DEVELOPING ESP TEACHING MATERIALS FOR LAW STUDENTS THROUGH A NEEDS ANALYSIS

Abstract

This study aims at finding out the actual needs of the law students of Universitas Sawerigading Makassar by analyzing their present situation, learning situation, and target situation and designing a syllabus based on a needs analysis. The research was conducted in Makassar among law students of Universitas Sawerigading Makassar, who had taken English for Law subject, as the source of primary data. As the source of supporting data, the researcher used graduates, English lecturers, and lawyers who had working experience in courts. The researcher conducted a field research by distributing questionnaires to collect the data, which were then tabulated and analysed by using descriptive method. The results reveal that it is absolutely necessary to conduct needs analysis as the basis in designing the syllabus, because the available syllabus has not completely met the needs of the law students of Universitas Sawerigading Makassar. The analysis of the target situation reveals that the main purpose of the students in learning English is to enable them to communicate in English. Another pupose of the students in learning English is to enable them to read and understand books related to their field which use many English terms. Based on this fact, the researcher tries to design a syllabus which prioritizes speaking and reading skill, and provides legal topics as required by the students.