HIDDEN ENGLISH CURRICULUM
OF NATIONAL-STANDARD SECONDARY SCHOOLS
IN YOGYAKARTA
A THESIS
Presented to the Graduate Program in English Language Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Magister Humaniora (M.Hum.) in English Language Studies
by
Lucia Tri Natalia Sudarmo
146332004
The Graduate Program in English Language Studies Sanata Dharma University
i
HIDDEN ENGLISH CURRICULUM
OF NATIONAL-STANDARD SECONDARY SCHOOLS
IN YOGYAKARTA
A THESIS
Presented to the Graduate Program in English Language Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree of Magister Humaniora (M.Hum.) in English Language Studies
by
Lucia Tri Natalia Sudarmo
146332004
The Graduate Program in English Language Studies Sanata Dharma University
HIDDEN ENGLISH CT]RRICULUM
OF
NATIONAL.STANDARD
SECONDARY SCHOOLS
IN YOGYAKARTA
Lucia Tri Natalia Sudarmo t46332A04
Approved by by
Dr. J. Bismoko
A
THESIS
HIDDEN ENGLISH CURRICULUM
OF
NATIONAL.S?ANDAITD
SECONDARY SCHOOLS
II\
YOGYAKARTA
Presented by
Lucia Tri Natalia Sudarmo ru$32AA4
Defended before the thesis committee and declared acceptable.
Chairperson
Secretary
Members
Crtt
rrr-fbw
Yogyakarta, 24 Marchz}l7 Graduate Program Director
Dharma University
t
111
STATEMENT
OF
ORIGII{ALITY
This is to certify that all the ideas, phrases, and sentences, unless otherwise staied, are mine. I understand the full corsequences including degree cancellation if I took somebody else's ideas, phrases, or sentences without proper reference.
3 Apnl2017
ii Natalia Sudarmo
LEMBAR PER]{YATAAN PERSE TUJUAN
PUBLIKASI KARYA
ILMIAII
UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMISYang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Lucia Tri Natalia Sudarmo
NIM
:146332004Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universiatas Sanata Dharma, karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
HIDDEN ENGLISH
CURRICULUMOT
NATIONAL
.
STANDARI)SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN YOGYAKARTA
Beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan universitas Sanata Dharma
hak
untuk
menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikannya di internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu memintaijin
maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan saya sebagai penulis.Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuaf di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal. 3 April2017
Yang menyatakan,
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, all praise to the Almighty God for his abundant blessings so that I was able to finish this thesis.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. J. Bismoko, my thesis advisor, for the guidance and supervision throughout my research and thesis writing. Also, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all lecturers in English Language Studies for their sharing of knowledge and guidance.
My enormous thanks go to my beloved husband and son for the love, strength, trust, and support. I also thank my parents, parents-in-law, and sisters for their support. I would like also to express my special thanks to Mela, Wulan, and Marita for their uncountable help, and to all friends in KBI 2014 especially class A for the friendship and support.
Last, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation for all participants of this study who were willing to provide their times and to share their experiences. May their experiences shared in this study inspire the other English teachers.
vii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE ... i
APPROVAL PAGE ... ii
DEFENSE APPROVAL PAGE ... iii
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ... iv
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN ... v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS ... vii
LIST OF TABLES ... x
LIST OF FIGURES ... xi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ... xii
LIST OF APPENDICES ... xiii
ABSTRACT ... xiv
ABSTRAK ... xv
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ... 1
A. BACKGROUND ... 1
B. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION ... 7
C. PROBLEM LIMITATION ... 9
D. PROBLEM FORMULATION ... 10
E. RESEARCH GOAL ... 10
F. RESEARCH BENEFIT ... 11
CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW ... 13
A. THEORETICAL REVIEW ... 13
1. Curriculum ... 13
a. Official Curriculum ... 18
b. Hidden Curriculum... 23
c. 2013 Curriculum ... 27
2. National-Standard Secondary Schools... 34
viii
a. Teachers‟ Beliefs ... 38
b. Effective Teachers ... 43
c. Learners Differences ... 51
B. REVIEW OF SCHOOL CHARACTERISTICS ... 59
C. FRAMEWORK OF PRE-UNDERSTANDING ... 60
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ... 64
A. RESEARCH METHOD ... 64
B. RESEARCH DESIGN ... 66
1. Participants... 67
2. Permission ... 70
3. Types of Data ... 71
4. Protocol ... 73
5. Data Collection ... 74
C. DATA GATHERING INSTRUMENT ... 76
D. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION ... 77
CHAPTER IV: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ... 83
A. HIDDEN CURRICULUM PRACTICED IN NSSS ... 83
1. Target of English ... 83
2. Teaching Strategies ... 92
a. Activities ... 93
1)Teacher Zone ... 95
2)Individual Activity ... 99
3) Group Activity ... 101
4)Fun Factor ... 104
b. The language ... 108
c. Building the learning atmosphere ... 115
d. Classroom Management ... 118
3. Materials ... 123
B. NATIONAL EXAMINATION ADJUSTMENT ... 130
ix
2. Spiral English lesson ... 136
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION, IMPLICATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS ... 138
A. CONCLUSION ... 139
B. IMPLICATIONS ... 142
C. RECOMMENDATIONS ... 144
BIBLIOGRAPHY ... 147
x
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2. 1 Criteria For Effective Curriculum ... 17
Table 2. 2 Curriculum Structure of Junior High School ... 29
Table 2. 3 Curriculum Structure of Senior High School ... 30
Table 2. 4 Elective Subjects ... 31
Table 2. 5 List of Textbook for Elective English Class ... 33
Table 2. 6 SKOLA Schools Guide of Competency level ... 56
Table 3. 1 Bluman‟s Sampling Method ... 69
Table 4. 1 Targets of Schools and Teachers ... 92
xi
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2. 1 Curriculum Changes In Indonesia ... 19
Figure 2. 2 Beliefs and the Articulation ... 39
Figure 2. 3 Criteria of Effective Curriculum ... 44
Figure 3. 1 Design of the Study ... 66
Figure 3. 2 Types of Purposive Sampling ... 68
Figure 3. 3 Data Collection Procedures ... 74
Figure 3. 4 Steps of Analysis ... 78
Figure 3. 5 Constant C omparative Method ... 78
Figure 4. 1 Target of Learning English at School ... 84
Figure 4. 2 Teaching Strategies ... 93
Figure 4. 3 Scope of Activity ... 94
Figure 4.4 Participants Concession to English as Medium of Language ... 115
Figure 4.5 Teacher‟s View on K-13 Book ... 125
Figure 4.6 K-13 Book and Teacher‟s Adjustment ... 129
xii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
ECM Education and Culture Ministry
DPKY Dinas Peizinan Kota Yogya
NE National Examination
NSS National-Standard School
NSSS National-Standard Secondary Schools
PUEE Public University Entrance Examination
SFS Standard Formal School
xiii
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix 1. Coding of the Interview ... 151
Appendix 2. Observation Result ... 258
Appendix 3. Permission Letter ... 282
xiv
ABSTRACT
Lucia Tri Natalia Sudarmo. 2017. Hidden English Curriculum of National-Standard Secondary Schools in Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta: The Graduate Program in English Language Studies, Sanata Dharma University.
A hidden curriculum is necessary to be made explicit due to its importance in developing and improving students' competence. Hence, in this study, the researcher explored the English teaching learning processes in national-standard secondary schools (NSSS) to reveal the hidden English curriculum as well as to describe its adjustment with the national examination. Revealing a hidden curriculum implemented by English teachers who are considered successful provides models for other teachers in other schools to conduct the teaching learning process of English with a certain adjustment and improvement.
The study adopted an exploratory grounded theory method. This method was implemented because the study was grounded from the field of study. The researcher conducted interviews with English teachers at NSSS and observations of the teaching learning process. The interviews were carried out to dig information about the actual process of teaching and learning from the English teachers' sides. The interviews were conducted to sixteen English teachers in seven NSSS in Yogyakarta. Different from the interview, the observations were conducted in junior high schools of grade VII and VIII, and senior high schools of grade X and XI.
xv
ABSTRAK
Lucia Tri Natalia Sudarmo. 2017. Hidden English Curriculum of National-Standard Secondary Schools in Yogyakarta. Yogyakarta: Program Pasca-Sarjana Kajian Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Kurikulum tersembunyi perlu untuk diungkap terkait dengan pentingnya kurikulum tersebut dalam perkembangan dan perbaikan kompetensi siswa. Oleh karena itu, dalam penelitian ini peneliti mempelajari kegiatan belajar mengajar (KBM) dalam pelajaran Bahasa Inggris di sekolah menengah standar nasional (SMSN). untuk mengungkapkan kurikulum Bahasa Inggris yang tersembunyi serta mendeskripsikan penyesuaiannya dengan ujian nasional. Mengungkapkan kurikulum tersembunyi yang sudah diterapkan oleh guru-guru Bahasa Inggris yang di anggap berhasil dapat memberikan gambaran bagi guru-guru Bahasa Inggris dari sekolah lain dalam pelaksanaan KBM Bahasa Inggris dengan penyesuaian tehadap kondisi siswa dan sekolah tersebut.
Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian dengan metode grounded theory. Metode tersebut diterapkan karena penelitian tersebut berdasarkan pada hasil yang di dapat dari lapangan. Dalam penelitian ini, peneliti melakukan wawancara denagn guru Bahasa Inggris di SMSN dan pengamatan terhadap KBMnya. Wawancara dilakukan untuk manggali informasi tentang KBM yang dilakukan di kelas Bahasa Inggris dari keterangan yang diberikan oleh guru Bahasa Inggris. Wawancara dilakukan dengan enam belas guru Bahasa Inggris di tujuh SMSN di Yogyakarta. Berbeda dari proses wawancara, pengamatan dilakukan terhadap kelas-kelas Bahasa Inggris di SMP kelas VII dan VIII serta SMA kelas X dan XI.
Kurikulum tersembunyi yang ditemukan kemudian dikelompokkan dalam tiga kategori dengan penyesuaiannya untuk ujian nasional. Pertama, target sekolah dan partisipan adalah kompetensi siswa dalam Bahasa Inggris yang meliputi penguasaan materi pelajaran, pencapaian nilai yang baik dan lolos ujian nasional dengan baik. Kedua, strategi pembelajaran yang ditujukan untuk mencapai target yang telah ditetapkan. Strategi tersebut meliputi kegiatan belajar mengajar, bahasa pengantar saat KBM, suasana pembelajaran yag menyenangkan dan nyaman, dan pengelompokan siswa sebagai bagian dari manajemen kelas. Ketiga, pembahasan materi difokuskan pada buku pelajaran yang digunakan di kurikulum 2013 yang dianggap tidak menantang dan tidak cukup bagi siswa. Buku tersebut hanya digunakan sebagai panduan saja dan bukan sebagai sumber utama dalam KBM. Ketiga aspek dalam kurikulum tersembunyi tersebut disesuaikan untuk persiapan ujian nasional dengan mengembangkan kebiasaan baik sejak kelas bawah dan dengan adanya pembelajaran spiral. Kebiasaan-kebiasan tersebur meliputi penguasaan grammar dan kosa kata, petunjuk untuk mengerjakan soal, serta latihan berulang. Pembelajaran spiral memungkinkan partisipan untuk menghemat waktu untuk menjelaskan materi pada kelas akhir dan untuk fokus pada persiapam ujian nasional.
1
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This research is intended to investigate hidden curriculum in secondary schools. This chapter aims to ensure the validity and feasibility of this project. It consists of six parts that cover background of the study, problem identification, problem limitation, problem formulation, research goal, and research benefit.
A. BACKGROUND
A hidden curriculum is an unstated curriculum practiced in every school. It
is closely related to the social norms and values. It is „hidden‟ since the objectives
are not written and documented as the official curriculum is. Although it is said to
be „hidden‟, it does not mean that the curriculum is concealed from other people.
Instead, it covers the actual practice of teaching-learning process in the classroom.
Hidden curriculum deals more with the students‟ skills and competence. Its main
purpose is to complete the official curriculum which is stated and documented as the curriculum implemented in the learning process covering the syllabus, teachers, students, materials, facilities and equipments in the schools. Motivation given by teachers, atmosphere built in the classroom, kinds of activities chosen by the teachers are few examples of hidden curriculum in a class.
2
conducted, she concluded that hidden curriculum is crucial since it is very
influential in the teaching and learning process but it is often beyond teachers‟
awareness. Hence, students are put into a dangerous position since teachers‟
decision on creating teaching and learning process affects them greatly as the subject of education. Another study conducted by Horn Jr attempted to raise the critical awareness of the hidden curriculum through media literacy. He uncovered the hidden curriculum in media through analyzing writings, movies and commercials depicting teachers, students and schools. He found out that the
hidden messages revealed from those media affected greatly the audiences‟
perception towards the image of teachers in schools (2003). Another study carried out by Anderson (2001) attempted to reveal the hidden curriculum in distance education. He concluded that the hidden curriculum in distance education should be made overt and clear since it implies precious ways of learning that would prepare students in the learning process. By making the hidden one explicit and visible to all students, they could be more aware and well-prepared in the learning process.
In case of English language learning, proper hidden curriculum is helpful
in enhancing students‟ English competence. As shown by those previous studies,
3
of the hidden English curriculum, both teachers and students will be more well-prepared in English lesson and will realize the purpose of having English in schools as a medium to communicate besidess as a medium to solely achieve good grades of English. Unfortunately, no study of hidden curriculum has been conducted yet in Indonesia.
Despite of the absence of hidden curriculum study in Indonesia, hidden curriculum of English, and of course of other subjects as well, exists during the lesson. English teachers have more opportunities to explore the hidden curriculum especially with the implementation of school-based curriculum since 2004. School-based curriculum or Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pembelajaran (KTSP) allows every school to formulate its own school-characterized curriculum besidess the official one. Each school may implement additional curriculum or activities to support the process for achieving the goals in the curriculum. For instance, to provide good quality of English, some schools apply the additional foreign English curriculum. Another schools create activities such as English day, English competition or English debate club to encourage the students in leaning English. Participating in a regional, national or even international English competition or science and mathematics competition is also a part of the effort to encourage students to have better English.
This curriculum determines the success and failure of the English education in schools. Since hidden curriculum deals more with the classroom demand as well as students‟ English skills and competence, it is able to cover
students‟ needs in English lesson in the classroom. By analysing students‟ needs,
4
activities are intended to encourage the students‟ wills to participate actively in the English class and ,thus, they will achieve the English skills and competence in practice instead of focusing on achieving high grade of English only. English teachers are able to cultivate proper strategies for improving students‟ English competence besidess focusing on the academic English to achieve high grade of English. Hence, English teachers will be able to achieve the goal of English curriculum in Indonesia i.e. to have graduates (of schools) who have good communicative skills in English and able to compete globally. Furthermore, as the goal of each level of secondary schools i.e. to have the foundation of English to prepare the graduates in the higher education, the hidden curriculum of English in schools may formulate activities which will encourage students to read more in English to prepare both for supporting the academic demand of the official English curriculum and the demand in the higher education whenever they need to consult to English references. Encouraging students in learning English also becomes one aspect in hidden curriculum which plays an important role in the process of learning.
Nevertheless, studies show the failure of English education in Indonesia (Lie, 2002; Madya, 2002; Lengkanawati, 2005; Ivone, 2005; Marcellino, 2008; and Mappiase and Bin Sihes, 2014). English education in Indonesia has been so
long considered failed in developing learner‟s competence in the target language.
5
The students‟ vocabularies are still unsatisfactory despite of the facts that they
have learned English as foreign language for six years in secondary schools (junior and high schools) and even some of them have learned for nine years (started from grade four of elementary school) (Ivone, 2005: 197).
Despite of the failure, selected national-standard schools (NSS) are believed to be able to maintain the graduates with good competence of English. Selected NSS here refers to the schools which once became pilot school of international standard (PSIS or RSBI-Rintisan Sekolah Bertaraf Internasional). Schools which had the status of PSIS have achieved the eight standards of education (graduate competency standard, content standard, process standard, personnel standard, infrastucture standard, management standard, funding standard and assessment standard) and have developed much more than the expected national standard which is shown especially through greater portion of English used in the schools. Some of the schools implement different curriculum of English which are adopted from abroad institution. The English teachers have also more opportunities to explore the teaching learning process in order to
promote students‟ English competence. However, due to several reasons, this kind
of schools have been cancelled and the PSIS status has been changed into national-standard school (NSS) again.
6
Kingdom are built. Some NSS have the cooperation with schools and universities in those countries such as The Manor CE Primary School UK, Cosmopoint University Malaysia, Chonkanyanukoon School Thailand, Sultan Abdul Hamid Kolej Malaysia, and Swan hill collage Australia. Having sister schools enable
NSS to send their students abroad. Hence, the level of students‟ English
competence must be advanced. Furthermore, the students of some NSS are also active in joining English competition. The competitions were held in the range of universities, district, province, and national. English debate, English speech contest, and English spelling bee are some of the competitions.
7 B. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
Based on Presidential Regulation no. 8/ 2012 about Indonesian National Qualification Framework (Kerangka Kualifikasi Nasional Indonesia = KKNI) the graduates of secondary schools will be at level 2. Being at this level, the graduates will deal with the operationalization of, for example, machines. In other words, their work will be as an operator which requires them to be able to do a specific job such as using tools, understanding the information on the tools and manuals as well as carrying out the procedures in the workplace. Moreover, they must have basic operational knowledge and practice to solve problems they may encounter in their workplace.
Realizing the position they might have in their future jobs, English education in schools plays an important role in providing the basic knowledge of English for them. It is due to the fact that English will be the language in most manuals in the machines, tools and another equipments they will work with. Therefore, preparing them in the schools with sufficient English skills and competence will be the critical demand in secondary school English education besidess focusing on the academic achievement or merely passing the national examination.
8
as their background knowledge. In other words, good English competence will be one of requirements for the graduates to continue studying in the higher education.
Hence, it can be concluded that the needs of secondary school students in English education is more on the development of English skills and competence. By developing their English skills and competence, they will be able to use English in the real context and practice in their future work or higher education. They will be able to, for instances, understand manuals of machines and read references in English. Instead of having good grade only which does not guarantee their English skills and competence, they need to understand how to communicate in English and to use their English background knowledge to help them in their work and higher education. In short, secondary school students need to acquire English skills and competence rather than to only pursue good grade of English.
Therefore, hidden curriculum of English applied in every school needs to be made visible. It is due to the importance of the hidden English curriculum in determining the success and failure of English education in improving and
developing students‟ English skills and competence when they work or continue
9
C. PROBLEM LIMITATION
This study has several limitations. The limitations include the coverage of the subject of hidden curriculum, the kind of schools being researched, the level of secondary schools, and the sample of research. Those limitations are explained further below.
First, it was conducted to explore hidden curriculum of English. The hidden curriculum revealed and presented in this study focuses on the English lesson carried out in each school. It did not have any relation with the other subjects taught in the schools. Also, it did not depict the hidden curriculum applied in different subjects as each subject has different hidden curriculum.
Second, the research was conducted in selected national-standard secondary schools (NSSS) only. They were selected because this study only involved NSSS which were previously appointed as PSIS (RSBI) and which now gain the status of national-standard schools (NSS) again since the implementation of 2013 curriculum.
Third, the selected NSSS only covered junior and senior high schools. This study excluded vocational schools since these schools should apply specific English depending on the majors in the schools instead of general English like in junior and senior high schools.
10
participants must be at least 20. However, regarding the permission of individual teachers, the researcher could only interview 16 teachers as the participants. Furthermore, related to national examination, it is important to note that during this study, school participants which implement 2013 curriculum was experiencing the first national examination with K-13. Therefore, participants have little idea of the national curriculum.
D. PROBLEM FORMULATION
Two research questions are proposed to answer in this research. Those two questions will be the guideline for conducting the study. The questions are:
1. What is the hidden English curriculum in the national-standard secondary schools like?
2. How do English teachers in each selected NSSS adjust the hidden curriculum with the English national examination?
E. RESEARCH GOAL
11
Having good models might help other schools improve the English teaching learning practiced in their institutions. This improvement is expected to be able to promote English competence at schools. In brief, this study is conducted to reveal and describe hidden curriculum implemented by English teachers at selected NSSS and the adjustment made with national examination.
F. RESEARCH BENEFIT
This study is valuable for several parties. Those are the selected NSSS including the teachers and students and another Englsih teachers. The benefits for each of the parties is described further below.
First, for the selected NSSS, this study made the hidden curriculum practiced in the schools visible. By making it visible , teachers can realize more about the prominent teaching learning process and methods which succeeded in improving and developing students‟ competence and skills. They are challenged to develop more because their hard work is being rewarded. If the flaw is found out, teachers could realize it so that they could make improvement on the teaching.
12
13
CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter consists of three parts namely theoretical review, review of the school characteristics and framework of pre-understanding. First, theoretical review is intended to provide the theories as well as to clarify the concepts used in this study as the basis for solving the two problems proposed in the research questions in Chapter I. Second, review of the school characteristics is a part to describe the characteristics of the sample schools used in this study. Last, framework of pre-understanding is used to give the basic structure of the theories in the context of the schools.
A. THEORETICAL REVIEW
This part consists of three theories employed as the basis for answering the research questions. The first theory is language curriculum. The theory covers official curriculum, hidden curriculum, and 2013 curriculum. The second theory is national-standard schools. It covers the schooling system in Indonesia, the types of schools based on Indonesian law no. 20/ 2003 and national-standard schools. The last theory is about teaching and learning which includes teachers beliefs, effective teachers, and learners difference.
1. Curriculum
14
total program in school, curriculum covers all activities for the students. It includes what the students learn, how they learn, how teachers help them learn, the supporting materials used, assessment styles and methods, and the facilities the learning process takes place.
Hamilton defines curriculum as a guideline which is drawn from the past
(as evaluation from the past) but „is shaped according to the future‟ (1990: 38).
Curriculum embodies both a vision and a cultural tool. It is shaped by its users, both the curriculum maker (authority) and the schools (teachers and learners) (1990: 38). A curriculum is „more likely to reflect the cultural selections, values and aspirations of powerful social groups than the cultural assumptions of
powerless groups‟ (1990: 39). Curriculum is a „unified system of interconnected
elements‟ (1990: 40). Thus, curriculum consists of elements which work in
harmony to form a unified and coherence system. Curriculum is reorganized to make it accessible to learners by separating it into units (subjects), texts
(textbooks) and instruction (lessons). In short, curriculum is an „ordered or
structured entity‟ because it „comprises‟ not only „a range of individual units but
also the interrelationships and interactions that holds the units together‟ and consists of syllabus which covers the lists of topics or subjects (1990: 41).
Feez and Joyce define curriculum as „a general statement of goals and
outcomes, learning arrangements, evaluation and documentation relating to the
management of programs within an educational institution‟ (1998: 9). Since it
15
institution may provide curriculum frameworks but require teachers to make their individual syllabus design. The others may allow teachers creatively formulate their own teaching based on a basic guideline given by the government.
In a simpler way, Richards defines curriculum as „the whole body of
knowledge that children acquire in schools‟ (2001: 39). This refers to the aspects
of teaching learning process leading to the knowledge building of students in schools. It includes the syllabus covering the goals, objectives and the planning of the lesson, the teacher context which determines the execution of the lesson, the learners themselves as the subject of the teaching learning process and the materials such as the books and realia to support the activities in the classroom. Facilities, equipment, the other staffs and the school foundation or authority as the supporting factors in the process of learning must be necessarily mentioned.
Richards and Schmidt propose two definitions of curriculum. First, it is
„an overall plan for a course or programme‟. The programme usually includes the
educational purpose (the aims or goals), the syllabus which covers the content of the programme and the sequence of teaching, the methodology which covers the procedures for teaching and activities which will be implemented in the learning process, the assessment and testing which are used to assess the students and the evaluation which is used to assess the success or failure of the programme in achieving the goals (2010: 151). Second, curriculum is „the total programme of
formal studies offered by a school or institution‟ (2010: 151). Elementary school
16
program offered by the school to the students which will be implemented during the school time.
17
context, teaching process and learning process have their own factors to indicate the quality in teaching as the interpretation of the curriculum.
Table 2.1 Criteria For Effective Curriculum (adapted from Richards, 2001)
No. Category Criteria
2. 1 Institution The
organizational culture
1. A sense of mission 2. A strategic plan
3. Quality assurance mechanism 4. A sound curriculum
5. Flexibel organizational framework 6. Internal communication
7. Professional treatment of teachers 8. Oppotunities for teacher development 2 Teaching context 1. Size and staff structure
2. Equipment 3. Support staff 4. Teacher work space 5. Teacher resource room 6. Teaching facilities 7. Class size
8. Teachers (skills and qualifications)
9. Support for teachers (orientation, adequate materials, course guides, division of responsibilities, further training, teaching release, mentors, feedback, rewards, help lines, review)
3 Teaching process 1. Teaching model and principles
2. Maintaining good teaching (monitoring, observation, identification and resolutions of problems, shared planning, documenting and sharing of good practices, self-study of the program)
3. Evaluating teaching
4 Learning process 3.Understanding of the course
4.Views of learning (learning styles, motivation, support)
18 a. Official Curriculum
As stated previously, official curriculum is the stated documentation of the goals, objectives, and the plans of the teaching learning process. Official curriculum is related to the academic achievement of the students. Its goals and objectives lead to the good grade which the students are required to attain. Moreover, it focuses on fulfilling the requirement written in the curriculum.
In Indonesia, as stated in Dokumen Kurikulum 2013 issued by Education and Culture Ministry (ECM) on 2012, curriculum is viewed as one of educational aspects which contributes significantly to develop students quality. In a more complete description, curriculum in Indonesia is formulated conceptually, pedagogically, and juridically as follow
Conceptually, curriculum is a respon of education towards the need of nation and community to build the youth. Pedagogically, curriculum is an education plan which gives opportunities for learners to develop their potentials in a comfortable learning atmosphere and suitable for their abilities to have the quality required by the nation and community. Yuridically, curriculum is a public policy based on the nation philosophy and yuridicial decision of education aspect.
Dokumen Kurikulum 2013 (2012: 2)
Hence, curriculum is a guidaline formulated based on community needs and nation philosophy to develop students quality in an appropriate and fun situation and condition.
19
indicators. The official curriculum is usually the same for all schools at the similar level.
Official curriculum in Indonesia is developed by considering national education standard. National education standard consists of eight standards. They are graduate competency standard, content standard, process standard, personnel standard, infrastructure standard, management standard, funding standard, and assessment standard. As stated in chapter 38 of law 20/ 2003, the guideline and structure of primary and secondary schools is formulated by the government. It is developed by each school and is monitored by the province for secondary schools. Since the independence day, curriculum in Indonesia has undergone eight changes. The changes were mostly related to the approach applied and the implementation as well as the materials used during the learning process. Below is the chronological order of the changes.
Figure 2. 1 Curriculum Changes In Indonesia
As seen in figure 2.1, the implementation of English teaching changes from the independence day, 1953, 1975, 1984, 1994, 2004, 2006, and 2013. Despite of the
after indep enden ce GTM
1953 audio-lingual
1975 communicative
1984 communicative
1994
meaning-based
2004
competency-based
2006
competen-cy-based
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changes, through out the years three main approaches are applied. Two old methods were applied i.e. GTM after independence day and audiolingual method in 1953 until around the change in 1975. After 1975, as world wide English education also applied, communicative approach has dominated English teaching and learning process until recent days.
The early years of English education in Indonesia implemented two methods, which are now considered old and out of date. After the independence day, English education in Indonesia implemented GTM. This method was the left over of the Dutch (Dardjowidjojo, 2000). GTM is a classic method emphasizing on the mastery of grammar rules, vocabulary, and translation of texts (Brown, 2000: 18). In GTM, the classes are taught in mother tongue, vocabulary is taught mostly, and lengthy and detailed explanation are given. Moreover, students start read complicated classical text from early years. However, since the focuses are on grammar, vocabulary, and text; pronunciation is given less attention. The texbook used during this period were Abdurachman‟s English Grammar,
Tobing‟s Practical Exercises, and de Maar and Pino‟s English Passages for
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After the changes in 1953, English curriculum was oriented on communicative skills. Communicative language teaching (CLT) emphasizes interaction in both the learning process and the goal of study (Brown, 2000: 42-45). In CLT, teachers are as facilitators and guides. Moreover, the main goal in this approach is for the learner to become communicatively competent (Hymes in Richards & Rodgers, 2001). Further, Richards & Rodgers (2001) mentioned four characteristics of CA view of language i.e. language is a system for the expression of meaning, the primary function of language is to allow interaction and communication, the structure of language reflects its functional and communicative uses, and the primary units of language are not merely its grammatical and structural features but categories of functional and communicative meaning as exemplified in discourse. The techniques used are authentic materials, scrambled sentences, language games, picture strip story, and role play (Brown, 2000 and Harmer, 2001).
In Indonesia, the focus on communicative skills dominated the changes of curriculum in 1975, 1984, and 1994. However, Dardjowidjojo (2000) and Madya (2008) noted that the real practice of English language teaching (ELT) on those years were still structurally oriented. Both the guidance and ELT still focused on grammatical structures. Even, the textbook used was very structural with sentence-based orientation (Dardjowidjojo, 2000 and Madya, 2008). During the implementation of 1984 curriculum, clear explanation of the pragmatic aspects in
the teaching materials was not clearly provided. As the result, „the textbooks were
22
was not commonly used outside the schools, even the classroom. Hence, most students preferred using more local language or Indonesian than English. For this reason, ELT in Indonesia focused on cognitive knowledge instead of the communicative target (Dardjowidjojo, 2000).
After the era of communicative approach, ELT was then driven by competence-based learning (CBL) for the implementation of curriculum 2004 and 2006. In CBL language is taugth in relation with the social context (Brown, 2000). Moreover, it emphasizes knowledge, skills and attitude. The characteristics of CBLT are described by Schneck(1978,vi):
Competency –based education has much in common with such approaches to learnig as performance-based instruction, mastery learning and individualised nstruction. It is outcome-based and is adaptive to the changing needs of students, teachers and the community .... competencies differ from other stduent goals and objectives in that they describe the
student‟s ability to apply basic and other skills in situations that are
commonly encountered in everyday life. Thus CBE is based on a set of outcomes that are derived from an analysis of tasks typically required of students in life role situations.
(Richards, 2001) Hence, the focus of CBL is learning language in the real situations or everyday life. In 2004 curriculum, ELT focused on four important competences i.e. linguistic competence, sociocultural competence, discourse competence and strategic competence while 2006 curriculum emphasized competency-based
curriculum that was developed by schools based on school and students‟
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After 2006 curriculum, scientific approach is implemented. Scientific approach marked the use of 2013 curriculum (K-13). It covers observing, questioning, associating, experimenting, and networking in the learning process. During the implementation of K-13, ELT emphasizes learner-centeredness. The ELT models of this approach are interactive learning, resiprocal learning, cooperative learning, service learning, and discovery learning. However, lots of critics are given to K-13 due to various reasons. Further discussion of K-13 and scientific approach is described in separated part of this chapter.
b. Hidden Curriculum
Hidden curriculum is the unstated curriculum covering the actual practice in the teaching learning process. It is often not written nor documented. Hidden
curriculum depends on each school since it is characterized by the school‟s
context, teachers and learners. Hence, it is a school-based curriculum.
Different from official curriculum, hidden curriculum is related to classroom demand (Jackson, 2004). It is the actual practice in the classrroonm dealing with the teachers, learners and materials. It focuses on the developmnet
and improvement of the students‟ competence and skills. Hidden curriculum
supports the official one in achieving the goals of the curriculum. While
developing and improving students‟ competence and skills, hidden curriculum is
able to improve the grade as well. Hence, this hidden one completes the official curriculum and determines the success and failure of the teaching learning process (Jackson, 2004).
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educational system” which is used to “ impart the values and ideology of a particular society or to socialize students into the dominant political and economic system and the values of that system” (Richards and Scmidt, 2010: 261). Simply speaking, in the practice of ELT, hidden curriculum emphasizes the values and goals related to the social context. Along with the communicative approach adopted in the English education in Indoensia, the teaching learning process
focuses on the effort to enhance students‟ comunicative skills. Hence, hidden
curriculum made by the teachers will determine the success of the students in achieving both good grade and the communicative skills required. Second, hidden curriculum is “instructional norms and values not openly acknowledged by
teachers or school officials” (Vang, 2006: 20 in Barrett, Solomon, Singer, Portelli
and Mujuwamariya, 2009: 678). Since the values and norm are not stated openly then they are not written and documented but they do exist and are practiced in the
schools by both the teachers and students. Third, hidden curriculum is “the set of
influences that function at the level of organisational structure and culture including, for example, implicit rules to survive the institution such as customs,
rituals, and taken for granted aspects” (Lempp and Seale, 2004: 770). Here,
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From those definition, it can be concluded that hidden curriculum is unstated values or goals in the form of implicit rules and activities related to the social context. As explained previously, it is not written and documented as the
official curriculum is. It is closely related to the classroom demand and students‟
needs. The covert curriculum is formulated for achieving the goals in the official curriculum as well as for enhancing students‟ competence and skills. Moreover, Since it is hidden, the curriculum is not overtly stated in the official curriculum and to the students. The students will only know that they need to obey some rules and do some activities without realizing the goals and benefits of those rules and activities.
Teaching-learning process is depicted more in the hidden curriculum. Harmer states that the actual variety of the language depends on “the wishes of the student, the variety the teacher herself uses, the learning materials that are on offer, or the school or education authority policy” (2007: 24). This implies that the
curriculum implemented in the schools should consider the students‟ needs. The
students‟ needs mostly deal with the classroom demands. Teachers, despite of the
guideline provided in the official curriculum, must consider the students‟
condition, ability and competence in planning the lesson. By noticing students‟
needs, teachers will be able to formulate activities which will enhance students‟ competence and skills by making variations on the activities intended for the students. The plan and activities created by the teachers depend on the needs of the students and the creativity of the teachers. The more teachers understand
students‟ needs and the more creative they are, the better the plan will be.
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the students will also give a great effect in the success of English lesson in the classroom. English textbook and workbook which suit best for students are the books which are adjusted to develop and improve their competence and skills.
Furthermore, the support from the institution or school‟s authority will also affect
the teaching learning process. Those details in the teaching learning process are covered in the hidden curriculum formulated by the schools and teachers.
Further, the process of teaching and learning as the unpacking and reshaping tasks can be seen from the hidden curriculum because the unpacking and reshaping are the results of the interpretation of the official curriculum into the real process which involve social and cultural context to support the teaching
and learning process. “Curriculum must be carefully selected and carefully
structured due to the purpose to shape learners in particular ways. This shaping can be realized through teaching and learning. Teaching and learning is the process of unpacking and repacking of the structure in curriculum (Hamilton, 1990: 42).
... the teacher‟s task is to unlock the potential of the curriculum whereas the
learner‟s task is to reshape themselves in the light of the curriculum‟s
potential. Teachers have the prior knowledge of the lesson taught, the prior access of the curriculum/ syllabus and at the same time the‟experience‟. ... typically, too, teachers have prior access to the cultural codebooks that govern the preservation (or codification) of human experience. Teaching and learning, therefore, are more than the handling on the experience. They are more complex activities. Teachers not only have to unpack the curriculum storehouse, they also have to trabslate experience into a form that is accessible to learners. Likewise, learning can only be accomplished if learners can find ways to link their own prior experience to the experiences offered by their teachers.
27 c. 2013 Curriculum
2013 curriculum (K-13) is the newest curriculum applied in Indonesia. The implementation of K-13 is officially started at the beginning of a new school year on 15 July 2013 (The Jakarta Post, July 19, 2013). As stated in Dokumen Kurikulum 2013, K-13 is a response of the vast cases of students anarchy and improper behaviour.
Recently, the tendency to solve problems with violence and by forcing
someone‟s will often happens in Indonesia. This tendency is also found
among young generations such as in the case of mass fighting. Eventhough no study that relates violence and curriculum has been conducted yet, some education practitioners and public figure stated that one of the causes is the implementation of curriculum which emphasizes the cognitive aspect and the isolation of students in the classroom without challenging activity. Therefore, the curriculum needs to be reoriented and reorganised related to the burden of study and the teaching learning process which can solve this problem.
Dokumen Kurikulum 2013: 8
Moreover, the problems faced when implementing KTSP were also the reasons of the change into K-13. Sahiruddin (2013) noted eight problems in the implementation of KTSP. The reasons are as follow.
However, the 2006 curriculum had several problems; (a) too many subjects being learnt by students and many competences were overlapping each other ignoring the cognitive development of the students, (b) curriculum was not fully based on competency, (c) competency did not holistically reflect domain of knowledge, skills and affective behavior, (d) some competences were not accomodated such as character building, active learning methodology, (e) the equilbirium of developing soft skills and hard skills, (f) standard of learning process is still teacher-oriented, (g) standard of assessment and evaluation still neglects process and end product, and (h) KTSP was still open for multi interpretation by many educators and teachers in real practice.
(Diknas, 2012 in Sahiruddin, 2013: 570)
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character building or affective aspect. Moreover, Fadillah (2014) stated that K-13 is developed to improve and balance soft skills and hard skills of learners.
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learning outcomes describe the capacity, style, and the acquisition of learners or even able to produce instructional and nurturant effect of learning.
K-13 curriculum structure covers subjects, time allocation, and educational calender. It is a little bit different from the previous curriculum. Subjects includes compulsory subjects and elective subjects. Compulsory subjects are the subjects of study learned by all students in a school while elective sucjects are the subjects of study chosen by the students themselves. These two types of subjects are developed in senior high and vocational schools only. They have not been implemented in elementary and junior high schools due to the age and psychological development of the learners (Dokumen Kurikulum 2013, 2012: 13). Besidess the changes on the subjects of study, the time allocation also undergoes some changes especially for English. For junior high schools, each level (VII, VIII, and IX) has 38 learning hours per week and each learning hour is 40 minutes. For senior high schools, each level (X, XI, and XII) has 43 learning hours per week and each learning hour is 45 minutes. The complete subjects and time allocation as copied from Dokumen Kurikulum 2013 is presented in the following tables.
Table 2. 2. Curriculum Structure of Junior High School
SUBJECT
TIME ALLOCATION PER WEEK
VII VIII IX
Group A
1 Religion 3 3 3
2 Civics 3 3 3
3 Indonesian 6 6 6
4 Mathematics 5 5 5
5 Science 5 5 5
6 Social Studies 4 4 4
30 Kelompok B
1 Culture (including local content) 3 3 3
2 Physical education (including local
content) 3 3 3
3 Art (including local content) 2 2 2
Time Allocation per week 38 38 38
In K-13 the learning hours of English per week in junior high school is reduced into four learning hours. When KTSP was still implemented or for schools which are still implementing KTSP, English has six learning hours per week.
Table 2. 3 Curriculum Structure of Senior High School
SUBJECT
TIME ALLOCATION
PER WEEK
X XI XII
Compulsory
1 Religion 3 3 3
2 Civics 2 2 2
3 Indonesian 4 4 4
4 Mathematics 4 4 4
5 History 2 2 2
6 English 2 2 2
7 Culture 2 2 2
8 Art 2 2 2
9 Physical Education 2 2 2
Compulsory Time Allocation per Week 23 23 23
Elective
Elective Academic Subject (Senior High School) 20 20 20
Elective Academic and Vocational Subject (Vocational) 28 28 28
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However, senior high school has more benefit from the elective subjects. Senior high school students can still have more time of learning English when they choose to have English as their elective subject. They can have additional three to four learning hours per week to deepen their knowledge of English as seen from table 2.4 below. Nevertheless, the elective classes are not directly giving impact to the mastery of English due to the goal of elective English class is more on the literature.
Table 2. 4 Elective Subjects
SUBJECT Class
X XI XII
Compulsory 23 23 23
Science and Mathematics Elective Group
I 1 Mathematics 3 4 4
2 Biology 3 4 4
3 Physics 3 4 4
4 Chemistry 3 4 4
Social Elective Group
II 1 Geography 3 4 4
2 History 3 4 4
3 Sociology and Anthropology 3 4 4
4 Economics 3 4 4
Language Elective Group
III 1 Indonesian Language and Literature 3 4 4
2 English Language and Literature 3 4 4
3 Other Foreign Language and Literature 3 4 4
4 Sociology and Anthropology 3 4 4
Elective Subject
Choice of Interest or Cross Interest 6 4 4
Available Time of Study 73 75 75
Time of Study to Achieve 41 43 43
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only grade I, IV, VII, and X. However, as planned and stated in Dokumen Kurikulum 2013, started on July 2014 the levels having K-13 are grade I, II, IV, V, VII, VII, X, and XI. Then, started on July 2015 all grades from I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VII, IX, X, XI and XII have already implemented K-13. Unfortunately, English was banished from elementary curriculum. Hence, elementary students from grade I – VI of schools implementing K-13 do not have English as their compulsory subject. Nevertheless, schools are still given the right to have it as extracurricular or additional subject showing the particular characteristic of the school.
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Table 2. 5 List of Textbook for Elective English Class (taken from Permendikbud no. 001/ 2015)
Despite of the positive goal of K-13, it has faced lots of critics during its
implementation. The main critic is related to teachers‟ readiness in implementing
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active. Further, not all teachers were having the training. The other critic was related to the textbooks. The texbook and teacher guidance were not well distributed. Some schools in Jakarta, Purbalingga, Bekasi, Depok, Bogor, Indramayu, Garut, Tsikmalaya, Bima, Mataram, Medan, Batam, and Sumenep have not received the textbooks even until the implementation of K-13. Another problem arose when the number of the books are not sufficient for all students (http://edukasi.Kompas.com/read/2014/08/20/22384511/Membaca.Kurikulum.201 3).
Finally, after lots of critics and consideration, K-13 was then being evaluated at the academic year 2014/2015 with three choices (http://nasional.kompas.com/read/2014/12/17/13355681/Dilema.Kurikulum.2013) . First, the termination of K-13. Second, schools which have no problem with the implementation of K-13 can remain having K-13 while schools which are not ready may reimplement KTSP in the next semester. Third, K-13 is still being implemented in all schools with evaluation on the flaws of the curriculum. The choice taken by ECM was to terminate K-13 in all schools and only focus on 6,221 pilot schools of K-13. Therefore, started on the second semester of 2014/2015 academic year, schools other than the pilot schools returned to KTSP as the official curriculum.
2.National-Standard Secondary Schools
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institution or in daily communication. Instead, it is used for communicatiing globally only and is taught in schools. Since independence, English has become the popular language taught in secondary level (junior and senior high schools (Julia, 2014: 9). Recently, it is taught from elementary year 4 and even, in some particular schools, it is taught from year 1.
Responding to the demand of globalization era, the goverrnment has set the so-called prestigious program of international classes (Julia, 2014: 9). International classes are intended to produce graduates who are able to compete at a national and international level. It is enunciated in Law No. 20/2003. The law is then elaborated in the Government Regulation No. 23/2006. The government
regulation covers the “the standard of graduates‟ competency at elementary, junior
and senior high school level as well as improving intelligence, personality, morality and skills for independent life and be able to continue to further education” (Julia, 2014: 9). Moreover, Law No. 20/2003 obviously states about the policy on international classes which was then called as Rintisan Sekolah Bertaraf Internasional (RSBI). Article 50 of the law specifies the rule as follow
“Government and/or local government implement minimally one school in all level of education to develop towards international standard educational institution.”
(Law No. 20/2003 chapter 50 article 3)
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1. Graduate Competency standard refers to the ability of graduates possessing the intellectual, spiritual and physical resources required for further education or earn a living in a community. This means that [junior high school] graduates must have sufficient life skills to enable them to pursue these alternatives (ECM Regulation No. 23/2006),
2. Content standard refers to the scope of materials and level of competences which is embodied within the criteria concerning graduate competences, graduate study materials, subjects studied and learning competences syllabus which must be fulfilled by participants in education in particular levels and types of education (ECM Regulation No. 22/2006),
3. Process standard refers to planning of teaching and learning, covering syllabus and lesson plan which contains aims, teaching materials, methods, sources and assessment (ECM Regulation No. 41/2007),
4. Personnel standard refers to physical and intellectual performance required of teachers and school staff, including their educational background, pre-service educational criteria, physical and intellectual suitability and in-service training (ECM Regulation No. 12/2007, No. 13/2007, No 16/2007, No. 24/2008, No. 25/2008, No. 26/2008),
5. Infrastructure standard refers to the minimum standards for classrooms, sports centre, prayer space, library, laboratory, playground, learning resources, and information technology equipment of schools (ECM Regulation No. 24/2007),
6. Management standard refers to the planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating of educational activities for all levels of education to achieve their effectiveness and efficiency (ECM Regulation No. 19/2007),
7. Funding standard refers to all the components and the amount of operational funding for each level of education for each year (ECM Regulation No. 69/2009),
8. Assessment standard refers to the mechanisms, procedures and instrumentation for assessing the learning outcomes of participants in education (ECM Regulation No. 20/2007).
(Julia, 2014:12)
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Internasional (RSBI). Schools which had the status of PSIS have achieved the eight standards of education (graduate competency standard, content standard, process standard, personnel standard, infrastucture standard, management standard, funding standard and assessment standard) and have developed much more than the expected national standard.
Selected NSSS here refers to the schools which once became pilot school of international standard (PSIS or RSBI-Rintisan Sekolah Bertaraf Nasional). Some of the schools implement different curriculum of English which are adopted from abroad institution. The English teachers also have more opportunities to
explore the teaching learning process in order to promote students‟ English
competence. However, due to some reason, this kind of schools have been cancelled and the PSIS status has been changed into national-standard school (NSSS) again. Despite of the status, English teaching learning process in some schools still continue with the hidden curriculum of English such as by adopting abroad English curriculum and teaching learning process.
3.Teaching and Learning
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and conditions. The awareness of teachers and learners may have a great impact for language educators.
a. Teachers’ Beliefs
In planning and conducting courses, teachers cannot be separated from the beliefs they hold. The beliefs that teachers have will influence the decision of choosing a particular teaching method. For teachers believing the importance of grammar, they will expose more grammar learning to students. For others believing the importance of communicative skills, they may give more chances to students to communicate in the classroom. The more teachers are aware of their own beliefs, the easier they decide what kind of teaching method they apply in the class.
However, articulating beliefs is not as easy as it may seem (Johnson, 1998 in Graves, 2000: 26). Some teachers may not be aware of the beliefs they hold. They may implement a certain kind of teaching method just because they feel it will work well for their students without realizing the beliefs they have. Some others may not have the opportunities to practice what they believe because of the institution they are working at. Some institutions or schools usually have already had their own value to practice. This value may or may not comform to the beliefs teachers have. Hence, they do not have the chances to articulate their own beliefs.
Beliefs come from teachers‟ experiences as learners, teachers, and
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experience of having extensive drill, he may implement similar method for his own students. Either with or without awareness of the beliefs, teachers tend to recall what they have had in the past experiences when deciding a particular point of view in teaching. Experiences from working place may also influence teachers beliefs. As teachers, they have experienced teaching in some classes with different kinds of context and types of learners. Therefore, they can start sorted a certain method which works best and which do not work well. From the experience, they usually apply the successful method they have practiced. Moreover, by observing or sharing with other teachers, they may also find a particular method they can use
in their own classroom. Coleague‟s opinion on a certain method they have
implemented can influence the beliefs they have.
The frameworks for articulating beliefs include teachers‟ views about
language, social context, learning and learners; and teaching (Graves, 2000: 28-31) and is summarized in figure 2.2. below.
Figure 2. 2 Beliefs and the Articulation
These four views may influence the decision teachers make on how and what they teach in the class. Grammar-oriented teachers may emphasize accuracy on grammar when learning language. Other teachers may emphasize the need to
adjust one‟s culture to the culture of target language. Learner-centered- oriented
40
teaching. Also, teachers may position themselves as either facilitator or decision maker in the classroom. Articulating their beliefs in those four frameworks may have great influence to their decision of teaching. Each framework is described below.
Teachers‟ beliefs about language affect what they teach and how they
teach the language. Language focuses can be in the pronunciation, grammar, lexis, discourse (Bailey, 1998 in Graves, 2000: 28), can be as form, meaning and use (Larsen-Freeman, 1990 in Graves, 2000: 28) or can be as model of commuicative competence (Canale and Swain, 1980; Omaggio Hadley, 1993 in Graves, 2000: 28). The choice teachers make about what they believe about language influences their choice of teaching. Teachers who tend to emphasize discourse will expose their students to learn language through the real example such as from reading newspaper in taget language or analysing advertisement in target language. Teachers who has strong beliefs in meanig-based learning will emphasize on the relevance of learning language in the class with the context students have such as asking students to compose an essay responding to the actual issue in their surrounding.
Teachers‟ beliefs on society also influences their decision in choosing
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with language and culture interaction. They encompass „different dimensions of
culture such as social values (e.g., gender differences), attitudes (e.g., towards rules of men and women), norms (e.g., ways of greeting, eating), customs (e.g.,
marriage customs), and “products” (e.g., literature, art).‟ (Graves, 2000: 29). An
example of this issue may be related with the understanding of students‟ own culture and the target language culture because they may be different.
Sociopolitical issues concern with „how a given language or social group (ethnic,
gender, etc.) is viewed by other social groups, access to language and services,
and a critical awareness of how language is used‟ (Graves, 2000: 29). Teachers
with this belief may ask students to analyse and respond to a topic of news which affects them.
Teachers‟ views on learning and learners are fundamental issues in
deciding the teaching method. The way teachers perceive learners in the process of language learning has a great influence on the real practice inside the classroom. Teachers may view learners as knowledge maker who solve problems and discover knowledge by themselves or knowledge receiver who accept knowledge first from the teacher to solve problems. Learning may be perceived as
a cognitive process which involves „mental activity‟, an affective process which
involves „emotional connection and risk taking, and a social process which
involves „learning with others‟ (Stevick, 1998 in Graves, 2000: 30). It may also be
perceived as „involving different intelligences such as visual, kinesthetic, aditory,
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deciding the teaching method. As an example, teaching students at noon requires teachers to provide ice breaking or games to attract tired students to study.
Related to beliefs about learning, beliefs about teaching is another fundamental issue. Teachers may position themselves as facilitators, knowledge sources, knowledge transmitters, decision makers, or negotiators. The choice they made will influence the method they choose. As facilitator teachers will let students explore knowledge by themselves, as knowledge sources or transmitter teachers will transfer the knowledge they have directly. Often, teachers have contradiction with their own beliefs when they must deal with learners‟ needs (Graves, 2000: 30-31). The position teachers have taken may be negotiated when students require different kind of method. An example of this is when a teacher believe that drilling is not effective but the students can have a better process and result through drilling, he has to accept that drilling is the best method to apply in the classroom.
Articulating beliefs is an important phase of designing language course or plan. The beliefs influence the way teachers teach and what to teach. The choices
taken determine the teaching method implemented in the classroom. One‟s beliefs
may not be the same as others. Therefore, one‟s method applied in a class will not
be the same as other teachers‟ methods. Awareness of their own beliefs is
