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Volume 3 Nomor 2 - Agustus 2018 
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NEED ANALYSIS IN LEARNING ENGLISH FOR NON ENGLISH PROGRAM 

AT TARBIYAH AND TEACHER TRAINNING FACULTY 

 

Yuwin R. Saleh 

yuwinsaleh@iaingorontalo.ac.id 

(Dosen IAIN Sultan Amai Gorontalo) 

 

 
ABSTRACT 

 

This research aims to obtain information about the needs of learners in Englih learning especially non 

English department students surroundings of Tarbiyah and teacher training Faculty of IAIN Sultan 

Amai Gorontalo, the results of the analysis of data obtained via the questionaire form as the main 

instrument. Based on the data analysis, it was obtained information that the English material should be 

submitted by using the strategies varied, English has four skills with more emphasized on a 

competency-based vocabulary , this is because learners expected through vocabulary they can 

understand a textbook material on other subjects which is very useful for them in job field. 

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk memperoleh informasi tentang kebutuhan peserta didik dalam belajar 
bahasa Inggris khususnya peserta didik non program studi Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris dilingkungan 
Fakultas Ilmu Tarbiyah Dan Keguruan IAIN Sultan Amai Gorontalo, hasil analisis data yang didapat 
melalui angket sebagai instrument utama diperoleh informasi bahwa materi Bahasa inggris 
hendaknya disampaiakn dengan menggunakan strategi yang bervariasi, materi Bahasa Inggris 
meliputi empat ketrampilan dengan lebih memberi bobot pada kosa kata berbasis kompetensi, hal ini 
dikarenakan peserta didik mengharapkan dengan kosa kata tersebut mereka bisa memahami materi 
materi buku teks pada mata kuliah lainnya yang berbasis kompetensi juga bisa menjadi bekal mereka 
dalam dunia kerja nanti  

 

Keywords: Need analysis, Learning English, Non English Department 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

mailto:yuwinsaleh@iaingorontalo.ac.id


Journal al-Lisan 
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A. Introduction 
 

The history of English empire has contributed significantly to the spread of English 

worldwide, geographically and culturally. Geohistorically, English has spread in three ways 

such as inner circle refers to nations using the language as their mother tongue, in example 

US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The “outer circle” includes those are from some 55 

ex British colonial countries, where English may be the language of the court, the medium of 

instruction at least in some levels of education, the press, or the government and is usually the 

official language, the third is expanding circle ; it is includes the nations that recognize the 

importance of English as an international language, included studying and history of nations. 

In addition, the global status of English cannot be separated from its other popular role 

as the language of science and technology. Advancements in sciences and technologies that 

relate to a wide range of human needs including the press, transportation and communication 

in research, experiments and inventions have been report as knowledge. The continuous 

advancement of commerce and technology has created the need for students and 

professionals to master the language of commerce and technology not only for academic 

purposes but also for occupational purposes. The role of English in commerce and technology 

has been widely recognized and English courses which cater for this need have been and will 

continue to play a significant role in the development of commerce and technology. Unlike 

English courses for general purposes, English for specific purposes is different in the way the 

course is designed. 

In Indonesia, although English is not as widely and accurately use as native speakers 

naturally, the language is relatively ubiquitous and it is use actively in some cases. At least 

two English newspaper ( i.e the Jakarta Post and the Indonesia Observer) are nationally 

distributed. Five national television and many radio stations broadcast a version of their news 

or current affairs in English once daily in the morning or evening, In addition to their 

entertainment programs involve songs and movies in English. In cities, it is common to see 

and meet English speaking tourists, these are the mirrors of the using English as global status 

in the world. Therefore in Indonesia, English is one of the most important subjects in which it 

has been teach in every stage of education, include Islamic Higher Education. 

It has been generally accepted that the success of language teaching program depend on 

some important aspects such as teacher competent, curriculum and students readiness toward 



Journal al-Lisan 
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learning and teaching material. The role of teaching materials has been recognized for 

decades. Renandya argue that teaching material is a key component in most language 

program. They said that whether the teacher uses textbook, institutionally prepared materials 

or make use of his own materials instructional materials serve as the basis for much of the 

language input learners receive and the language practice that occurs in classroom (J. 

C.,Renandya, W, 2002: 65) 

A good and competent teacher is encouraged to make his/her own instructional 

materials to fit the need of their learner. However, in developing or designing his/her own 

materials there are some factors that the teacher should pay attention to. In developing 

teaching materials a teacher, according to McDonough & Shaw should be guided by syllabus, 

syllabus is derived from the goals which want to be achieved in the language program. The 

goals are formed by the nature context of the language teaching program which are the 

learners themselves and the educational setting where the teaching will occur (McDonough, 

J. & Shaw, C
 
, 2003: 4). 

By considering the idea of McDonough & Shaw above it is clear that the analysis on the 

context, that is where and who the learners will be, is very crucial in developing teaching 

material. The writing of instructional materials used in IAIN Sultan Amai, an Islamic college 

operating in Gorontalo Province, needs to be increased in anticipation of the growing number 

of students studying there and need to suit the teaching material with the needs of the students 

like Mukhtar said that in the Islamic hgher education level, learning transformation might be 

contributed and provided the aims of teaching and learning process of high education clearly, 

it should be suitable with students’ need, it means that in arrange the materials it should be 

better based on the students’ need include in arrange English materials (Carter Ronal & 

Nunan,David, 2002 : 131). 

As the one of subject, English materials at IAIN Sultan Amai Gorontalo should be 

based on the students neecd. In this framework of thinking the English taught in IAIN can be 

called English for special Purposes (ESP). According to Evans (Carter &Nunan) the key 

defining feature of English for Special Purposes is that the teaching and materials are founded 

on the results of need analysis. He says that in developing a material for ESP the teacher 

should be guided by the questions: “what do the students need to do with English?, which of 

the skills do they need to master and how well and which genre do they need to master?”( 

Wello, B. & Nur. H. A. J, 2008: 6). 



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With regard of the guidelines by Evans above the English taught in IAIN should be 

English for Special Purposes (ESP), in this case The English for Specific Purposes should 

based on the faculty competence. In support with this claim is what Wello and Nur claim that 

absolute characteristics of ESP are: “designed to meet specific need of the learner, related in 

content to particular discipline, occupation and activities  also centered on the language 

appropriate to those activities in syntax, lexis, discourse, semantics and need analysis”. 

IAIN sultan Amai Gorontalo has four faculties namely Tarbiyah and Teacher Training 

Faculty, Tarbiyah and Teacher Training Faculty, Ushuluddin Faculty and Bussiness and 

Economic faculty. It means that it should be better in English teaching learning and process, 

the English materials based on the ESP. 

Based on the researcher’s pre observation, especially in Tarbiyah and Teacher Training 

Faculty, it is found that English subject has been taught at the first semester, the English 

lecturers use available book as their handbook in teaching and learning process. Based on the 

interview, they said that they have difficulties to find out the book that related with the 

faculty competence. This fact encourages the researchers to make a research to find out how 

are students’ needs in learning English, the researches formulating it in the title “Analysis 

students’ Need In Learning English For non English Program At Tarbiyah And Teacher 

Training Faculty”. The research question in this research is how are the students’ In learning 

English for non English program at Tarbiyah And Teacher Training Faculty? 

 

B. Literature Review 

1. English Specific Purpose (ESP) 

In the first phase of ESP history, (the 1960S and the early 1970S), ESP researchers and 

teachers concentrated on the sentence-level characteristics of the types of English identified 

as useful to their students. They discovered, among many others things, that English of 

Science and Technology (EST) favors the present simple tense, the passive, and noun 

compounds ; they also discovered that business letters contain a set formal, many formulaic 

expressions, a limited vocabulary, and a limited set of conjunctions. After careful analysis of 

identified spoken or written discourse, practitioners organize their grammar based curricula 

around the features of these social registers. 

 



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In the second phase of ESP (late 1970S and early 1980S),  have modernizing influences 

on register analysis, such as those which integrate grammatical form with rhetorical functions 

(relatively frequent use of “passive” in EST as compared to GE), in this phase the focus of 

register analysis became more rhetorical. 

In the third phase the researches concentrated upon systematic analysis of the target 

situation in which students are found to be employing spoken English, in an attempt to make 

a notional functional curriculum to central focus namely the communicative purpose of a 

speaker/writer, the setting of language use and the mode of communication and language use. 

Recently, the fourth phase, rather than centering on the discourse, the communicative 

situation or the learners’ communicative process, the focus is upon the strategies which 

learners employ to acquire the target language and emphasis need assessment. 

From historical description about ESP above it is clear that ESP concentrates more on 

language in context than on teaching grammar and language structures. The ESP vocal point 

is that English is not taught as a subject separated from the students’ real world (or wishes); 

instead, it is integrated into a subject matter area important to the learners. In ESP it is a need 

analysis that determines which language skills are most needed by the learners and the 

syllabus is designed accordingly, in this matter ESP can be say that ESP have highly 

motivating the learners because the learners are able to apply what they learn in their English 

class to their main field of study, they are able to use the vocabulary and structures that they 

learn in meaningful context. 

The term “specific” in ESP refers to the specific purpose for learning English. The 

learners approach the study of English through a field that is already know and relevant to 

them. This means that the learners are able to use what they learn in ESP classroom right 

away in their work and studies. The ESP approach enhances the relevance of what the 

learners are learning and enables them to use the English they know to learn even more 

English, since their interest in their field will motivate them to interact with speakers and 

texts. 

Robinson writes” During the period of roughly ten years a wealth of terms has grown 

up. LSP (language for Special Purpose) is the International terms and although most of work 

on languages for special purposes has been on the English language, a consideration of some 

LSP research provides a useful insight into some shortcomings and preoccupations 

(Robinson. P. C, 1984 : 5)”. 



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This allegation of Robinson above shows that English for Special Purpose is one of 

international terms referring to the kind of language learned by learners to achieve certain 

purpose. Apart from English, there are many other languages learnt for special purposes. 

Streven (Wello&Nur) propose two categories on ESP. The first is absolute categories 

and the second is variable categories. Absolute categories include it is designed to meet 

specific needs of the learners, It is related  in content to particular discipline and it is centered 

on the language appropriate to those activities in syntax, lexis, discourse and analysis of this 

discourse (Wello, B. & Dollah S, 2008 : 14). 

It is obvious that by referring to the idea of Robinson and Strevens above the English 

taught in Islamic colleges should be called English for Special Purpose. Point three by 

Robinson clearly says that one the characteristic of ESP is that it is used for academic or 

professional study such as engineering, Islamic studies and so on. Similarly, point two of 

Strevens’s idea says that ESP related   in content to particular discipline. 

Further Strevens (Wello & Nur) said that “ESP may be, but not necessarily, restricted as 

to the language skills to be learned, e.g reading only not taught according to any pre-ordained 

methodology (Wello, B. & Dollah S, 2008 : 14)”. 

According to Wello & Nur ESP can be subcategorized into English for Occupational 

Purpose (EOP) and English for Academic Purpose (EAP). EOP involves mostly work-related 

needs and training while EAP involves academic and study needs (Wello, B. & Dollah S, 

2008 : 14). 

To sum up, English taught in Islamic college can be categorized as English for Special 

Purpose. Hence, the materials to be developed for the teaching should be designed into 

English catering special purpose for students’ in this case academic needs of students. 

2. Need Analysis 

ESP courses set out to teach the language and communication skills that specific groups 

of language learners need or will need to function effectively in their disciplines of study, 

professions or workplaces. Because ESP focuses on teaching specific language and 

communication skills, ESP course design usually includes a stage in which the course 

developers identify what specific language and skills the group of language learners will 

need. The identification of language and skills is used in determining and refining the content 

for the ESP course. It can also be used to assess learners and learning at the end of the course. 

This process is termed ‘needs analysis’. 



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Needs analysis in ESP refers to a course development process. In this process the 

language and skills that the learners will use in their target professional or vocational 

workplace or in their study areas are identified and considered in relation to the present state 

of knowledge of the learners, their perceptions of their needs and the practical possibilities and 

constraints of the teaching context. The information obtained from this process is used in 

determining and refining the content and method of the ESP course.  

Wello and Dollah ( 2008 ; 65) stated that “ need analysis  or need assessment in a 

language program is often viewed simply as identification of the language forms that the 

students will likely need to use in the target language when they are required to actually 

understand and to produce the language (Wello, B. & Dollah S, 2008 : 14) “. 

 The above theory means need analysis is  to establishing the how and  what  of a 

course, it is a continuous process, since  a materials developer modify his/her teaching as 

he/she come to learn more about his/her learners, and in this way it actually shades into 

evaluation   – the means of establishing the effectiveness of a course. Needs is actually an 

umbrella term that embraces many aspects, incorporating learners’  goals and backgrounds, 

their language proficiencies, their reasons for taking the course, their teaching and learning 

preferences, and the situations they will need to communicate in. Needs could involve what 

learners know, don’t know or want to know, and can be collected and analyzed in a variety of 

ways.  

Need analysis procedures may involve interviews with students to determine 

perceptions of their major language difficulties, interviews with lecturers and instructors, 

observation of students in class to observe how well they can carry their assignments, 

examination of their lecture notes, essays, and so on to determine their difficulties, as well as 

tests of different kinds to determine students level of proficiency in reading, writing and note 

taking. The aims of a need analysis are thus to determine the types of situational in which 

learners will be using English, the tasks and activities they are expected to  carry out or take 

part in English and their existing language skills or abilities with respect to those tasks.  

Practical guidelines to needs assessment is proposed by Isaac and Michael (in Wello 

and Dollah,) as follows :  

a. Identity the students-oriented goals (needs are based on goals). 

b. Rank the importance of these goals without regard to performance levels which 

are categorized as high, moderate, or low importance. 



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c. Asses the level of performance for each of the goals. The performance level for 

each goal is categorized as high, moderate, or low 

d. Establish a priority for each student’s goal, considering both importance and 

performance (Wello, B. & Dollah S, 2008 : 66). 

In assessing need, in this research the researchers will use approach to need analysis is 

learning-centered approach that learning is totally determined by the learner. In this approach 

involve target needs (what the learner needs to do in the target situation) and learning needs  ( 

what the learner needs to learn). For target needs Hutchinson and Waters consider that the 

information necessary for the course designer should be obtained by posing detailed 

questions : 

a. Why is the language needed? 

b. How will the language be used? 

c. What will the content areas be? 

d. Who will the learners use the language with? 

e. Where will the language be used? 

f. When will the language be used? 

Similarly, they also pose questions to analyze learning needs : 

a. Why are the learners taking the course? 

b. How do the learners learn? 

c. What resources are available? 

d. Who are the learners? 

e. Where will the ESP course take place? 

f. When will the ESP course take place? (Hutchinson Tom & Waters Alan, 1990:59) 

 

C. Research Method 

This research is designed as in qualitative method. According to Creswell qualitative 

procedures demonstrate different approach to scientific inquiry than quantitative  research 

method. Its inquiry occupate different assumption philosophically such as: strategies of 

inquiry; methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation. The participants were the 

students of Tarbiyah And Teacher Training Faculty, they were one hundred students from 

PAI, MPI, PIAUD, PGMI and PBA program which twenty students for each program. They 

answered the questioner as main instrument in this research that covered items of : 



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1. The students’ need in English learning 

2. The students’ reasons to learn English 

3. The students’ preference  in English be used 

4. The students’ preference for the teacher way in teaching English 

5. The students’ preference in learning reading text 

6. The students’ preference the content of English materials 

7. The students’ preference to use English language with ? 

8. The students’ area in the language be used? 

9. The students’ preference about the time to study English 

10. The students’ way to learn English 

11. The students’ preference to do homework 

12. The students’ preference to spend the time 

13. The students’ preference to learning English from? 

14. The students’ preference about useful activities in learning English 

 

D. Findings and Discussion 

Based on the analysis the data, I found that the students’ needs in learning English for 

reading literature, it supported by the students’ first priority to the question number 1, in 

which they chosen for reading literature was 40%, the students’ answer to question number 2 

about the students’ reason in learning English, in which for the question their first priority 

was to find specific vocabularies with scores 49%. 

For students preference in English be used, the students chosen to understanding the 

literature was 40% this was first priority, the students’ preference for the teacher way in 

teaching English, the students chosen use variety of strategic as their first priority, it was 

40%, The students’ preference in learning reading text, their score was 42% for reading text 

based on the competence as first priority, The students’ preference the content of English 

materials, they chosen covers four skills namely, writing, reading, listening, and speaking, 

and it was completed with exercises that the students have to do whether in class or in their 

house as homework, whether in individually task or group, as their first priory with score 

42%. 

 



Journal al-Lisan 
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to presenting the material, the English lecturer used face to face technique in big group, 

for the students who have difficulties in understanding the material, the lecturer gave the 

remedial in small group, this is to respect the students preferences about learning English 

style, in which in this case their first priority in big group by guiding the lecturer in 72% and 

second priority in small group was 68%. The time used to teach the material at once in a 

week in 2
1
/2 hours. 

In presenting the materials, the English lecturer has to use English and Indonesian 

language  sometimes use verbal language to make students more understood to the material, 

this is to recommended the students’ preferences about the English lecturer method in 

teaching the material, in which in this question their first priority was English and Indonesia 

also verbal in 51% scores. 

In teaching and learning process to make the English lecturer easy in presenting the 

materials, it should be better if the English lecturer used handbook for her/himself also gave 

the students book package so the students have direction about the material that they have to 

study . 

For reading material of this products, the English lecturers should prepared reading 

materials based on the Faculty, in this case like a text of short reading, this based on the 

students preferences toward reading materials, in which in this case, their priority was 

reading based on the Faculty in a short text form as first priority and the English lecturer can 

use reading comprehension technique. 

To improve students speaking ability, the material used retelling technique, in this case 

retell about the content of reading text, this is to fulfill the students responses through 

question number 14 about their preferences toward method in teaching speaking, in which in 

this case their first priority was retell in 51% scores, also sometimes English lecturer may ask 

students to read the text of reading as their second priority. 

For writing skill, to improve students writing skill,  the English lecturers must give their 

focus in using grammar exercise like ask students to make sentence toward grammar in focus, 

ask students to make conclusion about the content of reading or about something through 

audio visual. In improving students listening skill, in the material prepared dictation method 

by English lecturer whether in classroom or in language laboratory.   

 

 



Journal al-Lisan 
ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973 
Volume 3 Nomor 2 - Agustus 2018 
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E. Conclusions 

 Based on the data analysis, it is clear that the students’ needs in studying English for 

reading literature completed with specific vocabularies, because by knowing and using 

specific vocabularies, it can help the students to understand their text book, this is suitable 

with the students’ answer to question number 2 about their priority in learning English, in 

which for the question their first priority was to find specific vocabularies with scores 49%. 

The English material should involves four skills namely, writing, reading, listening, and 

speaking, and it was completed with exercises that the students have to do whether in class or 

in their house as homework, whether in individually task or group, to presenting the material, 

the English lecturer used face to face technique in bog group, for the students who have 

difficulties in understanding the material, the lecturer gave the remedial in small group, this is 

to respect the students preferences about learning English style, in which in this case their 

first priority in big group by guiding the lecturer in 72% and second priority in small group 

was 68%. The time used to teach the material at once in a week in1/2 hours. 

In presenting the materials, the English lecturer has to use English and Indonesian 

language  sometimes use verbal language to make students more understood to the material, 

this is to recommended the students’ preferences about the English lecturer method in 

teaching the material, in which in this question their first priority was English and Indonesia 

also verbal in 51% scores. 

In teaching and learning process to make the English lecturer easy in presenting the 

materials, it should be better if the English lecturer used handbook for her/himself also gave 

the students book package so the students have direction about the material that they have to 

study in a semester, but in this research, I did not make book package for the students, it 

depend on the English lecturer who will use this materials to make book package based on 

his/her creativity. 

For reading material should be based on the Faculty, in this case like a text of short 

reading, this based on the students preferences toward reading materials, in which in this 

case, their priority was reading based on the Faculty in a short text form as first priority and 

the English lecturer can use reading comprehension technique. 

To improve students speaking ability, the material used retelling technique, in this case 

retell about the content of reading text, this is to fulfill the students responses through 

question number 14 about their preferences toward method in teaching speaking, in which in 



Journal al-Lisan 
ISSN 2442-8965 & E ISSN 2442-8973 
Volume 3 Nomor 2 - Agustus 2018 
http://journal.iaingorontalo.ac.id/index.php/al 

 
 

92 
 

this case their first priority was retell in 51% scores, also sometimes English lecturer may ask 

students to read the text of reading as their second priority. 

For writing skill, to improve students writing skill, in the material of this  exercise also 

ask students to make sentence toward grammar in focus, ask students to make conclusion 

about the content of reading or about something through audio visual. In improving students 

listening skill, in the material prepared dictation method by English lecturer whether in 

classroom or in language laboratory.   

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 



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Crawford, J. (2002) How Authentic is the Language in Our Classroom? Prospect 6(1) 47- 54 

Carter Ronal & Nunan,David (2002) Teaching English to Speakers of Other Language. 
Cambridge : University Press 

Hutchinson Tom & Waters Alan. (1990). English For Specific Purposes. A learning-centred 
approach. Cambridge : University Press 

McDonough, J. & Shaw, C.(2003). Materials and Methods in ELT. Blackwell Publishing. 

Robinson. P. C, (1984). English for Special Purpose. Pergamon Press. Oxford 

J. C.,Renandya, W. (2002) Methodology in Language Teaching: an Anthology of Current 
Practice.Cambridge University Press 

Tomlinson.B., (2003).  Developing Materials For Language Teaching. Continuum. New 
York 

Tomlinson (2003) Developing Language Course Materials. Seameo Regional Language 
Centre. Singapore 

Wello, B. & Nur. H. A. J,(2008). An Introduction to ESP. Badan Penerbit Universitas 
Makassar 

Wello, B. & Dollah S.  (2008) Fundamental Aspect of English for Special Purpose. Badan 
PenerbitUniversitas Makassar. 

 

 
 

 
 
 

 


