Microsoft Word - 1024-3165-1-EN Research and Innovation in Language Learning Vol. 1(1) January 2018 pp.9-16 P- ISSN: 2614-5960 e-ISSN: 2615-4137 http://jurnal.unswagati.ac.id/index.php/RILL Copyright @ RILL 2018 9 HEALTHCARE LANGUAGE PROGRAM (HELP) TO ENHANCE STUDENTS’ ENGLISH PROFICIENCY FOR NURSING ACADEMY TOWARD ASEAN COMMUNITY Eka Nurhidayat Department of English Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education University of Majalengka ABSTRACT This research aims to convey the development of English proficiency toward Asean community through Healthcare Language Program (HELP) for Nursing Students. The demand of Asean Community is the use of English, as the language of Asean Community. English become a tool for communicating and connecting with other people around Asean Countries. In the Asean community, there will be more developments in Indonesia. Starting from free trade, foreign companies, and also healthcare sector. Not only the case of trade in goods and services, but also in the traffic of people in the context of labor. As an international language, English is required to interact with the global community, especially in the face of the ASEAN Economic Community. In addition, the role of English is also used in writing article for international journal publication. In other case, English can be very helpful in term of searching source of science about nursing which mostly come from international journal. So, nursing students should be able to master English well. In fact most of them encounter problem with English especially concerning with speaking and writing. Those skills are very important for nusring students to face Asean community. They need some activity and program to enhance English proficiency. This study is an investigation of the English program held by STikes Mahardika Cirebon. This study uses descriptive qualitative method. Meanwhile, the data is collected by using observation, interview, as well as documentation. The descriptive qualitative method covers the English proficiency for nursing students through Healthcare language Program (HELP) toward Asean Community. Keywords : English proficiency, Healhcare Language Program, Asean Community Sari Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengungkapkan pengembangan kecakapan Bahasa Inggris terhadap Masyarakat Ekonomi Asean (MEA) melalui Healthcare Language Program (HELP) untuk mahasiswa keperawatan. Kebutuhan Masyarakat Ekonomi Asean adalah penggunaan Bahasa Inggris sebagai Bahasa Internasioanal yang digunakan di Asean. Bahasa Inggris menjadi alat untuk berkomunikasi dan Nurhidayat, Eka 10 p-ISSN 2614-5960, e-ISSN 2615-4137 berhubungan dengan orang asing di kawasan Asean. Dalam Masyarakat Ekonomi Asean (MEA) akan ada banyak perkembangan di Indonesia. Mulai dari perdagangan bebas, perusahaan asing, dan juga sektor keehatan. Bukan hanya masalah perdagangan dan jasa, tapi juga dalam lalu lintas orang dalam konteks dunia kerja. Sebagai Bahasa Internasional, Bahasa Inggris diperlukan untuk berinteraksi dengan komunitas global, terutama dalam menghadapi Masyarakat Ekonomi Asean (MEA). Selain itu, peran Bahasa Inggris juga digunakan dalam menulis artikel untuk publikasi jurnal Internasional. Di sisi lain, Bahasa Inggris dapat sangat membantu dalam mencari sumber ilmu tentang keperawatan yang sebagian besar berasal dari jurnal Internasional. Jadi, Mahasiswa Keperawatn harus bisa menguasai Bahasa Inggris dengan baik. Bahkan sebagian dari mereka mengalami masalah dengan Bahasa Inggris terutama yang berkaitan dengan kemampuan berbicara (speaking) dan Menulis (writing). Keterampilan tersebut sangatlah penting bagi mahasiswa keperawatan dalam menghadapi Masyarakat Ekonomi Asean. Mereka membutuhkan beberapa kegiatan dan program untuk meningkatkan kemahiran Bahasa Inggris mereka. Penelitian ini merupakan investigasi terhadap program bahasa Inggris yang diadakan oleh STikes Mahardika Cirebon. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode deskriptif kualitatif. Sementara itu, data dikumpulkan dengan menggunakan observasi, wawancara, serta dokumentasi. Metode kualitatif deskriptif mencakup kemahiran bahasa Inggris untuk mahasiswa keperawatan melalui Healthcare Language Program (HELP) menuju Masyarakay Ekonomi Asean (MEA). Kata Kunci : Kemampuan Bahasa Inggris, Healhcare Language Program, masyarakat Ekonomi Asean Received 20 February 2018 last revision 5 April 2018 published 18 April 2018 Introduction The ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) is a form of regional economic integration planned to be achieved by 2015. The main objective of the AEC 2015 is to make ASEAN as single market and production base. According to McKinsey & Company (2014) In compising ten members, Asean is the most diverse and fast moving region in the world. If Asean was a single country, it could be seven largerst economy in the world and Asean is projected to rank as the fouth largest economy in 2050. Asean is also a growing hub of cunsumer demand and the third largest labor force in the world and the second largerst facebook community. In the Asean community, there will be more developments in Indonesia. Starting from goods, services, skill labor, and capital. Research and Innovation in Language Learning Vol. 1(1) January 2018 p-ISSN 2614-5960, e-ISSN 2615-4137 11 Not only the case of trade in goods and services, but also in the traffic of people in the context of labor. The involvement of all parties in all ASEAN member countries is absolutely necessary in order to realize ASEAN as a competitive area for investment and free trade activities which in turn can benefit all ASEAN countries. Warta Ekpor Kementrian Perdagangan RI (2015:3). As one of the participants, Indonesia has the challenge and preparation to face the AEC, especially in how to communicate with other workers from various countries in Southeast Asia. As we know English is a language used as an international language (lingua franca). As a common challenge in the era of globalization through free trade, the Indonesian government cannot underestimate efforts to improve the quality of English for students. This has become common knowledge, although English has been taught from elementary school to university, not all Indonesian students are able to engage in English conversations with foreigners. The question is what should we prepare to face the AEC? Not only the case of trade in goods and services, but also in the traffic of people in the context of labor, so that preparations are needed for the free trade of AEC 2015. One of them is to prepare English language skills primarily as an international language. English has become an important competence that must be owned by young people in every country, including Indonesia. English as the global language has a considerable impact on policies and practices (Nunan, 2003). As an international language, English is required to interact with the global community, especially in the face of the AEC. In the AEC, there will be more and more developments in Indonesia. Starting from free trade, many foreign companies in Indonesia so that the use of international language such as English is very widespread, as well as in the world of health, especially covering the world of nursing, English is needed. In the nursing program, many challanges will be faced by nursing students. The first challange is the excess of nurse and hospital absorption. In the scope of ASEAN, the challanges come from overseas nurse with a high competence of English. In the global scope, the number of overseas hospital and the need of overseas nurses. In addition, English can be very helpful in searching sources of science about nursing which mostly comes from international journals that are definitely the language is English. in addition, if someone has the ability to speak english then it will be a value plus on Nurhidayat, Eka 12 p-ISSN 2614-5960, e-ISSN 2615-4137 prospective applicants for hospital labor. as most of the medical equipment and medicines are abroad. What happens when a medical professional does not understand about English-language medical equipment, let alone do not know about the contents of the drug because the information is in English. Even though it may happen only after their first clinical placement, students eventually become aware of the extent of their own individual language difficulties. Indeed, Chiang and Crickmore (2009, p. 330) found that most of the post-graduate EAL students acknowledged their lack of specific English communication skills only after they had started their clinical placement. Nursing researchers in the USA have documented how EAL students are often referred for special tuition because of a difficulty in communicating in the English language, which negatively affects their clinical performance (Guhde, 2003, p. 114). This study addresses one research question; How does Healthcare Language Program (HELP) enhance English Proficiency for nursing Students? This topic is very relevant to this year toward ASEAN Economic Community. In this year, the competition is growing rapidly. In the Healthcare program aspect, the university must compete with the other universities. For this reason, the skills in mastering English are needed. Nursing Academy of STIkes Mahardika as higher level education concerns to English proficiency level. In fact, they collaborate with National English Centre (NEC) to obtain Helathcare Language Program (HELP). The purpose of this study is to investigate the program in STikes Mahardika to enhance English proficiency for nursing students. According to Hakuta (2000) stated that Academic English proficiency refers to the ability to use language in academic contexts. English proficiency can be influenced by some factors. The use of target language and their beliefs toward English are the factors which give high influence in acquiring English. The lecturers‘ beliefs support their performance when they learn English. In addition, (Asassfeh, Khwaileh, Al-Shaboul, & Alshboul, 2012) stated learners‘ belief is fundamental aspect to make sure about the successful result of teaching and learning process. In addition, teachers and learners should understand the goal of teaching and learning (Nguyen, Warren, & Fehring, 2014). Language proficiency is the basic professional confidence of non-native teachers (Eslami & Fatahi, 2008). Furthermore, English proficiency levels had a substantial relationship with all of the English teaching-specific efficacy dimensions (Sabokrouh, 2013). Research and Innovation in Language Learning Vol. 1(1) January 2018 p-ISSN 2614-5960, e-ISSN 2615-4137 13 Methods The design of this study is descriptive qualitative. It belongs to case study. The descriptive qualitative method is used to analyze the data obtained in this study. It is to unfold the description of Healthcare Language Program (HELP). It describes the programs held by STIkes Mahardika Cirebon to enhance English proficiency for nursing students. The subject of this study is the Nursing Student of STIkes Mahardika Cirebon. They are from Third Semester of Nursing academy of STIkes Mahardika Cirebon. Healthcare Language Program is held in every semester with different level. There will be eight levels of Healthcare Language Program. Every program is conducted in fourteen meetings. In third semester, the level of HELP taken by students is Basic English for Nurse. In data collection procedures, the writer of this study observed the process of the program and distributed questionnaire. In doing the observation, the writer took part in the participant discussion. This is to get the valuable and comprehensive data. After the writer got the data, she analyzed the result of the data. The instruments of this study are questionnaire and observation. Questionnaire is given to the nursing students, while observation is done in the English training. In data analysis, the writer describes the result of the observation and questionnaire. The writer of this study notes the observation in English Lecturing, the participants were asked to fill the questionnaire. Results and Discussion This study discusses the English assistance program held by Nursing Academy of STIkes mahardika Cirebon. STikes Mahardika Cirebon assigned Natioanal English Centre (NEC) to handle this program. The program is Healthcare Language Program (HELP). The level of HELP taken by third semester student is Basic English for Nurse. In this study, the writer will discuss about each program. 1. Healthcare Language Program (HELP) Healthcare language Program is English assistance program that designed to support students in learning English. HELP is an English language training program designed specifically for the healthcare program (nurses, midwives, medical staff and doctors). Nurhidayat, Eka 14 p-ISSN 2614-5960, e-ISSN 2615-4137 The applicative material with specific modules and integrated and interactive learning model will increase the confidence level of the participants to actively speak English as it is 80% HELP program focus on conversation. Integrated English facilitation program is a solution to help non-language educational institutions such as AKPER, AKBID, STIKes, STIKom and others to be able to provide English education with more focused, integrated, qualified and professional. This is needed so that the institution can produce graduates with the expected English proficiency. The English Assistance Program under the management of the National English Centre (NEC) is the perfect solution for assisting hospitals, Nursing Academy and Midwifery Academy in preparing graduates to achieve the expected English skills. In its aims, HELP focuses on EOP of ESP (English for Occupational Purposes of English for Specific Purposes). There wiil be several level in HELP classes with different topic from each level. Table 1. Level Program of Healthcare Language Program (HELP) LEVEL TARGET CONTENT 1. FOUNDATION Fluency short conversation Self confident in oral skills DevelopEnglish Grammar, English Conversation, primary tenses for speaking, writing paragraph and writing skills. 2. BASIC Fluency oral and graph performance Self confident in oral skills Simple short expressioan for speaking and listening skills, Simple short reading and writing, grammatical form: verbs, and tenses, modal, articles, normalization, logical connector. And healtcare vocabulary. PRE-INTERMEDIATE Fluency and accuracy about general healthcare. English discussion about healthcare Education. Simple long conversation for speaking and listening skills, simple long reading and writing, grammatical form: verbs, and tenses, modal, articles, normalization, logical connector. And healtcare vocabulary. INTERMEDIATE Fluency and accuracy about general and specific healthcare. Presenting of healthcare exhibition and discussion with medical staff and native speakers. Complex short expression of speaking and listening skills, complex short reading and writing, grammatical form: verbs, and tenses, modal, articles, normalization, logical connector. And healtcare vocabulary. PRE-ADVANCED Fluency and accuracy and appropriacy about specific healthcare. Speaking and Listening Complex long expression of Speaking and Listening skills. Complex long reading and writing. grammatical form: verbs, and tenses, Research and Innovation in Language Learning Vol. 1(1) January 2018 p-ISSN 2614-5960, e-ISSN 2615-4137 15 specific healthcare. Specific topic of healthcare. English seminar and Healthcare Exhibition. modal, articles, normalization, logical connector. And healtcare vocabulary ADVANCED Fluency and accuracy, appropriacy and organization in oral and written skills for occupational purposes. Complex long expression of Speaking and Listening skills. Complex long reading and writing. grammatical form: verbs, and tenses, modal, articles, normalization, logical connector. And healtcare vocabulary 2. Basic English for Nurse Basic English for Nurse is one of level program in HELP. This level is for third semester of nursing academy of STikes Mahardika Cirebon. This level arranged systematically, intergrated and enable the students to learn effectively. The material contains how to communicate in English such as greeting patient, filling the admission, giving healthcare education, and job interview. This level is suitable for those who want to improve their English in nursing jobs. The aims of this level is how to make simple conversation in English, the model dialogs, expressions, vocabularies including the practice the practice are based on the students’ need in daily nursing duties. Considering the result of questionnaire, the nursing students of STIkes Mahardika Cirebon obtain lots of benefit from this program. They learned how to communicate in English, greeting the patients, filling admission, giving healthcare education, and doing job interview using English. From this program they can improve their English proficiency. In addition, the English environment help them to practice English. They tried to use English as the main language in class. Furthermore, in every meeting they perform conversation based on daily nursing duties. And in the end of semester, the students in this level will be interviewed by native speaker. This is one of preparation to face Asean Economic Community. They feel confidence in speaking English. Conclusion STIkes Mahardika Cirebon always support the students to be active in mastering English proficiency. It can be proved by facilitating English programs namely English Language Program (HELP). Those English programs are prepared for facing the Asean Economic Community (AEC) 2015. The students are required to interact with global Nurhidayat, Eka 16 p-ISSN 2614-5960, e-ISSN 2615-4137 comminity, and search sources of science about nursing which mostly comes from international journals. Hence, by joining English Language program (HEP), the students of STikes Mahardika Cirebon can enhance their English proficiency. It covers English skills, components and knowledge. In addition, it can also improve their confidence in speaking to face Asean Economic Community (AEC). References Chiang, V., & Crickmore,B. (2009). Improving English proficiency of post-graduate international nursing students seeking further qualifications and continuing education in foreign countries. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 40(7), 329-336. Guhde, J. A. (2003). English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) nursing students: Strategies for building verbal and written language skills. Journal of Cultural Diversity, 10(4), 113-117. Hakuta, K. (2000). How Long Does It Take English Learners to Attain Proficiency. University of California Linguistic Minority Research Institute. Nguyen, H. T., Warren, W., & Fehring, H. (2014). Factors Affecting English Language Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. English Language Teaching, 7(8), 94. Nunan, D. (2003). The Impact of English as a Global Language on Educational Policies and Practices in the AsiaPacific Region*. TESOL Quarterly, 37(4), 589–613. Warta Ekspor Indonesia. (2015). Peluang dan Tantangan Indonesia Masyarakat Ekonomi Asean. Kementrian Perdagangan Indonesia. Edisi januari Short biography My name’s Eka Nurhidayat. I have graduated from English Department of Universitas Swadaya Gunung Jati Cirebon on 2012 for my bachelor degree, then I continued my master degree at Universitas Sebelas Maret Surakarta. I’m a lecture at English Education Department of Universitas majalengka. My email address’s ekanurhidayat16@gmail.com / ekanurhidayat@unma.ac.id