Zandi Ernomo 012

MATERIAL ADOPTION FOR ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES PROGRAM (ESP) AT

LANGUAGE CENTER OF UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH MALANG (LC-UMM)

1. INTRODUCTION
More than two decades ago Hutchinson (1987) mentioned that one of major roles of an ESP
teacher was writing a material. However, creating a totally new material for a language program
sometimes spends more effort and energy as compared to adopting the existing material (Brown,
1995). Furthermore, he proposed a sequence of action in terms of adopting material (table 1).
Table 1. Checklist for Adopting Textbook or Materials

A. MATERIAL BACKGROUND
B. FIT TO CURRICULUM

1.
2.
1.
2.
3.

Authors credentials
Publisher reputation
Approach
Syllabus
Needs (general language

4.

needs; situational needs)

Goals and objectives

5.

(percentage of match; order)

Content (consistent with
techniques used in program; consistent

C. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

1.

with exercises used in program)

Layout (space; pictures and

2.

text; highlighting)
Organization (table of
contents; index; answer keys; glossary;

3.

reference potential)
Editorial qualities (content is
accurate and edited in a manner consisted
with your style; directions clear and easy

D. LOGISTICAL CHARACTERISTICS

E. TEACHABILITY

4.

to follow; examples clear)

Material quality (paper;

1.
2.

binding; tear out pages, and softcopy)

Price
Auxiliary parts (audiovisual

3.
1.

aids; workbooks; software; unit tests)

Availability
Teachers edition (answer key;

2.

annotations)
Reviews

3.

acceptability

1.1. MATERIAL BACKGROUND

The material is originally taken from a textbook titled Oxford Business English: English for
Accounting. There is no doubt that the content of a textbook published by Oxford incorporates
ideas from several qualified several writers. Evan Frendo has been a freelance business English
and English for Specific Purposes teacher since 1993. He earned his Masters degree in teaching
ESP at Aston University.
1.2. FIT TO CURRICULUM
The materials I took from the Oxford are matched with the current syllabus used in language
center of University of Muhammadiyah Malang.
Table 2. One of the contents of LC-UMM syllabus

Core Competence 4

: Process, reason, and present the development of knowledge

obtained at higher education level in concrete and abstract
domains independently, act effectively and creatively, and able to
apply scientific-based methods.

Topic

: Dialogue Text

Social Function

: To understand a written or spoken conversational exchange

Text Structure
Language Features

(transactional dialogue) between two or more people

: Amina: How does the bag cost?
Seller: it costs two hundred and fifty rupiahs
: (1) Simple present tense
(2) Direct indirect speech
(3) WH questions
(4) Yes/ No questions

Table 3. Materials taken from Oxford Business English: English for Accounting book (Reading and Listening)

Table 4. The other material from English for Accounting (Speaking)

Student A

Student B

Although LC-UMM utilizes structuralism approach (the teaching of English is divided by

four skills, those are, speaking, writing, listening, and reading), the material I took from Oxford
seems to cover more than one skills (e.g. listening, reading, and speaking) in which listening and
reading becomes a comprehensible input for productive skill, that is speaking skill. According to
Krashen (1982), the best way, and perhaps the only way, to teach speaking, according to this
view, is simply to provide comprehensible input. Another feature that the material is suitable for
ESP program at LC UMM is its authenticity. Tomlinson (2008) suggested that the materials
should be designed authentically in order to accelerate learners language acquisition.
However, there is one main concern to fix. The material does not suitable with situation where
the materials are going to be used. So, it should be changed into more acceptable material,
particularly on speaking activity. For example, the Christmas party topic on speaking activity
does not sit well with the Moslem culture as we know that University of Muhammadiyah Malang

is established by one of the biggest Moslem organizations in Indonesia, that is, Muhammadiyah.
According to Brown 1995, ...... many materials that do not match the situational needs of the
program (based on realities like the resources available and cultural appropriateness) can
immediately be eliminated. Table 5 shows the result of material adoption from Oxford Business
English book.
Table 5. Adopting Material from Oxford Business English.

Student A

Ied Party

Student B

Ied Party

1.3. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Generally, the layout is finely designed as the blank space is used effectively to help the
students learn something useful as Tomlinson (2014) pointed out and remember that
illustrations are not simply decoration they can present and clarify information as well as aid
retention of the target language. For instance, table 3 shows material density in a single page.
After activity four, which is reading and listening, the material writers put the Did you know
section through which the students can get in tough more with the target language, in this case

English number. Furthermore, glossary and answer key are available in the book so that it makes
things easier for both teacher and students.
1.4. LOGISTICAL CHARATERISTICS AND TEACHABILITY
Since the book can be downloaded freely from the internet, so it is not troublesome for
students and teacher to get it. However, the audio for listening section is a bit difficult to
download as it is quite rare to find it in any websites. As for teachability issue, I think it is worth
trying material to use as the books rating detail in goodreads, an online bookstore, gets 4.5 point
of 5 points, which is almost perfect.
2. REFERENCES
Brown J.D. 1995. The Elements of Language Curriculum: A Systematic Approach to Program
Development. Heinle & Heinle Publishers.
Frendo. E & Mahoney. S. 2007. Oxford Business English: English for Accounting. Oxford
University Press.
Hutchinson S. & Waters A. 1987. English for Specific Purposes: A Learning Centered Approach.
Cambridge University Press
Krashen. S. 1982. Principles and Practice in Second Language Acquisition. Pergamon Press Inc.
Tomlinson, B. 2008. English language Learning Materials: A Critical Review. Continuum
International Publishing Group.
Tomlinson, B. 2014. Developing Materials for Language Teaching. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.