English language teaching must be reformed

By A. Chaedar Alwasilah

This is the second of two articles on the need to reform the teaching of English as a foreign language in Indonesia.

BANDUNG (JP): The fact that English has established itself as the most important language in the world is a given, and its expansion here in Indonesia should be viewed as natural and beneficial. It is true that the globalization of English has cultural and political implications for those who learn and use it, but as critical educators we are convinced that by reconceptualizing the teaching of EFL, we can provide a significant contribution to national education.

As the survey indicates, the teaching of EFL is not synonymous with cultural imperialism. With regard to fear of cultural and, to be specific, Western propaganda, Pennycook has this to say: " ... the spread of English, if dealt with critically, may offer chances for cultural renewal and exchange around the world."

Indonesia needs to put the teaching of English as a foreign language (TEFL) in the framework of national language planning, where minor, national and foreign languages are proportionally accommodated for the sake of national development.

The burning issues of modernizing Indonesian, teaching English at primary schools, the use of English as the medium of instruction at tertiary level and the policy of teaching local content subjects remain controversial and call for informed and professional solutions.

While we inspire to be professional in teaching English, we are aware that Indonesian should be modernized, and that the present teaching of Indonesian has been a failure. Muadz (1998) suggests that local languages be used as the medium of instruction instead of Indonesian until students are ready to use the national language -- a suggestion reminiscent of one made at a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) meeting of specialists in the 1950s.

* Globalization brings with it an overflow of perplexing information. Time is running out before informed decisions must be made. What education should do now is provide students with critical thinking skills.

Thinking is reasonable when the thinker "... strives to analyze arguments carefully, looks for valid evidence and reaches sound conclusions. The goal of teaching critical thinking is to develop people who are fair minded, objective and committed to clarity and accuracy." (Marzano, 1998).

Teaching English should not be perceived simply as a process of transferring the four language skills to students. The present practice of teaching English here tends to put a strong emphasis on developing a good command of English, which is in fact never the case, without attaching the appropriate importance to critical thinking. To develop critical pedagogues to teach English we therefore need to revise current thinking with regards to how we impart knowledge to our younger generation.

* Important dispositions of critical thinking include, among others, looking for alternatives, open-mindedness and being sensitive to others' feelings. Language education should expose students to as much information and controversial issues as possible and promote critical dialogs.

Sensitive issues such as corruption, collusion and nepotism have potential for use as topics to develop critical thinking. Use of these topics would place ethics firmly at the center of education.

Thinking skills cannot be and should not be taught apart from content because content is inseparably linked to language and cognition.

The emergence of local dialects of English should encourage what is described as the broken interlanguage of our students, "...where 'breaking' is an attempt to dislodge the central language norms and to recreate other possibilities." (Pennycook, 1994).

The question of whose version of the language gains sway is always a political one. In the teaching of English as a foreign language, native speakers are always perceived as the only model, an attitude which contradicts critical thinking, where creativity and anomalies are accepted.

Not only do native speakers tend to be dismissive of other possibilities, labeling expressions unfamiliar to them as "not English", but they also stand out as representative of linguistic hegemony.

Emerging versions of English around the globe should be recognized and be treated fairly as dialects that deserve academic examination. A revised foreign language policy and education should endorse the emergence of Indonesian English.

* The slogan that new ministers bring a new policy is popular in our country, suggesting that our educational policies have not been based on a well-defined visionary goal and change from one minister to the next.

At school level, there is a tendency among teachers, headmasters and supervisors to adhere faithful to the "holy" curriculum.

English teaching should be redesigned to promote new forms of knowledge and culture and this would require a great deal of flexibility in our teaching methods. Critical English teachers should have a vision of social transformation and must work to prepare students for the future.

* The English curriculum and the curriculum in general should be revised so that they promote awareness and bestow a political awareness upon students.

Teaching politics forces us to develop an awareness of "planning language and planning inequality", Tollefson (1991).

Language policy should recognize that language -- be it local, national or international -- is a cultural practice located in very particular social, cultural and political contexts. The teaching of English in Indonesia should therefore be put into a local context, thus empowering Indonesian teachers, lecturers, textbook writers, curriculum developers and language policy makers to develop the language to the full.

It is clear throughout the above discussion that the cited authors share many assumptions about the teaching of English as a foreign language, although they differ on a number of sensitive and crucial issues.

Explicit teaching of politics and a tolerance of differences in others constitutes an essential, albeit complicated issue that we must come to terms with academically and professionally.

The English curriculum and national education should both be revised continuously so that they remain relevant in our ever- changing world.

The writer is a lecturer at the Graduate School of the Bandung Teachers Training College (IKIP Bandung) in West Java.