Designing English Instructional Materials for Vocational High School: A Narrative Inquiry at SMK At-Thoat Toroh Purwodadi

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the steps of designing English instructional materials for Vocational High School by referring to the application of scientific approach of Curriculum 2013. This study is qualitative research with narrative inquiry. The object of the study is SMK AT-Thoat Toroh, a Vocational High School in Purwodadi, which has three majors: office administration, computer network engineering and motorcycle engineering. The data were collected by interviewing the English teachers of SMK At-Thoat Toroh, Purwodadi in February, 2019. The result showed that the steps taken by the teachers in designing English instructional material included identifying Competency Standards and Basic Competencies, identifying the types of material related to Competency Standards or Basic Competencies, then determining the materials according to Competency Standards and Basic Competencies. The teachers had taken appropriate steps in designing English instructional material, such as identified the instructional goal which is to encourage the students to be active in the learning process and to be able to think critically and creatively as expected in the 2013 curriculum; conducted needs analysis; analyzed learners’ input and characters; determined the materials according to Basic Competencies and Competency Standards set by the government; and evaluated both the teaching methods and the teaching materials. The teachers also understood the different needs of each department and determined the different materials for each department's needs. Even so, there were still less appropriate things related to the design instructional materials, such as needs analysis that were less applicable due to limited time and facilities, and the application of scientific approach that was still less than optimal.