TEACHERS’ CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES IN TEACHING ENGLISH:
THE CASE OF PESANTREN HIDAYATULLAH MUARO JAMBI THESIS
Submitted as Partial Fulfillment for the Requirements to Obtain the Degree of Sarjana Pendidikan in English Education Study Program
Written by:
REVI MEI LINDA A1B218010
ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM LANGUAGE AND ART DEPARTMENT
TEACHER TRAINING AND EDUCATION FACULTY JAMBI UNIVERSITY
2022
i APPROVAL
This thesis proposal is entitled “Teachers’ Challenges and Strategies in Teaching English: The Case of Pesantren Hidayatullah Muaro Jambi” written by Revi Mei Linda, student’s number A1B218010 has been corrected and approved to be tested in front of the board of examiners.
Jambi, 12 Desember 2022 First Supervisor
Prof. Amirul Mukminin, S.Pd., M.Sc. Ed., Ph.D.
NIP.197501172003121003
Jambi, 12 Desember 2022 Second Supervisor
Eddy Haryanto, S.Pd., M.Sc. Ed., MPP., Ph.D.
NIP. 197301102001121001
ii
LETTER OF RATIFICATION
This thesis entitled “Teachers’ Challenges and Strategies in Teaching English: The Case of Pesantren Hidayatullah Muaro Jambi” written by Revi Mei Linda, student’s number A1B218010, has been defended in front of the board of examiner on 22nd December 2022 and was declared acceptable.
The Board of Examiners
1. Prof. Amirul Mukmini, S.Pd., M.Sc. Ed., Ph.D. (Chair Person) NIP. 197501172003121003
2. Eddy Haryanto, S.Pd., M.Sc. Ed., MPP., Ph.D. (Secretary) NIP. 197301102001121001
Jambi, January 2022 The Head of
English Education Study Program
Dedy Kurniawan, S. S., M. A NIP. 198004072006041001
iii
DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY
I, Revi Mei Linda, A1B218010, hereby clarify that Challenges and Strategies in Teaching English: The Case of Pesantren Hidayatullah is my own work and has not been submitted in any form for another degree or diploma at any universities. Information derived from the published and unpublished work of others has been acknowledged in the text, and a list of references is given in the bibliography.
Jambi, December 2022
Revi Mei Linda Nim. A1B218010
iv MOTTO
عَف ْرَي هٰاللّ َنْي ذَّلا ا ْوهنَمٰا ْمهكْن م َنْي ذَّلا َو اوهت ْوها َمْل عْلا ت ٰج َرَد
“Allah will exalt in degree those of you who believe, and those who have been granted knowledge.”
(QS. Al Mujadilah, 11)
“Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle.”)
(Christian D. Larson)
“The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.”
(Aristoteles)
“To see what is in front of one’s own nose requires a constant struggle.”
(George Orwell)
“It always seems impossible until it’s done.”
(Nelson Mandela)
v ABSTRACT
Linda, Revi Mei. 2022, Teachers’ Challenges and Strategies in Teaching English:
The Case of Pesantren Hidayatullah Muaro Jambi. Thesis. English
Education Study Program. Faculty of Teacher Training and Education of Jambi University in Academic Year 2022/2023. The first supervisor is Prof. Amirul Mukminin, S.Pd., M.Sc. Ed., Ph.D. The second supervisor is Eddy Haryanto, S.Pd., M.Sc.Ed., MPP., Ph.D.
Key Words: Teacher, Challenges, Strategies, Teaching English
This study aimed to investigate the challenges faced by the teachers in teaching English and the strategies used to overcome the challenges. This research utilized a qualitative case study design with observation and semi-structured interview as the data collecting techniques. The participants of this research were two English teachers and six female students in grade nine at Pesantren Hidayatullah.
The findings revealed that some challenges in teaching English at Pesantren Hidayatullah emerged from the teachers, students, and the school. The challenges include unfamiliarity with the importance of learning English in Pesantren, students’ different backgrounds, students’ busy schedules besides learning about regular subjects, students’ competence and motivation, teachers’ hectic schedules, Inappropriate educational background of the teacher, teachers’ competence and ability to utilize various teaching methods, teachers’
lack of confidence in teaching English, lack of infrastructures and facilities, and time constraints. Finally, to overcome the challenges, the teachers applied some strategies. The strategies taken by the teachers are emphasizing the significance of learning English to the students, providing additional lessons outside the school, using the appropriate teaching methods, requesting assistance from the interested parties in providing inadequate facilities, giving a lot of motivation to the students, also asking for help from their parents to give them the encouragement in learning, improving their skills, abilities, and creativities, always motivating themselves to be better and believe in their abilities, creating a comfortable and fun learning environment. Therefore, those strategies are expected to be able to solve the challenges and improve their teaching skills in the future.
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Alhamdulillahi rabil ‘alamin, I express my highest gratitude to Allah Subhanahu Wa ta’ala for blessing, love, opportunity, health, and mercy to complete this undergraduate thesis. This undergraduate thesis entitled “Teachers’ Challenges and Srategies in Teaching English: The Case of Pesantren Hidayatullah Muaro Jambi” is submitted as the final requirement in accomplishing undergraduate degree at English Education Study Program at Jambi university.
In arranging this thesis, a lot of people have provided motivation, advice, and support for me. In this valuable chance, I intended to express my gratitude and appreciation to all of them. First, I would like to express my greatest gratitude to my supervisors, Mr. Prof. Amirul Mukminin, S.Pd., M.Sc. Ed., Ph.D. and Mr. Eddy Haryanto, S.Pd., M.Sc.Ed., MPP., Ph.D. who have been willing to spare their valuable time not only for reading, correcting, and improving my thesis but also for encouraging me to finish this thesis. My greatest appreciation also goes to Mrs. Dr. Masbirorotni, S.Pd., M.Sc. Ed.; Mr. Drs. Ahmad Ridha, M.A. and Mr. Tubagus Zam Zam Al Arif, S.Pd., M.Pd. as my examiners for the advice, guidance, and crucial contribution in the improvement of the result of this thesis.
I gratefully thank to the head of Pesantren Hidayatullah for allowing me to conduct the research there. Also, to the English teachers and students that were willing to be the participants of this research. I could never have finished this study without the help of those parties.
My deepest appreciation goes to my beloved parents and brother for the endless love, prayers, and support to remind me to keep going and never giving up. I thank all of my friends for the lovely and warm friendship and always support me in any condition.
Then, I would like to addressed my sincere gratitude to my classmates, R-001 who have been studying together with me for 3 years. We have gone through bitter-and-sweet battles during our study at this university. I wish nothing but the best for all of us in the future.
vii
Finally, I want to thank my self for believing in me and for doing all this hard work. Also, for everybody who was important to the successful realization of this undergraduate thesis. This thesis is far from perfect, but it is expected that it will be useful not only for the researcher, but also for the readers. However, constructive thoughtful suggestions and critics are appreciated.
Jambi, December 19th, 2022 Writer,
Revi Mei Linda Nim. A1B218010
viii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
APPROVAL ...i
LETTER OF RATIFICATION ...ii
DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY ... iii
MOTTO ... iv
ABSTRACT ... v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ... vi
CHAPTER I ... 1
1.1 Background of the Study... 1
1.2 Research Questions... 4
1.3 Objectives of the Study ... 4
1.4 Significance of the Study ... 5
1.5 Limitation of the Study ... 5
1.6 Definition of Key Terms ... 6
CHAPTER II ... 7
2.1. Language Teaching in General ... 7
2.2. English Language Teacher ... 9
2.3 English Teaching Challenges ... 14
2.4 Teaching English in Pesantren ... 20
2.5 Previous Studies ... 22
CHAPTER III ... 26
3.1 Research Design ... 26
3.2 Research Setting ... 27
3.3 Sample and Participants ... 28
3.4 Data Collection Techniques ... 29
3.5 Trustworthiness ... 30
3.6 Data Analysis ... 31
CHAPTER IV ... 33
4.1 Description of Research Settings ... 33
4.2 Description of Research Participants ... 33
4.3 Findings ... 34
ix
CHAPTER V ... 109
5.1 Conclusion ... 109
5.2 Suggestion ... 110
REFERENCES ... 112
APPENDICES ... 118
APPENDIX A ... 118
APPENDIX B ... 120
APPENDIX C ... 121
APPENDIX D ... 122
APPENDIX E ... 123
APPENDIX F ... 126
APPENDIX G ... 127
1 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Learning English is critical nowadays since it allows us to communicate more effectively with the wider world population. In Indonesia, English is taught as a foreign language and has become one of the compulsory subjects learned in schools. According to the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Decree No. 060/U/1993 and the 1989 Constitution on the National Education system, teaching English in schools aims to help students to be proficient in English in the globalization era (Rachmajanti, 2008).
In learning English, there are four skills that should be mastered, they are, listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Those skills will be taught at all levels of English education, from elementary to advanced levels. Hence, English is taught not only in public schools but also in Islamic boarding schools or also known as pesantren. According to Haedari (2004), Pesantren is interpreted as the dormitory place where students from various regions and levels come together to learn the holy book Al-Qur’an and other Islamic teachings. As Indonesia’s oldest educational institutions, Pesantren has long included English as a foreign language (EFL) as a mandatory subject in their national curriculum (Daulay, 2009; Kamil et al., 2014; Sofwan & Habibi, 2016). They have their patterns and mechanisms in their values, behaviours, and educational models.
For the Indonesian context in which English is as a foreign language, teaching English might be difficult, especially in pesantren where English serves limited purposes.
There, the students focus more on learning Islamic teachings than the general subjects
2
like English. Even though they learn English, it is less effective than learning English in public schools. However, teaching English in Pesantren becomes a crucial issue, and the teachers might face some challenges in teaching and learning process.
Some potential challenges might occur in EFL classrooms. According to Songbatumis (2017), the challenges in teaching English arise from students, teachers, and the school’s facility. Students face difficulties due to a lack of vocabulary mastery, poor concentration, discipline, boredom, and speaking issues. On the other hand, teachers’
challenges are lack of teachers’ training, language competence concerns, inadequate understanding of teaching methods, unfamiliarity with technology, and a lack of professional development. It is also difficult to teach English due to a lack of existing resources and facilities to support the teaching and learning process, as well as time constraints.
Teachers have a vital role in the teaching and learning process, not only in charge of conveying knowledge to students but also in supporting and encouraging students to have the motivation and a positive attitude toward the subject being learned. Teachers have to know the needs and interests of the students. It means that teachers must comprehend what students learn, how and why such learning affects them, and how lessons could benefit them in the future (Derakhshan & Shirmohammadli, 2015). In order to overcome the potential challenges in the teaching and learning process, teachers are expected to be able to utilize the appropriate strategies in teaching. Strategy is one of the crucial elements in the teaching and learning process. Teaching strategies are the approaches used by the teachers to deliver the materials in a way that keeps students engaged and allows them to
3
practice a variety of skills. Therefore, teachers should be able to use some strategies to enable learners to require expected results.
In relation to this issue, many studies have been conducted by several researchers, such as Songbatumis (2017), found that the difficulties encountered in teaching English as a foreign language are diverse and related to the students, teachers, and school facilities. The solutions to overcome those challenges are grouped into two ways, solutions provided by teachers and by the school itself. For the teachers, they are expected to be able to applied various teaching methods and techniques, matching student’s proficiency levels and the learning situation, making use of available resources and facilities, providing motivational feedback, looking for appropriate methods or materials, and teachers’ self-reflection. On the other hand, MTsN Taliwang’s solutions include changing attitudes and enhancing resources and facilities. Another study conducted by Marzulina et al (2021) also revealed that English teachers encounter five problems when teaching English: 1) increasing students’ motivation; 2) increasing students language competence; 3) controlling overcrowding in the classroom; 4) managing limited time; and 5) dealing with a lack of supporting facilities.
Furthermore, according to Utomo et al. (2020), the challenges in teaching English in EFL classrooms emerged from the teachers, students, school, and parents. From the teachers, less teaching material, classroom management, ICT expertise, numerous teaching administration, job load, and memory loss are the challenges in teaching English.
From the student’s side, the difficulties in learning English include a lack of vocabulary, motivation issues, and juvenile delinquencies. Then, the lack of school facilities to support the teaching and learning activities is also an issue in the teaching and learning
4
process. Moreover, many parents from the village have a low level of education and vision for the future, which impacts their children’s education. This study offered three solutions for succeeding in teaching English such as; (1) teachers should make a teaching contract at the beginning of the semester, (2) principals should send teachers to MGMP meetings and continuous professional development activities, and (3) schools should give students and parent’s motivation periodically.
Based on the explanations and the findings of the previous studies mentioned above, it was necessary to conduct this study to further investigate about challenges faced by the teachers in teaching English at pesantren Hidayatullah. The results of the study may be valuable for English teachers, schools, and the government in developing better policies to improve English language teaching (ELT) in Pesantren.
1.2 Research Questions
Based on the background of the study, the research questions of this study are presented as follows:
1. What are the challenges faced by the teachers in teaching English at Pesantren Hidayatullah?
2. What are the teachers’ strategies to overcome the challenges?
1.3 Objectives of the Study
Based on the research questions above, this research aims to investigate the teachers’
challenges in teaching English in Pesantren Hidayatullah as well as to find out the teachers’ efforts to overcome the challenges.
5 1.4 Significance of the Study
The findings of the research are expected to provide theoretical and practical benefits in developing theories on challenges and strategies in teaching English.
Theoretically, this research will help teachers learn about the challenges in teaching English and the strategies to overcome those challenges. The result of this study can be utilized by the teachers as a reference or reflection for them in comprehending the challenges that might arise in teaching English and how to overcome them. Through this research, teachers are expected to be able to improve their teaching skills. Besides, teachers are also expected to understand the needs and interests of the students in learning English.
For the students, this research presents some information about the challenges that may occur in teaching English and the strategies used by the teachers to overcome them.
Students are also expected to be more motivated to learn English in the future.
For the researcher, hopefully, this research will give benefits to the researcher itself as a novice researcher and give more ideas or as a reference to other researchers who want to conduct further research on a similar topic.
1.5 Limitation of the Study
The discussion of this research specifically focused on the teachers’ challenges and strategies in teaching English at Pesantren Hidayatullah Muaro Jambi. This research is conducted only for English teachers and students in Pesantren Hidayatullah Muaro Jambi.
So, the findings of this research might not be generalized to other Pesantren in Muaro Jambi. Finally, from those limitations, this research was carried out systematically and
6
focused on gaining information by investigating the teachers’ challenges and strategies in teaching English at Pesantren Hidayatullah.
1.6 Definition of Key Terms
This section consists of definitions of the key terms or concepts found in the thesis.
The aim is to make it easier for the readers to understand the contents of the thesis. The key terms related to this research are a challenge, teaching strategies, and Islamic boarding school or Pesantren.
According to Cambridge Dictionary, the term “challenge” is defined as a situation being faced with something that necessitates significant mental and physical effort in order to be done successfully and thus puts a person’s skill and ability to the test. This research will investigate the challenges or difficulties that may occur when teaching English in Pesantren Hidayatullah.
Teaching strategies are the principles and methods used by the teachers to deliver
the materials to keep the students engaged and practising different skill sets.
Therefore, teaching strategies are essential to determine the success of the learning and teaching process.
Islamic boarding school or also known as Pesantren is a dormitory-based place
where students from various regions and levels come to learn about Islamic knowledge. This study aimed to find out the challenges in teaching English and the strategies used by the teachers to overcome those challenges.
7
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1. Language Teaching in General
Amidon, (1967) defines teaching as an interactive activity, primarily comprising classroom discourse between teacher and learner that occurs during certain predefined activities. According to Gana et al (2018) teaching is a process of giving information to students. Thus, when performing a teaching activity, the instructor is conveying knowledge, a message, or a skill to the student, and an interaction process between the teacher and the students is occurring at the same time. Burbules & Harsen (2018) also stated that teaching is a vital, irreplaceable, human undertaking, but one that is also indeterminate. It means that the teaching process is extremely worthwhile, given the amount of effort and thinking that goes into it. So, it can be concluded that teaching is the process of paying attention to people’s needs, experiences, and feelings and intervening so that they can learn certain skills and go beyond what is expected of them.
Furthermore, Shamsuddin (1986) expressed two language understandings. First, language is a tool for shaping the mind, feelings, wants, and actions of others, as well as a tool for influencing and being influenced. Second, language is a clear indicator of a good or terrible personality, a clear indicator of family and nation, and a clear indicator of humanity's mind. In short, language teaching is a process whereby someone gains communicative competency or fluency in a language. In language teaching, teacher facilitates language practice for learners in the most effective ways. In this context, teaching English means that the teacher transfers the language knowledge to the students
8
for them to increase their language competencies and most importantly to enable students to communicate in English.
2.1.1 Terms in Teaching English
English has become a global language since it is recognized in every country and a large number of people utilize it in communication. Every country has English as a subject to be taught. Teaching English has been interpreted in variety of ways since the role of English differs in every country based on political context and acceptance by people with varying traits and abilities (Lin & Chien, 2010). As stated by Lin & Chien (2010), teaching English can be described in three ways, as follows:
1. Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL)
Teaching English as a second language means that the country applies English as the official language of their organizations, societies, and communities. English is taught for non-native speakers in an English-speaking environment. According to Napitupulu & Kisno (2014), TESL is employed in a vast number of English- colonized regions. It is also widely used in countries with a large immigrant population. The countries that used English as a second language are Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Singapore, and many more.
2. Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL)
The study of English by non-native speakers in places where English is not the main language is known as English as a Foreign Language (EFL). Indonesia is one of the countries in which English is taught as a foreign language. Napitupulu
& Kisno (2014) stated that, TEFL serves no purposes with their own countries. It means that language is used solely as a means of communication between
9
countries around the world, rather than as an official or primarily instructional language.
3. Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).
TESOL is more concerned with the methods and practices of teaching English to non-native speakers or ESL speakers. It is commonly used by teacher training institutes and instructor-education programs for English teachers, as well as language learning organizations for learners in an expanding circle (Lin & Chien, 2010).
2.2. English Language Teacher
Teachers play a vital role in encouraging children’s intellectual and social development during their formative years. Based on Republic of Indonesia Law No.14 of 2005 on Teachers and Lecturers, teachers are professional educators whose primary responsibility it is to educate, teach, guide, lead, train, assess, and evaluate pupils in early childhood, basic education, and secondary education. Furthermore, Husna (2021) defined English teacher as a person whose profession is to educate the students how to use English as a medium of communication. English teachers assist students in identifying significant concepts and key terms in the language and how to use it properly in communication. It means that, they have to master all skills in English and be able to transfer the knowledge to students properly, so that they can achieve the objectives of the learning.
Based on the explanation above, the researcher concludes that an English teacher can be interpreted as someone who is proficient in English and has the responsibility to teach English to the students in order to make them be able to communicate successfully in English.
10 2.2.1 The Roles of Teacher
Teacher plays an essential role in the teaching and learning process in the classroom.
In general, teacher’s role in education goes beyond teaching. Nowadays, teaching has different forms, so teachers must be able to position themselves to implement effective instruction in the classroom. Furthermore, Harmer (2007), classified teacher roles into eight categories, as follows:
a. Teacher as facilitator
Teacher provides students to take the responsibility of their own learning. It means, teacher is not in control of everything that happened in the classroom.
They have to support the student in learning and provides the best learning environment in order to make students can achieve the objectives of their learning.
In line with that, Osman (2015), stated that teacher as a facilitator need to help the learners to comprehend their goals and attaining them without any intervention on his or her part.
b. Teacher as a resource
The teacher acts like a monitor or a resource center that ready to assist students with any problems they might face. In this case, teachers are not fully involved in students’ learning, unless they request it and are having difficulties in learning.
c. Teacher as a controller
The teacher has complete control over the class and all the activities taking place.
Teachers takes this role especially when a new language is introduced and accurate replication and drilling procedures are required (AL-Rowais, 2015).
Other activities that necessitated the teacher’s role as a controller included
11
delivering explanations and lecturing, organizing questions, answer work, and making announcement that should be follow by the students (Harmer, 2007).
d. Teacher as a prompter
The teacher encourages students to participate and gives advice on how to proceed with an activity. The teacher should help students when it is absolutely essential.
When the students lose track of what is happening, or they are “lost for words”, teachers need to play their role as a prompter and help the students in supportive ways.
e. Teacher as a participant
The teacher needs to play this role in order to participate in an activity in the classroom. Harmer (2007) stated that when teachers take part in an activity, they may liven things up from the inside instead of continually needing to prompt or organize from outside the group. However, the teachers will unintentionally dominate the activity while doing it.
f. Teacher as a tutor
The teacher acts as a tutor when students are engaged in project work or independent study. The teacher gives advice and guidance, as well as assists students in clarifying and limiting tasks. Paramitha et al., (2018), stated that this role is a combination of the teacher’s role as a resource and a prompter.
g. Teacher as an organizer
Teachers frequently involve in giving the students information, telling them how to complete the task, putting them in pair or groups, and finally closing the activity when it is time to stop. Teacher organizes all the things and activities, as well as
12
giving the instructions in the class. The success of many activities is determined by how well they are organized.
h. Teacher as an assessor
An assessor is the one who is responsible for grading students and correcting their mistakes by providing feedback in various ways. The teacher takes on this responsibility to assess how well students are doing or how well they have done.
Students anticipate feedback and correction from their teachers since they should know what they are looking for and what success looks like so they can measure themselves later (Harmer, 2007).
2.2.2 Characteristic of a Good English Teacher
According to Harmer (2007), good language teachers should have sufficient understanding of the language as well as appealing information. They should also be motivated and passionate about teaching and be able to effectively explain the use of the language (e.g., grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary) to the students. Husna, (2021), defined an excellent English teacher as a person who possesses ideal and successful characteristic in the English teaching-learning process.
It is critical to identify the characteristics of a good language teacher in order to serve as a guide for teachers to enhance their teaching abilities. Borg, (2006), identified characteristics of good language teachers that distinguish them from teachers of other subjects, including having more communication in the classroom, demonstrating creativity, flexibility and excitement, and utilizing a more diverse teaching method.
Furthermore, according to Al-Khairi (2015) there are several characteristics of an ideal English language teacher, particularly in the context of teaching EFL, as follows:
13 a. willingness to repeat an explanation b. availability to assist students
c. welcome to students' explanations and suggestions d. serves as a role model, and
e. treats students equally.
On the other hand, Virgiyanti et al (2016) mentioned that there are various characteristics of a good junior high school English teacher while teaching from the perspective of both teachers and students. From the students’ perspective, good teachers are those that have a positive personality, such as being fair, pleasant, enthusiastic and responsible, as well as cheerful and entertaining. While, from the teachers’ perspective, they are more emphasize on pedagogical and personal skill than on English proficiency.
Pedagogical skills include, preparing the lesson well, using a variety of materials, using a variety of techniques and strategies, using IT to support the learning process, creating activities that pique students' interest in learning, maintaining a good classroom atmosphere, relating the lesson to previous and future learning, encouraging dictionary use to promote independent learning, providing their own examples if textbook examples are insufficient or ambiguous. Whereas, personal skills as the behavior or characters that should be possessed by a teacher, such as being fair, pleasant, cheerful, entertaining, as well as being witty, and many more.
From the explanation above, the researcher claimed that good English teachers are those who have a deep understanding in teaching and delivering knowledge to students as well as possessed good characteristics in teaching and learning process.
14 2.3 English Teaching Challenges
According to Cambridge Dictionary, a "challenge" is a circumstance in which a person is confronted with something that requires significant mental and physical effort in order to be done successfully and thus puts a person’s skill and ability to the test. It can be said that challenge is a problem or situation that difficult to solve and requires great amount of effort to overcome it. Therefore, in this study, challenges refer to the obstacles or problems that teachers face when teaching English in Pesantren Hidayatullah.
In every teaching and learning process, we will undoubtedly encounter a number of difficulties arising from a variety of sources. Lynch (2008), points out three most crucial challenges in English teaching and learning in the classroom, those are:
1. Lack of learners’ motivation
Students feel uninterested and unnecessary to learn English. Even if they learn English, it is only because they are afraid of failing the subject. Students are unable to easily participate in classroom interaction and learn the language comfortably. This problem requires extra attention and motivation in order to boost their enthusiasm in learning English.
2. Insufficient time, resources, and materials.
In Indonesia, English is taught as a foreign language which means it takes more time for students to learn it since English is not our native language. Two hours in a week is a very short time to learn English considering there are many aspects in English lesson. It also requires adequate resources and materials to support the English teaching and learning process.
3. Over-crowded English classes
15
When there are more than thirty-five, forty, or even fifty students, the teachers will not have time to give personalized attention to each student. However, the large classes will generate some problems such as, discomfort in the class, individual attention, noisy classroom, and difficulty in managing and maintaining the learning effectiveness in the classroom.
Khajlo (2013), mentioned that there are several challenges that teachers faced in teaching English. The first is low hours of English language teaching. Some experts are concerned about the amount of time devoted to the course and believe that in many circumstances, teachers will be unable to teach all subjects in this limited time. Second, Lack of interest and motivation for learning English. Most students are not interested in learning the language. They are only concerned with passing the course. They do not pay attention to their teacher and do not learn anything, even if they do learn something, they will forget it quickly because they are weary of its repetition. The third challenge is the lack of concentration in class. Students cannot learn the material if they don’t concentrate.
Some factors that caused lack of concentration are, fatigue and insomnia, environment, and family problems. Fourth, the students who are ahead of others. Another challenge in English teaching is dealing with students who attend English classes outside of school.
Next, most of English teachers lack of proficiency. Unfortunately, the majority of high school teachers are not fluent in English and are unable to teach the language orally. Last, the lack of repetition and frequent practice of students. Students will feel bored of repeating and practicing the language, since they are not interested in learning it.
Copland et al (2014), stated some challenges that the teachers faced in teaching English, as follows:
16 1. Teachers’ Proficiency
Every teacher requires a good proficiency level, especially for English teacher.
Unfortunately, many teachers have low proficiency levels. Moreover, most of them lack of confidence in their ability to teach.
2. Classroom Management
Many English teachers struggle to teach English, especially in large classes of more than 30 students. Teachers are unable to closely monitor the students’
language use and give instructions to them.
3. Government Policy and Curricula
Teachers must follow the curriculum and policies set by the government in teaching English. The curriculum used is incompatible with the requirements of the national assessments.
According to Songbatumis (2017), the challenges encountered in teaching English as a foreign language are diverse, and they are related to the students, teachers, and school’s facilities.
a. Students’ side
The Findings revealed that challenges in teaching English come from students themselves. Some of those challenges are:
1. Lack of vocabulary mastery
Students who do not master the vocabulary might be unable to actively participate in the class. One of the three reasons why students have a lack of vocabulary mastery, according to Mai (2016), is that English is not used in their daily lives, leading them to believe they do not need to learn the words.
17 2. Students’ lack of parents’ support
Lack of parental support can lead to a lack of students’ motivation in learning.
Songbatumis (2017) stated that parents who live in the cities have a higher motivation towards their children’s learning than those who live in rural areas.
3. Students’ poor concentration
Students who have low concentration in the class will be difficult in understanding the knowledge taught by the teacher. It is because they are frequently distracted by talking or doing other activities that disrupt the teaching process.
4. Students’ lack of discipline
Discipline issues were associated with the classification of students' classes based on their study mark. Copland et al (2014) discovered that discipline issues were related to the age and gender of students, differentiation, parental views, inexperience, not sharing the learners' first language, and keeping the students motivated.
5. Students’ boredom
Students often get bored when the teacher teaches a certain topic. It is because they had previously learned the subject, whether through private courses or previous education. They found it uninteresting and boring to listen to the repetitive content.
6. Speaking issue
This issue concerned with the difficulty of getting students to speak.
7. Pronunciation issue
18
Most of the students make mistakes when pronouncing words. Spelling, pronunciation, stress, and intonation become issues for students and obstructing the teaching process.
8. Confidence issue
Students feel embarrassed to demonstrate their speaking skill. This issue arises since the students believe that they are classified as less capable than other students in the class who take English lessons outside of class.
b. Teachers’ side
Teachers' poor teaching knowledge and development may provide challenges in teaching English, such as:
1. Shortage of teachers’ training
Most of the teachers find themselves lacking in English training. They sometimes feel unconfident in what and how they teach.
2. Limited mastery of teaching methods
Most of the teachers still do something monotonous in teaching that makes the students lost interest in learning. It is difficult to implement various teaching methods and techniques because teachers must consider not only how to transfer four language skills, but also how to maintain students' motivation and enthusiasm for learning and practicing English.
3. Unfamiliarity to IT
Teachers frequently struggle with a lack of specific technological knowledge, technology-supported pedagogy, and technology-related classroom management.
19
4. Teachers’ lack of professional development
Developing English teaching skills highly depends on the teachers’
motivation. They need to try to develop their abilities and enrich themselves through training and creativity in teaching English.
c. Facilities problem
1. Inadequate resources and facilities
Songbatumis (2017) in her research stated that the availability of the facilities in the school did not support the English teaching and learning process. The limited resources and materials can influence the affectivity of English teaching (Abrar, 2016).
2. Time constraints
The time provided in teaching English was insufficient for the teacher to cover all the materials and to implement their teaching ideas in the classroom, as well as to improve their own professional growth.
Furthermore, Khan (2011), mentioned some challenges in teaching English as a foreign language in Islamic environment, as follows:
1. Background of English teachers
The teacher is the most important element in any educational programmed.
The teacher bears a great deal of responsibility for conveying the subject to the students. It is necessary to examine the knowledge base of second or foreign language English teachers, as well as their pre-service education and in-service
20
training, in order to gain a better understanding of what language teacher education should be.
2. Poor Ability
Arab students' difficulties in learning English are typically caused by the following factors: a) lack of information about the university or collage they enrolled in; b) a lack of English language curricula offered by some schools and universities; c) poor teaching methodology; and d) issues with proper language environments. As a result of these circumstances, students are becoming less likely to participate in English classes.
3. Lack of Management
The management can be defined as the minimum resources available in one institution. Because of the limited resources, teachers are unable to develop themselves in teaching. The teachers will be easy to deliver the subject matter to the students if the Institution can provide a good management to the teachers.
2.4 Teaching English in Pesantren
According to Dhofier (1994), Islamic boarding schools are traditional Islamic educational institutions to learn, understand, appreciate and practice Islamic teachings by emphasizing the importance of religious morality as guides for daily behavior. Haedar (2004), stated in his book that pesantren is defined as the dormitory-based place where students from various regions and levels come together to learn holy book Al-Qur’an and other Islamic teachings. In general, pesantren is a traditional Islamic educational institution that studies religious knowledge (tafaqquh fi al-dîn) with an emphasize on
21
moral formation of students, so that they can practice it under the guidance of kiai, and use the yellow book as the primary source and the mosque as the center of activity.
Pesantren that maintains a vital role among Indonesians has added English, as well as other secular sciences and technology as part of its curriculum in its current advancement. In organizing the educational programs, Pesantren are now encouraged their students to require not only religious knowledge but also general knowledge such as English. Some pesantren also provide a bilingual system of language use in daily communication that includes Arabic and English in order to develop learners' language skills.
Teachers may face many challenges while teaching English in pesantren since English serves limited purposes. The students are more focused in learning Islamic teachings rather than the general knowledge. They are unmotivated to learn English because it is not their native language and provides only limited purposes. Therefore, teachers’ abilities to utilize various teaching strategies are very needed. Besides, many stakeholders are participated in order to establish a conducive environment that is measured and set up to achieve the greatest output of the educational process. Teachers and students are the main actors to determine the success of classroom learning. They have their own perspectives on how the learning process, environment, and instruments work. Students must have personal motivation, which influences both their perspective and their learning behaviour.
English is believed to be a language that must be mastered, considering that English is an international language used by the majority of countries in the world. Therefore, mastery of English and the ability to communicate in English is considered crucial by
22
developing the English language teaching in pesantren, so that the students can convey Islamic messages to all level of the world community (Umar, 2022). In short, English language teaching in pesantren is absolutely important and necessary.
2.5 Previous Studies
In order to support this study, the researcher provides some previous studies related to the Teachers’ Challenges in Teaching English. First, the research conducted by Songbatumis (2017) with the title “Challenges in Teaching English Faced by English Teachers at MTsN Taliwang, Indonesia”. This research investigated the teachers’
challenges in teaching English as well as the solutions to overcome those challenges. The challenges emerged from the perspectives of students, teachers, and school’s facility.
Challenges related to the students are lack of vocabulary mastery, lack of parent’s support, students’ poor concentration, students’ lack of discipline, students’ boredom, speaking problem, pronunciation problem, and confidence issue. Then, challenges faced by the teachers are shortage of teachers’ training, limited mastery of teaching methods, unfamiliarity to IT, and teachers’ lack of professional development. While the challenges associated with the school’s facility are inadequate resources and facilities, and time constraint. Songbatumis (2017), suggested some solutions to overcome those challenges.
The solutions taken by the school are reforming attitude as well as improving resources and facilities. On the other hand, the solutions given by the teachers are applying various teaching methods, matching students’ proficiency level, and learning situation, making use of available resources and facilities, providing motivational feedback, and teachers’
self-reflection.
23
Another related study by Fajaryani et al (2018), investigated the challenges that English teachers faced when teaching English at Madrasah Tsanawiyah as well as to find out the effort of the teachers to overcome those challenges. This research used qualitative case study. All the English teachers at Madrasah Tsanawiyah Jambi Timur and Madrasah Dharma Wanita were the participants of this research.The data were obtained through a demographic survey and in-depth interview. The demographic data were analyzed descriptively, while the interviews data were analyzed using within-case and cross-case displays and analyses. The findings of this study revealed four major themes including academic challenging factors (student demotivation and low students' basic English ability), non-academic challenging factors (lack of facilities, crowded classrooms, socioeconomic level, and school management), teachers' effort, and leader support.
Marzulina et al (2021), carried out the research entitled “Challenges in Teaching English for EFL Learners at Pesantren: Teachers’ Voices”. This study aimed to investigate the challenges faced by the English teachers in teaching English at pesantren or also known as Islamic boarding school. This study employed qualitative case study approach. The participants of this study were two English teachers at pesantren in MUBA regency. The researchers used observation and interviews in collecting the data. The data obtained were analyzed by using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that English teachers encounter five problems in teaching English, those are: improving students’
motivation, improving students’ language competence, managing over-crowded class, dealing with time constraints, and dealing with a lack of supporting facilities.
Another relevant study was conducted by Hasanah & Utami (2020) entitled
“Emerging Challenges of Teaching English in Non-native English-Speaking Countries:
24
Teachers’ views”. This qualitative study aimed to reveal the challenges faced by English teachers from non-native English-Speaking countries, such as China, Japan, Thailand, Senegal, Mongolia, Cambodia, and Laos. The participants of this study were seven English teachers from those mentioned countries. The Researchers used semi-structured interview to gain the data.The findings indicated three major issues: inadequate learning resources that do not meet students' needs, overcrowded classrooms and school environments, and students' low motivation. To overcome those challenges some programs were implemented. For example, every school in Japan has an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) who comes once a week to cooperate with the English teacher.
Then, the Volunteer English Teacher (VET) program assists English teachers in Laos.
Based on some previous studies described above, the researcher discovered some challenges that experienced by the teachers in teaching emerge from certain aspects. The emerging challenges come from students, teachers’ themselves, and the schools’
facilities.
The researcher took those related studies as the references for her to conduct this research since she would investigate the similar topic, which is about the challenges in teaching English in Pesantren as well as to find out the effort done by the teachers to overcome those challenges. What distinguishes this research from those previous studies are, first, time. The related studies that provided in this research have been done for quite long time. Therefore, the researcher believes that there are some certain distinctions and changes in several aspects relating to the topic over time.
Other than that, the research setting is also different. The researcher conducted this study in Pesantren Hidayatullah that is located in Muaro Jambi district, Jambi Indonesia.
25
The object of the study is also different. It focused on the English teachers (male and female) in Pesantren Hidayatullah and six female students (santriwati) in grade nine Tsanwiyah.
26
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design
This research used a qualitative case study. According to Merriam (2009), qualitative researchers are interested in understanding how people construct meaning, that is, how they make sense of their world and their experiences in it. Qualitative research can be defined as a sort of research that focuses on elucidating and understanding real-world issues. The qualitative method was used to examine how the specific circumstances in a society shape events, behaviours, and meanings (Maxwell, 1996). The data acquired in qualitative study comprises participants' experiences, perceptions, and behaviour. In line with that, this study was conducted to examine the teachers’ challenges encountered in teaching English and strategies applied by the teachers to overcome those challenges.
In this study, the problem was discussed and provided through descriptive data.
For the design, the researcher used a case study. A qualitative case study, according to Merriam (1998), is an intense, holistic description and analysis of “a bounded system” or phenomenon. It is a form of ethnographic research study that focuses on a single unit, such as a person, a group, an organization, a program, a process, a social unit, and a policy. Creswell (1998) wrote that the bounded system could be bounded by time and place, and the case can be a program, an activity, or individuals (Mukminin & McMahon, 2013; Safitri et al., 2020). The purpose is to develop a
27
thorough description and understanding of the "case". Furthermore, a case-study analysis explores and emphasizes a current event in its real-life setting (Yin, 1994).
Case study methodology is guided by two key approaches, one provided by Stake (1995) and the other by Yin (2003) They both use a constructivist framework in their case study approaches. This framework claims that truth is relative and depends on one’s perspective. The advantage of this approach is that it allows the researcher and the participants to express their own tales (Crabtree & Miller, 1999). Participants are able to convey their perceptions of reality through these stories, which allows the researcher to better comprehend the participants’ actions (Lather, 1992; Robottom &
Hart, 1993; Slavin, 2011). Therefore, in this research, the case study design was selected as the appropriate research strategy to investigate the challenges faced by the teachers in teaching English as well as the strategies used to overcome those challenges.
3.2 Research Setting
This research was conducted in Pesantren Hidayatullah. It is located at Lintas Timur Street, KM 26, Bukit Baling Village, Sekernan sub-district, Muaro Jambi district, Jambi, Indonesia. This pesantren was first established in 2000, but administratively legalized in 2002. In the same year, English lessons began to be taught to the students under the Ministry of Religion curriculum.
One of the advantages of this pesantren is the use of a monotheistic-based curriculum, which means all the learning processes carried out by the students are related to monotheism. This pesantren is more concerned with developing morals,
28
values, and survival skills in its students than academics. For example, female students, also known as santriwati, are taught sewing, cooking, and entrepreneurship skills to become Islamic entrepreneurs when they graduate.
Pesantren Hidayatullah has spread in all provinces in Indonesia. In Jambi province, it has spread to Muaro Jambi, Kuala Tungkal, and Batanghari districts.
Especially in Batanghari, it is named as pesantren suku anak dalam.
As stated by Ustadz Arif Abidin, the head of pesantren Hidayatullah in Muaro Jambi, this pesantren is slightly different from other pesantren because it was established without any financial resources. He added that at that time, he was immediately assigned from Surabaya to Jambi to establish a pesantren. Fortunately, there was donated land that can be used to build facilities and infrastructure. Besides that, Ustadz Arif and his team sought donors by introducing pesantren Hidayatullah with the magazine containing information about pesantren itself and other things that would pique the interest of donors. Long story short, with all the effort and faith in God Almighty, pesantren Hidayatullah was successfully established.
3.3 Sample and Participants
The sampling method employed in this study was non-probability sampling, namely purposive sampling. As mentioned by Wiśniowski et al (2020), non- probability sampling is a strategy that does not provide each element with an equal chance of being picked as a sample. Purposive sampling is chosen with a specific goal in mind. It also selects a sample based on beliefs and past knowledge, which supplies us with the data we require. In this case, purposeful sampling with a convenience case
29
strategy was used. Creswell (2007) wrote, “convenience cases, which represent sites or individuals from which researcher can access and easily collect data.” The researcher utilized this sampling technique to emphasize on challenges faced by the teachers in teaching English and how they overcome those challenges. The participants in this study were two English teachers, a male and a female, and six female students in grade nine Tsanawiyah.
3.4 Data Collection Techniques
In collecting the data, the researcher used semi-structured interviews and observation. The researcher conducted a face-to-face semi-structured interview with the teachers and the students. The semi-structured interview is a qualitative data- gathering approach in which the researcher poses a sequence of planned but open- ended questions to participants. The researcher interviewed two English teachers and six female students in the ninth grade. The interview session with the teachers took approximately thirty minutes and ten to fifteen minutes for the students. The researcher used Indonesian in interviewing the participants. This interview was conducted in Pesantren Hidayatullah. All the interview processes were recorded based on the consent of the informants. Before starting the interview, the researcher explained the research objectives and asked the informants to provide the information asked in the interview protocol. With this semi-structured interview, the researcher obtained detailed information about the teachers’ challenges in teaching English and their strategies to overcome those challenges.
Then, observation was used only to support the results of the interviews with the participants about the teachers’ challenges. The researcher observed the condition in
30
the class to see the situation and activities while teaching. The non-participant observation was used in this study. It is the observation in which the researcher, as an observer, is not directly involved in the process (Sugiyono, 2013). Then, the researcher took note of the situation and process of English language teaching to the ninth-grade students at Pesantren Hidayatullah.
3.5 Trustworthiness
To confirm the trustworthiness of the data in this study, the researcher employed the triangulation data analysis technique to ensure the research's validity and reliability. Sugiyono (2013) mentioned that approaches for testing the trustworthiness of data in qualitative research include prolonged observation, increased thoroughness in research, triangulation, peer discussion, negative case analysis, and member check.
Triangulation, as defined by Moleong (2011), is a strategy for determining the validity of data by comparing it to something else. It determines whether the data is sufficient based on the convergence of several data sources or multiple data collectors.
In this study, the researcher utilized data triangulation to verify the collected data from the interview with the participants to know their challenges in teaching English.
The information obtained from the participants through various methods and sources of data acquisition was a source of data in this research. Therefore, data triangulation was required because the researcher collected several data sources in the same study as the researcher, and the data was checked from other sources and previous studies to gain the truth.
31 3.6 Data Analysis
In this study, the researcher used Miles & Huberman's (1994) Interactive Analysis Model to analyse the data, which includes data reduction, data display, and conclusion. There are three steps include:
a. Data Reduction
The process of selecting, concentrating, simplifying, abstracting, and transforming data that appears in written-up field notes or transcription is known as data reduction. Data reduction is a type of analysis in which data is sharpened, sorted, focused, discarded, and organized so that a conclusion can be reached and verified.
In this research, the researcher collected the data through interviews and observation. All data from interviews that have been transcribed are made and divided into files. It is easier for the researcher to track data individually or for each informant.
In data reduction, the researcher gathered, and then selected and categorized the data based on the research topic. The irrelevant data is discarded.
Therefore, the researcher also codes and labels certain chunks and phrases of the data in this stage. Miles & Huberman (1994) mentioned that coding is part of the analysis. Johnson & Christensen (2008) also stated that coding is a process of marking segments of data (usually text data) with symbols, descriptive words, or categories.
The thing allows us to index and classify the data based on themes. In this coding process, the researcher marked and categorized each data from interviews related to the research problem based on the research questions. There are two research questions and six research sub-questions as the theme in the final report of this study.
b. Data display
32
The technique of presenting data simply in the form of words, sentences, narratives, essays, tables, and graphics for the researcher to master the data obtained as the foundation for drawing acceptable conclusions. In this research, the researcher displayed the data in the form of descriptive. The data display contains information about teachers’ challenges in teaching English and their strategies to overcome those challenges.
c. Drawing conclusion
Drawing conclusion or verifying is an activity of producing research results that answer the focus of the study based on data analysis findings. This is the last step in data analysis, where the researcher summarizes all the data findings and discussion in this research. The conclusion of this research was in the form of a description and propositions about the teachers’ challenges in teaching English and their strategies to overcome those challenges. To verify the data, the conclusion of this research was reconciled with previous theory and studies related to the topic.
33 CHAPTER IV
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Description of Research Settings
This research was conducted in Pesantren Hidayatullah Muaro Jambi. It is an educational entity that is part of Hidayatullah Islamic Educational Institutions across Indonesia under the auspices of central Hidayatullah. This school was built on a land area of approximately 1 hectare, which is located at Lintas Timur Street, KM 26, Bukit Baling Village, Sekernan sub-district, Muaro Jambi district, Jambi, Indonesia. This Pesantren was established in 2002 based on the Decree of the Regional Head of the Ministry of National Education of Jambi Province No. 51215070/2007.
4.1.1 Vision and Mission of Pesantren Hidayatullah
The vision of Pesantren Hidayatullah is to establish an excellent and competitive Islamic educational institution that will produce a generation who is capable to carry out the mandate of Allah SWT as His servant and caliph. While the mission of Pesantren Hidayatullah is to organize Islamic educational institution with an integrated of academic, spiritual, and life skills in order to produce pious students.
4.2 Description of Research Participants
In this qualitative case study, researcher investigated the challenges faced by the English teachers in Pesantren Hidayatullah and the strategies they used to overcome those challenges. The researcher also did the interview to some students in order to complement the data findings from the teachers’ interview. The criteria for the participants involved are (1) middle school English teachers, both who teach male
34
(santri) and female students (santriwati), (2) ninth-grade students, only for the female students (santriwati)
By using convenience case strategy Creswell (2007), the researcher obtained eight respondents or participants in total who were willing to be interviewed, two English teachers and six female students. The researcher used pseudonym in order to remain the participants’ privacy.
The first respondent was P1 (pseudonym). She is one of the English teachers in pesantren Hidayatullah. She teaches middle school students, especially female students (santriwati). She has eighteen years of teaching experience and continues to do so today. P1 was interviewed in May 27, 2022.
The second respondent was P2 (pseudonym). He is also an English teacher in pesantren Hidayatullah and teaches middle school male students (santri). He has been teaching for seventeen years until now. P2 was interviewed in May 27, 2022.
The other six participants involved in this research were R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, and R6 (all of them were pseudonym). They are the ninth-grade students in Pesantren Hidayatullah. There were no specific criteria for choosing them to be the participants of the interview. They were recommended by their English teacher, P1, to do the interviews and were willing to be interviewed by the researcher. They were interviewed in the same day on September 1, 2022.
4.3 Findings
Challenges that occurred in teaching are natural and unavoidable. Not all classroom teaching and learning processes will always go smoothly. According to Songbatumis (2017), the challenges in teaching English arise from students, teachers, and the
35
school’s facility. In this chapter, the researcher obtained the data by interviewing the participants in order to investigated the challenges occurred in teaching English in Pesantren Hidayatullah and the strategies used in overcoming those challenges.
The findings of a qualitative data analysis based on in-depth interviews with eight informants done by researcher revealed a variety of new information or data on the challenges experienced by teachers when teaching English at Pesantren Hidayatullah.
Data analysis was carried out both individually and between informants showed that there are two major themes that were related with the research questions of this study and several emerging themes that supported the main themes. Important findings in this qualitative research are classified depending on what was categorized in the research questions based on the research objectives to be achieved. The main themes and sub- themes that related with the research questions were showed in figures 4.1 and 4.2.
Students’ challenges in learning English and how they overcome those challenges are also included in this research to support the data findings, as illustrated in figures 4.3 and 4.4. In addition, the emerging themes about teaching English in pesantren hidayatullah were added to strengthen the data findings that showed in figures 4.5 and 4.6.
36
Figure 4.1 below shows the findings related to main themes and sub-themes:
Challenges in teaching English at Pesantren Hidayatullah.
Figure 4.1 Themes and Sub-Themes: Challenges in teaching English at Pesantren Hidayatullah
Figure 4.1 shows that there are six sub-themes related to challenges in teaching English at pesantren hidayatullah. The first sub-theme is the common challenges that faced by the teachers in teaching English at pesantren hidayatullah. The second sub-theme is the most difficult challenges faced by the teachers in teaching English. The third sub-theme is the challenges in teaching English that arise from students themselves. The fourth sub-theme
Teachers Challenges in Teaching English at Pesantren Hidayatullah
a. Common challenges in teaching English
b. The most difficult challenges in teaching English
c. Challenges that arise from students
d. Challenges that arise from teachers
e. Challenges that arise from the school
f. Unexpected challenges in teaching English
