English Teaching in

         Indonesia:

Status, Issues and Challenges

                                                  BY BACHRUDIN MUSTHAFA, PH.D.

Indonesia is made of 17,000 islands (14,000 are inhabited) stretching across 3,200 miles of equatorial oceans. With her current population over 200 million, Indonesia is the world's fourth most populous country and has more than 500 ethnic groups, each with its own language (Purwadi & Muljoatmodjo, 2000). Indonesia has a national, unifying language, Bahasa Indonesia, which is the official language used in offices, most business dealings, and social interactions on official occasions. It is also the lan­guage of instruction for all levels of schooling in Indonesia.

The Educational System

Indonesia has a unified national education system that consists of three main stages: nine years of basic education (six years of elementary school and three years of lower secondary school, i.e., junior high), secondary education (i.e., senior high), and tertiary education (university level). Tertiary education consists of three levels: a four-year sarjana (equal to a bachelor's level), magister (master's level), and dok­tor. In addition, children may attend preschool, which is, for the most part, run by private educational institutions.

While there is a unified national cur­riculum, local communities are allowed to develop about 20% of the total curricu­lum-the "local content"-so that 'the educational enterprise meets the needs of its stakeholders and the community devel­ops a sense of ownership.

The Development of a National

English Syllabus­

As early as 1950, when a foreign language to be chosen for the school curriculum nationwide (either Dutch or English), pol­icy makers in Indonesia were well aware that English could serve a very important role as a tool in the development of the country, both for international relations and scientific-technological advancement. English was chosen over Dutch despite the fact that the Dutch had colonized Indonesia for three and a half centuries. As is very well recorded in our history, the

official status of English in the country has been "the first foreign language" and the political stance of Indonesia's govern­ment is quite firm: "English is not and will never be a social language nor the second official language in Indonesia" (Sadtono, 1997:7).

With English being given this status, the objective of English language teaching (ELT) in Indonesia is to equip students with a working knowledge of the lan­guage. While this instructional objective may appear self-explanatory, in the con­text of formal schooling, the notion of "working knowledge in English" has been approached in different ways throughout the history of ELT in Indonesia. For instance, in the 1975 English Syllabus, while the final goal of teaching was said to be the development of communicative competence in English, the actual English teaching focused almost exclusively on the mastery of linguistic patterns without giving proper attention to their ~se in communicative situations.

Quite predictably, the mismatch between the goal of ELT and the means being used to achieve it led to disappoint­ment among both ELT theorists and prac­titioners. In the 1984 Syllabus, which served to correct the 1975 syllabus, the notion of "working knowledge in English" was then approached by restor­ing the true goal of E:1g1ish teaching, that is, "meaningfulness and communicative functions" (Ministry of Education and Culture 1986 and 1987 cited in Huda, 1999). In actual classroom practice, how­ever, the notion of "communicative com­petence" was misinterpreted and taught by most teachers as "oral skills." This mis­understanding, in turn, caused controver­sy among English teachers and experts.

Building on the lessons learned from these two failed attempts, current ELT in Indonesia adopts communicative lan­guage principles under the 1994 English Syllabus, which brings to the forefront the notion of "meaningfulness approach." Huda (1999) has interpreted this approach in two ways: 1) meaning-based instruc­tion, and 2) meaningful instruction. Meaning-based instruction starts from the notion of language as a means to express and understand meaning. As meaning is determined by language scope and is also defined by social contexts, ELT should be targeted to develop students' ability to understand and express meaning in the context of language used for communica­tive purposes. Language learning is mean­ingful if students learn expressions at the discourse level as opposed to isolated words. To this end, the presentation of learning materials must be in the context of specific situations because meaning changes in different contexts.

The second interpretation of the "meaningfulness approach" is that instruction should be meaningful to learn­ers. Language instruction is meaningful it is relevant to learners' needs and demands. The relevance of English instruction to the needs of learners as a group is ensured when what is being taught to-and engaged by-learners is somehow related to what they think is important and useful. To this end, the selection and presentation of learning materials should be made with reference to what is generally of interest to learners (horizontal relevance) and/or what is like­ly to be needed by learners in the near future (vertical relevance). To make the whole learning activity authentic, all lan­guage components and linguistic macro skills should be integrated, and treatment of any linguistic aspect' or skill is to be made in the context of the whole dis­course (e.g., Musthafa 2001).

While, at the theoretical level, the goals seem reasonably clear, remaining at issue here is how classroom teachers as front-line players can translate the ideas as originally conceived by the syllabus designers. The issue of teachers' ability to translate principles into classroom prac­tice becomes important because it is the' classroom teachers who will determine what happens-and does not happen-in the classroom.

Another issue of concern is the kind and focus of the tests administered to assess the relative success of the instruc­tion. The issue of test format and empha­sis is important because we have learned form research and experience that grades are important to both teachers and students. That is to say, tests, as research has established, will drive instruction.

The biggest challenge, then, is to empower classroom teachers so that they are productively involved in the design of course syllabi and assessment instruments.

English in Secondary Schools

In secondary schools, where students receive the bulk of their English language instruction, English is a required subject. In lower secondary schools, it is taught four times a week (45 min. per lesson). In upper secondary schools, English is taught four times a week in the first and second years. In the third year, it is taught five times a week in the science and social studies strands and 11 times a week in the language strand. One academic year is 36 weeks, so lower secondary school students receive up to 136 lessons a year and 368 lessons in three years. Thus, during their schooling in the lower and upper sec­ondary schools, the students get some 736 hours of English instruction-a very sig­nificant number of hours devoted to a for­eign language.

Officially, the English instructional objective at the lower secondary school is that the students will develop the English skills of reading, listening, speaking, and writing in the­matic situations in accordance with their individual develop­mental levels and interests at the 1,000 word-level and using appropriate structures. In the upper level, the students are expected to develop similar language skills in certain the­matic situations at the 2,500 word-level and using appropri­ate structures.

To this end, ELT in Indonesia's schools adopts a meaning-based approach, as mentioned before, with the fol­lowing guiding principles: 1) language is an instrument to express meaning; 2) meaning is deter­mined by both linguistic and situational contexts; 3) learning a language is learning to use the language in communicative activities in the target language; 4) mastery of the language components is needed to support the mastery of communicative competence; and 5) the teaching of the language components can be done when­ever necessary (Huda 1999).

Unlike its predecessors, the current 1994 English Syllabus adopts a more flex­ible format leaving a great deal of room for creativity on the part of teachers and mate­rials developers. The current curriculum provides only general guidelines in the form of learning objectives, teaching methods and techniques, and the scope and general order of the learning materials.

While ample room is provided for teachers and materials developers to devel­op instructional materials, teachers are left virtually to their own resources. This rais­es a question: How many teachers feel confident and are capable of preparing pedagogically sound instructional materi­als on their own when they have never received systematic training on the matter? It has become public knowledge that, for the major part of our teaching force, the proficiency level of foreign language teachers in Indonesia is barely enough to understand the materials they strive to teach.

This being the case, a major challenge we face is how to balance giving teachers freedom while empowering them with solid professional knowledge to enable them to make informed decisions.

English in Elementary Schools

English in elementary schools is taught within the "local content" part of the cur­riculum. This gives flexibility to the school management to make decisions regarding the teaching of English based on the stu­dents' needs or community and environ­mental demands (Suyanto 1997).

The main objective of English lessons at this early stage is to introduce young learners to the idea that in addition to their native and national languages, they can also have a foreign language. More specif­ically, the teaching of English in elemen­tary schools is targeted toward the devel­opment of the ability to understand simple oral and written language (Huda 1999).

Many elementary schools have taken advantage of this local-content curriculum offer. For example, in Malang, a small town in east Java, there were 22 elemen­tary schools introducing English as an extra-curricular subject to their young learners (Wahyanti 1978 cited in Suyanto, 1997). Currently, in the city of Bandung, West Java, there are hundreds of elemen­tary schools teaching English to their fourth to sixth grade children.

While the idea of introducing a for­eign language to young learners is encour­aging as it indicates a new realization of the importance of English in the modem world, ELT in elementary schools in Indonesia has caused some concerns. The first issue of concern is instructional mate­rials. Under the current governmental ini­tiative of universal nine-year basic educa­tion, all elementary school pupils will con­tinue their schooling through lower sec­ondary school. However, because English is not offered in all elementary schools, some children in the lower secondary schools have already had English lessons and others have not. The concern here is whether or not the instructional materials in the elementary schools should be the same as those in the lower secondary schools. This question is worth careful con­sideration as each choice will have potential problems associated with it.

A second issue is teachers of English for young learners. Elem­entary school teachers are generally willing to teach English, but their willingness is based on the wrong assumption that it is a simple matter. These elementary school teachers are not actually prepared to teach English in general-not to mention English for young learners in particular. Teaching English has never been part of the curriculum of elementary school teacher education programs in Indonesia (Huda 1999).

English in Universities

ELT in universities differs from ELT in secondary schools in various aspects, including its status, number of hours, instructional objectives, teaching methods, and instructional materials. Each higher learning institution enjoys autonomy in determining all these matters, making ELT at this educational level variable not only across institutions but also across depart­ments in the same university. More specifically-with the exception of departments of English-some universi­ties or colleges offer English as a required course, other institutions offer English courses as an elective, and in other uni­versities, English courses are nowhere to be found.

While universities differ in the way they treat English as an academic course, all share the realization that proficiency in English is important to students' academ­ic success since a large number of col­lege-level textbooks are written in English. In those universities that don't provide English instruction, the message to students is clear: it's up to you to learn English on your own!

There seems to be a collective sense of doubt that two or four credit units of on-campus formal English instruction make a difference for university stu­dents--considering the fact that some 736 hours of English in junior and senior high school do not seem to equip students with the skills required to read textbooks on their own. The biggest challenge, then, is to design a relatively brief but focused skills-based English course that could help students directly with their studies in their major.

Private Sector English Courses

In response to ever-increasing public demand, there is currently a myriad of English courses in Indonesia-in big cities, small towns, and even in remote areas. Employing both local teachers and native speakers of English, these mostly privately owned English courses offer various English programs: from those for children at the beginning level to adult-­professionals who need very specific skills-based (e.g., English for textbook reading) as well as discipline- or voca­tion-specific English instruction (e.g." English for lawyers). Additionally, cours­es on the TOEFL and GRE are easy to find in virtually any city in Indonesia. These mushrooming private English courses actually help the government overcome some of the deficiencies in the system of ELT. The Ministry of National Education cannot tackle the teaching of English alone, particularly because it does not have its expertise centralized in one place, which causes communication and logistical problems.

Teacher Preparation and Professional Development

Prospective teachers, including English teachers, are generally trained in govern­ment-subsidized teacher training pro­grams in state teacher training colleges and universities that have a faculty of teacher training and educational sciences. These teacher training institutions gener­ally offer both degree (sarjana, magister and doktor) and non-degree teacher preparation programs ranging from two to three years. Aside from these regular aca­demic programs, these institutions may also run in-service teacher up-grading programs for a specific group of partici­pants-usually on a contract basis with the Ministry of National Education or other educational agencies. For example, as this article is being written, the English department of the Indonesia University of Education is running a one-year English teacher certification program specifically designed for secondary Islamic school teachers under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Religious Affairs.

Upon graduation from the program, teachers of English usually pursue their own professional development while dis­charging their day-to-day duties by way of in-service training programs. This can be done "informally" by participating in professional activities with their fellow teachers and members of English teacher associations and "formally" by taking academic courses in colleges and univer­sities in their regions. For those who teach in higher-learning institutions (i.e., uni­versity lecturers) more systematic and aggressive staff development plans are available with various scholarship sup­ports from the government to continue study for advanced degrees (i.e., master's and doctorate levels) both in-country as well as overseas.

There are at least two big profession­al associations for teachers of English in Indonesia, and they conduct regular pro­fessional development programs: Teach­ers of English as a Foreign Language in Indonesia (TEFLIN) and Council of Teachers of English (MGMP). The for­mer is national in scope and regularly holds national and international seminars to disseminate new information about trends and issues in the field of teaching English as a foreign language. MGMP is regional in scope and serves as an infor­mal forum for teachers to exchange ideas and offer mutual assistance among mem­bers. MGMPs in some provinces regular­ly conduct textbook writing workshops and produce textbooks for publication.

Teachers from Outside Indonesia

Although there are no accurate statistics regarding the number of expatriate English teachers currently working in Indonesia, there are obviously thousands of native English speakers teaching in various institutions in the country. Various programs have made this possible: gov­ernment-to-government exchange pro­grams, university-to-university partner­ship programs, and the commercial job market. For instance, the Teaching Fellow Program of the U.S. Embassy in Indonesia is a good example of a govern­ment-to-government exchange program through which interested American nationals may come to Indonesia as English instructors-or expert lecturers in any discipline. In a university-to-universi­ty partnership program between Ohio State University and Indonesia University of Education (UPI), professors from Ohio State recently gave a series of lectures and workshops at UPI on democratic teaching and constructivism. Finally, the commer­cial job market gives people access to Indonesia with competitive teacher recruitment by various English course institutions and educational agencies like English First, the International Language Program, and other English education centers across the country.

A Middle Course

ELT in a multi-ethnic, multicultural and multilingual country with a huge popula­tion and enormous diversity across regions such as Indonesia has posed great challenges for our English education pro­fession. The government of Indonesia has responded by devising a wide array of strategies to maintain its unity as a nation ­state and, at the same time, to be an active member of the global society. Bahasa Indonesia is maintained as the unifying national language while English enjoys first-foreign-language status. As part of the overall cultural development strategy; the Ministry of National Education strives to chart a middle course as a way to develop the nation-state to its fullest potential. The national curriculum is designed to ensure the education of all of Indonesia's children yet it is balanced by attempts to address diverse local needs. As we identify issues and challenges in ELT in Indonesia, we pave the way and gamer resources for a better future for Indonesia in general and ELT in Indonesia in particular.

Bachrudin Musthafa, Ph.D., teaches graduate studies in English in the Department of English, The Indonesia University of Education in Bandung, Indof1esia. He may be reached at musthafa@indo.net.id.

REFERENCES

Huda, N. 1999. Language Learning and Teaching: Issues and Trends. Malang: Penerbit IKIP Malang.

Musthafa, B. 2001. Communicative Language Teaching in Indonesia: Issues of Theoretical Assumptions and Challenges in Classroom Practice. Journal of Southeast Asian Education 2 (2).

Purwadi, A., & Mulyoatmodjo, S. 2000. Education in Indonesia: Coping with Challenges in the Third Millennium. Journal of Southeast Asian Education 3 (I).

Sadtono, E. 1997. ELT Development in Indonesia: A Smorgasbord. In The Development of TEFL in Indonesia, ed. E. Sadtono, 1-19. Malang: Penerbit IKIP Malang.

Suyanto, K. 1997. Teaching English to Young Learners in Indonesia. In The Development of TEFL in Indonesia. ed. E. Sadtono, 166-172. Malang: Penerbit IKIP Malang.

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