An ESP needs analysis for the software and game development department at a vocational high school in South Kalimantan

Abstract

Vocational high schools are expected to prepare students for work by equipping them with skills relevant to their fields of study, including English language proficiency. However, the English education in Indonesian vocational high schools mostly uses the General English method, particularly in the Software and Game Development (PPLG) Department in South Kalimantan. This gap is especially noticeable in the Software and Game Development (PPLG) program, where students often use English-language programming resources and need to be ready for a global professional environment. The aim of this study was to find out the English language needs of PPLG students to develop an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) curriculum.  The method used is qualitative descriptive, with data collection techniques through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with the head of the PPLG department, an English instructor, a PPLG teacher, and 67 students of class XI PPLG, six of whom were interviewed.  The results indicate that the current English curriculum does not sufficiently fulfilll students’ educational and professional needs. Learners need to have competence in all four linguistic skills: reading technical texts, writing software documentation, listening to tutorials and technical discussions and speaking for client interactions and project presentations. They also need to know the technical vocabulary of programming, software engineering and digital communication.  However, despite these requirements, students reported challenges in all four language skills, especially speaking, listening, and specialized vocabulary, which affect their educational and career readiness. The results highlight the significance of reforming English education with an ESP approach that incorporates specialized content, focuses on the development of technical vocabulary, and is customized to suit students’ learning needs and preferences, so as to better equip them for the software development industry.