GENERAL TRENDS OF ELT ( ENGLISH
LANGUAGE TEACHING ) IN INDONESIA
General trends of ELT in Indonesia can be described by
looking at background and status of English, English language education and its
curriculum, problems of ELT and recent development of English language teaching
in Indonesia.
1. Background And Status Of English And Other
Languages In Indonesia
As many people are aware that there can be more than one
language and culture within one island of Indonesia because Indonesia consists
of multi ethnic groups with hundred different local languages spread over
different parts of Indonesia. Hence, generally each individual speaks two
languages, a local language (Bahasa Daerah such as Javanese, Ambonese, etc) and
national language (Bahasa Indonesia). Both Nababan (1982, cited in Nur, 2004)
and Dardjowidjojo (2000) classify languages used in Indonesia into three
categories. They are vernacular/local languages (Bahasa Daerah), national
languages (Bahasa Indonesia) and foreign languages. The first category is
usually used as family languages for social communication in their regions.
Moreover, as Dardjowidjojo (2000) states, most Indonesian children at
individual level in regional areas learn their vernaculars as their mother
tongue before they learn ‘Bahasa Indonesia’ (the national language) at school.
The national language is used in formal and business communication and is also
used to communicate with other Indonesians of different language backgrounds.
For international communication, people use a foreign language.
In the 1950s, English was offered as foreign language in
high schools (junior and senior high). However, choosing English as the main
foreign language taught in secondary school has long history. Prior to
Indonesia’s Independence Day, it seemed normal that many people were more
familiar with Dutch and it is even taught in many schools in Indonesia to some
limited group of people as it was the language of colonialist (Dardjowidjojo
2000). During the period of the independence in 1945, education, including
foreign language education, was not in government attention. In 1950, when
Indonesia’s political situation was relatively more stable, the government then
was also ready to choose what foreign languages (either Dutch or English) were
to be taught in schools. Lowenberg (1991), Dardjowidjojo (2000) and Nur (2004)
believe that the policy-maker had been aware of the potential of English and
its utility in every international domain as well as in the economic
development of Indonesia. In fact, English was either dominant language or
second language of Indonesia’s immediate neighbors such as Malaysia, Singapore,
Philippines, and Australia. Thus, due to its utility as world language and its
utility as lingua franca of immediate geographical region, English was
eventually chosen as the first foreign language rather than Dutch (although it
was the colonial language). In addition, Dardjowidjojo (2000) explains that the
term English as the first foreign language is used and not as second language
because most Indonesians are bilingual with Indonesia as the national language
(second language) and local / vernacular language as the mother tongue. Also,
both Dardjowidjojo (2000) and Nur (2004) asserts that this status of English as
the first foreign language remains today in Indonesia. However, Lowenberg
(1991) claims that due to the functions of English in the linguistic
repertoires of many Indonesians, English is seen as an additional language in
Indonesia.
2. English Language Education In Indonesia
In Indonesia educational system, English instruction begins
in secondary (high) schools. According to 1967 Decree of the Ministry of
Education and Culture (now known as the Department of National Education), the
role of English in high schools was “to speed up national development in
addition to establishing relationship with other nations and to carrying out
its national foreign policy” (Nur, 2004, p.179). Therefore, English is
compulsory subject for these two levels. It is also one of the subjects that
students have to take in their final examinations.
Every junior high school students study English for 136
contact hours each year in which each contact hour equal with 45 minutes
(Dardjowidjojo, 2000; Nur, 2004). By the end of the third year, students would
have studied English for 408 contact hours on average. Hence, by the students
complete their senior high school education; they would have studied English
for more than 800 contact hours. As stated in 1967 Decree, the primary
objective of English instruction in secondary schools was to provide a
well-developed reading skills to facilitate transfer of science and technology
knowledge because around 75% to 90% of scientific and technical textbooks and
reference materials are still available only in English (Nur, 2004; Lowenberg,
1991) Speaking skills on the other hand, was given low priority because it was
considered to be a luxury and also it was assumed that such ability at high
school level could endanger national identity (Nur, 2004).
Prior 1994, English was not compulsory at elementary level
(primary school). Only after 1994 revised curriculum, Ministry of Education
then has allowed elementary schools to include English as a subject for
students of grade four, five, and six. However, it seems that only government
primary schools in urban areas and private schools would have the staff to
teach English. As a result, those primary or elementary schools in rural areas
still do not offer English due to shortage of staff able to teach it. In
addition, unlike the high school students, English at elementary level is for
oral communication only. Thus, the order of emphasis is speaking, listening,
reading and writing (Dardjowidjojo, 2000; Nur, 2004). English is taught for 60
to 90 minutes a week, depending on resources of individual school
(Dardjowidjojo, 2000; Nur, 2004).
At the university level, students in non-language
departments have to take English for two semesters and for two to three hours a
week (Lowenberg, 1991, Dardjowidjojo, 2000; Nur 2004). Based on their
explanations, since the goal of English at this level is to assist students to
develop their reading ability relates to their fields of study, the kind of
English taught is ESP (English for Specific Purposes). While for those majoring
in English, the university curriculum is to develop both language skills and
theoretical knowledge (Dardjowidjojo, 2000). He also adds that to obtain a
bachelor degree, students should finish their study between 144 to 160 credit
hours.
3. Curriculum And Policy
Dardjowidjojo (2000) and Nur (2004) recognize that since
independence, Indonesia has experienced several changes in curriculum with
different teaching approaches or methods from grammar-translation method and
audio-lingual method to communicative approach (which is regarded as the most
popular teaching approach). By 1984, the revised curriculum for English in
secondary schools had adopted the communicative approach with an emphasis on
the development of speaking skills. However, the practice did not reflect the
communicative learning (Dardjowidjojo, 2000; Musthafa, 2001; Nur, 2004).
Therefore, although the four skills remained as the targets for learning, the
order of priority was changed to reading as the most important, then listening,
writing and speaking.
Ten years later, in 1994, the Ministry of Education produced
new curriculum to revise 1984. It is still communicatively oriented, but the
official term was the meaning-based curriculum (meaningful approach)
(Dardjowidjojo, 2000; Musthafa, 2001; Nur, 2004). Nur (2004) explains that this
1994 curriculum for high schools have three types of English syllabuses. They
are national content which is required to be implemented nationally and which
the purpose is to develop a basic reading skill, enrichment content which
provides more exercises in reading comprehension, vocabulary building, control
of structures in English and so on, and local content which have materials to
meet the needs of students in specific regions in Indonesia such as English for
industry, tourism and business/commerce.
The curriculum is not only national, it is also compulsory.
Therefore, when a textbook writer or a publisher wants to have his book used by
the schools in the country, she or he has to include all the materials stated
in the curriculum, including the themes, the grammar, the functions, and the
vocabulary items to be learned (Dardjowidjojo, 2000).
Furthermore, the release of Regional Autonomy Laws in 1999
made Indonesia to start its decentralization reform. The laws give autonomy to
local governments and schools to have their own policy to manage their
educational service provision, including English language education. This
decentralization reform at school level is believed to lead to better school
performance, greater school autonomy, better match between the services
delivered and the students’ needs, greater parental and community involvement
and greater participants in decision making (Depdiknas, 2003, cited in Yuwono,
2005).
Due to this decentralization reform and a more regional
curriculum, the school-based curriculum was produced in 2006 in which local
cultures are dominant and more decentralized education (www.puskur.net).
4. Problems Of ELT In Indonesia
Since English was first taught, there have been problems in
the teaching of English as a foreign language in Indonesia and the learning of
English has been considered less of success in this country. Some Indonesian
scholars (such as Dardjowidjojo, 2000; Musthafa, 2001; Nur, 2004 and Yuwono,
2005) and some non-Indonesian scholars (such as Kirkpatrick, 2007 and Kam,
2004) have portrayed it in this way. Although the curriculum plays important
role in maintaining standards in ELT, most of the major problems seem to lie
outside the curriculum. Both Dardjowidjojo (2000) and Nur (2004) agree on five
common problems such as big class sizes, teachers with low level of English
proficiency, the low salary of government English teachers which encourage or
even force many to moonlight, the lack of sufficient preparation to teach the
new curriculum and the culture barriers for teachers to leave the role of
master and to accept or to adopt the new role of facilitator. They also claims
that the large class sizes and unqualified English teachers are two obvious
factors that contribute to the ongoing problems in ELT in Indonesia. Musthafa
(2001) also lists other reasons for the problems such as limited time allocated
for teaching English; lack opportunity to actually practice speaking English in
the classroom due to focus on grammar and syntax and the use of L1/ mother
tongue; less authentic materials and lack opportunity to socialize English
outside the classroom. According to Yuwono (2005), ELT in Indonesia seems to be
always problematic before and after decentralization era. She also suggests
that the continually-revised curriculum does not seem to consider factors such
as suitable qualifications for teachers and numbers of students nor does it
provide strategies and alternatives.
Related to
ability in English, Dardjowidjojo (2000) assumes that the number of hours a
student spends in secondary school and the optional hours in elementary school
should at least have resulted in a high ability in English by the time she/ he
graduate from senior high school. The outcome, however, is far from the
expectation. It seems that a high school graduate is unable to communicate
intelligibly in English and those who are able is suspected of having taken
private courses or come from a certain family background (Dardjowidjojo, 2000).
Kam (2004, p.8) sees that this low ability in English is as a result of a
“flip-flopping” in ELT methods or approaches in Indonesia (from
grammar-translation method to communicative approach). Nevertheless,
Dardjowidjojo (1996, cited in Kam, 2004) claims that the lack of students
motivation, poor attitude of students in learning English and shortage of
teachers with adequate English language competence are the contributors of the
low ability in English.
Moreover,
the ELT situation in university level is similar. Kirkpatrick (2007) suggests
that as the entry level of most students is very low, the ESP class focuses on
grammar and translation. Thus, most of ESP programs fail to develop students’
proficiency in English. In agreement with Kirkpatrick (2007), Nur (2004)
asserts that university graduates who have studied six years of English in both
junior and senior high schools and another year in university generally cannot
communicate adequately in English. She also gives an example from Nurweni and Read
report in 1999 that Indonesian students on average first year only master about
1226 English words which is considered as far below the threshold for senior
high school students which is 4000 to 5000 English words.
In private
elementary schools, on the other hand, the ELT practice is much different. As
reported by Sadtono (1997, cited in Kam, 2004) that children in one school in
Surabaya that taught English from grade one was able to write fairly good
compositions when they were in grade five and six. He believes that this was
due to the teacher who used integrated approach. Unfortunately, this success in
private elementary school could be difficult to be continuously applied in
other elementary schools either in public schools or elementary schools in rural
areas as the introduction of ELT at this level is still confined to some
selected elementary schools in urban areas
5. Recent Development Of ELT In Indonesia
Despite the problems of ELT practice in Indonesia, English
continues to be the most popular foreign language in Indonesia schools. Since
1994, ELT has been introduced from grade four of elementary level in public
schools. With a reorientation objective in 1994 (which is regarded to be
important in ELT in Indonesia in the last few years), the focus has been on
listening and speaking skills in elementary schools and on speaking and reading
skills in secondary schools.
Furthermore, the language policy for education in Indonesia
has made English language learning compulsory. Although the policy has attributed
teaching English from early grades in elementary schools, it has not been fully
implemented largely because of lack of primary teachers both in numbers and
skills level.
However, overall, there has been an attempt in the last ten
years to strengthen and improve the ELT through curriculum revision and
development as well as decentralization reform.
6. Generalization Of ELT In Indonesia (Some
Trends And Issues)
It can be seen through the previous discussion that the
general situation of formal ELT in Indonesia is rather discouraging.
Practitioners, language experts and policy makers agree that teaching of
English in Indonesia has not been a success over the past few decades
(Dardjowidjojo, 1996b cited in Nur, 2004). This condition is also stated in
some scholars’ finding in their journal article of ELT in Indonesia such as
Dardjowidjojo (2000), Musthafa (2001), Nur (2004), Kirkpatrick (2007) and Kam
(2004).
However, the problems concerning ELT in Indonesia seem to be
a complex matter. As Nur (2004) states that it is not easy to identify the real
cause of ELT’s lack of success. It seems that the policy and practice of ELT in
Indonesia is not likely to change much. As Nur (2004) suggests that although
change is inevitable in todays fast changing world, no dramatic changes are
expected in Indonesia. Thus, she argues that the practice of English
instruction will continue as it has been always the case. There is less can be
done to improve the teaching of English in Indonesian schools as there are
other more pressing priorities such as political and economic problems.
Unlike Nur, Dardjowidjojo (2000) sees the failure in
teaching English in Indonesia as common phenomena in EFL countries. Thus, there
is no need to be pessimistic.
Furthermore, Kam (2004) summarizes the issue of ELT in
Indonesia in terms of dilemma. He explains that on the one hand, Indonesia face
shortage of English teachers and on the other, those currently teaching English
would need to improve qualitatively. This is what he called by “quantitative vs
qualitative dilemma” (Kam, 2004, p.28). He suggests that limited resources have
to be distributed between recruiting and training more teachers of English and
providing in-service training for those who have already teaching English in
schools.
4. Impact of new trend in EIL on attitude toward and
perception of English in
Indonesia
Based on
Kirkpatrick project and Zacharias study, it appears that the choice of local
cultures and concerns may have reflected the need of Indonesians to talk about
these, given the extraordinary social, political, and cultural changes that
Indonesians were experiencing at the time. Also, this need can be seen from the
release of recent school-based curriculum in 2006. This emphasis on Indonesian
cultures also support Nur argument (2004, p.185) when she said “there is always
sense of apprehension that the widespread use of English will severely impede
the development of ‘Bahasa Indonesia’ and push aside local cultures”. McKay
(2003) also sees that today in a country where English as an additional
language, there is a growing importance of including the local cultures.
Moreover, from Zacharias study, it seems clear that
native-speakerism still exists in ELT in Indonesia, and in her case, it existed
in the teachers’ belief. However, in their teaching practice, it appears that
most teachers have already started to move from native speaker paradigm
(although it is not much) such as in the issue of culture in ELT, materials for
reading that is preferred from local source materials and the use of mother
tongue. Many respondents also imply unconsciously that native speaker teachers
have weakness such as in teaching grammar; therefore, they prefer native
speaker teachers to teach only speaking and pronunciation. Thus, I agree with Matsuda’s
suggestion (2003) about teacher education of World Englishes. In this case, if
those kinds of teachers (in Zacharias study) are given training to be
introduced to the issue about EIL by taking a World Englishes course or an
English sociolinguistics course that the scope is not limited to English
speaking countries, they are more likely to be open minded and are aware of the
realities of the spread of English as an international language. Also, it seems
apparent that without this, it is difficult for teachers to have total paradigm
shift.
In
addition, Dardjowidjojo (2000) states that in the past, people preferred
British English to American English. However, political and economic domination
seem to have changed this attitude. He also asserts that Indonesian government
actually has no special policy on the variety to be taught. The only guideline
used is that it must be consistent. Furthermore, with the current emphasis on
fluency rather that accuracy, Indonesians have begun to accept non-native variety
of English ( Dardjowidjojo, 2000). Thus, actually, the new trends of EIL have a
potential place in Indonesia as long as there is a way to raise people
awareness about the role of EIL in global society such as teacher education
toward EIL and the use of media (Matsuda, 2003).
5. Conclusion
In
conclusion, the general picture of formal ELT in Indonesia is indeed
discouraging and has been characterized by failure. However, with a rapid
globalization of English, as Dardjowidjojo (2000) states, Indonesians have
begun to accept non-native varieties of English. Also, more people, although
not much, have already started to move from native speakerism such as by having
the idea that local cultures are more appropriate to form basis for textbook
content rather than target cultures.
Although
EIL policy and practice in Indonesia seems difficult to be applied in formal
education due to factors like curriculum, government control, and more pressing
priorities, EIL could be tried to be introduced and implemented through places
such as private schools, English courses, or university where the curriculum
does not depend on the government and also through the use of media such as
internet in English courses or in extracurricular activities at schools.
Therefore,
although it seems difficult and takes a long time, there is a chance for
Indonesians to change their attitude toward English in the light of EIL as long
as there is a continuous exposure to ELT in Indonesia not only through formal
education, a change in the government in issuing teaching visa not to English
speaking countries only, and the use of media such as internet.
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