Designing English Instructions for Islamic Settings: A Need Analysis in Indonesian Pesantren

Many pesantren in Indonesia have been significantly transformed to adapt to the demands of the times, by providing English instructions in their curriculum. Although existing literature has discussed the needs of pesantren students in different parts of Indonesia, little is known about the needs in East Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, a rural part of Indonesia. A modern pesantren, Darul Muttaqien NWDI Perian, had just been transformed to provide an English instruction for about two years while Nurul Azhar Sukadana, a khalafi pesantren, had included English instructions for quite a while. Nonetheless, both of the management did not yet have a clear curriculum that met the students’ needs. Therefore, it is crucial that this study investigate the needs of these pesantren, both from students and relevant parties’ expectations. Needs analysis in this context was the first phase of the R&D method. The data was collected by distributing questionnaires to 73 students and conducting a semi-structured interview with five teachers, three stakeholders, two parents, and community representatives. The findings revealed that English instructions should be designed to (a) support the improvement of students’ language skills, particularly speaking, (b) promote their ability to deliver speeches for religious purposes, and (c) prepare them for their future goals. Hence, in addition to Islamic topics and pesantren-related vocabulary, more modern and contextual materials should be included to widen their knowledge which in turn help them achieve their goals. Thus, these results can become the groundwork for developing the English curriculum in Pesantren in accordance with the students’ needs.