A Need of Students' Speaking Activities on Zoom Application in Online Learning System at Islamic University of North Sumatra

The changes of the learning system, from face-to-face classroom interaction to the online learning system during the Covid-19 pandemic, havea significant impact on the process of learning. Different learning activities are required to be presented for the continuity of the learning process. These changes then lead to the different students‟ needs in learning. This paper reports the result of finding out the need for students‟ speaking activity on zoom through need analysis. The study was conducted at the State Islamic University of North Sumatra. Students of the third semester in the academic year 2020/2021 were chosen as the participant of this study selected by using purposive sampling. The total number of participants was 38 students. The design of this study is qualitative research. The data were be obtained by distributing questionnaire to the students. The content of the questionnaire is about need analysis specifically in target needs, including lacks, necessities, and learning needs, based on Hutchinson and Waters (1991). The result of this study revealed that students need to learn English speaking skills to improve their speaking ability to communicate in English actively, increase their self-confidence, and enhance their public speaking skills. Thus, the students need to emphasize some aspects of speaking, such as fluency, pronunciation, grammar competence, and strategic competence. Referring to the students‟ lack ofspeaking learning on the zoom application, 63% of students mentioned that they have poor chemistry and interaction. The impact was the interaction to create good chemistry between students to teacher or students to students did not occur flawlessly. About 58% of students revealed their inconvenient feeling since the continuity of learning depended on the internet network. Besides, inadequate activity was also addressed as the lack, 55% of students selected this, and this condition leads to a tedious learning process on zoom. Moreover, discussing an interesting topic and experience, question and answer, role play, discussion, and conversation were considered what students‟ learning needs in speaking activities. The significance of this study can be the reflection further learning process in online learning systems, especially in a speaking activity on the zoom application.