research Goal
To design suitable English materials for students of beauty program in
vocational high schools.
 5. Research Benefits
a. For the students of beauty program in vocational high schools
The designed materials can enrich their knowledge related to English and
support their professions since the materials are related to their future job.
Besides, the materials are expected to be able to motivate them in learning
English and help them to prepare themselves to compete with others in
global world.
b. For the English teachers of beauty program in vocational high schools
Besides providing materials to the students in beauty program, this research
is also expected to be able to support and encourage the teachers to develop
learning materials which are suitable with the students. Thus, the designed
materials can be the references to improve the learning process.
c. For other researchers
This research can inspire other researchers to design or develop better
learning materials. This research can be later an input of references to other
researchers who conduct the same studies.

B. LITERATURE REVIEW
1. English Curriculum in Vocational High Schools
A curriculum consists of several methods as the guideline for the
teachers to elaborate the materials into learning activities in order that the
students can achieve the learning goals. The recent curriculum applied in
schools in Indonesia is curriculum 2013. According to curriculum 2013, there
are four main aspects of the students competence as the objectives of
education, which are spiritual competence, social competence, knowledge
and skill. Those competences are stated in the form of core competence
(Kompetensi Inti/KI) which consists of one or more basic competences
(Kompetensi Dasar/KD). Furthermore, there are also six scientific methods
used in classrooms according to curriculum 2013, which are 1) observing, 2)
 questioning, 3) collecting data, 4) associating data, 5) communicating and 6)
creating.
According to the Basic Competences in the Minister of Education
and Culture Regulation 2013, the English language teaching in vocational
high schools is purposed to develop the students ability to communicate in
the target language, both written and oral. In other words, by learning the
English language, the students in vocational high school can improve their
skills in reading, writing, listening and speaking.

2. Beauty Program
Beauty Program is one of specific skills which is provided by
vocational high schools. In this program, the students are taught topics related
to beauty, for instance hairdo, skincare, and makeup. Furthermore, there are
various work fields that are related to this program, such as salon, beauty
aesthetic, spa, beauty center, skin care clinic and other kinds of beauty
companies. In addition, the students in beauty program are also prepared to
be ready to work and compete in global industries.
Therefore, to enable the students to compete in global industries, it is
essential to provide them with English as a means of communication. Thus,
English is an important subject to be taught to the students in beauty program,
or even in other programs to support them in global competition.
Furthermore, in order to achieve the purpose of learning English in
vocational high schools, the English materials is needed to be specific based
on its expertise. If the students are provided with English materials which are
suitable with their expertise, it will be effective to enable the students master
the English in accordance with their program. Thus, ESP (English for
Specific Purpose) can be the way to develop the English materials for
students in beauty program.
3. ESP (English for Specific Purposes)
Since English is widely used in various fields and accepted as the
international language, ESP becomes widely known. Many people want to
learn the English language to achieve different purposes or to support various
occupations. Based on that fact, ESP is widely growing in the teaching the
English language field. According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), ESP is
an approach to language teaching in which learners needs become the base
to decide anything related to the learning and teaching process, including the
learning contents and methodology. Furthermore, ESP is also useful in
designing materials to meet the learners needs (Basturkmen, 2010). It is also
stated there that ESP begins with the learners need, meaning to prepare the
learners to use English within academic, professional or workplace
environments. Besides, Masuhara and Tomlinson also state that ESP is
designed to fulfill the specific needs of the learner based on needs analysis.
In conclusion, ESP is based on students needs in learning English. Since the
students needs become the base in conducting a study in ESP, it is also
essential to conduct a need analysis to discover the students needs.

4. Needs Analysis
As stated before, it is important to consider the learners needs in
designing English materials in ESP. Therefore, to discover the learners need,
needs analysis is further conducted. According to Graves (2000), needs
analysis is a systematic and ongoing process to gather information about
students needs, interpret the information and then make teaching decision to
meet the students needs. Besides, there are also various ways to gather the
data, for instance questionnaires, interview, observation, etc (Hutchinson and
Waters, 1987). In gathering the data, using questionnaires is chosen since it
can enable the students to answer the questions.
 Furthermore, based on Hutchinson and Waters (1987), the analysis
of the learners needs has three points, which are:
a. Necessities is defined as the type of needs determined by the
demands of the target situation.
b. Lacks is the gap between what the learners know already and
what the learners do not know.
c. Wants is what the learners expect about language area that they
want to master.
Based on the explanation above, it can be concluded that needs
analysis is really important before designing ESP materials, since the students
needs or learners needs become the guidance in designing the appropriate
English materials.

5. Materials Development
Materials development refers to anything which is done by writers,
teachers or learners to provide sources of language inputs and to exploit those
resources to promote language learning (Tomlinson: 1998). Besides, Graves
(2000) states that materials development means creating and organizing
materials and activities so that the students can achieve the objectives and
reach the goal of the course.
Technology becomes an important aspect in the development of
language-learning materials because it can be a tool in support the creation
and a means to deliver the content. The development of materials is still
largely a practitioner-led practice, not always clearly informed by theories of
learning (Chapelle 2001). Thus, with the modern technology provided
nowadays, the materials will be designed into interesting ones supported with
technology such as designing images and absorb as many as information from
the internet.
6. Conceptual Framework
English is a subject which has to be passed by students both in
senior high schools and vocational high schools. To support the teaching and
learning process, it is needed a book or materials. The government already
provided materials or books for the students in vocational high schools.
Unfortunately, the English books and materials provided by the government
did not have any specification for the students in vocational high schools.
Moreover, the books used by the teachers did not provide the students with
authentic materials which are related with their professions.
Although the provided materials are believed to be enough to be the
resources to learn for the students, they still cannot meet the students needs
related to their program. By using the provided materials, the students in
vocational high schools may still find it difficult to relate the English language
with their own study programs.
Based on the problem stated above, it is essential to design English
materials for students in vocational high schools, particularly for students in
beauty program. By designing the suitable materials based on the students
needs and interests, the teaching and learning process can be better facilitated.
Besides, the students can also be more motivated in achieving the goals of
learning the English language. In designing the materials, to enable the
English materials meet the students needs and interests, they are designed
based on the result of needs analysis (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987).
Furthermore, in designing the materials, it uses an approach called ESP
(English for Specific Purpose) in order to make them more suitable and
specific with the students future professions.
METHODOLOGY (of the empirical truth discovery, its validity)
Coherence between research goals and research method (process and components),
e.g.

relation of association (correlation): survey research

relation of difference (effect): experiment; ex-post facto
relation with a prediction formula: survey research
product acceptability: r & d
actual-problem solution: action research
theory discovery: grounded research
unique and good practice: case study
social culture: ethnography
manifest and latent text content: content analysis
meaning of lived experience: hermeneutic phenomenology
description of lived experience: narrative

goal-achievement process (all about data: nature, gathering instruments,

processing/analysis, interpretation)
(depending on the method)

components: data sources, sampling, validation (internal, external)

analysis technique

EMPIRICAL TRUTH DISCOVERY

(execution of methodology)

all about data

components

data analyses and their results

interpretation of the analysis results

References

Hutchinson, T. and Waters, A. 1987. English for Specific Purposes. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.
Basturkmen, H. 2010. Developing Courses in English for Specific Purposes. London:
Palgrave MacMillan.
Graves, Kathleen. 2000. Designing Language Courses: A Guide for Teachers. Boston:
Heinle & Heinle Publishing.
Chapelle, Carol. 2001. Computer Applications in Second Language Acquisition. United
Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
Tomlinson, B. 1998. Reading in a Second Language: Process, Product, and Practice.
London and New York: Longman.