ELT in Focus

ESP needs analysis of accounting study program in economy 4.0 era

Regina Septiany Hildegardis, Yohanes Gatot Sutapa Yuliana — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0700

The purpose of this study is to identify the English for Specific Purposes (ESP) needs of accounting students in the Economy and Business program at Tanjungpura University. A sample of sixty-four students (N=64) participated in this study. The quantitative data were obtained through a descriptive statistics analysis of a questionnaire, and the qualitative data were collected from an interview related to the perceptions of the students’ needs. The findings revealed that the current English course for these accounting students is not well-contextualized to their field of study. It should focus more on developing English speaking and listening skills to better prepare students for their future careers, especially in the Economy 4.0 era, where they will encounter global opportunities. This underscores the importance of conducting a need analysis, which is a fundamental step in the ESP field.

Teacher strategies in teaching reading to the 8th grade students of a private junior high school in Bandung

Ervan Fauzan, Rahma Sakina, Riyadh Ahsanul Arifin, Sri Yunita — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0700

Teaching reading is one of the skills that must be mastered in English which aims to get a meaning from a text. There are several kinds of methods and strategies that can be used to teach reading. This research focused on what strategies are used by teachers, the challenges that arise when using these strategies, and how teachers overcome these challenges. In this study, researcher used descriptive qualitative study with observation and interview data collection. This research was conducted at a private junior high school in Bandung and the participants are an English teacher and 28 students of grade 8. The results of this study are classified into 3 themes: strategies used by teachers in teaching reading, challenges faced when implementing strategies, and how the teacher to overcome these challenges. It was found that the teacher used 3 strategies in teaching reading, namely Question Answer Relationship, Scaffolding, and Reading Aloud. Teacher found several challenges, namely students' low communication skills, the lack of supported facility, and the lack of students' vocabularies, and student response to length of the text. The teacher overcomes some of these challenges, namely using a mix language of English and Bahasa, the teacher used a good approach when learning, and the teacher masters all the material so that when students ask questions the teacher can answer all the questions. For the further researcher will add more sources or references related to teaching reading, so the results of the research more complete.

Pickywo card to improve students’ ability in writing descriptive text

Walida Wahid Fitriani, Silvia N.P. Erito — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0700

The use of media in the teaching-learning process is very helpful. It is like a bridging stuff to communicate between teacher ideas and students. This research had two objectives. Those are to find out the significant improvement of using PICKYWO card in writing descriptive text and to find out the students’ activeness during the research. This research was carried out by using classroom action research. It took two cycles. The research participants were the students in eighth grade of SMP N 2 Sulang. The researchers took class VIIIA as the sample. The researchers used three instruments. Those were writing tests, checklist observation, and questionnaires. The finding showed a significant improvement in students’ average in writing descriptive text from the first and the second cycle. It was from 67,1 to 74,6. Moreover, the students’ activeness also improved. Before conducting the research, students tend to get bored and lazy and complain about having difficulty getting ideas when they are writing descriptive text. In the first cycle, 80% of students actively used the PICKYWO card in writing descriptive classes. Meanwhile, 87,2% of students were active in the second cycle. In short, using PICKYWO card brings significant improvement toward students’ achievements and students’ activeness in writing descriptive.

An in-depth exploration of cohesion analysis of students’ thesis background research: A case of English education study program at a university in Semarang

Nabilla Dwi Hardiana, Nabila Irsani Manurung, Emeliya Sukma Dara — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0700

This research delves into the analysis of cohesion in the background of thesis research by students of the English Language Education Program at Semarang State University. Focusing on theory, literature, and descriptive qualitative methodology, the study reveals the essential role of cohesion in shaping the structure and meaning in academic writing. Findings highlight the use of various cohesion tools such as demonstrative references, substitution, ellipsis, conjunctions, lexical cohesion, and collocation, as well as their practical implications in forming a coherent narrative. Additionally, the research explores the variability of cohesion usage in various disciplines, providing important guidance for thesis writers to adjust their writing strategies according to norms in their respective fields of study. The results of this study contribute both theoretically and practically to the understanding of cohesion analysis, English language teaching, and the development of academic curricula.

Investigating the perspectives of EFL students toward Quizizz-mediated grammar instruction

Putu Milandari, Kadek Heni Oktarina Wisudayanti, Luh Putu Dewi Ariani — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0700

Mastering English grammar plays a vital role in supporting students in using English properly. In order to facilitate students in learning English it is necessary to have learning media that meets the needs of students. One of the technology-based learning media used in learning English is Quizizz application. This study investigates the perceptions of sixth-grade students in Bulelelng, Bali regarding the use of Quizizz as a learning tool in teaching grammar. This research employed a qualitative design to explore how students perceive the use of Quizizz in enhancing their grammar skills. The data were gathered through observation, interviews, and documentation. The study revealed that students have a good perception to the use of Quizizz as learning medium on grammar skill. Quizizz is a medium that meets the needs and abilities of students as a better learning medium to be used in learning grammar. Practically, students have no difficulty in using Quizizz and hold a positive view of Quizizz as learning for grammar. They find it effective and suitable for their learning needs, contributing to improved engagement. Overall, integrating Quizizz into grammar instruction emerges as an innovative approach that enhances student motivation.

Exploring undergraduate students’ thesis abstracts: A discourse analysis of thematic progression

Intan Satriani — Mon, 01 Jul 2024 00:00:00 +0700

The message of the text should convey readers’ attention and understanding. Thematic progression can be one of the ways to bridge readers’ attention and to provide the coherence between main aspects of the text. Then, coherence shows significant point in determining the text’s message comprehend by the readers. This research therefore aims to analyze the thematic progression occurred in abstracts of bachelor’s degree theses. The occurrence of thematic progression is analyzed based on three patterns of Thematic Progression suggested by Eggins (2004). They are theme reiteration, zig-zag pattern, and multiple-theme pattern. Qualitative discourse study which employed thematic development applied in this research. The data were obtained from abstracts written documentation of bachelor degree thesis students. There were 10 abstracts from students of a Private University in Cimahi. The analysis of thematic progression of the clauses shows that theme reiteration emerges as the most applied thematic progression pattern. It can be seen that 82 times (79%) in the students’ abstract are in form of theme reiteration. Then, in applying zig-zag pattern in Thematic Progression are 14 times (13%). The last, multiple-theme pattern appeared as the last choice of Thematic Progression pattern. It emerged in 8 times (8%) out of 104 clauses. To sum up, bachelor’s degree students need to learn more how to combine the Thematic Progression in writing abstract. It is applied to make each sentence coherence and readable to be read. Based on the findings, it is recommended that theme progression analysis can be applied in academic writing class to give control of text organization while writing abstract or other parts of research chapter.