







































English Language Teaching Educational Journal   ISSN 2621-6485 

Vol. 4, No. 3, 2021, pp. 235-250  

        10.12928/eltej.v4i3.5000                             http://journal2.uad.ac.id/index.php/eltej/index             eltej@pbi.uad.ac.id 

Developing material for English for Holiday program 

Soviyah a,1,*, Nur Fatimah b,2 

a, b  Universitas Ahmad Dahlan, Jalan Jend. Ahmad Yani (Ringroad Selatan), Tamanan, Banguntapan, Bantul, Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta, Indonesia 
1 soviyah@pbi.uad.ac.id *; 2  nur.fatimah@pbi.uad.ac.id  

* corresponding author 

 

A R T I C L E  I N F O 

 

ABST RACT   

 

 

Article history 

Received 15 October 2021 

Revised 06 December 2021 

Accepted 30 December 2021 

 An English program like English For Holiday (EFH), is concerned with 
helping children to learn English. In relation to English Education 
Department of Universitas Ahmad Dahlan, the department has employed 
an EFH program to help children with English learning during their 
school break. To accomplish the continuous improvement of the program, 
it needs research related to it, as these kinds of research provides 
meaningful data and product, which are important for the improvement 
of the program’s quality. Generally, the ultimate aim of the research is to 
contribute to the establishment of a better EFH program, especially of 
English Education Department, Universitas Ahmad Dahlan. Specifically, 
this research aims to develop syllabus and material for EFH program of 
EED UAD. This research started in May and was complete in November 
2020 at English Education Department of Universitas Ahmad Dahlan 
(UAD). It utilized Research and Development (R&D) type with ADDIE 
model initiated by McGriff (2000) which endeavors a development 
process encompassing five major stages i.e., analyze, design, develop, 
implement, and evaluation. The research results show that the EFH 
material is developed to fulfil the children’s needs of material for EFH 
program. The developed product offers an alternative solution to fill the 
children’s needs. Based on the evaluation, it is found out that the 
developed material is considered very good. Through this material, 
children participating in EFH program can learn English in an enjoyable 
way. Although the major target is to improve children’s speaking skill, 
through this material, children can learn and develop their other skills i.e., 
listening reading and writing as the developed material is written in an 
integrated way involving all four skills of English.  

This is an open access article under the CC–BY-SA license. 

    

 

 
Keywords 

English for Holiday (EFH) 

teaching English to Young Learners 

(TEYL) 

Research and Development (R n D) 

 

 

How to Cite: Soviyah & Fatimah, N. (2021). Developing material for English for Holiday program. English 
Language Teaching Educational Journal, 4(3), pp. 235-250. 

1. Introduction  

In Indonesia, English as a foreign language has been introduced to elementary school students as 
one of the subjects they study. This policy is in line with the statement of the Regulation of the 
Government of the Republic of Indonesia number 32 the year 2013 about the modification of the 
Government Regulation number 19 the year 2005 about National Standard of Education stating that 
English as a foreign language becomes one of three languages to be taught in schools because it is 
imperative in global relationships. However, through the Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia 
number 21 the year 2016 about primary and middle/secondary education, the Republic of Indonesia's 
minister removed English from the list of elementary school main subjects. Hence, English is no 
longer a local content subject at the elementary school level. Instead, it is offered as an extracurricular 
subject. It suggests that English language learning for young learners is still considered necessary. 

In practice, since English is removed as a local content subject at the elementary school level, 
young learners are likely to have little English learning access. Moreover, the learning time in school 

http://journal2.uad.ac.id/index.php/eltej/index
mailto:soviyah@pbi.uad.ac.id
mailto:nur.fatimah@pbi.uad.ac.id
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.12928/eltej.v4i3.5000&domain=pdf
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4154-6942


236 English Language Teaching Educational Journal   ISSN 2621-6485 

 Vol. 4, No. 3, 2021, pp. 235-250 

 

 Soviyah & Fatimah, N.( Developing English material) 

is also limited. Therefore, in many cases, parents of the young learners would send their children to 
private English courses, hire private teachers to teach them English, or send them to various out of 
school English programs such as English for holiday (EFH), summer camp, English camp, summer 
coursework, and so on. These programs are specifically designed to facilitate learners in learning. 

In regards to these specially designed English programs, many researches claim on the advantages 
of them towards the children’ s development. Summer camp, for example, is quite popular among 
parents and children. It is widely used and found to garner many benefits in different areas such as 
computer science, psychology (Adams & Savahl, 2017; Collado, Corraliza, Staats, & Ruiz, 2015), 
languages (Lee & Curran, 2009; Melhuish, ,Ereky-Stevens, Petrogiannis, Ariescu, Penderi, Rentzou 
& Leseman, 2015; Bus, Takacs & Kegel, 2015; Bialystok, 2018) and other areas (Brusseau, Hannon 
& Burns, 2016); He, Xiang, Zeng, Mai, Chen, Zhang & Morgan, 2015; McCoy, et.al., 2017). 

Zooming into English learning context, language programs like English for holiday and language 
summer camp are known to be beneficial in contributing to the children’s development has long been 
acknowledged. Based on the existing research, many outside of school language programs such as 
English for holiday and other programs of the kind are identified to be able to provide rich contexts 
for learning and development (e.g, Garst, Browne, & Bialeschki, 2011). These programs are reported 
to contribute not only to children’s language aspect but also their psychological aspect. Testimonies 
from those attend the program report that they experience powerful, even life changing experiences 
(Anghel, Cabrales, & Carro, 2016). Moreover, these programs are frequently described as setting for 
social- emotional learning (e.g., Wilson & Sibthorp, 2018) and even some researches often report such 
children’s and youth prominent development aspects are found out to be listed among the program 
outcomes as friendship skills, relationship building, and working with others (Sepúlveda & Hutton, 
2019). 

In relation to English Language Teaching (ELT) context, English for holiday and summer camp 
programs that are designed to enhance students’ knowledge and confidence in using the language is 
considered a quite novel way among researchers in ELT field. Among many researches in the field, 
the study conducted by Rugasken and Harris (2009) could serve as an example. This research revealed 
the results that children joining English summer program has been observed to able to help them 
achieve the goal for them to gain knowledge of the English language and acquire confidence in their 
speaking skills, with an additional benefit for participants (both children and instructors) to develop a 
deeper appreciation of the people and the new culture to which they were exposed to. 

In addition to the research, in sum, many other researches in the field agree that English for holiday 
and summer camp programs are beneficial in developing children’s English mastery because they are 
able to break the resistance the children usually experience when learning a new language and to 
provide a casual setting for communicative learning experiences to take place. Thus, it’s just 
acceptable to state that children can get much benefits from out of school programs such as English 
for holiday and language summer camps as the process they provide them make them able to 
appreciate and enjoy a fun learning experience within a short duration rather than formal, traditional, 
instruction-based classroom settings. 

With these considerations in mind, the researchers, who made up the material for English for 
Holiday Program, set out to achieve similar goals in designing the materials that fit the goals and 
elements of learning English as a foreign language. 

Universitas Ahmad Dahlan (UAD) is one of the private universities in Yogyakarta Indonesia. One 
of the faculties it houses is faculty of education and teacher training in which English Education 
Department becomes a part of. English Education Department has been tasked with designing a short 
English program intended for children. This was initiated in 2010 under the name of English for Smart 
Holiday and continually conducted in 2019 using UADventure Program as its name. Practically the 
program is conducted during school summer break as a non-formal English learning for children aged 
between 7 to 12 years old. The program's participants learned inside the classroom and outside the 
classroom, such as campus library, observatory, and other areas of the campus. The program offers a 
fun way of English learning with possibly much less pressure as compared to the regular learning 
inside classrooms. This program usually lasts 6 days. It starts at 08.00 a.m. and ends at 16.00 p.m. 
This program's agendas are various, starting with English learning (listening, speaking, reading, and 
writing), cooking class, market day, library visit, observatory visit, and class performance. So far, the 



ISSN 2621-6485 English Language Teaching Educational Journal 237 
 Vol. 4, No. 3, 2021, pp. 235-250 

 

  

Soviyah & Fatimah, N.( Developing English material) 

 

program has received positive feedback from those involved, such as the teachers, the learners, the 
parents of the learners, the executives, the department, and the university itself. Moreover, they wish 
that there would be a similar program to be held regularly in the future. 

Based on the early observation, the chief executive of the program said that with lots of enthusiasts, 
various activities, and positive feedback from those involved, the program has a chance to be held 
annually. However, there were some areas of the program that need to be improved, still. One of them 
was the absence of a fixed syllabus and ready-for-use materials. This was acknowledged by some 
teachers involved in the last program. They said that in spite of the fact that the lessons were always 
enjoyable and engaging for the children there were not a syllabus and ready-for-use materials yet. As 
a result, the teachers felt overwhelmed because they had to prepare the learning guideline and the 
possible materials in a short time. Therefore, some aspects of the program need to be improved. The 
purpose of the improvement is to increase the program's quality so that the learning process can be 
more meaningful and engaging. The aspects meant are the syllabus and the materials. Therefore, the 
primary purpose of this research is developing syllabus and materials for EFH program. The ultimate 
aim of the research is to contribute to the establishment of the better EFH program, especially of 
English Education department, Universitas Ahmad Dahlan. 

2. Method 

This research started from May 2020 and was complete in November 2020 at English Education 
Department of Universitas Ahmad Dahlan (UAD). It utilized Research and Development (R&D) type 
with ADDIE model initiated by McGriff (2000) as it endeavored to develop material for English for 
Holiday Program. The development process encompassed five stages i.e. analyze, design, develop, 
implement, and evaluation as depicted in Figure 1:  

 

Figure 1. Development process of English for Holiday 

As for the analyze stage, the researchers used surveys and interviews proposed as data collection 
techniques (Rahman, 2015; Ramírez, 2015). In collecting the data, the researcher used two 
instruments, namely questionnaire and interview guidance and involved 30 parents of the EFH 
participants last year. In addition, it also invited some related parties such as teachers, English teachers 
of primary school, program coordinator, and head of English Department UAD. Table 1  displays the 
detailed information regarding instruments and subjects of the need analysis stage. 

 

 

 

 

 



238 English Language Teaching Educational Journal   ISSN 2621-6485 

 Vol. 4, No. 3, 2021, pp. 235-250 

 

 Soviyah & Fatimah, N.( Developing English material) 

Table 1.  Instrument of Data Collection 

Instruments Descriptions and Aims Subjects 

Questionnaire 

 

It contains 46 closed-form questions and uses the Likert 

scale with four alternative answers: strongly agree (4), agree 

(3), disagree (2), and strongly disagree (1). It is to collect 
quantitative data (main data). 

30 parents of the EFH 

children 

 

 

Interview 

Guidance 

It contains 13 open=ended questions. It is to collect 

quantitative data (supporting data). 

 

EFH program’s teachers 

and coordinators, teacher 
of elementary school. 

The head of English 

Education Department of 

UAD. 
 

 

The questionnaire was used to collect the main data related to target needs and learning needs of 
the EFH program participants. The target needs included necessities, lacks, and wants, whereas the 
learning needs included learning style, media, and activities. To support the main data, the researchers 
asked 13 open-ended questions listed in the interview guidance to the subjects. The organization of 
the questionnaire is presented in the Table 2. 

 

Table 2.  Organization of the Questionnaire 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The data obtained from the questionnaire were analyzed quantitatively using a calculation model 
(Patten, 2016; Curle & Derakhshan, 2021). The researchers analyzed the data by frequency and 
processed the data by calculating the mean score. Then, the data were presented using tables in 
percentages and interpreted in the form of paragraphs. In addition, an open-ended interview was used 
as the supporting data to strengthen the quantitative data. The supporting data were analyzed using a 
qualitative approach (Miles, Huberman, 2020; Creswell, 2012; Creswell, 2014). Finally, the 
supporting quotes from each participant were listed and discussed. 

Meanwhile, for evaluation stage, a Focused Group Discussion (FGD) was conducted to evaluate 
the developed product. The discussion involved English teachers of elementary schools in 
Yogyakarta, lecturers of English Education Department and Primary School Education Department 
(PGSD), EFH coordinator as well as the head English Education Department of UAD. 

 

Aspect Item Aim   
Necessities 1-20 

 

To analyze purposes of joining EFH program 

and learning English 

Lacks                      21-23 To analyze the children’s level of English  proficiency 

Wants 24-24 To analyze topics that want to be learned 

Learning style 34-37 To analyze the children’s learning style 

Media 38-40 To analyze media that should be included in  the 

materials 

Activities 41-43 To analyze activities that should be included    in the 

materials 
Assessment 44-46 To analyze assessment that should be implemented 



ISSN 2621-6485 English Language Teaching Educational Journal 239 
 Vol. 4, No. 3, 2021, pp. 235-250 

 

  

Soviyah & Fatimah, N.( Developing English material) 

 

3. Findings and Discussion 

3.1. Analyze Stage 

1) EFH Children’s Target Needs 

The analysis of the target needs is divided into three points; necessities, wants, and lacks. 

Necessity 

In this part of the analysis, there were 20 questions related to the children's necessities. The 
questions include the purposes of joining the EFH program and the goals of learning English. 

In terms of purposes of joining the EFH program, the results showed that respondents strongly 
agreed that their children could master English was the reason they participated in the EFH program 
(89%). The respondents also strongly agreed that their children participated in the EFH program 
because they like to learn English (90%). Furthermore, respondents strongly agreed that their children 
participated in the EFH program because they want to spend their time on holiday (91%), and the 
respondents did not agree that the purpose of their children participated in the EFH program was 
because of their friends (56%). These data were supported by the result of the interviews. Here are 
some results of the interview on the respondent. 

RI3: “They will understand more about English, not only about speaking, but also 
about how to write, how to read, and how to listen. Besides, through the program, the 
children can add friends and spend their spare time on holiday.” 

RI4: “In order to know about English related to vocabulary and also to spend the spare 
time on holiday.” 

Regarding the purpose of learning English, the results showed that respondents strongly agreed 
(90%) that the children were able to learn the four skills of English, which are listening, speaking, 
reading, and writing, and be able to get the sub skills under each of these four skills. These data were 
supported by the result of the interviews. Here are some results of the interview with the respondents: 

RI2: “In my opinion, if they can learn listen in English lesson and get used to it, they 
will learn how people speak, pronounce, and then they can imitate what they learn.” 

RI5: “They can communicate with correct pronunciation, or when they use 
expressions, they are not nervous and doing only little mistakes.” 

RI1: “For the reading, it is about understanding the texts. They can also get 
vocabularies from the texts especially simple texts.” 

RI2: "In my opinion, the highest skill of English skills is writing skill because they have 
to construct a word to make a sentence in correct tenses. The sentence should be correct 
and easy to hear. When the children understand how to write, they are in the final stage 
of learning English. So, in essence they will certainly add vocabulary and practice what 
they already understand.” 

Lacks 

‘Lacks’ is the gap between what children have already known and what they have not known 
(Hutchinson & Waters 1987; Brown, 2016). From the questionnaire distributed, it can be summarized 
that most of the respondents said that the children were at the beginner level (83%). Some children 
were at the intermediate level (57%) and only a few children were at the advanced level (42%). 

Wants 

‘Wants’ cover what children want to know (Hutchinson & Waters 1987; Hyland, 2019). The data 
showed that the respondents stated the children wanted to learn English through the topic of school 
3.50/88%, the topic of living creatures (87%), the topic of space (85%), the topic of food and drink 
(89%), the topic of transportation (86%), the topic of social (93%), the topic of public places (93%), 
the topic of technology (88%), the topic of dream job (93%), the topic of basic concept (89%), the 



240 English Language Teaching Educational Journal   ISSN 2621-6485 

 Vol. 4, No. 3, 2021, pp. 235-250 

 

 Soviyah & Fatimah, N.( Developing English material) 

topic of introduction (88%). These data were supported by the result of the interviews. Here are some 
results of the interview on the respondent. 

RI7: "The children in learning English may need the topics, but the dictions to name 
the topics should be considered so that the children understand the topics, then the 
order of the topics should be appropriate with their level of difficulty. 

2) Children Learning Needs 
The learning needs are related to what students need to learn (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987; Brown, 

2016; Hyland, 2019). The         analysis was focused on learning styles, media, and activities. 

From the result of the questionnaire, it can be seen that most of the children tended to learn English 
using the visual learning style (85%). Some of them tended to learn with an auditory style (80%), and 
others tended to learn English using the kinesthetic learning style (81%). The questionnaire’s results 
showed that the respondents stated that they wanted their children to learn using visual-based media 
because the visual-based media was suitable for their children (86%). The other respondents also 
agreed that audiovisual-based media (85%) and authentic and real media (84%) were suitable for 
learning English. These data were supported by the result of the interviews.  

RI7: “Now, the trend is multi-model. It means that the media is not only from visual 
sources but also audio and audiovisual sources, so maybe all of the sources need to be 
combined.” 

Further, the result showed that the respondents stated that they wanted their children to learn 
English through direct practice activities while learning English (91%). They also wanted their 
children to learn by playing/gaming activities (85%), and drawing, singing, moving, and singing 
activities (84%). These data were supported by the result of the interviews. The following is a 
quotation of transcriptions of interviews with (RI7): 

RI7: “The basics of developing the four skills, in my opinion, is vocabulary. The richer 
the vocabulary that the children have, the easier it is for them to speak, write, and 
understand any written and oral texts printed in English.” 

 

3.2. Syllabus Development 

After the data on the children’s needs were collected and analyzed, the process was taken further 
into syllabus development process. In developing the syllabus, it was developed taking topic based 
syllabus type (Rangel & Pernett, 2020; Knezović, 2016). The following explanation presents the 
description of the designed syllabus. 

General Consideration 

The results of the need analysis revealed that the children were group of young learners (7-12 years 
old). The results also revealed that, mostly, they were in beginner level of English. Related to grammar 
complexity, the children were expected to learn to use expressions in English conversation and use 
more complex word forms. While related to the vocabulary, the children were expected to learn 
vocabulary related to their daily life.  

Topics 

The topics included in the designed syllabus were social, public places, dream jobs, food and drink, 
base concept, and introduction. These topics provided information on what language target, 
knowledge of grammar and vocabulary were needed to be taught and practiced. 

English Skills 

Based on the need analysis, children wanted to be able to respond in English when they were asked 
about their name or their friend’s name, description of their families or friends, their future intentions, 



ISSN 2621-6485 English Language Teaching Educational Journal 241 
 Vol. 4, No. 3, 2021, pp. 235-250 

 

  

Soviyah & Fatimah, N.( Developing English material) 

 

and directions to go to some places. They also wanted to be able to speak in English when they ask 
someone’s name, describe a friend, name objects, buy food and drinks, talk about future intentions, 
and give directions. 

Learning Media and Activities 

From the needs analysis, it is found out that visual-based media and hands- on practice activities 
had the highest mean score. Therefore, the expected material should be more emphasized on these 
kinds of activities. 

In light of the result of the need analysis and the theoretical framework for syllabus design, as 
discussed, the researchers considered a topic based syllabus as the most appropriate syllabus for the 
EFH program. It’s because this syllabus is based on learners’ communication needs and purposes for 
everyday social interaction. It specifies language topics, knowledge of grammar, and vocabulary that 
learners need for communicative tasks as well. Besides, it’s usually graded to help children progress 
gradually at a comfortable pace. Table 3 shows the brief overview of the syllabus developed. 

Table 3.  English for Holiday Syllabus Topic 

Lesson Topic Grammar and vocabulary Topic Language target  

1 Personal introduction: 

asking for name, age 

to be + noun wh question 

name, old, address 

what is your name? 

how old are you? my name is … 

I am … years old. 

2 Naming objects: Asking and 
answering 

to be + noun 
 

singular and plural nouns 

common objects: pen, cup, chair, 
etc. 

what is it? what are they? 
 

it is a book. 

they are chairs. etc. 

3 Describing people: hair, 

nose, eyes, body 

use of ‘has/have’ adjective + noun 
 

 
short, long, tall, fat, etc. 

he is fat. 

he has a short hair. 

he has a round eyes, etc. 
 

she is thin. 

she has a long hair. 
she has small nose, etc. 

4 Eating out: ordering food 

and drink in a restaurant 

to want + noun partitive + noun 

a glass of, a cup of, a bowl of, etc 

I want salad. 

he wants milk, etc. 
 

I want a bowl of salad. 

he wants a cup of milk. etc. 

5 My dream job: talking 

about future intentions 

to want + to + be wh question 

teacher, doctor, nurse, pilot, etc. 

what do you want to be? what does she want 

to be? 
 

I want to be a teacher. she wants to be a 

doctor. 
6 Going to the park: giving 

directions 

imperative sentences preposition 

go straight, turn left, turn right, etc. 

in front of, behind, etc. 

go straight. turn left. 
 

the park is in front of the school. 
it is behind the restaurant. etc. 

Notes: AGE: 7 – 12 years old, LEVEL: Beginner, MEETINGS: Six meetings 

 

For the purpose of this research, due to the consideration of research feasibility, only three most 
chosen topics out of six listed that would be developed. The three said topics developed were social, 



242 English Language Teaching Educational Journal   ISSN 2621-6485 

 Vol. 4, No. 3, 2021, pp. 235-250 

 

 Soviyah & Fatimah, N.( Developing English material) 

public places, and occupation/jobs. Furthermore, after the topics were decided, then the syllabus was 
modified and made more complete as shown in Table 4. 

Table 4.  Details of English for Holiday Syllabus 

Lesson  

 

Topic   

 

Syllabus 

 

Grammar and 

Vocabulary 

 

Language Target 

 

Activity   

 

1 Social: 

Greetings 

someone, 

Introduction 
myself and 

others 

Students are able to read 

vocabulary/text aloud 

correctly. 

Students are able to identify 
simple pictorial text. 

Students are able to identify 

the information in the text. 

Students are able to 
examine the explicit and 

implied meaning in the text 

related topic. 

Students are able to 
comprehend the text 

related topic. 

to be + noun 

W + H question 

This is 

name, old, address, 
etc. 

Hi, Good   morning 

What is your name? 

How old are you? 

Where do you  come 
from? 

My name is… 

I am … years  old 

I come from… 
Her / his name  is… 

Read the vocabulary aloud. 

Arrange the letters  into correct 

vocabulary. 

Complete the blank dialog/text 
with the correct vocabulary. 

Answer the questions with the 

correct information based  on 

the dialog/text. 
Circle TRUE/ FALSE the 

correct  information based 

on the text/dialog 

2 Going to the 

park: Giving 
directions 

Students are able to read 

vocabulary/text aloud 
correctly. 

Students are able to identify 

simple pictorial text. 

Students are able to identify 
the information in the text. 

Students are able to 

examine the explicit and 

implied meaning in the text 
related topic. 

Students are able to 

comprehend the text 

related topic. 

imperative sentences 

preposition 
School, library, 

bakery, park, etc. 

go straight, turn 

left, turn right, etc. 
beside, between, 

across from, next  

to, etc 

Go straight 

turn left 
Where the  school is? 

The park is a cross 

from the  school. 

The library is 
between the school 

and the  bakery. 

Read the vocabulary  aloud. 

Arrange the letters  into correct 
vocabulary. 

Complete the blank dialog/text 

with the correct vocabulary. 

Answer the questions with the 
correct information based  on 

the dialog/text. 

Circle TRUE/ FALSE the 

correct  information based 
on the text/dialog 

3.3. Design Stage 

The design stage included the process of designing the material of English for Holiday (EFH) 
Program. The detailed explanation of the process starts with arranging the material. Based on the data 
obtained in the analysis step and the decided topics, the most three topics that the children wanted to 
learn were Social, Public Places, and My Dream Job. The material would be arranged systematically 
following the levels of difficulty. Each topic had three stages; Pre – Activity, While – Activity, and 
Post – Activity. During pre-activity, most activities would be focused on arousing children’s 
motivation and interest towards the topic as well as exposing them to the relevant vocabulary. This is 
following the procedure that pre-activity has several benefits to children, namely; providing an 
example to the children of the learning process in positive way, exposing the children to enrich their 
vocabulary, giving new information, giving the children opportunity to listen and use their 
imagination, and improving the skill demanded in the activity. Meanwhile, for while – activity, it 
would be focused on exposing the children to activities that provide them with opportunities to use 
the target language to achieve communicative function (Noguchi, 2019; Bao & Du, 2015; Sholeh, 
2020; Yufrizal, 2017). As for the post – activity, it would be focused on providing the children with 
comprehension and writing activities (Wigfield, Gladstone & Turci, 2016). The children should 
examine, understand, and gain the meaning of the text as   Kendeou, McMaster, and Christ (2016) 
stated that reading comprehension is an ability to identify those skills needed to understand and gained 
information contained in written materials. 



ISSN 2621-6485 English Language Teaching Educational Journal 243 
 Vol. 4, No. 3, 2021, pp. 235-250 

 

  

Soviyah & Fatimah, N.( Developing English material) 

 

Next was selecting pictures. Based on the needs analysis results, as the material was mainly for 
children, it would contain a lot of pictures. For this, the researchers collected and selected pictures that 
were relevant to the targeted three topics. These pictures covered pictures of boys and girls, places, 
sceneries, landscapes, and other related ones. In selecting these pictures, the researchers did that very 
carefully involving making consideration of the possible theories and philosophical values underlying 
them. For example, in the Social topic, to introduce greeting vocabulary such as ‘good morning’, 
‘good afternoon’, ‘good evening’, and ‘good night’ the researchers used a hillside picture with the sun 
which was located differently. As seen in Figure 2, for good morning expression it’s used a picture of 
the situation in the morning where the sun was located in the left in yellow color, for good afternoon, 
the sun was located over the top of the hill in yellow color, good evening was represented by the sun 
which was located in the right but the color was changed to orange and good bye expression was 
delivered by the picture of the night situation when the sun was gone and there was only hill with the 
stars and the moon. This way the pictures became relevant and suitable with what the children saw in 
their daily life, and thus making it easy to understand. 

 

Figure 2. Relevant pictures of English for Holiday 

After selecting pictures, the next activity in the design stage was making storyboard of the material. 
In this activity, among things designed were front cover for whole material, cover for each lesson, 
vocabulary section, and activity section. In addition, type and size of the font, color, header and footer 
and other needed aspects were also designed rigorously. Figure 3 depicts one example of the design 
of the cover of each of the lessons. 

 

Figure 3. Design of cover of the lessons 

3.4. Develop Stage 

The third stage is the development stage. In this stage, the researchers developed the outline and 
story board made previously in the design stage. The first part developed was the front cover. It’s 
simple containing the title, a picture, and the name of the author. The researchers chose the picture 
with the nuance of children who looked excited with a book in front of them. Figure 4 nuance complied 
with the whole concept of the material, i.e., fun and enjoyable learning English with friends. 

Indicators 

Lesson Title 

Picture 

Lesson number 



244 English Language Teaching Educational Journal   ISSN 2621-6485 

 Vol. 4, No. 3, 2021, pp. 235-250 

 

 Soviyah & Fatimah, N.( Developing English material) 

 

Figure 4. Realization of whole concepts of English for Holiday materials 

For these two pictures in Figure 5, they are representing two sections i.e. the table of contents page 
and cover of lesson 1. As informed previously, as the material was for children, it was made to suit 
children’s characteristics such as rich in visual like colorful and full of pictures. In addition, it also 
presented simple language. On the left is the table of content page. It presents the three topics 
developed i.e. Social, Public places, and Occupation/jobs. Meanwhile, the picture on the right is the 
cover of each lesson, in this case it’s for lesson 1. For the cover of the lesson, it contained lesson 
number, lesson pictorial illustration, lesson title, and list of indicators. Presenting lesson number and 
title clearly at the beginning helps children get the point from the start, while listing the indicators set 
for the lesson unit will help children and their parents be informed and aware of what kind of 
competencies the children will get after learning the unit/topic. 

 

Figure 5. Realization of presentation of competencies to achieve 

For the development of the activities, as explained previously, the material was developed 
following the level of difficulties starting from easy to difficult. Meanwhile, the activities were 

 



ISSN 2621-6485 English Language Teaching Educational Journal 245 
 Vol. 4, No. 3, 2021, pp. 235-250 

 

  

Soviyah & Fatimah, N.( Developing English material) 

 

arranged from Pre-activities, While-activities, Post-activities. Other than that, the activities were also 
covering all four skills i.e., listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Although speaking was 
considered the main skill developed, other three skills got the same proportions. Furthermore, these 
four skills weren’t presented in isolation. Instead, they’re made integrated and supported one another. 
By so doing, it’s expected that children will find this book helpful to improve their English. 

The pictures in Figure 6 depict the pages of Pre-activities. The activities of Pre-activities are 
focused on vocabulary building. The purpose is that by being exposed to the needed vocabulary, it’s 
expected that the children will be able to cope with the exercises and task that follow. As explained 
previously, the vocabulary is presented in monolingual way with no translation but there’s plenty of 
pictures accompanied so that from these pictures, the children will be able to get the vocabulary more 
easily and in context. 

 

 

Figure 6. Presentation of monolingual materials 

As for the while-activities and post-activities, the researchers developed various activities (in 
Figure 7) such as     making simple conversation based on the given situation (top left picture), filling in 
the bubbles (top right picture), reading and answering orally (bottom left picture), and other activities 
of the kind. These activities were developed in order to improve the children’s English. Interestingly, 
though at a glance, the activities look like they’re reading activities, they’re basically speaking focused. 
It’s because in doing these activities, the children will communicate a lot with their friends. And that 
means they’re on their journey of improving their speaking ability. Furthermore, they need to write 
here and there while doing these activities. Therefore, it can be said that the while-activities are 
developed in an integrated way integrating the four skills of English. 

 



246 English Language Teaching Educational Journal   ISSN 2621-6485 

 Vol. 4, No. 3, 2021, pp. 235-250 

 

 Soviyah & Fatimah, N.( Developing English material) 

  

 

  

 

 

  

  

 

  

 

 

 

Figure 7. Activities to develop language skills 

In addition to the three topics developed, the material was also completed with an evaluation 
section. This section was presented at the end part of three topics. It assessed all topics provided. This 
was meant to help children, teachers and also parents to measure the attainment of the indicators. The 
types of the evaluation were also various, such as word matching, true false, multiple choice, giving 
short answer and some performance one. Figure 8 depicts the evaluation section. 



ISSN 2621-6485 English Language Teaching Educational Journal 247 
 Vol. 4, No. 3, 2021, pp. 235-250 

 

  

Soviyah & Fatimah, N.( Developing English material) 

 

 

Figure 8. Evaluation sheets 

3.5. Implementation Stage 

For the implementation stage, it was originally planned to be tried out to the children participating 
in the EFH 2020 in July 2020 during school break when EFH 2020 program conducted. However, due 
to the COVID19 pandemic, this became impossible because the EFH 2020 program was canceled. 
Therefore, the implementation stage only involved several related parties in a Focused Group 
Discussion (FGD). It was conducted in beginning of November 2020. The invited parties were English 
teachers of some elementary schools in Yogyakarta, lecturers of English Education Department and 
Primary School Education Department (PGSD), EFH coordinator as well as the head English 
Education Department of UAD. In addition, a few representatives from parents were also invited. 
From this FGD, some feedback and input were obtained. The feedback was used as a basis to do 
revisions to the product before it’s finally evaluated. 

3.6. Evaluation Stage 

For the evaluation stage, another Focus Group Discussion was held. It’s conducted in Mid 
November 2020. It involved an expert in Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL) field, an expert 
in media development field, an expert in primary education field, and a senior English teacher. The 
instrument used was a checklist taken from BNSP. The checklist evaluated four main aspects with the 
score varied from 1 to 4 indicating the level from low to high. 

The first aspect is the appropriateness of the content, this aspect reach mean value is 3.4. It means 
that the aspect falls into the category of “very good.” The second aspect is the appropriateness of the 
language. This aspect fell into “very good’ category by reaching mean value of 3.4. The third aspect 
was the appropriateness of the presentation. This aspect reached mean value of 3.28 which was into 
“very good” category. The fourth aspect was the appropriateness of the graphic. This aspect fell into 
the “good” category by reaching mean value of 3.23. In sum, the evaluation result indicated that the 
developed material was considered “very good” as it reached the average mean score of 3.3. In 
addition, there’s few comments given such as minor mistakes with spelling and the typing issue.  



248 English Language Teaching Educational Journal   ISSN 2621-6485 

 Vol. 4, No. 3, 2021, pp. 235-250 

 

 Soviyah & Fatimah, N.( Developing English material) 

3.7. Limitation of the Research 

Despite the success of the study, it has got some limitations and constraints, too. The main 
limitation of the research is the absence of the direct involvement of the children who are the most 
relevant party of the EFH program both during needs analysis stage and implementation stage. Ideally, 
the children are involved in these two crucial stages. However, because of the covid19 pandemic 
situation, it was very difficult to do it. One of the ways utilized to fill in this missing point is that the 
researchers decided to invite parents’ participation as much as possible with the consideration that 
parents are the ones who know the children best. As a result, parents were involved in this study during 
both needs analysis and implementation stages. 

4. Conclusion 

An English program, such as English For Holiday (EFH), is concerned with helping children to 
learn English. In relation to English Education Department of Universitas Ahmad Dahlan, the 
department has employed an EFH program to help children with English learning during their school 
break. To accomplish the continuous improvement of the program, it’s needed research related to it, 
as these kinds of research provide meaningful information and a developed product which is important 
for the improvement of the program’s quality. 

The research results show that the EFH material is developed to fulfill English children’s needs of 
material for EFH program. The developed product offers an alternative solution to fill the children’s 
needs. Being developed under ADDIE development model, the product evaluation revealed that the 
developed material is considered very good. Through this material, children participating in EFH 
program can learn English in an enjoyable way. Although the major target is to improve children’s 
speaking skill, through this material, children can learn and develop their other skills i.e. listening 
reading and writing as this book is written in integrated way involving all four skills of English. 

Referring to the overall evaluation of the developed material, there is one major lack of the whole 
process of developing it. That’s because it doesn’t involve the targeted children directly due to the 
pandemic situation. Consequently, recommendation for further researchers to address this point would 
be worth contributing. 

Acknowledgment   

 The authors would like to extend their gratitude to the LPPM (Lembaga Penelitian dan 
Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat) Universitas Ahmad Dahlan for their support to this research. 

Declarations  

Author contribution : The main author carried out the study together with the co-author. 
Both authors discussed the results of the study and contributed to the 
final version of the manuscript.  

Funding statement : The research is funded by LPPM Universitas Ahmad Dahlan 

Conflict of interest : The authors declare no conflict of interest. 

Additional information : No additional information is available for this paper. 

 

 

REFERENCES 

Adams, S., & Savahl, S. (2017). Nature as children's space: A systematic review. The Journal of 

Environmental Education, 48(5), 291-321. https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.2017.1366160 

Anghel, B., Cabrales, A., & Carro, J. M. (2016). Evaluating a bilingual education program in Spain: The 

impact beyond foreign language learning. Economic Inquiry, 54(2), 1202-1223. 

https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.12305 

https://doi.org/10.1080/00958964.2017.1366160
https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.12305


ISSN 2621-6485 English Language Teaching Educational Journal 249 
 Vol. 4, No. 3, 2021, pp. 235-250 

 

  

Soviyah & Fatimah, N.( Developing English material) 

 

Bao, R., & Du, X. (2015). Implementation of task-based language teaching in Chinese as a foreign language: 

Benefits and challenges. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 28(3), 291-310. 

https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2015.1058392 

Bialystok, E. (2018). Bilingual education for young children: review of the effects and 

consequences. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 21(6), 666-679. 

https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2016.1203859 

Brown, H.D. (2004). Language Assessment: Principles and Classroom Practices. New York, US: Pearson 

Education.  

Brown, J. D. (2016). Introducing needs analysis and English for specific purposes. London: Routledge. 

https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315671390 

Brusseau, T. A., Hannon, J., & Burns, R. (2016). The effect of a comprehensive school physical activity on 

physical activity and health-related fitness in children from low-income families. Journal of Physical 

Activity and Health, 13(8), 888-894. https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2016-0028 

Bus, A. G., Takacs, Z. K., & Kegel, C. A. (2015). Affordances and limitations of electronic storybooks for 

young children's emergent literacy. Developmental Review, 35, 79-97.  

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2014.12.004 

Choeda, Drukpa, P., Yuden, Dukpa, P., & Chuki, S. (2018). A Guide to Action Research: Enhancing 

Professional Practice of Teachers in Bhutan. Paro, Bhutan: Royal Education Council. 

Collado, S., Corraliza, J. A., Staats, H., & Ruiz, M. (2015). Effect of frequency and mode of contact with 

nature on children's self-reported ecological behaviors. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 41, 65-

73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2014.11.001 

Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational Research : Planning, Conducting and Evaluating Quantitative and 

Qualitative Research (4th ed.). Lincoln: Pearson Education. 

Creswell, J. W. (2014). Qualitative, Quantitative, and Research Design (4th ed.). Los Angeles: SAGE 

Publications. 

Curle, S. M., & Derakhshan, A. (2021). Trends in using questionnaires for EMI research: suggestions for 

future improvements. In Research Methods in English Medium Instruction (pp. 32-45). London: 

Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003025115-3 

Garst, B. A., Browne, L. P., & Bialeschki, M. D. (2011). Youth development and the camp experience. New 

Directions for Student Leadership, 2011(130), 73–87. https://doi.org/10.1002/yd.398 

He, M., Xiang, F., Zeng, Y., Mai, J., Chen, Q., Zhang, J., ... & Morgan, I. G. (2015). Effect of time spent 

outdoors at school on the development of myopia among children in China: a randomized clinical 

trial. Jama, 314(11), 1142-1148. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2015.10803 

Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (1987). English for Specific Purposes: A learning Centered Approach. 

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511733031 

Hyland, K. (2019). English for specific purposes: Some influences and impacts. Second handbook of English 

language teaching, 337-353. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02899-2_19 

Kendeou, P., McMaster, K. L., & Christ, T. J. (2016). Reading comprehension: Core components and 

processes. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 3(1), 62-69. 

https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732215624707 

Knezović, A. (2016). Rethinking the languages for specific purposes syllabus in the 21st century: Topic-

centered or skills-centered. International Journal of Information and Communication 

Engineering, 10(1), 117-132. 

Lee, L. C., & Curran, M. E. (2009). Collaborating with Summer Camps to Prepare Chinese Language 

Teachers: Linking Theory to Practice. Learning Languages, 15(1), 26-29. 

https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2015.1058392
https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2016.1203859
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315671390
https://doi.org/10.1123/jpah.2016-0028
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2014.12.004
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2014.11.001
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003025115-3
https://doi.org/10.1002/yd.398
https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2015.10803
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511733031
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02899-2_19
https://doi.org/10.1177/2372732215624707


250 English Language Teaching Educational Journal   ISSN 2621-6485 

 Vol. 4, No. 3, 2021, pp. 235-250 

 

 Soviyah & Fatimah, N.( Developing English material) 

McCoy, D. C., Yoshikawa, H., Ziol-Guest, K. M., Duncan, G. J., Schindler, H. S., Magnuson, K., ... & 

Shonkoff, J. P. (2017). Impacts of early childhood education on medium-and long-term educational 

outcomes. Educational Researcher, 46(8), 474-487. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X17737739 

McGriff, S. J. (2000). Instructional System Design (ISD): Using the ADDIE Model. Retrieved 

from https://www.lib.purdue. edu/sites/default/files/directory/butler38/ADDIE.pdf 

Melhuish, E., Ereky-Stevens, K., Petrogiannis, K., Ariescu, A., Penderi, E., Rentzou, K., ... & Leseman, P. 

(2015). A review of research on the effects of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) upon child 

development. 

Miles, H., & Huberman, A. M. (2020). Saldana. (2014). Qualitative data analysis: A methods sourcebook, 3. 

Noguchi, J. (2019). ELT: Past, present and future. In Towards a New Paradigm for English Language 

Teaching (pp. 3-15). London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429423963-1 

Patten, M. (2016). Questionnaire research: A practical guide. London: Routledge. 

https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315265858 

Peraturan Menteri Republik Indonesia Nomor 21 Tahun 2016 Tentang Standar Isi Pendidikan Dasar dan 

Menengah. 

Peraturan Pemerintah Republik Indonesia Nomor 32 Tahun 2013 Tentang Perubahan Atas Peraturan 

Pemerintah Nomor 19 Tahun 2005 Tentang Standar Nasional Pendidikan. 

Rangel Agámez, M. J., & Pernett Velásquez, J. P. (2020). A topic-based-functional syllabus proposal to 

promote students’ conversation through outdoor games. 

Rahman, M. (2015). English for Specific Purposes (ESP): A Holistic Review. Universal Journal of 

Educational Research, 3(1), 24-31. https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2015.030104 

Ramírez, C. G. (2015). English for specific purposes: Brief history and definitions. Revista de Lenguas 

Modernas, (23). 

Rugasken, K. & Harris, J. (2009). English camp: A language immersion program in Thailand: The learning 

assistance review. Journal of the National College Learning Centre Association, 14(2), 43-51. 

Sepúlveda, M. J. E., & Hutton, R. E. (2019). Shaping summertime experiences: Opportunities to promote 

healthy development and well-being for children and youth. The National Academies Press. 

https://doi.org/10.17226/25546 

Sholeh, M. B. (2020). Implementation of Task-based Learning in Teaching English in Indonesia: Benefits 

and Problems. Language Circle: Journal of Language and Literature, 15(1), 1-9. 

https://doi.org/10.15294/lc.v15i1.26004 

Wigfield, A., Gladstone, J. R., & Turci, L. (2016). Beyond cognition: Reading motivation and reading 

comprehension. Child development perspectives, 10(3), 190-195. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12184 

Wilson, C., & Sibthorp, J. (2018). Examining the role of summer camps  in developing academic and 

workplace readiness. Journal of Youth Development, 13(1–2), 83–104. 

https://doi.org/10.5195/JYD.2018.563 

Yufrizal, H. (2017). Teachers and students perceptions of communicative competence in English as a foreign 

language in Indonesia. Educational Research and Reviews, 12(17), 867-883. 

https://doi.org/10.5897/ERR2017.3243 

  

https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X17737739
https://www.lib.purdue/
https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429423963-1
https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315265858
https://doi.org/10.13189/ujer.2015.030104
https://doi.org/10.17226/25546
https://doi.org/10.15294/lc.v15i1.26004
https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12184
https://doi.org/10.5195/JYD.2018.563
https://doi.org/10.5897/ERR2017.3243

