Schools lack basic study skills<\/p>\n
Simon Marcus Gower, Principal, Harapan Bangsa High School,
\nKotamodern, Tangerang, Banten<\/p>\n
Many schools throughout Indonesia have, by now, made quite
\nremarkable efforts to improve the quality of their tuition in the
\nEnglish language and so develop the English skills of students
\nthroughout the nation. Likewise, the national curriculum has
\nquite expressly targeted the increase and betterment of English
\nlanguage studies throughout students' lives.<\/p>\n
All of this is highly commendable in the context of the need
\nfor English -- as the international language. However, there is a
\ndefinite danger that other aspects of the Indonesian curriculum
\ncan seriously undermine these efforts. It has, by now, become a
\nfamiliar topic of debate amongst educators in Indonesia that
\nthinking skills need to be promoted throughout the nation's
\neducation system.<\/p>\n
Creative, critical and even just original thought is still
\nsomething that is not glimpsed sufficiently in Indonesian
\nschools. Passivity and compromise are characteristics that are
\nstill too dominant. The ease and willingness with which students
\nwill plagiarize and, essentially, resign from the process of
\nthinking for themselves is perhaps one of the most sadly
\ndisturbing characteristics of many Indonesian students.<\/p>\n
Likewise the weaknesses of so many students in the most basic
\nof academic skills has to be a worry. Clearly illiteracy is not a
\nproblem here but the quality and effectiveness of literacy most
\ndefinitely is. Indonesian school students often may be found to
\nbe sadly lacking in basic writing skills. Their ability to
\norganize their thoughts into any kind of coherent and compelling
\nwritten structure can consistently be found to be close to non-
\nexistent.<\/p>\n
Just to challenge students to write a well thought out essay
\nor assemble a reasonably logical report can prove to be a major
\nuphill task for teachers, if not indeed a near mountainous task.
\nSimilarly basic written word skills seem to be rather neglected
\nin schools.<\/p>\n
For example -- it is not at all unusual to see both teachers
\nand students exhibiting an inability to maintain "case
\nconsistency" and so words may often appear written such as
\nfollows: "She is an exprEssive peRson", and common nouns will be
\nwritten without capitals -- a sample sentence: "i saw elton john
\nin london". Elementary written mistakes such as this, which are
\ncommon and so cannot be considered as occasional slips, would in
\nmany countries be seen as the mark of an uneducated or at best a
\npoorly educated person.<\/p>\n
Why, one might ask, should these kinds of basic mistakes be
\nseen as a specific cause of concern for the teaching and learning
\nof English? Well, naturally enough if a student has difficulties
\nin the first language the ability to perform in a second language
\nwill inevitably be undermined. If the foundations of the first
\nlanguage are not strong then the second language is always liable
\nto remain weak.<\/p>\n
Also, one has to reflect on the fact that to a large degree
\nlanguage skill equates to thinking skill and so where the most
\nbasic of language skills are not fully in place so too will
\nthinking skills be found to be wanting.<\/p>\n
This, then, creates genuinely problematic "knock-on" effects
\nfor the teacher of English in Indonesia. A consistent concern
\nexpressed to English teachers is that the English language is
\nheavy in terms of its grammar. Comparatively, English may be seen
\nas rather more grammatically demanding than Indonesian but often
\nit seems that the "grammar concern" for English is exacerbated
\nand compounded by the manner in which the first language of
\nIndonesian is taught in schools.<\/p>\n
Students themselves highlight the dubious way in which
\nIndonesian is presented to them. Some quotes from senior high
\nschool students illustrate doubts and concerns: "We don't really
\nlearn the language we just do reading", "Why do we have to do
\nthis? It's a waste of time and boring", and perhaps most
\nworryingly, "We learn language that nobody uses now. It's
\nuseless."<\/p>\n
Each of these statements must be cause for concern but taken
\ntogether these kinds of thoughts suggest that many students doubt
\nthe relevance and need for the study of their first language.
\nWhere this is happening, clearly there is an element of failure
\nof educators. The suggestion that learning the first language is
\nboth "a waste of time" and "useless" is particularly sad because
\nthe learning of a first language in schools can present a great
\nopportunity -- an opportunity to learn of literature and language
\nand learn of learning.<\/p>\n
Very many students in Indonesia would benefit from just
\n"learning how to learn" -- learning basic academic and study
\nskills. The allocation of time within the curriculum for Bahasa
\nIndonesia is surely an opportunity for this kind of study to
\noccur.<\/p>\n
A simple exercise of preparing a formal report and then
\ncomparing it with an informal discussion between friends could be
\nhugely beneficial in highlighting differences in language style
\nand register and so present learning of how to use the language
\nappropriately in given circumstances. With more planning and
\ndesign the school subject of Bahasa Indonesia could become a
\ncritical and hugely beneficial contributor across the whole
\ncurriculum.<\/p>\n
Language skill learnt well can be applied in other subjects --
\nfor example learning to write a report would benefit science
\nsubjects where laboratory reports may be required. So too these
\nkinds of skills -- learnt in the first language -- will help the
\nstudents perform in a second language such as English.<\/p>\n
The plan for a new schools curriculum for 2004 appears to be
\nexplicitly targeting greater activity and participation from the
\nstudents and this will heighten the need for students to fully
\npossess basic study and language skills. Student participation
\nand activity instills the need for greater student autonomy and
\nindependence of thought and this, in turn, demands that students
\npossess the ability to think and indeed show their thinking.<\/p>\n
Currently, however, national tests offer little or no
\nopportunity for students to exercise and show their thinking. The
\nmanner in which multiple-choice questions remain the dominant
\nformat for student tests maintains students participation and
\nthinking at a passive level.<\/p>\n
For students to genuinely grow and develop as thoughtful
\nindividuals they need to be first equipped with the basic
\nlearning and language skills that form the foundations from which
\nthey may build thoughtful participation in both their school life
\nand society generally. In turn, and over time, they may then
\ngather the skills and independence to perform well as original
\nthinkers; not mere followers.<\/p>\n
Educators have a duty to equip and challenge students; not
\nstupefy them with excessive curricula and neglect basic skills
\nand leave students dependent and weak in thought.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/schools-lack-basic-study-skills-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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