English teachers lack communication skills
English teachers lack communication skills
JAKARTA (JP): Low communication skills among most English
language teachers in Indonesia is undermining the new English
teaching methods introduced in 1994, a linguist expert said.
Muljanto Sumardi, a professor of English language at the Atma
Jaya Catholic University in Jakarta, pointed out that the new
methods put greater emphasis on communication ability and less on
grammar, which had been prioritized earlier.
"We have to admit that many English teachers are just not
ready to use the new teaching methods," Muljanto said in a
seminar on the problems of teaching English organized by the
university on Friday. "Some of them even are not even aware that
there is any new method," he said.
Although English is taught from the fourth grade of primary
school all the way to senior high school level, the English
skills of senior high school graduates are generally still
appalling.
In the revamped 1994 school curriculum, this problem has been
addressed, at least in part, by emphasizing the need to teach
students to communicate in the language and not simply learn the
grammar rules.
"To be able to communicate, a person must learn about what is
appropriate in which situation. So, the main focus in English
teaching is now its communicative aspect," said Muljanto, who is
also active in the Social Sciences Foundation.
While hailing the new teaching methods, Muljanto felt that
there were several problems in applying them.
Besides the problem of teachers' own poor communication
skills, there is also the culture of Indonesian schools which
does not smile on active student participation, to discourage
such communication. There is also a lack of quality books on the
new methods.
The new method requires students to be more active in the
learning process.
"One of the characteristics of this new method is an active
student. But it's difficult to do it here," said Muljanto, who is
also a staff lecturer at the IKIP Muhammadiyah.
Indonesian culture discourages students from being active
during the learning process, he said. "Society still views
a student who is obedient to his teacher and quiet in class as a
good one," Muljanto said.
On the question of books, he said many books on teaching
English are published and sold in the country, but few of them
are right for the new teaching method.
With the emphasis on communication rather than grammar skills,
teachers of English language must also know the difference
between formal and informal English, he said.
He proposed that the Ministry of Education and Culture should
organize courses to upgrade English language teaching at schools,
from primary to senior high school levels.
Unimpressive English language skills are also found in
university graduates.
Given the increasing importance of English as a qualification
for just about every job, English language schools have become a
thriving business in Indonesia.
Muljanto acknowledged that the problem of poor English could
not be solved at the university level.
He said universities could not compete with the English
language schools shooting up all over Indonesia, because the
schools could devise courses for specific groups, such as
secretaries, housewives, and even for medical students.
Universities do not have the resources to do this, he said.
The two-day seminar on communicative language teaching,
involved students and teachers from the State Teachers' Training
Institutes (IKIP) from Jakarta, Lampung, Semarang, Surabaya,
Surakarta and Yogyakarta. The seminar was opened by Atma Jaya
University rector Thomas Suyatno. (31)