Academic Essay
English
Language Teaching in Indonesia: problems, challenges and prospects
Written By
Najmiatul Fauza
English
Department Student of Ar-Raniry Islamic University
1.Introduction
English
is the language of international communication. There was estimation by the
year 2000, people who spoke it was about 1.500 milion worldwide. They consisted
of 329 milion asmother tounge in UK,
USA, Ausrtalia, New Zealand and 430 milion as second language in countries such
as India, Singapore, Malaysia and Pakistan. Besides, 750 milion people spoke it
as foreign language such as Indonesia, Vietnam, China, and Brazil (Lauder, 2008). According to The
Ministry(2015), Indonesia is a second after China in terms of the number of
children learning English as a foreign language in elementary school. After the
1945 independence, English that was mandated as the first foreign language to
be learnt. Since then, teaching English has gradually evolved across various
teaching approach and method. Furthermore, the teaching of English in Indonesia
has been far from successful
.
Some common English language teaching (ELT) problems in indonesia such as lack of students’motivation,
quality of teachers and curriculum changes. Moreover, in this globalization era can also be a
challenge for teachers, students and
government
such as class size and the use of ICT the teaching- learning process.
However, as Archand (1996) said that mastering English is one of the
requirements for economic
development. People who have proficiency of English can access the large number
of jobs and career in many national and international organization. This
article will discuss problems, challenges and prospect of English language
teaching in Indonesia.
2.
Discussion
2.1. Problems
2.1.1. Lack
of students’ motivation
Motivation
can not be separated from teaching learning process. Gardner (1985) defined motivation as
combination of effords, desire to achieve the goal of language learning, and
favorable attitude toward language learning. He also had said that where learners
have to opt in or out of opportunities for learning, motivation is likely to be
the strongest predictor of success than aptitude. Lack of students’motivation
results in language learning failure. As Dardjowidjojo ( 1996) claims that the
lack of students’motivation, low demeanor of students in learning English and
infirmity of the English language teachers capabilty are the contributors of
the low ability in English. The low motivation of students is due to various
factors: Inadequate family support, local environment and the school context (Marcellino,2008;
Yulia, 2013). Some students also ascribe
English as a “monster” together with mathematics subject (Yulia, 2013). It might happen
because the teachers sometimes are “strict” in terms of English formula or
rules that students need to memorize rather than creating activities for them
to have fun in learning English.
In
some aspects learners background is also the factor of lack of students’ motivation. In many English
foreign language ( EFL) context, particularly in rural area, children may
struggle to understand the relevance of the learning English as they have little
contact with speakers of the language( Ho, 2003). This might have happened
because English is a foreign language not commonly used in daily Indonesian
life. As Marcellino (2008) says that English in mandatory at high school and
that the students are obliged to learn it, their motivation to study is subject
to question given the fact that they live in an environment in which knowledge
of English is not compulsory. For instance: students at school seem to use
vernaculars more or local languages than English ( Yulia, 2013). Therefore, to
improve the students motivation in learning needs help from all parties,
especially the teachers. They must provide comfortable classroom for them, so
they will be motivated in learning English.
2.1.2 2.1.2. Teachers’ professionalism
The teachers’professionalism is
also one of the significant
problems in ELT, as Sahiruddin(2013)
says that teachers personal credentials are subject to question. Dardjowidjojo
(2003) affirms that many teachers of
English graduating from FKIP and IKIP (teachers training institute) have not
even reached the good level of using
English. Besides, they play an important
role in the classroom, what teachers perform
in the classroom is the realization of a quantity of roles and
responsibilities given
to them: to design,
to commence, to guide learning,
to facilitate, to observe,
and to asses learning process.
In Indonesia,the reality shows that as Marcellino
(2013) claims that the English teachers language proficiency are very poor. The
majority of these teachers deliver the lesson in the mother tougue of the
children, either Indonesian or indigenous language, primarily due to self
perceived low level of communicative competence in the target language(
chodijah, 2008; musthafa, 2001). For example: they frequently use Indonesian language to discuss the instructional topic in the classroom, so the students will be more passive.
Whereas, as Sullivan (2011) concluded that teachers’oral proficiency in the
target language is a significant factor in both teaching effectiveness and
students learning.
In
brief, based on the problems above,
the teachers should be given the training program about the effective stategies
and methods for teaching English, as Wati(2011) says
that training program can give good impact in teacher improvement.
2.1.3 2.1.3. Curriculum changes
The
definition of curriculum emerges from various sides. As noted by Arifin ( 2011,
p. 2-3),” curriculum is a range of subject that must be taken or resolve
school tuition at the school to obtain the certificate. Indonesian curricula have
changed for several times during the past fifty years as responding to
wolrd wide ELT methodologies; (a) 1945’s grammar translation-based curriculum,
(b) 1958’s audio lingual based-curriculum, (c) 1975’s revised audio
lingual-based curriculum, (d) 1984’s structure-based communicative curriculum,
(e) 1994’s meaning-based communicative curriculum, (f) 2004’s competency-based
curriculum ( sahiruddin, 2013, p.568). The changes of English curricula since
1975 in our country have not yet brought any significant and substantial impact
upon the ELT class success( Marcellino, 2008). He also says that the
failure of this approach was mainly
caused by the fact that some requirements were not fulfiled and the teacher
found it confusing to implement the curriculum at the school and classroom
level. For example: most of the teachers
appeared to understand the curriculum policies at the surface level but did not
understand the substance of the curriculum(Sulfansyah.,
Haig, Y.,& Pugh, C.B,2015). An implementation of
new curriculum is connected to the
change process of improving school and teacher practice. Teachers and schools
need to practice all aspects that should be changed before they will seriously
undertake meaningful change.
2.2. Challenges
2.2.1.
Globalization
In
regard of competition in globalization, Indonesia strugles very hard to
participate. Fox (2001) defined global is shifting from local control to become
global. He also mentions that business in this age must be able to compete
globally. Economic globalization can be seen as the latest version of
capitalizm( Fox, 2001). In order to compete with other nations, English is
inevitably a primary tool in economic war for communication and negotiation (
yusny, 2013). According to Kacru and Smith ( 2008. p.201): in the era of globalization
and rapid diffusion of knowledge, all the nations are aware of the need to
prepare these citizens in ways that to ensure their prosperity and eminence in
the world. In order to be competitive, they have to be able to function well in
multinational industrial enterprises, international trade, diplomacy and
scientific technological areas of expertise. They have to be innovative and
contribute to the knowledge-based of the world. In order to achieve these
goals, they need to be able to utilize the most widely used medium, English. The
success and the continuity of ELT in Indonesia is the responsibility of all
parties, especially those concerned with the provision of education. As Yusny
(2013) says that ELT can be a important weapon to make this half conscious
society to provide agency service for the imperial competitors’ economic power
benefit.
2.2.2.
The use ICT in the classroom
Information
and Communication Technology( ICT) has been used in almost all field of life,
including in education. Syukur (2015) defines that ICT is a technology used to
process the data including processing, obtaining, compiling, storing,
manipulating data in various ways to produce quality information. According to
Gur(2014) that technology has revolutionized society in many places around the
globe, including how language instruction is taught and delivered. Learning by
using ICT optimally will be able to improve students’achievement. There is a
large number of English teachers in Indonesia, who are not able to use ICT in
the teaching- learning process. Lack of teachers’ability to use ICT in learning
is a challenge that must be resolved to improve the quality of education. Further,future teachers require
preparation to interact with ICT-enabled learning to meet the need of those
students.
2.2.3. Reducing large class
size
Having fewer
children in the class is attractive for both parents and teachers. According to
Lewit & Baker (1997) define class size is the number of students for whom a
teacher is primarily responsible during a school year. In
many part of the world, large classes are a common challenge ( Ho,2003) causing
teachers to believe it is difficult or impossible to introduce learner-centered
teaching because they cannot closely monitor students’language use. As Sulistyowati (2012) states that the ideal number
of students in foreign language consist no more than 25 students, but a typical
classroom in Indonesia consist of 30-40 students, with some exceeding 45( Zein,
2016). He also says that placed the number of students in average classroom, some
parents are concerned that their children do not receive adequate individual
attention from the teacher. On recent national poll found that 70% of adults
believe that reducing class size would result in big developments in public
school (Lewit & Baker, 1997). Teachers feel that the smaller classes
encourage increased student- teacher interaction. Regarding the effect of class
size on students’ performance. As Koenig., Grag., Lewis., & Martin (2015)
state that smaller class affects a student’s ability to process and to
learn information such as instructor quality, course content and exam
difficulty. Therefore, as developing country, as sulistyowati states that
Indonesia has many problems deal with the students’ population and also budget
of education. the class size reduction is a big challenge for Indonesian
government because of the additional teachers and facilities required.
2.3. Prospects
2.3.1.
Economic Development
The
part that language might play in economic development has long intrigued
scholars from various discipline. English is a tool of international
communication, it also a tool for economic development. According to Bourdieu
(1990) that English can lead
to the improvement of one’s economic and social status. It is widely accepted that majority of knowledge is created by develop countries in
which English has enjoy special status and it also recognized that developing
countries such as Indonesia enjoy efficiency gains if they adopt the knowledge
created in developed countries (Lee, no year).for instance: machineries usually
come with instruction or manual in English. Without basic understanding of
English, workers are generally unable to use these machineries in productive
activities. In addition, the
exigencies of the language’s import in transacting business and communicating
with neighboring countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, India and other
countries in the opinion of Lauder(2008) makes the learning inevitable. According to Lauder (2008. P.), in Indonesia the role of English is very important in
economic and business. For example: The USA’s position as the world’s number
one economic exerts a pull on global business. He also said that organizations
which wish to enter the international market are not able to do so without
using English. The tourist industry in particular is dependent on English, but
any multinational business with international offices must have staffs who can
work in English.
2.3.2.
Future Jobs
English
language is one of the requirements for getting a better job. As Passaung (1995) says that in certain
urban areas, especially in big cities the actual need for English may be more
intermediate and apparent, since some white collar jobs in big private
companies may require English as prerequisite. Hence they include an English
language test in their employee requirement. The great widespread and hightened
need for learning English as the most essential international language for
doing international communication and business. And it continuously increases as
more and more people are wanting or being require to learn and master English
for different purposes( Richard, 1985). Business can not wait, there are
insufficient employees with sufficiently good English to fill jobs that require
little more than rudimentary English language proficiency. The required number
of employees in this globalization era with excellent English speaking ability.
The
year 2020 known as Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) demand highly
qualified and creative individual to compete in every walk of life. The need of
mastering English is strongly felt. This is a big chance for Indonesian students
who mastering English to compete with other students from other countries.
2.3.3.
Better Future education
The
number of international students who look for education by crossing the border
of countries continue higher every year. According to Sawir (2005) there are
approximately 1.7 milion students in Asia who seek international studies in
countries speak English as mother tougue. As well, Indonesian middle class are beginning to find
that sending their children to Australia, Singapore or Malaysia for their education
becomes an option (Lauder, 2008). According to Novera (2004), Australia is a
major global provider of international education, and is the third largest
provider at degree level after the United State and The united Kingdom. In 2003,
11.865 students from Indonesia were enrolled in Australian higher education
institutions of whom 8307 (70%) were in either business studies (5590) or
information Technology (2717) programs and (1065) enrolled in engineering
(Novera, 2004, p. 475). One of the requirement to continue study in those
countries is the test level of English proficiency such as Test of English as Foreign Language
(TOEFL). As Lee (no year)
tells that TOEFL exams are taken by those who plan to
live ,to work or to Australia and New Zealand.
3. conclusion
The findings in this report clearly that English
is the language of international communication. In Indonesia, English was
mandated as the first foreign language to be learnt. In implementing English
language teaching, there are three common problems.1) lack of students’
motivation. It can be caused by some factors such as learners’background,
English is a foreign language for Indonesian students and their perspective
about English as a “monster” together with mathematics. 2) Quality of teachers.
The role of teachers in the classroom is very essential to the students’
achievement but there are some teachers who have low English proficiency, so in
the classroom they teach the students by using Indonesian or indigenous. This
activity will lead students to be more passive.3) Curriculum Changes. Indonesian
curricula have changed for several times during the past fifty years, but the changes is not a good solution for improving
English language teaching. The changes of curriculum result in
teachers’confusion in implementing in the classroom.
In other hand,
there are three challenges found in English language teaching in Indonesia.1.
Globalization. In this era the students are challenged to learn English harder
because they will compete with other nations to gain a good job in the future.
2. The use of ICT in the teaching learning process. To make the learning more
effective the teacher must be able to use ICT to create the creative material.3. Reducing large class
size. This is become a challenge for Indonesia as developing country because
the reduction of large class is costly.
In addition, not only the problems and challenges that
faced by Indonesian students in learning English but also they will gain some
prospects. First, Economic development. English as international language play
an important role in economic such as communicating with other countries by
using English. Second, Future education. By mastering English Indonesian
students will get a chance to study abroad such as in USA,UK, Australia Canada
and New Zealand.
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