English has become a global language that would affect academic improvements, professional performance, and international communication so Indonesian children started to study at schools with international curricula, and learned subjects like Chemistry in English. This phenomenon has developed inquiries into what the learners’ needs were to learn Chemistry in English in order to prepare for future academic objectives, such as international examinations, and what syllabus design was appropriate for Chemistry students, based on the needs.
The research was done by using a mixed method, specifically explanatory
sequential design. The data collection instruments were surveys and interviews. The participants of the survey were 43 high school students who learn Chemistry in their schools, using international curricula. The participants of the interviews are 5 Chemistry
students, 4 Chemistry teachers, and 3 English teachers.
The survey results displayed that, despite of their proficiency in English, they still experienced challenges, in acquiring specific scientific terminologies, including names of elements in periodic table and names of compounds, and bringing the impacts on comprehension of abstract concepts provided in the Chemistry textbooks. Some students
also shared on how they expected to have reading activities related to several topics including analytical Chemistry, pharmaceuticals, and organic chemistry. The learners wanted to have an ESAP class that would be interactive, structured in teaching them specific Chemistry terminologies, training the learners to do experiments, scientific report writings, presentations and discussions or debates. Therefore, the syllabus was designed as an integration skill-based, notional/functional and content-based syllabi.
This syllabus could be used by any Indonesian high school teachers, within the similar backgrounds, to teach English in Chemistry context, by considering that their students should be at least at intermediate level. |