THE APPLIED LEARNING METHOD IN TEACHING ENGLISH FOR

SPESIFIC PURPOSES

(A case study at Al-Mansyuriyah Boarding School- Tangerang)

Reviewed By:

Tatu Zakiyatun Nufus, M. Pd

Abstract

English for Specific Purpose (ESP) is delineating to encounter the distinct needs of the
learnings. ESP emphasis on the language appropriateness and it is semantic and morphological
meaning not on the lexical or syntactic meaning of the language (Evans (1977). Furthermore,
the consistency of methods, technique, and evaluation are also identified, the English teacher at
the senior high school used Applied Learning method in the learning process. The chosen
Applied learning method refers to an educational approach where students learn by engaging in
direct applications of skills, theories, and models. Through Applied learning as a method,
students would be able to learn some values that would lead them to success, that teachers need
to continually develop a method that would let their students easy to learn and to cope up with
the needs of the students. They should always reflect on their methods to improve the teaching-
learning process.This research was aimed at identifying methods, techniques, and evaluations
used by English teachers at Al- Mansyuriyah Senior High School.
Keywords: Applied Learning Method, Teaching Process
I. INTRODUCTION

Education is a light that shows the mankind the right direction to surge the
purpose of education is not just making a student literate but adds rationale thinking,
knowledgeability and self-sufficiency. When there is a willingness to change, there is hope
for progress in any field. Creativity can be developed and innovation benefits both students
and teachers. According to an Expert Driyarkara, education is defined as an attempt to
humanize a young man or a young man lifting the human level.

In the learning process there are also popular teaching methods, such as
lavishing praise on pupils and grouping students by ability, are not based on evidence and
can harm student development, a report has found. In the learning process, of course, the
best lessons are when teachers can confidently draw from a toolkit of practice that they
know works.

One of the general objectives for foreign language teaching and learning is to
teach the learner to be mastered in oral or written communication in the target language
they learn. In Indonesia, there are many problems that learners want to learn a foreign
language especially English. There are six factors that influence learners’ pronunciation,
mother tongue, age, amount of exposure phonetic ability, personality, and motivation
(Kenworthy:1987).

In this research, the teacher using Applied Learning, the concept of applied
learning is often equated to ‘hands-on’ or practical learning experiences. However, since
the 1990s (sic) when increased attention was given to the links between education, training
and the ‘world of work’ a broader definition of applied learning has emerged. This broader
definition advocates an approach that contextualized learning in a way that empowers and
motivates students while assisting them to develop key skills and knowledge required for
employment, further education and active participation in their communities (VQA, 2004,
p. 1).

In an essay on Dewey, Bruner, (p. 123). Nonetheless his assertion that; Telling
children and then testing them on what they have been told inevitably has the effect of
producing bench-bound learners whose motivation for learning is likely to be extrinsic to
the task – pleasing the teacher, getting into college, artificially maintaining self-esteem
(1962, p.123). This method Students’ experiences of teaching in a variety of in and out of
school settings ranged from positive to quite negative because there are several students
 doesn’t like this method or English but whatever if some of the students don’t like English
they must learn because English is important for students in the future.

Applied learning experiences for which a student may earn academic credit in an
agreed-upon, short-term, supervised workplace activity, which may be related to a student’s
major field or area of interest. A teaching and learning focus on educating students as
global citizens. Classes or programs include meaningful civic education and activities for
social good.

II. DISCUSSION
A. ESP in English Language Teaching

ESP teaching course uses English related to each of its fields and has each basic
competency that students must master at the end of the learning process. The
combination of teaching English following the field motivates students' interest in
learning and they can apply what they learn in class directly later. Students can use the
vocabulary and structure they learn in meaningful contexts to strengthen what is taught
and increase their motivation to learn English. Therefore, in the English For Specific
Purposes class, teachers should emphasize optimizing the use of English through fields
that are well known and relevant to them. This means that they can use what they learn
in ESP classes directly in their work and studies.

The ESP approach increases the relevance of what students learn and allows
them to use the English they know to learn more about English because their interest in
their field will motivate them to interact both verbally and in writing. ESP integrates
analysis of needs and motivation, subject and content for the teaching of relevant skills.
We have interviewed with one of the teachers at Al-Mansyuriyah Boarding School (Mr.
Falahuddin Maulana, SS, S.Pd) and actually the teacher that we interviewed didn’t
teach ESP directly, but the teacher we interviewed knew about ESP and had applied
ESP several times in the learning method, even though it was not in the material but the
teacher took the initiative so students had more knowledge. Learning methods that are
 applied usually make a job application letter, text procedures, job interviews, and role-
playing.

B. Teaching ESP Method in the Classroom

Several variations of teaching methods are used by teachers, especially the ESP
program in learning English so the teaching-learning process can build a pleasant or not
boring atmosphere and optimal learning outcomes can be achieved. Based on the results
of interviews with Mr. Falahuddin Maulana, SS, S.Pd. the teaching method that is
usually done is always changing instead of adjusting the curriculum and subject matter.
If the learning material about job interviews then it is definitely using the interview test
by giving a few questions.

Sometimes learning methods such as lectures are still used to provide initial
descriptions of the subject matter to be taught, the lecture method is only done a few
times and not the type of teaching method that is often done because of the
characteristics of students who are easily bored when only listening. Other teaching
methods are role-playing, where students will be asked to group or in pairs and they will
play roles as receptionists and guests, waiters and customers, passengers and flight
attendants, buyers and sellers, etc.

C. The Preparation Before Teaching ESP in the Classroom

Preparing whatever is needed in teaching we must prepare two things there is

the material and learning media that we will use when teaching in class. The first is the
material in preparing the material that we have to prepare, select, arrange, and modify
the material is one of the tasks of the English teacher so that students are interested in
learning English. Writing materials one of the virtues in implementing ESP. To prepare
good ESP material requires sufficient time because there is a demand for compatibility
 between the material and each study program. Maybe the material isn't available
in the book, so the teacher should try to write and arrange the material. according to
Hukchinson there are four principles in writing material, there are:
1) Material containing interesting text, fun activities, and examples of correct and
appropriate language use.
2) The material reflects the nature of language learning.
3) The material can make lecturers think and feel the learning process.
4) The material has a very useful function for lecturers in implementing and developing
various English learning techniques.

The preparation of English teaching materials is closely related to the objectives

to be achieved. Therefore, before designing ESP material, identification must first be
made for students' needs. What will be taught cannot be determined before it is known
who will be taught and for what English is taught.

The second is to prepare learning media that will be used in the learning process.
learning media is needed to make the teaching and learning process more interesting
and enjoyable, especially in today's technology which has developed a lot and we can
use it so that the learning process is more varied. ESP teaching programs use various
types of media such as in-focus projector, laptop, radio or speaker, mobile phone, and
sometimes the use of the internet can be accessed by each student but still under the
supervision of the teacher. In the learning process, we can display videos containing
English songs, English conversation, pronunciation/dictation, flash cards, images,
various types of texts, etc. The use of media, we can adjust the learning material to be
taught in class, so the user can be depending on the material.

D. Evaluation in Teaching ESP

Learning evaluation is a process to determine the value of learning that has been
carried out, through various learning measurement and assessment activities. Through
the understanding of learning evaluation, the teacher will understand as well as possible,
 what is evaluation of learning and how it affects the learning process of a student.
Learning evaluation will help a teacher to compare, collect data, process the measured
data and find out how many students have succeeded in achieving the learning
objectives and how many students must be guided, taught and educated so they can
achieve the expected and predetermined goals. Therefore, the existence of evaluation in
the teaching and learning process is very important, especially to find out the extent to
which the learning objectives that have been set can be achieved.

Based on the results of our interview with Mr. Falahuddin Maulana, SS, S.Pd.,
according to him, the conditions used as benchmarks for the evaluation or assessment
process there are attitude, skill and knowledge. For the attitude can be seen from how
students' behavior when following the teaching and learning process in class, whether
they have followed and paid attention to the teacher's explanations and instructions well
or are still less focused when in class. Skills can be measured when they carry out
practical activities inside or outside the classroom, how they can develop the material
obtained so that they become more creative. Meanwhile, knowledge is usually seen
from the daily scores, exams or tests obtained, the extent to which they understand the
material.

E. Challenges in Teaching English and How to Solve

Teaching English is always difficult, especially if we are required to teach with a

large number of students as in class, we must have the right techniques especially with
the diverse character of students that we must do well so that the material we teach can
reach all students. The most important challenge for us to pay attention to is how we
can encourage or increase students' interest in learning English, they can easily leave the
game and move on to learning English. As we know, students today are contaminated
with outstanding games, they tend to prioritize games rather than learning, so this is our
challenge as teachers. Another challenge is how to grow their confidence to speak
English and not be afraid to make mistakes, especially to speak English.
 To overcome challenges, we can create an active, interesting and cheerful
learning environment. the reason students are not interested in learning English might
be because the learning atmosphere is boring and not exciting. Therefore, they are more
easily distracted by their attention to others. We can make the learning and teaching
process more enjoyable by multiplying activities that involve students themselves, such
as practicing role-playing or dialogue or maybe singing. Many things can we apply to
create a pleasant and interesting classroom atmosphere, but still educational. Then no
less important is that we as teachers don't even laugh or embarrass students who make
mistakes, we can praise students first and then justify the wrong ones. Not true if we
leave a traumatic feeling to students which can cause them to lack confidence.

III. CONCLUSION

The results of this study indicate that there are many methods taught by
teachers to students for the learning process. Especially in English, a language that is
worldwide and used in the work environment. The teacher must be able to teach the
lesson as well and as much as possible. Technology has spread throughout the world,
technology can be used in learning especially for English.

Learning media is needed to make the teaching and learning process more
interesting and enjoyable, especially in today's technology which has developed a lot
and we can use it so that the learning process is more varied. ESP teaching programs
use various types of media such as in-focus projector, laptop, radio or speaker, mobile
phone, and sometimes the use of the internet can be accessed by each student but still
under the supervision of the teacher.

Not only learning media can be used to the learning process in the classroom
but also applied learning. The teacher used applied learning often equated to ‘hands-on’
or practical learning experiences. This broader definition advocates an approach that
contextualized learning in a way that empowers and motivates students while assisting
them to develop key skills and knowledge. That’s a good way to develop students' skills
to speak English in front of people and increase their confidence.
IV. REFERENCES
Driyarkara, Driyarkara About Education, Canisius Foundation, Yogyakarta, 1950,
hlm.74.
Kenworthy, Joanne. (1987). Teaching English Pronunciation. London : Longman
Victorian Qualifications Authority, (2004) Applied Learning: VCAL Information Sheet,
pp1-2.
Bruner, J. (1962) On Knowing: Essays for the Left Hand, Mass. Harvard University
Press