DEVELOPING ENGLISH READING MATERIAL FOR MIDWIFERY STUDENTS IN MADURA ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY Arisandi Setiyawan, Dinar Vincy Yunitaka,.B Madura Islamic University ase.sun86@gmail.com, dinarvincy89@gmail.com Abstract This study was conducted to develop English reading materials for midwifery student in Madura Islamic University. The aim was to help students to enrich their experience, build their knowledge, and construct their reading comprehension especially in midwifery context. The procedures of doing the development of this research (R and D) includes need analysis, material development, expert validation, revision, field testing and final product. To collect the relevant information, the instrument used in this study was need analysis that consists of questionnaires, and interview guide. The information that was gotten from need analysis becomes a basis for developing the reading materials. Moreover, Contextual Teaching and Learning strategy was used by the researchers in developing reading material, then the expert validators was carried out to evaluate the material. After making a revision based on the experts’ suggestion, the next step was field testing, it was done to know the applicability of material development. Finally, the final product of this study consists of ten chapters about reading material which is suitable for the midwifery context. Keywords: English reading material, midwifery, and need analysis I INTRODUCTION There are four language skills that the students should master in learning English, they are listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Reading is an essential skill for English Language learners. Hill and Holden (1990) define reading as the most useful skill for the learners in developing the sense of satisfaction in comprehending a text. In addition, Bright and McGregor (1970:52) state that so m eone’ s general knowledge depends much on reading. On the other hand, most students find it difficult in comprehending the reading English text. They fail to derive meaning from what they read. Meanwhi l e, Nuttal (1982: 5-6) states that the text can be difficult because the students are not familiar with the t ext , the topic being discussed, vocabularies, and the complexity of the concepts expressed. Moreover, this study was conducted for midwifery students; they learn English as a compulsory subject even though English is not their major. In this case, they are included as an ESP learner. In other word, they learn English to meet the specific need. Basturkmen (2006:18) said that in ESP, learning language is not for gaining general education, but it is for greater linguistic efficiency in academic, professional and workplace environment. Moreover, in developing material for ESP learner, need analysis is needed. According to Robinson (1991), Need analysis is a basic central of ESP. in t hi s case, need analysis become a basic though in designing the syllabus, lesson plan, and material as well. In fact, the students do not have a handbook of English related to their field and they find it hard to catch the reading text because of the limitation of vocabulary mastery. Actually, they can easily find t he English text which is related to their field in internet but they do not have any appropriate activity to comprehend the text. Therefore, they always skip reading and even ignore to read. Hence, the lecturer should be able to find the right material for the students of midwifery to learn English particularly reading skill. The existence of interactional material is needed in teaching and learning process. Nunan (1991, p. 208) says “While the syllabus defines the goals and objectives, the linguistic and exper i ent i al content, instructional materials can put flesh on the bones of these specifications.” For those reasons, the researcher found that it was necessary to develop an appropriate learning material on reading in line with their need as an ESP Learners. It is also developed in order t o hel p t he students of midwifery to understand the reading text delivered in English. Contextual Teaching and Learning strategy are used by the researchers in developing reading materials. As it is stated by Crawford (2001) that procedures of CTL consist of relating, experiencing, applying, cooperating, and transferring (REACT). There have been so many studies about CTL for reading skill. Kaefatunnisa (2015) found that CTL approach can impr ove students’ reading skill, furthermore it can also motivate students to learn and help them to understand the material. mailto:ase.sun86@gmail.com mailto:dinarvincy89@gmail.com 2 | Arisandi Setiyawan, Dinar Vincy Yunitaka,.B Lingual (Vol. 10, No.2, 2020) II MATERIALS AND METHOD Based on the focus of the research, this research intends to develop reading materials for st udent s of midwifery at Madura Islamic University. Therefore, the design of this research is research and development (R&D). Based on the statement of Borg and Gall (1983:772) in Latief (2011:171), an Educational Research and Development is a research that aims to develop and validate an educational product. The researchers applied research and development from Borg and Gall (1983, p. 772). There are ten steps in conducting educational research and development as follows: (1) Research and information collecting, (2) Planning, (3) Develop preliminary form of product, (4) Preliminary field testing, (5) Main product revision, (6) Main field testing, (7) Operational product revision, (8) Operational field testing, (9) Final product revision, and (10) Dissemination and implementation. However, this study modifies procedures of the Borg and Gall’s model into five steps by considering the research purpose and the limited time. They are need analysis, material development, expert validation, revision, field testing, and final product. The first step of this study is Need analysis. The aim of conducting need analysis is to identify students’ need of the materials, including the content, the activity, and the appropriateness of the materials for midwifery students at Madura Islamic University especially for reading materials. Need analysis was done to the students and also the head of midwifery department. A questionnaire was distributed to the midwifery students. Meanwhile, the researcher interviewed the head of midwifery department to obtain as much information as possible in any given situation in a field. The result of need analysis becomes a base in developing material. The second step of this study is developing materials. According to Tomlinson (2011), Language learning materials can be used by the learners or teachers in facilitating the learning. He added t hat t he learning materials include textbook, workbook, handout, CDs and DVDs. The materials ar e com pl et ed with colorful illustration to attract the students’ attention. The third steps of this study are expert validation. After developing the draft of the material based on the need analysis, the researchers need to consult to the expert in order to get input whether this reading material has achieved the goal or it has met the criteria of a good one so that it can be appli ed t o the midwifery students. Furthermore, the instruments used in expert validation was checklist val i dat i on that covers some criteria such as objective, design, lay out, topic, content, language, instruction, or task. Moreover, in order to make sure that the developed material is valid to be applied to the midwifer y students, the critics, corrections, and suggestions are needed. In this study, the experts are Rini Listyowati, MPd, she is a lecturer, who teaches English for many years. The second expert is Indra Wahyuni, Str.Keb. she is a midwife. She works in PosKesDes. Blumbungan, Pamekasan. After the material is revised by the expert, the next step is field testing. In this step, the researcher s conducted a try out in the real class to find out the data about the applicability, the effectiveness and t he appropriateness of the developed materials. the researchers here observe the process of teaching and learning then the result of field testing will be revised and become a final product. III RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 NEED ANALYSIS The data taken from students cover some information needed for developing materials. The researcher distributed the questionnaire to the18 midwifery students. It was distributed on 20 May 2020. The data was taken from the students’ answers to questionnaire about their perception of English subject for them and their need for the English reading materials. Related to their perception of the English subject, they claimed that they like and need English because English is an international language and there are so many terms for their field of study written in English. In addition, related to the English skill, almost all the students said that they need to master the English skill particularly reading skill because it can enrich their vocabulary and increase the knowledge, especially the knowledge of midwifery which always develops. In fact, they found some difficulty in understanding the English text or passage. The very common reason for this problem is because they do not know the meaning of certain words and lack of grammatical understanding. Moreover, the students said that they need pictures to help them understand the content of the passage. In terms of vocabulary mastery, the students have lack of English vocabulary; therefore, they need some lists of difficult vocabularies to understand more of the passage. Next, the students need a post activity or exercise after reading the passage and they said that the instruction should be clear and var y. Furthermore, based on the questionnaire it was also found that they do not have an English handbook which focuses on midwifery and the English books in their local library are limited. Based on the fact above, it was also known that the students agreed if the English midwi f er y t ext book is developed. They said that it would be useful for them in learning English especiall y i n r eadi ng English texts in terms of midwifery aspects. To get more data before designing the draft of the book, the researcher also conducted an interview to the head of Midwifery Department. It was related to the curriculum used and what she expects in developing English reading materials for the students. Based on the interview, it was found that the curriculum used is KKNI 3. The curriculum was developed to reach the learning objective and pr epar e the students with hard and soft skills that can be applied in all situations. The regulation in this department also pushes the lecturers to develop the learning material for the students. For the English material, she said that there is no hand out book yet so she hopes that the developing mater i al ca n hel p the students in learning English in midwifery context. She suggested that that the contents or t he t opi cs in the developing material are close to their students’ field of study. The learning objective of t he book must develop students’ ability to understand the English text and to understand the vocabularies in context. 3.2 RESULT OF DEVELOPING MATERIALS Based on the result of the need analysis, the researcher decided to develop the English reading material to help students overcome their problems. The English reading material includes ten chapters with the topics related to the midwifery context. The objective of the topic was stated at the begi nning i n each topic. Those ten topics cover some English passages and activities which can enhance the student s’ ability in reading skill and their knowledge in midwifery context. The topics were chosen under consideration that the topics are all the information or passage about midwifery. They are: 1) female reproductive, 2) pregnancy, 3) baby development week by week, 4) fetal development week by week 5) good nutrition for pregnant 6) labor and delivery.7) menopause 8) primary of baby needs 9) breast feeding 10) family planning. The design of reading material should be more interesting, so it was made by providing pictures and the lay out is interesting as well. Each topic is started with the leading questions, it is aimed t o l ead the students to guess what they are going to discuss and raise their critical thinking about the topic. I t i s also to attract students’ interest and lead them to use their background knowledge to understand the text . Moreover, the passage is presented followed by the lists of vocabulary to make the students under st and the context and enrich their vocabulary as well. To measure the students’ understanding about t he t ext , post activity is presented by some exercises. 3.3 EXPERT VALIDATION After the first draft of material has been ready, it must be consulted to some experts to get input whether this reading material has achieved the goal or it has met the criteria of a good one so that i t can be applied to the midwifery students. This draft needs their comment and suggestion to improve th e quality of the reading material. There are two experts in this study namely, Rini Listyowati, M.Pd, she i s a lecturer. She has been teaching English for several years, she is also a chief of English Department. The second expert is Indra Wahyuni, S.Tr. keb. She is a midwife. The aspect reviewed by the experts covering objective, design, lay out, topic, content, language, instruction or task. Moreover, the instruments used to evaluate the draft were the checklist and suggestion form. From the validation done by the experts, it was found that some aspects should be revised. The first expert validator evaluated firstly to the objective, language, instruction, task He said t hat t he dr af t has been appropriate in term of the objective because it can develop students’ knowledge, reading ski l l , and comprehend the passage especially about midwifery. The language is communicative enough and understandable. The leading question delivered at the beginning of each chapter can increase students’ critical thinking. However, she suggested that the tasks should vary in order to avoid the students’ boredom. She added that the grammatical aspect should also be delivered in this reading material in order that the students can understand the passage comprehensively. Besides, the vocabulary should focus on getting meaning from the context. Related to the cover illustration, she said that it has been attractive and it was appropriate with the title. The next evaluation was about the content of each chapter. He found that the content covered the basic knowledge of the midwifery; it is suitable wi t h t he students’ knowledge. Moreover, the material has already organized attractively. The whole content was attractive and good enough. The second expert validator has almost the same point of view. She focused more on the content of the passage, layout, and design. She found that the content was attractive, appropriate with the topic 4 | Arisandi Setiyawan, Dinar Vincy Yunitaka,.B Lingual (Vol. 10, No.2, 2020) title. All the topics are about midwifery context that is learned by the students. It automatically can increase their knowledge. Moreover, she suggested that the topic should be organized and arranged systematically or in order. She noted that the topics should be re-arranged. In chapter 7, the topi c about menopause should be at the last chapter, or the topic about breast feeding should be put after chapter 5. Dealing with the lay out, she said that it has been good and attractive enough. But for the picture in chapter 2 and 8 should be colorful and try to revise the picture using cartoon. Generally, t he cont e nt i s good enough. The whole content of material was appropriate with the midwifery context. The l ast was the task evaluation; she said that the task was appropriate to the context. 3.4 FIELD TESTING The next step after being validated by the experts, the researchers conducted the field testing. It was done to know the applicability, appropriateness, effectiveness, efficiency, and attractiveness of t he product to the midwifery students. The field-testing was done in July 1st 2020. The researcher obser ved and wrote some notes during the teaching and learning process using that developed reading material. The result of field-testing showed that most of the students are interested to the reading text because t he topics are related to what they learn. Furthermore, the vocabularies presented after the reading t ext can help them to understand the text comprehensively. They added that the activity in the reading material i s attractive enough. IV CONCLUSION The material developed in this research was the reading material for midwifery students in Madura Islamic University. The sources of the material were taken from several websit es. The researchers selected, adopted and adapted those material based on the students’ need to help the students to learn English and improve their reading ability in terms of midwifery context. It also helps the lecturer in teaching English for midwifery students as ESP learners. The topic in this developed material consists of 10 chapters. The topics were selected under the consideration that they were related to the students’ interest and enrich their knowledge about midwifery. Those 10 chapters are: 1) female reproductive, 2) pregnancy, 3) good nutrition for pr egnant 4) fetal development week by week 5) baby development week by week 6) labor and delivery.7) br east feeding 8) primary of baby needs 9) family planning 10) menopause. Furthermore, certain language component or English grammar was also introduced in each chapter. The leading questions in each chapter are also provided in order that the students can guess what they are going to discuss and raise their critical thinking about the topic. Moreover , the devel oped material was also completed with the vocabulary list which is aimed to enrich their vocabulary mast er y. For the exercises in this developed material was design to encourage the students to understand more about the text or passage. After conducting all the process of developing this reading material, it can be concluded that the reading materials are applicable enough for the students. They are interested in using this developed material. However, the developed material in this study has some limitations, since it was only for reading skill. Therefore, it needs some suggestion and another improvement. All in all, the aim of this research was to develop English reading material for midwifery st udent s in UIM. After developing this reading material for midwifery students, of course there will be suggestions for the lecturer, students, and also for further materials developers. For the lecturer and students, this developed material can be used as an alternative source in teaching and learning process at the class especially for English reading skill in midwifery context. I t i s not the only one, but the lecturer and students can also combine with other recourses. For further material developers, it is suggested for those who are interested in developing the sam e material to improve the exercises or activities in improving reading skill for the student s. In addition, t o make a better product in learning English for non-English department students, the next material shoul d be added with the other three English skills like listening, speaking and writing. REFERENCES Adnan, M latief.2010. Tanya Jawab Metode Penelitian Pembelajaran Bahasa. Universitas Negeri Malang. Basturkmen, H. (2006). Idea and options in English for Specific Purposses. London and new Jersey: ESL and Aplied Linguistic Professional Series: Eli Hinkel, Edition Bright, J. A & McGregor, G. P. 1970. Teaching English as Second Language: Theory and T echni ques for the Secondary Stage. Harlow: Longman Crawford,L.M. (2001). Teaching contextually: Research, Rationale, and techniques for improving students motivation and achievement. Texas: CCI Publishing. Inc. Hill, D. A. & Holden, J. (eds.) (1990). Effective teaching and learning. Oxford: Modern English Publications. Kaefatunnisa, 2015. The Effectiveness of Contextual Teaching and Learning in Improving Students’ Reading Skill in Procedural Text (A Quasi-Experimental Study of the Second Grade Student s at One Vocational School in Bandung). Journal of English and Education.3(1), 80-95 Nuttal, C. 1982. Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language. Oxford. Heinemann International. Nunan, David. (1991). Language Teaching Methodology (pp. 208). New York: Phoenix ELT. Robinson,P.C (1991). ESP today: A practitioner’s guide. Hemel Hempstead: Prentice Hall