Teaching English at secondary schools<\/p>\n
Reading the report on Seminar on English Teaching at secondary
\nschool in Indonesia turned out to be ineffective (according to
\nthe Language Consultant Gloria C Kismadi, The Jakarta Post, May
\n17, 1996), I as one of the English teachers at IKIP (Teachers
\nCollege) Bandung feel a little bit stirred by the news.<\/p>\n
In this opportunity, therefore, please allow me to give some
\ncomments and ideas on how to deal with the problem.<\/p>\n
First, I wonder if Gloria's statement has been so accurate and
\nbased on the real data of her research across the country.
\nSecond, she might forget about the social status of English in
\nIndonesia which is regarded as L3 or foreign language and not as
\nL2 or second language like in Malaysia or Singapore. It seems to
\nme is unfair to judge that the result of teaching English in
\nIndonesia has to be equal to that in the countries I mention
\nabove. If possible, however, why not? But this is a big struggle.
\nThird, in some cases, I agree with you that ineffectiveness in
\nteaching English has been caused by among other things the over
\nemphasis on grammar and low quality of English teachers.<\/p>\n
Fourth, since I am concerned with English teachers, I herewith
\nwish to put forward some suggestions:<\/p>\n
1. Teaching English should be conducted integratedly and treat
\nlanguage as a whole rather than in fragments. For example, please
\ndon't teach grammatical points separately.<\/p>\n
2. The term language skills has got to be modified into
\nlanguage arts. The two terms have the same concepts but the
\nlatter has the intensity of applying the concepts not only within
\nthe English class hours but during the school day as well.<\/p>\n
3. As a result, the term English teacher also needs to be
\ndeveloped into a more sophisticated one and that is English Arts
\nteacher.<\/p>\n
4. Hence, as English Arts teachers, we can help our students
\nnot only strengthen their grammar, reading ability etc. (language
\ncompetence) but also improve their oral ability (language
\nperformance) as we have ample time to devote ourselves to them
\nand their learning English.<\/p>\n
ODO FADLOELI<\/p>\n
Bandung, West Java<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/teaching-english-at-secondary-schools-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }