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Isnaniah  

LET: Linguistics, Literature and Language Teaching Journal Vol. 10 No. 2 2020 

LET: Linguistics, Literature and English Teaching Journal 
||Volume||10||Issue||2||Pages||89-115||2020|| 

|P-ISSN: 20869606; E-ISSN: 25492454| 

Available online at: http://jurnal.uin-antasari.ac.id/index.php 

 

NEEDS ANALYSIS IN DEVELOPING ENGLISH CURRICULUM  

FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 

 STUDENTS: A CASE STUDY 

 

Isnaniah 

isnaniah76@gmail.com  

 

Nor Millah Hayati 

normillahh@yahoo.com 

 

Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama Kalimantan Selatan, Indonesia 

 

Article History: 

Received: 22nd  July 2020 

Accepted: 20th December 2020 

The awareness of English language mastery leads 

to the effort of learning the language as early as 

possible. Since English is used as a foreign 

language in Indonesia, therefore English have to be 

introduced to the early childhood and elementary 

children institutions. When a foreign language is 

introduced to young learners, it requires special 

knowledge about how children acquire and learn 

language, so a proper learning method can be 

formulated as well. This research aims to conduct 

the needs analysis in developing English 

curriculum for early childhood and elementary 

school children. This research employed a case 

study research. It was carried out through surveys 

with relevant subject and related stakeholder at 

LKP SQUARE Education Center English Program 

Balai Pengembangan Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini 

dan pendidikan Masyarakat (BP-PAUD dan 

Dikmas) Kalimantan Selatan. The object of the 

research is the subject's response including the 

tendency of the teachers for applying the 

curriculum in their teaching activities, the students’ 

performance, and the students’ character. The data 

were collected through interview, questionnaire, 

and observation. The data were analysed 

descriptively. The finding showed that the young 

learners need to master English skill actively and 

confidently. 

Corresponding Author: 

Tel.:  

normillahh@yahoo.com 

Keywords: 

Needs Analysis; 

Curriculum Development; 

English for Young 

Learners 



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INTRODUCTION 

In line with the National Education Department policy No. 0487/14/1992 

chapter VIII and the National Education System law, No. 060/U/1993 which 

states that English lesson can be incorporated into the local content of elementary 

school curriculum, it is necessary to provide proper English learning system, 

which pays attention to the level of children development, especially in how to 

design English language teaching, which is certainly based on the latest theory of 

English Language Teaching for Young Learners (EYL). Therefore, it needs some 

professional educators to design, implement, and develop the appropriate, 

effective and enjoyable learning process based on the level of development and 

the needs of the learners. 

Otilia (2015) emphasizes that the awareness of the students’ needs is really 

acquired. All participants who involved in the language learning process including 

students, teachers, stakeholders, and prospective users should be aware of needs 

analysis and the importance of this process. Several related studies including: 1) 

Kazar & Mede. (2015) about The Perceptions of ESP Students’ Target Needs, 2) 

Lee (2016) about Principles and Practices of ESP Course Design, 3) Poedjiastutie 

& Oliver. (2017) about English Learning Needs of ESP Learners, 4) Widodo 

(2017) about Approaches to Needs Analysis in ESP Curriculum Development, 5) 

Adhabiyyah, et al. (2014) about Needs Analysis and Material Development in 

English for Specific Purposes, and 6) Yansyah, et al. (2019) about Need Analysis 

on Developing Skill-Based Materials for D3 Nursing Students also stated the 

same perspective that the teaching learning aspects need to be based on empirical 

findings. 

Curriculum development should be viewed as a process by which meeting 

learners’ needs leads to improvement of learners’ learning. Therefore, curriculum 

developers should gather as much information as possible toward the learners’ 

needs. Richards (2002) define the needs analysis as the procedures to collect 

information about the learners’ needs. Iwai (1999) also said that need analysis as 

activities that are involved in collecting information that will serve as the basis for 



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developing a curriculum that will meet the needs of a particular group of students. 

While Brown (1995) as quoted by Takaaki (2006) also elaborate it as the 

systematic collection and analysis of all relevant information necessary to satisfy 

the language learning requirements of the students within the context of the 

particular institutions involved in the learning situation. 

Language curriculum development should be based on the student’s need. 

The design must be rely on the current theory of language curriculum. It should be 

also refers to the others scientific findings by identifying the students’ 

competencies and tasks. 

The curriculum development in several education institutions for Early 

Childhood and Elementary students are mostly still focused on Grammatical Skill 

instead of using active English. The curriculum content still emphasizes on the 

linguistic structure, it does not oriented towards the English for Specific Purposes 

(ESP). Moreover, the design of the curriculum does not examine proportionally 

the aspects of English for the early childhood and elementary school students.  

Some of the main issues above indicate that the implementation of the 

English learning process in several basic education institutions including the 

institution of the Early Childhood and Elementary Students are still less 

satisfactory as the curriculum design do not meet the needs of the students yet.  

This research is conducted based on the issues above. The design of the 

curriculum must be adjusted to accommodate the needs of the students and should 

be compiled based on the need analysis, the program objectives, and the current 

theory. As English language education will be ideal if it starts from an early 

childhood, so it requires an appropriate and effective needs analysis in curriculum 

development. 

Literature Review  

Relevant to the research purpose above, needs analysis is important in the 

development of English language curriculum for early childhood education and 



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elementary school. According to Basturkmen (2010: 17) need analysis is the 

identification of language and skills used in determining and selecting material in 

ESP. This analysis can also be used to assess the learners and the learning process 

at the end of the period.  

A needs analysis may be conducted for a variety of different users. For 

example, in conducting a needs analysis to help revise the secondary English 

curriculum in a country, the end users include curriculum officers in the ministry 

education, who may wish to use the information to evaluate the adequacy of 

existing syllabus, curriculum, and materials; teachers who will teach from the new 

curriculum; learners, who will be taught from the curriculum; writers, who are 

preparing new textbooks; testing personnel, who are involved in developing end-

of-school assessment; and staff of tertiary institutions, who are interested in 

knowing what the expected level will be of students existing the schools and what 

problems they faced (Richards, 2002).  

Determining the likely audiences is an important first step in planning a 

needs analysis in order to ensure that the information they needs is obtained and 

that the needs analysis will have the impact it is designed to have. Therefore, the 

audiences might be involved in small-case needs analysis such as done by a single 

teacher on his or her class would consist of the teacher, other teachers, and the 

program coordinator. Further, needs analysis can have a political dimension. It 

can be used to support a particular agenda, for example by giving priority to one 

group to the exclusion of others within a population or in order to justify a 

decision that has already been made on economic or other grounds. Hence, there 

are different stakeholders where needs analysis is being undertaken. Stakeholders 

are those who have a particular interest or involvement in the issue or programs 

that are being examined, and it is important to try to get a sense of what their 

different agendas are. Richards (2002) identify stakeholder as a person or group of 

person with a right to comment on, and have input into, the curriculum process 

offered in schools. That is why different stakeholders will want different things 

from the curriculum. 



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According to Richards (2002), the target population in a needs analysis 

refers to the people about whom information will be collected. For example in 

conducting a needs analysis to determine the focus of an English program in 

public secondary school in an EFL context, then the target population might 

include policy makers, ministry of education officials, teachers, students, 

academics, employers, vocational training specialists, parents, influential 

individuals and pressure groups, academic specialists, and community agencies. 

Basically, sampling is an important issue in determining the target population. 

Sampling involves asking a portion of the potential population instead of the 

population and seeks to create sample that is representative of the total population. 

For example, in conducting a needs analysis of studying foreign languages at a 

New Zealand university (Richards and Gravatt, 1998) toward students’ motivation 

for selecting a language course, dropping a language course, or choosing not to 

take a language course, then the sample that might be taken from the whole 

population of New Zealand university students are: 1) students currently enrolled 

in a foreign language course, 2) students previously enrolled but no longer 

studying a language, 3) students who have never studied a foreign language. 

Actually, there are some factors influenced in determining the approach of 

sampling, such as the homogeneity of the population in terms of kinds of skills, 

attitudes, or knowledge being sought or the need to study subgroups within the 

sample (based on sex, language groups, or other factors). 

According to Felicia M, Lekatompessy (2010), there are some advantages 

might be obtained by conducting needs analysis, such as: (1) in a learner-centered 

curriculum, teachers’ reconciliation in content selection though extensive 

consultation with the students about their learning needs and interest is critical. 

Therefore needs analysis helps teachers create in-class activities in which the 

students can utilize learned skills and knowledge as tools to meet their real-life 

needs in meaningful ways; (2) needs analysis can helps teachers understand “local 

needs” of students or the needs of a particular group of students and make 

practical decision in pedagogy and assessment for improvement, and also for the 

selection of appropriate teaching methods in a program; (3) in proficiency-



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oriented instruction/curricula, needs analysis helps teachers understand the 

potential difference in learning expectations between themselves and their 

students; (4) obtaining input from the students about a planned or existing 

program through a needs analysis is fundamental to the design, implementation, 

evaluation and revision of the program; (5) needs analysis may provide the basis 

for planning goals and objectives for a future program, and also for developing 

syllabus design and teaching materials for the course; (6) a program that attempts 

to meet students’ perceived needs for the students will be more motivating and 

successful. 

Songhori (2007) on his paper entitled Introduction to needs analysis also 

elaborated the purpose of need analysis. The concepts of needs analysis includes:  

Environment situation; information about the situation in which the course 

will be run (means analysis);  

1. Personal information about learners; factors which may affect the way they 

learn (wants, means, subjective needs);  

2. Language information about learners; what their current skills and language 

use are (present situational analysis);  

3. Learners’ lacks (the gap between the present situation and professional 

information about learners);  

4. Learners’ needs from course; what is wanted from the course (short-term 

needs); 

5. Language learning needs; effective ways of learning the skills and language 

determined by lacks;  

6. Professional information about learners; the tasks and activities English 

learners are/will be using English for (Target Situation Analysis and objective 

needs); and 



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7. How to communicate in the target situation; knowledge of how language and 

skills are used in the target situation (register analysis, discourse analysis, 

genre analysis). 

Adopting the needs analysis theory provided by Hutchinson & Waters 

(1987), Adhabiyyah et al (2014) summarizes that the needs analysis consists of 

three components, they are: Target Situation Analysis (AST), Present Situation 

Analysis (ASS), and Learning Situation Analysis (ASP). These three components 

cannot be separated from the concept of needs analysis as outlined by Hutchinson 

& Waters, where the needs analysis was developed by paying attention to the 

three main aspects; necessities, lacks, and wants. The roadmap analysis can be 

seen as the following table: 

Table 1. Needs Analysis by Hutchinson & Waters (1987) 

Types of 

Needs 

Analysis 

Target Situation Types of Needs 

Analysis 

Learning Needs 

Why is the 

language 

needed? 

For study, for work, 

for training, for 

combination of 

these; for some 

other purposes, e.g. 

status, exam, 

promotion, etc. 

Why are the 

learners 

taking the 

course? 

 Compulsory or 

optional; 

 apparent need or not; 

 are status, money 

promotion involved? 

 what do learners 

think they will 

achieve?; 

 what is their attitude 

towards the ESP 

course?; 

 Do they want to 

improve their 

English or do they 

resent the time they 

have to spend on it? 



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How will the 

language be 

used? 

 

Medium: speaking, 

writing, reading 

etc. 

Channel: e.g. 

telephone, face to 

face; 

Types of text or 

discourse: 

e.g. academic 

texts, lecturers, 

informal 

conversations, 

etc. 

How do the 

learners 

learn? 

 What is their learning 

background? 

 What is their concept 

of teaching and 

learning? 

 What methodology 

will appeal to them? 

 What sort of 

techniques are 

likely/alienate to 

them? 

What will the 

content areas 

be? 

Subjects: e.g. 

medicine, 

biology, 

architecture etc. 

Level: e.g. 

technician, 

craftsman, 

postgraduate, etc. 

What 

resources are 

available? 

 Number and 

professional 

competence of 

teachers; 

 Attitude of teachers to 

ESP 

 Teachers’ knowledge 

of and attitude to the 

subject content; 

 Materials; 

 Aids and 

opportunities out of 

class activities 

Who will the 

learner use the 

language 

with? 

Native speakers or 

non native; 

Level of knowledge 

receive: e.g. 

expert, layman, 

student; 

Relationship: e.g. 

colleague, 

teacher, 

Who are the 

learners? 

 Age, sex, nationality 

 What do they know 

already about 

English? 

 What subject 

knowledge do they 

have? 

 What are their 

interests? 



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customer 

superior, 

subordinate. 

 What is their socio-

cultural background? 

 What teaching styles 

are they use to? 

 What is their attitude 

to English or to 

cultures of the 

English speaking 

world? 

Where will the 

language be 

used? 

Physical setting; e.g. 

office, lecture 

theatre, hotel etc 

Human context: e.g. 

alone, meetings, 

telephone etc 

Linguistic context: 

e.g. in own 

country, abroad 

Where will 

the ESP 

course take 

place? 

Are the sorroundings 

pleasant, dull, noisy, 

cold etc? 

 

The table above shows that the target situation analysis is what the 

students need to do in the target situation. Further, target analysis is an umbrella 

term which in practice will lead to many different interpretations. Hutchinson and 

Waters emphasized that the Target Situation Analysis had the difference 

interpretation with the Target Situation Analysis reviewed by Munby.  The Target 

Situation Analysis that stated by Munby is more emphasis on the learner centered 

approach while Target Situation Analysis in Hutchinson and Waters was more a 

learning-centered approach; a learning process between individual students and 

the surrounding community.  

Moreover, Target Situation Analysis by Hutchinson and Waters is defined 

as Necessities, Lacks, and Wants. Necessities are one of the needs that is 

determined by the demand of the target situation; what students need to know so 

they can do their work effectively in a target situation. Meanwhile, the lack on the 



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other hand is more of a gap that distinguishes between what is already known by 

the students and what they do not know. According to Jordan in Adhabiyyah et. 

al. (2014), gap is the basis of the syllabus development which is called as 

deficiency analysis (Present Situation Analysis). Present Situation Analysis aims 

to provide information related to the students’ condition at the beginning of the 

learning period. The students need to know so they can do their work effectively 

in a target situation. Wants, the last element of the Target Situation Analysis, is 

the most important source in the needs analysis and cannot be ignored in the 

developing of ESP based curriculum. Wants is considered as the most important 

element as it will distinguish the student’s participation in the class and whole 

learning process effectively. Wants determine the students’ motivation which 

influences the development of syllabus and material. 

Richards (2002) clarify that need is a thing that is constructed and 

dependent on judgment and reflects the interest and values of those making such 

judgment. Therefore, the teachers, learners, employers, parents and other 

stakeholders may have different views as to what needs are. For example, in 

considering the needs of immigrants, representatives of majority population may 

see the immigrants’ needs as achieving cultural and linguistic assimilation and 

hence may want a needs analysis to identify the language skills immigrant require 

in order to survive, and assimilate into the dominant culture. In fact, however, 

those immigrant minorities in English-dominant societies also have other kinds of 

needs that might be related to housing, health care, access for children’s’ school, 

services, and others. It is like what Auerbach (1995) says as quoted by Richards 

that English teaching has often been viewed as a “neutral transfer of skills, 

knowledge, or competencies” and that such an approach is based on the needs of 

social institutions, rather than language learners. Due to this problem, then the 

curriculum should facilitate or fill in this gap. In this case, he adds that planning 

an ESL curriculum is not only involves identifying students’ language needs, but 

seeks “to enable them critically examine the existing order, and become active in 

shaping their own roles in it”. In other words it can be concluded that learner’s 

needs cannot be determined alone by institution, teachers, parents, or even 



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society, but it is the learners themselves as the main sources that should be 

involved in determining their own learning needs, particularly in language 

learning needs (Kavaliauskiene and Užpaliene, 2003). 

Planning a needs analysis involves deciding who will administer the needs 

analysis and collect and analyze the results. Needs analysis will be vary in their 

scope and demands, from a survey of a whole school population in a county to a 

study of a group of thirty learners in a single institution. Thus, the administrators 

on a needs analysis of the language needs of non-English-background students 

studying at a New Zealand University might involved the researcher team made 

up of two academics and a research assistant; colleagues in different departments 

who discussed the project and reviewed sample questionnaires; students who 

piloted the questionnaire; academic staff of the university who administered some 

of the questionnaires; ad secretarial support involved in preparing questionnaires 

and tabulating data. 

There are a variety of procedures can be used for conducting needs 

analysis and the kind of information obtained is often dependent on the type of 

procedure selected. Therefore, the use of a triangular approach (collecting 

information from two or more source) is advisable to get very comprehensive and 

sufficient information. For example, in conducting needs analysis of the writing 

problems encountered by foreign students enrolled in American universities then 

information could be obtained from many sources, such as from samples of 

students writing, test data on students’ performance, reports by teachers on typical 

problems students face, opinion of experts, information from students’ via 

interviews and questionnaires, and so forth. Procedures for collecting information 

during a needs analysis can be selected from among the following: 

Questionnaires 

This is one of the most common instruments used in collecting 

information. Questionnaire is divided into two types, which are a set of structured 

questionnaires consists of structures items (in which the respondents chooses from 



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a limited number of response) and unstructured questionnaire in which open-

ended questions are given that the respondents can answer as he or she chooses. 

Riduwan (2008) on his book entitled Belajar Mudah Penelitian Untuk Guru-

Karyawan dan Peneliti Pemula adds that there is checklist type used in collecting 

information, in which the respondents can check based on each aspects and it 

usually used with the scaling types. Basically questionnaire is easy to prepare, 

they can be used with large numbers of subject and relatively easy to tabulate and 

analyze, and many information can be administered through this instrument. 

However, except of its advantages above, questionnaire also has disadvantage 

since the data is usually too superficial and imprecise that will often need follow-

up to gain a fuller understanding of what respondents intend. For that reason, it is 

essential to identify ambiguities and other problems before being administered by 

piloting the questionnaires. 

Self-ratings 

Self-rating consist of scales that students or other use to rate their 

knowledge or abilities. This might also be included as part of questionnaire as 

what has been stated above by Riduwan toward checklist type. However, the 

information collected through this instrument is too impressionistic and not very 

precise. 

Interviews 

Interviews allow for a more in-depth exploration of issue that the 

questionnaires though it will take longer time to administer. It can be done 

through face-to-face or over the telephone. An interview may often be useful at 

the preliminary stage of designing a questionnaire, since it will help the designer 

get a sense of what topics and issue can be focused on the questionnaire. 

Therefore, it is better to conduct a structured interview that allows more 

consistency across responses to be obtained.  

 



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Meetings 

A meeting allows a large amount of information to be collected in a fairly 

short time. However, information obtained in this way may be impressionistic and 

subjective and reflect the ideas of more outspoken members of a group. 

Observation 

Observation of learners’ behavior in a target situation is another way of 

assessing their needs. However, people often do not perform well or natural when 

they are being observed, thus this has to be taken into account. Besides, 

observation is a specialized skill which needs specialized training on knowing 

how to observe, what to look for, and how to make use of the information 

obtained. 

Collecting learner language samples 

Collecting data on how well learners perform on different language tasks 

and documenting the typical problems they have is useful and direct source of 

information about learners’ language needs. Hence, language samples might be 

collected through the means of written or oral tasks, simulations or role plays, 

achievement tests, and performance tests. 

Task analysis 

This refers to analysis of the kinds of tasks the learners will have to carry 

out in English in a future occupational or educational setting and assessment of 

the linguistics and demands of the tasks. 

Case studies 

With a case study, a single students or a selected group of students is 

followed through a relevant work or educational experiences in order to determine 

the characteristics of that situation. For example, a newly arrived immigrant might 

be studied for three months toward his/her daily language experienced in English, 



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situations in which the language used, and the problems encounters. Although the 

information from this instrument cannot be generalized, it provides very rich 

source information that may complement information obtained from other 

sources. 

Analysis of available information 

Some relevant information provided in various sources such as on books, 

journals articles, reports and surveys, or records and files, can be used in 

conducting needs analysis. This procedure is normally the first step in a needs 

analysis because there are very few problems in language teaching. 

Designing a needs analysis involves choosing from among various 

procedures above and selecting those that are likely to give a comprehensive view 

of learners’ needs and that represent the interests of the different stakeholders 

involved. Decision on choosing particular procedures should consider some 

factors such as collecting, organizing, analyzing and reporting the information 

collected. It is important to make sure that needs analysis does not produce 

information overloaded. Therefore the reason for collecting should be stated 

clearly to ensure that only information that will actually be used is collected. The 

step by step procedures can be followed in investigating the learners’ needs are: 

1. literature survey 

2. analysis of a wide range of survey questionnaires 

3. contact with others who had conducted similar surveys 

4. interviews with teachers to determine goals 

5. identification of participating departments 

6. presentation of project proposal to participating departments and 

identification of person in each department 

7. development of a pilot student and staff questionnaire 



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8. review of the questionnaires by colleagues 

9. piloting of the questionnaires 

10. selection of staff and students subjects 

11. developing a schedule for collecting data 

12. administration of questionnaires 

13. follow-up interviews with selected participants 

14. tabulation of responses 

15. analysis of responses 

16. writing up of report and recommendations 

Those sixteen procedures above are appropriate or commonly used for 

larger-scale needs analysis. While for smaller scale needs analysis such as that of 

a teacher or group of teacher assessing the needs of new groups of students in a 

language program, the procedures might consist of: 

1. initial questionnaire 

2. follow-up individual and groups interview 

3. meetings with students 

4. meetings with other teachers 

5. ongoing classroom observation 

6. tests 

English for Young Learners 

Studying English as a second language needs to be learned from early 

childhood before the individuals reach the puberty. Lenneberg (1967: 116) stated 



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that an individual has a sensitive period to be able to easily and quickly master the 

language, which is called the "critical period". When the individuals reach the 

puberty, they will be difficult to master the foreign language especially in the 

pronunciation.  

Lightbown & Spada (1999: 60) made some observations on children from 

immigration families who came from the other countries and settled in the USA. 

The study found that the immigration children who have not reached the puberty 

able to speak English with a good pronunciation like native speakers. Meanwhile, 

even their parents can speak English fluently but they have difficulties in 

pronunciation, word selection, and grammar. 

The Individuals who start learning English at the puberty period will be 

also influenced by psychological factors. As fact, the children learn English 

effectively when they study at a relaxed atmosphere, Meanwhile, the Individuals 

who have reached the puberty tend to have different motivation. They feel 

ashamed when they cannot reach the target level. They feel frustrated when they 

realize their English is still lacking. These kind of psychological factors make the 

individual fail in the learning process. It needs to be understood that the early 

childhood is the age of playing. Since, every activities of playing are exciting for 

them, so the right approach needs to be created by the teachers to make the 

learning process becoming more enjoyable. 

METHOD  

This research is a case study with qualitative and quantitative approach. 

This research is intended to analyze the students’ needs in the developing of 

English curriculum for early childhood and elementary school children. The 

qualitative approach from this research can be seen from the data analysis that 

carrying the needs analysis in the development of English curriculum for young 

learners. For the data presentation, the researcher applies a quantitative approach 

that involves a few statistically activities in analyzing the data.  



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The subjects of this research were taken from different level of English 

ability. The subject was the students at LKP SQUARE Education Center English 

Program at Balai Pengembangan Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini dan Pendidikan 

Masyarakat (BP-PAUD dan Dikmas) Kalimantan Selatan with the total number of 

students were 30 students. It consists of 15 boys and 15 girls.  

Meanwhile, the questionnaire used a Hutchinson & Waters (1987) 

instrument that is adopted by Adhabiyyah et al (2014) for collecting the data 

related to the students’ needs, lacks, and wants. The instrument in the form of 

interviews was used to get the latest information from the leaders, stakeholders, 

and other policy makers. The results of questionnaire collection were analyzed 

quantitatively, while the results of the interviews were analyzed qualitatively. 

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 

 These findings were obtained through interview and questionnaire 

instruments. The researcher observed the subject before preparing the research 

instruments. The interview instrument was purposed to get the latest information 

from the leaders, stakeholders, and other policy makers. Meanwhile, the 

questionnaire instrument was used to collect data related to the student needs, 

lacks, and wants related to the analysis of curriculum development for early 

childhood and elementary school student. 

The Observation Results 

The development of English language curriculum for young learners has to 

meet the needs of learners. English Program at Balai Pengembangan Pendidikan 

Anak Usia Dini dan Pendidikan Masyarakat (BP-PAUD dan Dikmas) Kalimantan 

Selatan is an English language institution that aims to create active English skill 

students. The institution curriculum emphasizes to put the practical knowledge 

70% larger than the theory. The institution pays attention to the needs of students 

and the demands of their graduation competency standards. It can be said that the 

curriculum at English Program Balai Pengembangan Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini 

dan Pendidikan Masyarakat (BP-PAUD dan Dikmas) Kalimantan Selatan is 



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different from the other curriculum in general, where both learning practices and 

theories have equal portion.  

Based on the pre-observation, it can be seen that the learning situation at 

English Program Balai Pengembangan Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini dan 

Pendidikan Masyarakat (BP-PAUD dan Dikmas) Kalimantan Selatan is really fun. 

The students sometimes learn outside the classroom to play games, sing songs, tell 

stories, etc. The institution is also supported by some professional instructors, so 

the students can meet the demands of graduate competency standards without 

feeling burdened. So, it can be stated that curriculum development must be 

adjusted to the needs of students, the demands of graduate competence, the 

students’ character and the professional instructors. 

The Interview Result 

Interviews were conducted through various respondents with specific 

objectives for each of them. The interview was conducted through the leaders, 

stakeholders and the other policy makers. There are 3 respondents: ISN, FKS and 

NRA. As the managers of the institution, the respondents are willing to answer 10 

questions related to the preparation of early childhood and elementary school in 

current English learning situation. According to the respondents, there are 5 things 

that considered to prepare for young learners in order to have active abilities in 

speaking English. They are: 1) Basic English language skills are very important, 

2) Listening, reading, writing and speaking are four skills needed to be 

emphasized, 3) English must be focused on ESP especially related vocabulary to 

daily life, 4) Every students must understand WH and Yes/No questions. 5) There 

are demands for graduate competency standards in the learning curriculum. 

Meanwhile, the second interview was represented by the students’ parents. 

Based on the information, it can be concluded that there are three important things 

to be considered. They are: 1) Learning can be create to become more fun, 2) It 

need to held a preparatory lesson before conducting the examination and 3) The 



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questions related to daily life need to be taught and practiced more in the class, so 

speaking English will become a habit. 

The next interview was conducted with the Head of curriculum 

development program and the involved instructors. The purpose of this interview 

is to have better understanding about the curriculum, the teaching-learning 

condition and the teaching and learning process description. The summary of the 

interview can be stated as follows: 1) The purpose of teaching English in this 

program is to prepare students to be active in English rather than merely being 

passive, 2) English is being taught at various levels such as Basic English, 

General For Young Learners, Survival English 1, Survival English 2, English For 

Communication, and Advance English, 3) Students are expected to get familiar 

with English Speaking Skill, 4) Writing and Speaking are two skills that are 

difficult to teach, 5) The facilities are considered to be sufficient.  

Based on the interviews above, it can be highlighted that the development 

of English curriculum has been designed properly. However, it is still necessary to 

give more practice skills to the students. 

The Questionnaire Results 

The questionnaire instrument was adapted from Hutchinson & Waters 

(Hutchinson & Waters, 1987). It is used to assess the students' goals in learning 

English, the most important language skills for students, the practice of English 

language use, the current English proficiency, the language skills that should be 

improved and the type of learning that students want. 

English Learning Objective  

Based on the questionnaire result, all of the students were agreed that the 

main purpose of learning English is to learn (100%). The detail information can 

be seen as follows: 

 



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Table 1. Learning Objectives 

The purpose of learning English Percentage (%) 

To study 100 

To prepare the exam 80 

To play enjoyable english source; video game, etc  65 

To communicate with native speaker 70 

Other purpose 20 

 

The Students’ Perspective toward the Most Important English skills  

Based on the questionnaire given, the most important English language 

skills for the students are speaking and writing. Both of these skills are at the top 

of the list with 90% of students choosing both skills. The other skills are listening 

(65%) and reading (65%). The most important skill questionnaire results for 

students to learn are shown in the following table. 

Table 2 The most important skills for learning 

The most important skill Percentage (%) 

Listening 65 

Speaking 90 

Reading 65 

Writing 90 

English Practice  

Based on the students’ answer results, the practice of using English is 

mostly done at schools. During English class, 40% of students said that they 



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sometimes practice for using English, and 15% of students said it was rare. The 

details can be seen as the following table: 

Table 3 The Use of English Practice 

The practice of using English Percentage (%) 

Always 20 

Often 25 

Sometimes 40 

Rarely 15 

Current English language skills  

Most of the students are admitted to say that they are unsure to have 

excellent English skills. The students have lack of confidence in applying English 

in the daily use. The details regarding students' current English proficiency are 

presented in the table below. 

Table 4 Students' English Proficiency 

 Percentage (%) 

Low Average Good Excellent 

Listening 20 40 40 0 

Speaking 53 27 20 0 

Reading 22 33 45 0 

Writing 47 30 23 0 

Student skills that need to be improved 

Most of the students stated that their speaking and writing skills need to be 

improved. This is because many of them feel doubt when speaking and writing in 

English. The statement can be seen in the following Table. 



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Table 5 Students’ English Skills Need to be Improved 

English skills need to be improved Percentage (%) 

Listening 60 

Speaking  100 

Reading 60 

Writing 100 

Preference for English Learning Activities  

A list of choices for learning activities is also included in the questionnaire 

so that researchers can design learning activities that are in accordance with the 

wishes of students. Table 6 shows that most students prefer to learn through game 

(90%), role playing (77%), and making presentations (57%) as learning activities 

in the classroom. 

Table 6. Learning Activities Preferences 

Activity Percentage (%) 

Game 
90 

Role play 77 

Make presentations (Tell a story) 57 

Case study 23 

Other activities 0 

The Test Result 

 The effectiveness of the curriculum development can be seen through the 

results of students’ pre-test and post-test. Pre-test was conduct before the students 

start learning. The goal is to find out the basic students’ abilities and to place them 

into appropriate class level. The results of the tests are presented in the table 

below. 



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Table 7. Student Pre-test Results 

Class Program Passed Failed 

Basic 24 6 

General English for Young Learners 18 6 

Survival English 1 14 4 

Survival English 2 10 4 

English for communication 5 5 

Advanced English - 5 

Based on the results of 30 student’s pre-test, 6 students were in the basic 

class, 6 students were in the general English class for young learners, 4 students 

were in the English survival class 1, 4 students were in the English survival class 

2, 5 students were in the in the English for communication class and 5 others are 

in the advanced English class. 

 After applying the curriculum development at the learning process, then a 

post-test is conducted to determine the students’ skill development. The results of 

the post-test can be seen in table below. 

Table 8. Student Post-test Results 

 Low Average Good Excellent 

Basic 0 1 2 3 

General English for Young 

Learners 
0 1 3 2 

Survival English 1 0 1 2 1 

Survival English 2 0 1 2 1 

English for Communication 0 2 2 1 

Advanced English 0 2 3 0 



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The results of the post-test showed that no one of the students had low 

skills after participating in the learning process. It indicates that the application of 

the curriculum development has run effectively.  

Based on the needs analysis above, the researcher then try to design a 

curriculum that expected to meet the students needs. This curriculum is designed 

in 6 classes, where in each class consists of several levels. The number of 

meetings in the learning process is designed accordance with the presented 

material. Each learning process consists of 70% practice and 30% theory. The 

curriculum development design can be seen in the Figure below. 

Figure 1. The Curriculum Development Structure and Content 

 

Each level in the class has different material. This material is arranged 

from the easiest to the hardest. It is presented in the table below. 

Table 9. Basic Class Material 

Level Competency Standard 

Basic 1 Greeting and introduction, apps, numbers: 1-10, stationery, 



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what is this-what is that, animal (1), Color 

Basic 2 Greeting and introduction, numbers: 11-20, article: a and an, 

stationery: in the classroom, preposition: on in under, family 

(1), Color and shapes. 

Basic 3 Days, This-that-these-those / a-ness, in the classroom (2), 

numbers 1-100, preposition (2), family (2), parts of the house. 

Basic 4 Animals (2), family member (3), actions: can & cant, shapes 

and sizes, parts of the body, toys: where is it, weather (1), food 

and drink 

Basic 5 Action (daily activity), time, jobs, what you are doing (simple 

present continuous), transportation, clothes, preposition (3), 

shopping for vegetables, adjective (1) 

Basic 6 Daily activities, simple present tense, part of the house, 

adjective (2), weather (2), sickness (4) 

The Instructor delivered the learning process by singing songs to make the 

learning situation interesting. By singing English song, the students can memorize 

English vocabulary and say it quickly. Besides that, the learning process was also 

done through role play. This is in accordance with the students’ needs analysis of 

curriculum development. The following is one of the samples of basic 

competency standard and English basic competency. 

Figure 2. Sample of Standard of Competency and Basic Competency for 

Basic Level 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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The learning process at GYL, Survival English 1, Survival English 2, 

English for Communication and Advanced English class is almost similar with the 

Basic class. The difference is only on the materials that were presented to be more 

higher based on their level of difficulty. The higher the class level, the higher the 

difficulty is. Since the learning process is designed continously in the curriculum, 

so the level of difficulty can be overcomed if the students can master the previous 

class material well. Each level of the program will be tested through the final 

examination to find out how much students has mastered the material and met the 

basic competency standards. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The result of the research indicates that needs analysis has a vital role in 

the process of designing and carrying out any language course and considered as a 

crucial component of systematic curriculum development. However, learners as 

the main sources in needs analysis often find difficult to define what language 

needs they have. Therefore, as the teacher or even institution should be aware of 

their impetus on successful teaching by conducting this needs analysis through 

some procedures. 

The needs analysis for curriculum development at English Program Balai 

Pengembangan Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini dan Pendidikan Masyarakat (BP-

PAUD dan Dikmas) Kalimantan Selatan was conducted to meet the demands of 

graduate competency standards by emphasizing the practical knowledge larger 

than the theory. The Curriculum development has been designed properly to 

adjust the students’ needs and desires. The learning process was evaluated through 

the results of the students’ pre-test and post-test. The results show that the 

application of the curriculum development has been run effectively. However, it 

needs more evaluation on every class level to make the students acquire more 

English skill and practice it confidently. The students also need to master English 

skill actively. 

 



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