Needs Analysis of the English Writing Skill as the Base to Design the Learning Materials

Abstract

This research used a descriptive method. It was aimed at identifying students’ learning needs for the English writing skill as the base for designing the learning materials. Writing skill covered the analysis of the types of paragraph, types of text, the components of writing and paragraph development. The subjects of the research were the fourth semester students that consisted of 330 students. The samples were taken 15 % randomly, so the number of samples was 50 students. The research used a questionnaire as the instrument to get responses from the students about their learning needs. The results showed that the learning needs for the writing skills coped with the types of paragraph development, the types of text, and components of writing skill. The types of paragraph development included the ways by definition (79.7%), classification (67.0%), listing (59.3%), cause effect (47.7%), example (47.3%), and comparison (45.7%). The types of text consisted of description (66.0%), news items (59.7%), narration (58.7%), discussion (56.7%), recount (57.0%), and exposition (50.7%). The components of writing skill contained structure (79.6%), vocabulary (79.4%), content (62.0%), organisation (53.6%) and mechanic (34.0%). The implication of the findings would be the base of teaching and learning process, especially in designing the learning materials for the English writing skill.