Implications of The Study
C. Implications For Teachers Reform
Based on my observations and interviews with primary school teachers of English in Indonesia and Thailand and teachers of Indonesian in Adelaide, it is clear that the role of the teacher in teaching a foreign language to young learners, primary school students, is very important. No matter how advanced the methods, techniques and facilities are, the teachers’ role is still crucial. At present there is a shortage of capable teachers. Despite some successes in the area of teaching and learning English, the quality of teachers still needs to be improved.
There is a great need for regular in-service training to improve the quality of teaching foreign language everywhere. Thailand and Indonesia which teach English in primary school, or Australia with its LOTE programmes. The in-service training could be simply in the form of regular meetings (Duff 1988) once a month, for example, of English teachers in a local area if it is in Thailand or Indonesia, where they can share experiences and tackle problems. Or it could be in the form of workshops where there are guest speakers who can provide training in the TEFL field. Formal in-service training could also be held, perhaps, once a year depending on funding. It could be a week’s training where the teachers are gathered in one place and do combined activities such as attending special lectures, micro-teaching, and so forth (Higgs 1982). This in-service training would help develop teachers’ ability in teaching English, especially those who are in charge of English teaching. It could also provide the teachers with up to date information on effective English teaching. The in-service curriculum should be flexible and be able to accommodate the changes in society. This would support the education system in general and classroom practice in particular.
In-service training could include different strategies. Parrot (1988:26) suggests identifying ‘particular problems of diverse and even conflicting’ especially for teachers of EFL whose first language is not English. Lowe (1988:50) offers a ‘correspondence course’ for in-service training. In-in-service training also help teachers to be reminded and aware of being trapped into a routinity of our teaching activities.
Maingay (1988) makes a distinction between ‘ritual teaching behaviour and ‘principled teaching behaviour’. He argues that because of its routine activities for teachers, teaching is seen as just a ritual not a principled teaching behaviour. To prevent teaching behaviour to become just a ritual, teachers should be open-minded in receiving feedback whether it is a critique, suggestion or appraisal in order to enhance his/her teaching practice. Feedback could also be obtained through observation. Such observation could be for training purposes, assessment purposes development purposes and for observer development purposes (Maingay 1988). These observations will benefit teachers to evaluate the teaching practice.
The quality of pre-service training also needs to be improved in order to increase the supply of qualified English teachers. The first step is to have clear objectives about the qualities of English teacher this service is expected to develop. English teachers in primary schools have different approaches from the English teachers in high schools, for instance. Of course, there are basic or general topics that could be the same but, to make this pre-service training effective, the curriculum should be able to cater for teachers at every level of education. As far as foreign language learning is concerned, the teacher is a model in class, therefore proficiency in the TL should be given more priority besides other skills of language and teaching methodology.
The curriculum in pre-service training should be realistic and responsive towards changes in the society and in language plans.
In Indonesia, for example, the English Department in IKIP or FKIP used to train English teachers for high schools so the curriculum is
set for these purposes. However with the changes in EFL teaching programme according to 1994 curriculum, this pre-service training curriculum should also adjust to the changes to increase the quality of teachers to able to teach the range of language learners.
Current pre-service training seems less responsive to the on going change and development in schools curriculum. In English Department IKIP Manado for example, the subjects taught to the English teachers to be are mostly theory-oriented. The subjects offered are classified into MKDU - Mata Kuliah Dasar Umum (Basic General Subjects) such as Pancasila (Doctrine of the Five Principles of Indonesia), Religion, Education of National Movement History (it applies in any tertiary institution), MKDK -Mata Kuliah Dasar Keguruan (Basic Educational Subjects) such as, Administration of Educational Supervision, Principles and Philosophy of Education, PBM - Proses Belajar Mengajar (Teaching-Learning Process Subjects) such as, Teaching Method, Social Research Methodology, Language Testing, Planing of English Teaching and Remedial Teaching, and MKBS - Mata Kuliah Bidang Studi (Field-oriented Subjects). The MKBS are then categorised into Linguistics, Literature, Vocabulary, Translation, Analysis of English Curriculum and Textbooks for high school and Language skills subjects. There should be a reformation in the curriculum. For instance, MKDU subjects are learnt in every level of education beginning from primary school to tertiary level.
Based on some resources and own experiences, it should be better to cease these subjects in tertiary education and give the space to field-oriented subjects in order to prepare student teacher to be more professional. In terms of MKDK, as stated above, the subjects taught are very theoretical and sometimes not that applicable to present day situations. These examples show that the curriculum needs to be reformed to adjust to current development. To produce qualified teachers, there are four specific quality demands in Australia’s national languages statement (1996a:):
Teachers must cater for the range of language learners.
Teachers must cater for the proper learning environment for all language learners.
Teachers must possess proficiency in the language.
Teachers need expertise in sociocultural knowledge, skills and attitudes.
Besides these specifications, teachers should be aware of effective teaching methodology. These specifications are useful as basic considerations for pre-service training. Language proficiency is important. Four language skills subjects offered in the curriculum are relevant to these qualifications. A research project conducted by National Languages and Literacy Institute of Australia Language Testing and Curriculum Centre at Griffith University (1996a) defined in detail quality in beginning teachers of language by identifying the minimum skills and competencies needed for language teaching. The following is a summary:
Area of competence 1: Using and developing professional knowledge and values:
Use of the language
Knowledge about the language Cross cultural values
Cultural understandings Goals of language learning understandings about learning
Understandings about second/foreign language learning understandings about language teaching methodologies Ethical and legal requirements
Area of competence 2: Communicating, interacting and working with students and others:
Communication with students Responding to individuals
Managing behaviour Working in teams
Developing professional and community contacts
Area of competence 3: Planning and managing the teaching and learning process:
Planning courses and units
Planning for specific groups of learners Implementing language programmes Responding flexibly
Fostering learning skills
Area of competence 4: Monitoring and assessing student progress and learning outcomes:
Understandings about assessment Assessing language learning
Area of competence 5: Reflecting, evaluating and planning for continuous improvement:
Reflecting on practice
Developing as a professional
These ideas are a good starting point if Indonesia or Thailand would like to consider reform in their pre-service training programme.
Given current resources and teacher skills, this study suggests gradual implementation of TEFL in primary schools for Indonesia.
Only primary schools that are able to provide the facilities and can afford qualified English teachers should offer English. However, efforts should be made to make TEFL in primary school a priority for implementation such as developing a system of ‘model’ or schools with special TEFL programmes before the policy is applied nationally.
Teachers’ welfare, as mentioned in the previous chapter, is a prime concern, especially teachers in most Indonesian primary schools. Action must be taken to increase the remuneration for these teachers if quality teaching is expected. On the other hand, Australian
teachers do not face this problem of welfare in the same way as teachers in developing countries. As a developed country, teachers’
welfare is no longer a problem which affects their ability to do the job well. However, the quality of their teaching and their capability as professionals still requires development.
Having discussed the implications for teachers reform, the next section will discuss the implications for curriculum improvement.
