English in schools 'misses mark'

JAKARTA (JP): Nicky is now in her final year of senior high school, which means she has been studying English for more than five years.

But the 17-year-old giggled nervously when asked: "Do you speak English?"

"Bahasa Indonesia saja (Let's just speak Indonesian)," she told The Jakarta Post.

It is not that Nicky does not understand any English at all. She is, after all, product of the national education system in which English is taught beginning in the first year of junior high school. Many private elementary schools even include English in the curriculum, and young students supplement their learning at one of the numerous English courses.

But it seems that most high school students, like Nicky, do not have a comprehensive grasp of English, or at least how to speak it. Their English is just enough to pass their school exams.

Ari, 15, said she is not interested in studying English because the lesson was boring.

"It's about grammar and grammar again. When the teacher is explaining in front of the class, we are busy chatting among ourselves," she said.

Ari, in her first year of senior high school, said students were more interested in practicing conversation. "But the teacher doesn't encourage us to speak in class."

"When he asks me a question in English, I understand, and I know the answer, but I just can't say it," she added.

Two-hour English lessons are scheduled twice a week in the high school curriculum. Ari said this was the same duration as classes when she was in junior high.

Nisrina Nur Ubay, an English teacher at English Express Language Institute, blames conventional teaching methods in state schools as the main factor behind students' inability to speak English.

This inflexible teaching method places too much emphasis on rote learning of grammar, which is boring for students and contributes to them losing interest in studying the language, she said.

"English lessons would be more effective if the teacher actively encouraged students to actually speak English," she said.

She advised high school teachers to move away from the traditional focus on grammar and shift instead to using conversation.

The boring content of most school lesson plans and failure to learn to speak proficiently are among the reasons many students turn to private English courses.

"There is an increasing number of high school students who take an English course," she said. "They are looking for one which can provide a teaching method enabling them to speak English better."

Purwanto, principal of Pangudi Luhur high school in South Jakarta, dismissed the idea that students were not interested in studying English in school.

"They have enough interest in studying English (at school)," he said.

He conceded that the English lesson in schools concentrated on grammar and was deficient in conversation. This is why students dissatisfied with the lessons at school enroll in an English course, he said.

"Some take a course because they want to study aboard, the others to improve their school grade or to better their conversation skill," he said.

H. Nu'man, principal of Al Azhar high school in Lippo Cikarang, Bekasi, said students did not lack interest in studying the language.

He said that as Al Azhar was a boarding school, few students left the premises to take English courses.

"But we provide extra hours for students who want to improve their English. We also try to improve the teaching method by encouraging students to speak English."

He said these activities were designed to enrich the students' vocabularies through practice.

Future plans include organization of an all-English day, when both students and faculty members will be obliged to speak the language in all their interactions. (09/sim)