Syntax Literate: Jurnal Ilmiah Indonesia p�ISSN:
2541-0849
e-ISSN: 2548-1398
Vol. 7, No. 4,
April 2022
TEACHERS'
PERCEPTIONS OF THE MATERIAL IN THE EXISTING ENGLISH TEXTBOOK FOR NURSING
ASSISTANT STUDENTS
Ardi Subagiyo, Slamet Setiawan, Oikurema Purwati
Universitas Negeri Surabaya,
Indonesia
Email:
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
Abstract
The use of appropriate material is
important in the English teaching and learning process. However, the existing
textbooks sometimes may not fulfill the need of teachers and students. In
particular, the English textbooks for SMK students are still general for all
skill competencies. They do not fulfill the students� needs relating to their
skill competencies. The main aim of this study is to investigate the teacher�s perception of
the English textbook.� It focusses on the
material on existing English textbook that is used by nursing assistant
students, its relevance with students� need, and the English textbook for
nursing assistant student should be, from the teachers� perspective.�� This study used a qualitative approach
consisting of data collection in form of a questionnaire and interviews. 15
teachers are selected to be the participant in this study based on specific
criteria. The result confirmed that the using textbook in classroom activities
is very important to assist students� in gaining learning objectives. However.
It should be complemented with other resources to match with student�s need.
Some suggestion was added to the English textbook should be.
Keywords: teachers� perception, english
material, english textbook, nursing assistant
students
Introduction
Vocational
secondary education is the secondary level of education which prioritizes the
development of students' abilities to carry out certain types of work. It
prioritizes preparing students to enter the workforce and developing
professional attitudes. In Indonesia, we know SMK (Vocational High School) as a
form of formal education unit that provides vocational education at the
secondary education level as a continuation of Junior High School. Nowadays, it
has 146 skill competencies (Rahayu
et al., 2021).
The
nursing assistant is one of those skill competencies.
Each
skill competency has its own specificity in learning activities, likewise in learning
English for SMK. Teaching English to SMK students is always interesting to be
discussed. Unlike students from senior high schools, SMK students have
particular learning needs and target needs in accordance with the skill
competencies. Therefore, English for Specific purposes (ESP) is needed in the
teaching and learning process in order to put students' particular needs in
enrolling the learning at SMK.
The
use of appropriate material is important in the English teaching and learning
process. Therefore, the textbook has significant roles in English learning for
SMK by providing the appropriate materials. Textbooks are potential aids that assist
students to know and learn about society and give the way for achieving
educational goals (Ebrahimi & Sahragard,
2017).
The
textbook should provide considerable advantages when used in the classroom for
both teachers and students (Sheldon, 1988). It facilitates students
in learning activities because a textbook offers advantages that constitute beneficial
resources. It is one of the learning sources which is the easiest to obtain and
becomes one of many aids to help the students in acquiring clear concepts of
the subject point. The textbook is the most important resource employed to
achieve the aims of learning which are based on the students' needs (Litz, 2005). Material and textbook
can be as a source of language, as learning support, for motivation, and for
reference (Dudley-Evans et al., 1998).
The
teachers' perceptions towards the use of textbooks become an important reason
in making textbook use effectively.�
Teachers' perceptions have the same point as teachers' beliefs about the
subject matter teaching, teachers' responsibilities, their students, the
curriculum, and their classrooms (Pajares, 1992). Teacher's perceptions
are derived from sources such as experience and personality (Donaghue, 2003). Language teachers'
perceptions affect what the teachers do in the classroom (Barcelos, 2003). This means that
teachers' perceptions are the foundation for teachers to make decisions in
their classroom activities. Therefore, teachers must be mindful of what they
perceive and believe when managing their classroom activities.
Because
English teachers use textbooks in their classrooms, they must be involved in
the process of evaluation in order to give the appropriate textbook to their
certain student groups (Tok, 2010). Teachers should select
the most proper textbooks that fill the criteria, teachers' and students'
certain situations, purposes, and needs, in order to gain the main objectives
of learning a second/foreign language.
However,
the existing textbooks sometimes may not fulfill the need of teachers and
students. In particular, the English textbooks for SMK students are still
general for all skill competencies. They do not fulfill the students� needs
relating to their skill competencies. Moreover, textbooks for SMK students with
skill competency of nursing assistants should be different from other skill
competencies. The medical language is used to write medical records, medical
terminology, to read, and to communicate with others, to perform nursing interventions,
to take care of their patients, and others (Hurria et al., 2005)
Since
ESP is designed for a typical group of people in a typical context where the
materials used are concerned to the students� specialized field of study, and
nursing assistant students should also have the English skills to support their
future job. Teachers' perception with regard to the students and nursing
assistant students' English textbook usage is needed. Teachers should be able
to select the right textbook that will be used in the teaching and learning
process.� �
Method
This
study used a qualitative approach consisting of data collection in form of a
questionnaire and interviews. The questionnaire was developed and offered to English
teachers through Google Form �.� The
questionnaire was developed consisting of three sections: Section 1 consisted
of questions about demographic and background items, Section 2 consisted of
questions that investigate teachers' perceptions of the used English textbooks,
Section 3 consisted of questions that investigate teacher expectations on how the
textbook should be for nursing assistant students. Furthermore, the interviews
were conducted in a semi-structured manner with the same parts and contents as
the questionnaire. The selection of teachers for the questionnaire was based on
one criteria: the teachers should be the English
teachers who teach English to nursing assistant students.
In
total, 15 teachers participated in the questionnaire.� The teachers, 9 females (60%) and 6 males
(40%) ranged in age from 28 to 40 years, with a mean age of 34.73 years.� In terms of levels of study, 12 of the
teachers passed a Bachelor�s program (80%) and 3 passed a Master�s program
(20%). On average, the teachers had taught English for 5-10 years (ŞAVK et al., 2007). Among the participants,
5 teachers were randomly selected to take part in interviews. Table 1
shows�� the participants� characteristics.
Interactive
Model was used to analyze the data in this study. This model is divided into
four parts, namely data collection, data reduction, data displays, and drawing
conclusion and verification (Miles & Huberman,
1994).
Table 1
Participants� characteristics
|
Background
Items |
Total |
Percentage |
Means |
|
Age |
|
|
34.73 |
|
Gender Male
Female |
6 9 |
40 60 |
|
|
Levels of study Bachelor degree Master degree |
12 3 |
80 20 |
|
|
Years in teaching experience |
|
|
8.13 |
Results and Discussions
A.
The
teacher's perception of the English textbook used
Based on table 2, the result of questionaire shows that all
participants in this study use textbooks as teaching aids in the classroom
activities. Most
of the English teachers
�in this study are strongly agree
that the textbook assists students in gaining the objectives of learning and 5 of them are agree.
Table 2
The using of textbook
|
Statement |
Strongly disagree |
Disagree |
Agree |
Strongly agree |
|
The textbook assists students in
gaining the objectives of learning |
- |
- |
5 |
10 |
|
Need to evaluate the textbook before using to the
classroom |
- |
- |
- |
15 |
|
Need to take material from the other sources beside the
textbook |
- |
- |
- |
15 |
They
evaluated the textbooks before choosing the textbooks they will use. They
believe that textbook evaluation and selection are important to do in order to
get the best one to be used by their students. �Textbook evaluation is the important first step before
using the book to the classroom�
�There are many textbook are offered by the book
publisher and I have to choose the best of them to be implemented in my class�
�First. I look at the curriculum, �learning objectives and student�s need. The
textbook must be relevant to them�
�The appearance of an attractive textbook will make
students more enthusiastic in learning process. Moreover, there are many
variations of activities in the book�
�I think the price is also a consideration in choosing the book.
so that my students can get it easily�
The
teachers select the textbook based on some reasons. The relevance of textbooks
to the curriculum and objectives, the compatibility to student needs, physical
appearance, variety of activities, and prices are criteria that considered by
teachers in selecting textbooks.
�Of course, textbook is not the only one source as
teaching aids�
�Today, it is very easy to get teaching material. Only by
googling, we can get many ideas�
�yeah, internet help me to get material besides the
textbook�
However,
in using the textbook, the teachers do not follow all the materials and
activities in the textbook. They tend to organize the materials in the textbook
based on the lesson plan they made, consider the objective of the lesson and
students' needs. They argue that textbooks are not the only source of teaching
material. The teachers need to search the materials from the other reliable
sources that can support learning goals. The teachers also mentioned that
supplementary materials could be from anything that can assist the students
learn better.
Therefore,
the language teachers should have the competence to adapt the existing material
in the textbook and make the supplementary materials although they are
relatively satisfied with their English textbook choices.� Adaptations can include modifying content,
adding or deleting content and reorganizing content in textbook. All teachers
as the participant in this study agreed that additional materials put in the
learning activities easier to gain the aims and scale up students' knowledge
and motivation.
Teachers'
perceptions cannot be separated from the factors that affect the perception
itself. �There
are some factors that affect teachers' perception towards English textbook. The
interview showed that personal experience, students' interest, students'
ability, and references being those factors.�
It is propped by Richardson (1996) who points main sources of teachers'
perceptions and beliefs including: teachers' different educational background
and how long they have been teaching.
B.
The relevance of the
material in the textbook to nursing assistant student's needs.
This section shows the
teachers' perception about the relevance of the material in the textbook to
nursing assistant student's needs.� Table
3
shows the result.
Table 3
The relevance of textbook to students�
need
|
Statements |
Strongly
disagree |
Disagree |
Agree |
Strongly
agree |
|
The textbooks are very
important to support students' abilities accordingly to the major (Nursing
Assistant) |
|
|
15 |
|
|
The textbook used is
relevant to major (Nursing Assistant) |
|
13 |
2 |
|
|
The textbooks used have
provided real and relevant examples to the major (Nursing Assistant) |
|
|
|
15 |
|
Students need additional
English language material that is relevant to their majors (Nursing
Assistant) |
|
|
|
15 |
The teachers are
satisfied enough with their textbook selection. In particular about supporting
the textbook in developing student�s English skills. All participants also
agree that the textbook has provided a variety of activities and exercises
supporting student�s learning in the classroom.
However, in relation to
the availability of materials in textbooks, all participants said that there
are not any specific textbooks specifically written for nursing assistant
students. They agree that the existing textbooks do not sufficiently fulfill
the learners� needs. They argue that the materials of the textbooks are merely
for SMK with business and administration concentration and also tourism. So,
they need to find additional materials from other sources.
�Many existing
English textbooks are for business and administration department. So, I should
find additional materials�
�I have not found the
specific texbook for nursing asistant student. I have to combine the existing
texbook with other sources�
�Because it is
difficult to get the textbook for nursing asistant student. The teacher must be
able to modify the material according to the nursing context
�I actually found
many English nursing books, but they are�
for university level. Then I modify them according to the level of my
students�
The interviews showed
that teachers affirm that the English textbooks for nursing assistant students
must contain integrated language skills and types of language to prepare the
students in their future workplace. Concerning the linguistic aspects, the
teachers argue the language applied in the textbook should be realistic and
authentic. Language level must be appropriate with the level of the students.
In shorts, all of the
participants agree that they need to facilitate the students with materials and
activities that appropriate to the nursing assistant students� field of study.
They said that the students need practical materials that could be much useful
when they do their future jobs after graduating from school. ESP materials
should meet students' needs and the language taught should appropriate with the
language that the students will use (Cunningsworth, 1995).
C. The English
textbook for nursing assistant students
should �be, from the teacher's perspective
This section will provide
the opinions from the teacher�s perspective about how English textbooks for
nursing assistant students should be. Since there is not an English textbook
for nursing assistant students specifically, all teachers as the participant in
this study hope that someday will available the English textbook supporting
nursing assistant student in studying English. Here some of their opinions,
�English textbooks for nursing assistant
students should focus on learning communication in the health care field�
"It is better if in the English
textbook for nursing assistant students provide the real example of dialog in
hospital or text in healthcare theme"
�The English textbook should be
appropriate to the objectives of establishing communicative competence. such
as, how to greet patients in hospital politely, how to explain healthcare
procedure, how to handle patients� complain, etc.�
�The English textbooks should introduce
English medical terms to the nursing assistant students�
Most of English teachers
in this study agree that the material in the existing textbook should be
adapted to the appropriate material. Widodo (2016) stated that ESP materials
should include a focus on such things as authenticity, topics/themes, texts and
contexts, knowledge and language, tasks or activities, representations of
participants and social practices, and pedagogical prompts.
Conclussion
Vocational school a.k.a SMK in Indonesia has many skill
competencies/department. Each skill competencies have it specific needs and objectives, likewise in
learning English.� There are some important points can be drawn from study of teacher�s perspective on the Material in the existing English
textbook� for nursing assistant students.
The textbook is
one of the main teaching aids in the classroom. But� teachers should do some evaluation and selection to
the textbook. They are
important to do in order to get the best one to be used by their students. There
are some criterias that considered by
teachers in selecting textbooks. The
relevance of textbooks to the curriculum and objectives, the compatibility to
student needs, physical appearance, variety of activities, and prices are
the criterias in selecting the textbooks.
�Since
providing the appropriate material can make easier to gain learning objectives, some adaptations on the textbook should be
done by the teachers to meet with student�s need. The
existing English textbooks have not facilitated all majors in SMK, including
nursing assistant majors. Teachers need to find additional materials from other
sources. The materials should be realistic and authentic. They must contain
integrated language skills and types of language to prepare� nursing assistant students in their future
workplace.�
Hopefully,
it will be provided the SMK English textbook specific for each skill
competency, specially for nursing assistant students.
This textbook should cover all English materials that is needed by the students
for their future jobs.
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Copyright holder: Ardi Subagiyo, Slamet Setiawan, Oikurema Purwati (2022) |
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