English proficiency needs new teaching setting

English proficiency needs new teaching setting

By Sugeng Susilo Adi

ADELAIDE, Australia (JP): Older Indonesians, particularly men,
often criticize members of the younger generation because they
cannot speak English fluently despite having studied English
formally for six years in junior and high schools. Members of the
older generation boast that they speak fluent Dutch even though
they never studied the language formally.

Most probably, the older generation's competence in Dutch is
no better than the younger generation's proficiency in English.
The difference is that the older generation studied Dutch in the
"natural laboratory" created by Dutch colonialism. Young
Indonesians have studied English in a formal atmosphere, with a
lack of opportunities to express themselves orally in the
language.

The poor English proficiency of Indonesian students, both in
high school and university, is mostly because the country's
system of teaching English still focuses on studying about a
language rather than studying how to use the language. Ideally,
six years of studying English at high school should be enough to
create fundamental communicative competence. Students should, at
least, be able to speak basic English conversation.

In two earlier articles in The Jakarta Post on the English
teaching system in Indonesia, Iwan Jazadi highlighted the failure
of teaching English in the country, both at the classroom level
and the macrosocietal level. At the classroom level, he
attributed the failure primarily to the inconsistency of the 1994
national curriculum which, although touted as based on a
communicative approach, still relies on documents emphasizing
reading skills.

The next problem is the national examination system (Ebtanas),
which is based on multiple-choice type questions using reading
texts, leaving students without opportunities to practice
communicating in the target language.

What are the practical suggestions to cope with the problems,
especially at the classroom level, more specifically on the
possible role played by Indonesian English teachers?

Of particular urgency is the need to a create a fitting
environment of teaching -- and studying -- English in a natural
setting, through implementing a communicative language teaching
(CLT) classroom. Accordingly, there are, at least, three
important key principles suitable in the local context.

The first is the learner-centered principle which demands
teachers put their learners into divisions based on their own mix
of variables, such as cognitive learning style, resources or what
they are able to do, and social maturity. Teachers need to
consider the learners' differences, and treat them individually
based on the distinctions.

Since the students generally have the same purpose in studying
English -- passing the national exam -- their needs and interests
could be their strengths and weaknesses. Perhaps it is difficult
for high school teachers to treat their students according to
their own needs and interests because they have to teach large
classes; some have 40 students or more. However, it may be
helpful for them to plan for a small number of subgroups, based
on the most common learner differences.

The second is the active involvement principle. It means that
learners will learn how to use the language only when they are
provided a variety of opportunities for its use. The principle
implies a need to promote genuine communication, provide a
variety of activities using spoken and written communicative data
such as songs, games, stories and role play, as well as
encouraging the active involvement of learners in communicating
and self-discovery, and encouraging interaction between the
learners, teachers, materials and the learning environment.

This principle seems particularly important because the
problem of teaching English in Indonesia centers on the lack of
opportunities for the students to communicate in the target
language. Teachers need to provide more opportunities for their
students to communicate in the target language, both inside and
outside the classroom, because development of communicative
competence requires realistic interaction among learners using
meaningful and contextualized language.

It is thus the teachers' responsibility to creatively modify
the application of the national curriculum to be more flexible
because expecting the administration to change the curriculum is
too much.

Last is the responsibility principle, which starts from the
fact that learners learn a language best when they are provided
with opportunities to manage their own language. It implies a
need to increase learners' responsibility for their own learning,
such as to learn how to learn, and to learn how to use a
language. Helping students learn how to learn is as important as
helping them to learn how to use the language.

For the time being, what happens is merely "spoon-feeding"
where the teacher gives rules and materials, and explains many
things. The reason is cultural. The teacher is viewed as a source
of knowledge, with the authority to choose materials and select a
teaching method without negotiating with the students.
Consequently, the students never learn how to learn.

Using the simple suggestions above would be an interesting
challenge in the classroom for Indonesian English practitioners,
both in developing themselves and in coping with the anticipated
problems in the country's English teaching system.

The writer, a lecturer at Surabaya Wijaya Kusuma University,
is currently studying at the University of South Australia in
Adelaide.