ENGLISH REVIEW: Journal of English Education p-ISSN 2301-7554, e-ISSN 2541-3643 Volume 9, Issue 2, June 2021 https://journal.uniku.ac.id/index.php/ERJEE 245 NEEDS ANALYSIS OF VOCATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL TEXTBOOK TO LOCAL CULTURE MATERIALS AND THE 21ST CENTURY COMPETENCIES Rita Inderawati Language and Art Education Department, Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, Sriwijaya University, Indonesia E-mail: rita_inderawati@fkip.unsri.ac.id Ismail Petrus Language and Art Education Department, Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, Sriwijaya University, Indonesia E-mail: ismailpetrus@yahoo.com Eryansyah Language and Art Education Department, Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, Sriwijaya University, Indonesia E-mail: eryansyah@unsri.ac.id Meilinda Mathematics and Science Education Department, Faculty of Teachers Training and Education, University of Sriwijaya, Indonesia E-mail: meilinda@fkip.unsri.ac.id APA Citation: Inderawati, R., Petrus, I., Eryansyah., & Meilinda. (2021). Needs analysis of vocational high school textbook to local culture materials and the 21st century competencies. English Review: Journal of English Education, 9(2), pp. 245-252. https://doi.org/10.25134/erjee.v9i2.4349 Received: 21-02-2021 Accepted: 23-04-2021 Published: 15-06-2021 INTRODUCTION The importance of English in secondary vocational schools in the 21st century must not be over- established; thus, student learning should be taught in a variety of ways depending on their major or study program. They must be prepared to compete for posts in Indonesia or elsewhere after graduation. According to the OECD, the global economic market forces countries to be competitive in terms of goods and services quality. In addition, the OECD (2017) stated that if its abilities are closely aligned with industries' needs, countries may have a competitive edge in industries. The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), according to Aring (2015), exposes countries that participate in the organization to the risk of human resource rivalry by forcing them to develop their skills. This corresponds to one of the most important goals of 21st-century education: the growth of life and career skills. Abstract: The needs to know local cultural materials and skills for the future of students in the 21st century motivated researchers to concentrate more on them. In this recent research, an English textbook developed with Palembang local culture in mind and reviewed by students considers student needs. In SMK Negeri 3 Palembang, the travel agent competency program had 35 graders who completed a questionnaire with 45 questions. Questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were used to collect and quantitatively and qualitatively interpret the details. The findings showed: 1) English must be taught through technology to support students; (2) English is essential to students' future careers; (3) no existing English language education materials are included with local Palembang culture; and (4) two main reasons for integrating local Palembang culture into educational materials were to enhance the knowledge of students. Due to the queries, learning resources such as blogs, Twitter, video calls, and voice notes became important for the promotion of skills in the 21st century. Keywords: needs analysis; textbook; vocational high school; local culture; 21st century competency https://doi.org/10.25134/erjee.v9i2.4349 Rita Inderawati, Ismail Petrus, Eryansyah, & Meilinda Needs analysis of vocational high school textbook to local culture materials and the 21st century competencies 246 Graduates of vocational high schools (VHS) should have skills that will help them succeed in their careers, regulation No. 20 for 2016 according to Indonesia's National Ministry of Education. This means that English is not only treated by the schools as a subject but also as a material awareness skill, based on the students’ study program and the requirements of industry at the high school vocational level. As a result, the aims of teaching English at VHS should be to develop specific skills in students through practical exercises based on their study program, so that they can perform well in the workplace later. The VHS students should have access to materials which are similar to those used in the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) course. According to Hussin (2018), one trend in education 4.0 is to take into consideration Industrial Revolution 4.0’s needs when developing and upgrading the experience of students. Curriculum designers will use their feedback to keep the curriculum and its contents informed, meaningful and useful, including their interests, characteristics, and perspectives. As a consequence, when planning, designing, and developing instructional materials, the teacher should promote skills that are suitable for the students' learning needs. According to many kinds of research, developing students’ reading comprehension, extending their awareness, and becoming more aware of their own culture could be achieved by the help of local culture reading materials (Elviana, Inderawati, & Mirizon, 2020; Fu, 2018; Sopian, Inderawati, & Petrus, 2019; Yousef, Chatti, & Schroeder, 2014). The majority of English reading materials textbooks, on the other hand, are restricted in terms of students' ethnicity or local culture. On the basis of their findings from three different textbooks, Dehbozorgi, Amalsaleh, and Kafipour (2014) argued that the target population was more influential than the other cultural classes. As a result, it is important to integrate local values into teaching materials. Since there are currently no teaching materials containing local culture content, the development of teaching materials containing local culture content is considered necessary (Sari, 2016). As a result, creating or designing materials of reading for VHS Tour Agent students which provided their own local culture in English is critical. One vital thing and most significant step before designing materials is to conduct an assessment of the situation. It was discovered through informal interviews with vocational teachers who studied in the Instructional Materials Writing and Evaluation Course at Universitas Sriwijaya's Magister Program in the Faculty of Education that most English teachers used government and commercial publishers' textbooks as their primary source of teaching at school. Despite the fact that the books' contents are not directly relevant to their research program, they are still considered general. They lacked of unique content, such as culture, that is covered by a content syllabus. As a result, the textbooks used remain generic and devoid of culture, especially local culture. On the basis of the textbooks they use, English teachers acknowledge that further reading opportunities are needed to meet the needs of their students. Experts discussed the need for students to learn English more directly in their fields, which led them to develop English teaching materials for vocational school students. Numerous needs analysis studies have been conducted in Indonesia, many of which are related to ESP in terms of syllabus design or materials development for particular levels of education (Sularti, Dradjati & Supriyadi, (2019); Mahbub, 2018; Rahamdina & Sofyan, 2019; Ratri & Puspita, 2019; Sari, 2016; Yundayani, et al, 2017). Other countries have also undertaken a variety of needs recognition studies (Bedoya, et al, 2015; Chetsadanuwat, 2018). These findings highlight the value of performing a needs review while developing standards, textbooks, or instructional materials. The needs analysis may explain students' challenges, the expertise or skills required, or the teaching strategies to be used— besides, the findings of the study of needs. The study will be the most relevant thing to consider to fulfil the needs of students. In addition, literacy on reading skill is one of the skills that need to be considered as well as emphasized. Students can gain more information to explain their skills, such as being a guide, by reading. Then there is the descriptive text that is widely used in English. It was suggested by Rajabi and Ketabi (2012) that tools for reading locality were able to be supplemented with insightful or descriptive texts, manners, and viewpoints, and genuine human interest texts from literature. Additionally, the teacher of English expected to see several supplementary English reading material ENGLISH REVIEW: Journal of English Education p-ISSN 2301-7554, e-ISSN 2541-3643 Volume 9, Issue 2, June 2021 https://journal.uniku.ac.id/index.php/ERJEE 247 dealing with locality, especially the culture of South Sumatra. The following is an extract from Article 8 of the Southern Sumatra Provincial Regulation No 4 of 2015: (1) Participation of the group in the implementation of cultural protection measures is expected. (2) The preceding paragraph's definition of community responsibility shall be prioritized as follows: (a) to contribute to a list of cultural activities in the area; (b) to participate in activities such as learning about regional history and inventorying regional cultural properties; (c) to take part in programs aimed at preserving cultural heritage; (d) to engage in the social interaction and publication of the community's regional cultural values; (e) to engage in activities aimed at facilitating the improvement of the quality of human capital in the field of cultural preservation. Local culture materials, in the form of procedure, narrative, and descriptive texts, may intensify the students’ encouragement to learn on the basis of their needs. They will learn and practice student skills related to their field of study and gain a better understanding of the content of their everyday lives. After completing the course, all knowledge and skills related to their local community can be transferred to their workplaces. As a result, it is necessary to develop reading materials that are culturally acceptable for students. This is in line with research that shows that using local culture as a reading material will help students increase their reading comprehension, broaden their knowledge, and gain a better understanding of their culture (Deghan & Sadighi, 2011; Sopian, et al, 2019; Elviana, et al; 2020; Fu, 2018). Accordingly, teachers face many difficulties in promoting student competence and encouraging them to read because of a shortage of opportunities that meet their needs and interests. As a result, students must have access to reading materials that are suitable for their subjects and interests. If the content does not meet the students' standards, the instructor will have to create new material (Elviana, et al., 2020; Mahbub, 2018; Mukundan, et al., 2016). Teachers must be able to design, modify, and adapt teaching materials based on teaching and learning objectives and student characteristics, as set out in National Education Regulation No. 16 of 2007, relating to teachers' professional competence. Adapting or altering other items or tools can be used for the development of materials (Tomlinson, 1999). By reducing, adding, replacing, modifying, and adding to the importance of the book for each student, curriculum adaptation improves the content to enhance or make it more suitable for certain types of learners. As a result, the authors have attempted to build reading materials for vocational students based on a variety of texts relating to local culture or tourism. Students research several aspects of local culture in tourism content subjects that cover local culture and are enriched with 21st-century skills or skills for life. Pursuant to Regulation No 10 of the Indonesian Ministry of National Education of 2014 and Regulation No 5 of the Indonesian Government of 2017, this research examined a number of topics related to their material subjects and the curriculum, with a focus on the form of culture for preservation. Informal interviews were conducted with some students in the Travel Agent Competency Program and English teachers at SMKN 3 Palembang for the purpose of this report. Several findings need to be taken into account when teaching and learning English in that grade. First and foremost, English had to be incorporated with the subject matter. This means that the standard of materials written in English will help students in their academic endeavours. Second, most English teachers used government-published books and two-course books from private publishers as their primary teaching tools. However, because the course books' content was not specifically applicable to students, they were still considered to be general. There was a lack of cultural materials, particularly from the local area. After that, one of the qualities that needed to be stressed was the ability to learn. To meet the needs of their students, the English teachers confessed that they entailed more reading opportunities. Due to a shortage of English reading materials on Palembang's local culture, it was proposed that some additional local culture based reading materials be made accessible to suit the students’ needs while remaining compatible with their English skills. Before designing local culture English descriptive reading subjects for students of VHS in Palembang, it is necessary to carry out a needs analysis study that is specific to students' needs. Several similar previous studies have been Rita Inderawati, Ismail Petrus, Eryansyah, & Meilinda Needs analysis of vocational high school textbook to local culture materials and the 21st century competencies 248 compared and contrasted in this paper. The study of the student needs analysis was a crucial similarity. The students' level, the focus on English skills, and the depth of the needs assessment were all different from previous studies. The main difference was the inclusion of a specific local population, namely the culture of Palembang. TSA, deficiency analysis, PSA, and strategy analysis were all used to determine student needs. The need study looked at students' needs as seen by students of the Travel Agent Competency Program, English teachers, and other school stakeholders. As a result, this study aimed to clarify the perspectives of students, teachers, and stakeholders on the needs of students in English reading materials based on their cultural context. METHOD A total of 35 research participants took part in this study. There are 45-question questionnaire was given to tenth-grade students at SMK 3 Palembang's Travel Agent Competency Program. The questions were divided into four categories: TSA, deficiency analysis, PSA, and strategy analysis with 20 items on the Likert Scale and 25 items on a multiple-choice scale. Issue classifications included TSA, deficiency analysis, PSA, and strategy analysis. The discussion was centred on teaching English at VHS, available English reading subjects, and the introduction of Palembang culture into English reading subjects. To interpret the information gathered from the questionnaire, the data was evaluated quantitatively and qualitatively. In order to evaluate questionnaire data, the qualitative approach was employed to decipher and clarify the interview data. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Students' TSA, weakness analysis, PSA, and strategy analysis criteria were related to the knowledge gathered from their point of view. This paper's data included the highest proportion of students' answers to each of the questionnaire's questions. Target Situation Analysis (TSA) This section focused on the students' needs, goals, and aspirations in terms of learning English. Table 1 shows the information gathered. Table 1. The view of the students on TSA No Question/ Statement Percentage 1. The significance of knowing English 69.6 % 2. Expectations of learners when it comes to studying English 77.3% 3. The language used by students in their professional lives 83.6% 4. The degree of English proficiency needed for a student's future career. 68.2% The prominent argumentation for studying English was to advance their careers in tomorrow, as seen in Table 1. (68.2 %). It was in keeping with the goals of vocational secondary school as seen in the 2013 English curriculum and in the 2016 Regulation No 20 of the Indonesian Ministry of Education. The students then needed to be able to communicate fluently in English in the future workplace through oral communication. The majority of them wished to learn English so that they could interact with co-workers or visitors (83.6%). That became the reason why, in order to help their career, their English proficiency had to be advanced (77.3%). Table 2. Technology based English content No Question/ Statement Percentage 1. English must be taught with technology in the technological era to help me understand what my main tourism services need. 86.7% 2. In the dynamic global economy, countries increasingly need to cope with the characteristics of products and merits that enable me to improve life and professional skills. 83.2% 3. Including tourism in the city of Palembang in the English language textbook, I automatically learn the local culture through my later work environment. 86.5% 4. In response to demands of the world's financial contest, I need interactive, integrated English training with technologies such as blogs, twitter, video calls and voice notes. 86.6% 5. Since English is incorporated into these technologies, the virtual English textbooks is necessary for me. 82.1% 6. The texts I learned included interactive, communicative, critical and artistic practices, in keeping with the needs of the Industrial Revolution 4.0. 79.2% ENGLISH REVIEW: Journal of English Education p-ISSN 2301-7554, e-ISSN 2541-3643 Volume 9, Issue 2, June 2021 https://journal.uniku.ac.id/index.php/ERJEE 249 In the 21st century, English must be taught using technology to help students understand what is required according to the students' competence travel agent. Countries are increasingly being challenged to compete on the quality of their products and services in today's competitive global economy, which allows the students to develop life and career skills. Students will learn about the local culture as a result of their potential use of English if an English textbook includes a section on tourism in Palembang. Interactive and integrated English learning is needed using technologies such as blogs, YouTube, video calls, and voice notes in order to meet the demands of global economic competition. Therefore, virtual English textbooks were entailed these technologies due to the integration of English with these technologies. Present Situation Analysis (PSA) This section focused on the students' current English proficiency, the resources they had learned, and their local cultural awareness. Table 3 shows the data on the students' perceptions of their English proficiency. Table 3. The students’ English proficiency No Question/ Statement Percentage 1. The new English level for students 81.5% 2. The students' recent level of comprehension of the reading text 60.3% From the table, it can be identified that almost all students (81.5%) recognized that their current level of English skills was beginner. 60.3% of students, therefore, felt that their current understanding of the reading text was sufficient. Deficiency analysis Table 4 displays the existing desires and needs of the students in terms of topics or reading suggestions. Table 4. Students' perspectives on current wants and needs No Question/ Statement Percentage 1. Learners want to hear about a specific topic while they're learning to read. 70.3% 2. Students' preferred reading feedback. 60.7% 3. Topics related to students' general knowledge were integrated into the reading study program. 61.6% 4. Including topics for reading that 72.5%% were related to Palembang's local culture. According to the results of the survey, 70.3% of students chose to incorporate their own cultural culture in reading materials. It is reasonable to think that the students thought this subject would help them with their studies. It was clear that 60.7% of students wanted tour and travel contexts based textbook. It was discovered that 65.7% of learners felt it was very important to integrate topics related to general knowledge into their reading study program. In addition, they needed information on Palembang's local culture. 72.5% of students said it was extremely important, and the remaining students said it was very important. Discussion Students in the Travel Agent Competency Program had to have knowledge related to their study program in order to communicate orally, particularly to tourists. One of them dealt with Palembang's history. One of their potential tasks will be to illustrate and show their own local culture to domestic visitors, including those from other countries. Reading materials were one way of disseminating information about their local community. According to Petrovska (2001), language learning and language learning will benefit from local culture, inspire students to provide familiar perspectives, and prepare students to communicate in foreign languages about their own culture. The main incentive for VHS students to learn English was to help them progress in their careers. This was consistent with the goals of vocational high school as outlined in the 2013 English Curriculum and Regulation 20 Year 2016 of the Indonesian National Education Ministry. The students then needed to be able to communicate fluently in English in the future workplace through oral communication. The majority of them wished to learn English so that they could interact with co- workers and visitors. That became the reason why, in order to help their career, their English proficiency had to be advanced. As a result, SMK tourism majors needed to have knowledge of their study program, one of which was about their own local culture, in order to communicate orally, especially with tourists. One of their potential tasks will be to illustrate and show their own local culture to domestic visitors, including those from other Rita Inderawati, Ismail Petrus, Eryansyah, & Meilinda Needs analysis of vocational high school textbook to local culture materials and the 21st century competencies 250 countries. Reading materials were one way of disseminating information about their local community. Additionally, students desired reading materials that contained details about their own neighbourhood. It is fair to believe that the students felt this subject would assist them in their academic endeavours. The majority of the students clearly desired to read texts about tourism. The students believed that integrating topics related to their general knowledge into their reading study program was extremely important. They also needed more knowledge about their local culture. The majority of students gave supportive responses, saying that learning it was crucial. It supports Rahamdina, Harahap, and Sofyan's results (2019), which looked into the English specifications of a Tour and Travel study program at an SMK in Bengkulu. Cultural tourism was discovered to be one of the most fascinating reading topics for the students. The existing reading materials are expected to help students improve their English proficiency, especially their reading skills, to the level needed to support their future careers, based on the information gathered. CONCLUSION Teachers and educators must conduct a need review in order to acquire a wealth of information about their students' needs, interests, academic shortcomings, and preferred learning styles. 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