Teaching English in Indonesi

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Teaching English in Indonesia 61

my language and to catch up onlearn more aboutfurther familiarise myself with

modem teaching methods.

Example 2:Mr Smith: Thank you for coming, Mr Khan, and you can

expect to hear from us in a week or so.Mr Khan: I should like to extend to you my warmest tha nks , sir.

Thanks a lot, then.Thank you very much, Mr Smith.

Cheerio.Good morning.

Please allow me to bid you good day.

Once the test has been attempted, there is considerable materialhere for further practice with language varieties. The relationbetween the less formal levels of style and use of phrasal verbscould well be a very profitable area of study.

Although native English students would react intuitively to theabove choices, as teachers in training they too need practice inthe handling of register and style. They too need to think of

language-use in terms of appropriateness as opposed to traditionaland notional correctness. There is no 'multi-grade' variety ofcorrect English, and it is at this level of language enquiry that oursecond-language learners must become first-language earners.

Teaching English in IndonesiaT. E. TARIGAN

Indonesia Union College, Bandung, Indonesia

In discussing the teaching of English in Indonesia, it is necessaryto review the current situation and future prospects. This articlewill open with a brief survey of the general background and theplace of English in the Indonesian secondary-school system. Thelevel of pupil proficiency in English will then be discussed in

relation to factors which impede effective teaching.This discussion will be supplemented by reference to the quality

of the teachers of English and to English-teaching methods,textbooks, and institutions and activities that may help to improvethe teaching of English in Indonesia, such as I.K .I.P. (the Institutefor Teacher Training and Pedagogy), in-service courses, andforeign aid.

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62 T. E. Tarigan

Background

Indonesia is made up of many islands, some of them very large.

For a long period before the Second World War all the islandswere under the rule of the Dutch. Now the people of Indonesiarule themselves. The nation is a republic.

In a geographical area of this size, divided up and separated byseas and m oun tain ranges, cultural development naturally did n ottake place everywhere in the same way and at the same rate.Indeed, there is a vast difference between the culture found on theisland of Java, and that still existing in the hinterland of Sumatraand Kalimantan (Borneo) and in the smaller and more remote

islands.The people consist of hundreds of tribes, with their various

mother tongues, religions, and beliefs. These factors, of course,make it difficult to implement reforms, so that there remains aconsiderable discrepancy between idealistic educational laws andpractice.

English in the secondary-school system

General secondary education is provided for children betweentwelve and fifteen by ordinary national general-type schools andby the more numerous private schools. (The secondary school iscalled S.M.P. in this country.)

Instruction in a foreign language has to be given in all secondaryschools for three hours a week over a period of three years. Thechoice of language remains with the school, but English is taughtin virtually all. Whereas the general syllabus for each schoolsubject is specified by the government, the use of particular textscomplying with the official English syllabus is not enforced.

Schools set their own final examination, but in private schoolsthe examining is supervised by the education department of thecountry. Theoretically, the pupil who obtains a good mark inthis examination has a sound basis in both oral and writtenEnglish and is qualified for admission to higher education andbusiness employment.

Standard of English

Th e aim is to provide p upils with a working know ledge of En glish.Having sufficient knowledge of English, they will be able to getacquainted with the lives, customs, and cultural achievements ofother people. More than that, active proficiency in English willenable a man to impart his thoughts to others, and to share theirthoughts and feelings. English is indeed important if not indis-


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Teaching English in Indonesia 63

pensable for us. Nevertheless the standard of achievement is ingeneral still far from satisfactory.

A study of the results of the questionnaire test of the school-

year 1969, carried out by the English Department of I.K.I.P.Bandung and taking all the government S.M.P.s in Bandung assamples, indicated that most of the students did not get passmarks.

In spite of certain conditions which might have caused thisunsatisfactory achievement, the validity of the findings is com-paratively high, since both the questions set in the examinationsand the technique of evaluation were standardised and there wasobjective m arking. I t provides ample evidence of the impoverished

state of English teaching.

The secondary school or S.M.P.

A complementary survey in which twenty-two English teacherswere interviewed in ten different schools detailed some of theunfavourable physical conditions. For example, ten teachers saidthey were frequently interrupted by extraneous noise, such asthat from adjoining classes or passing traffic. There was over-

crowding, too, with an average number of forty to fifty pupils,often lodged in cramped rooms. Most of the teachers said thatthey had not enough classrooms, so that two or three schools werecombined in one building. They had no audio-visual aids forlanguage teaching and most of the pupils had no printed texts.

The syllabuses imposed by the ministry of education in 1954/58and 1962/68 were unsuitable because of the diversity of pupils'backgrounds.

The Student's Handbook' was the only one printed by theministry of education and was unsuitable for the teachers, sincethey could not cover all the material in the time allotted. Thesame plea could be made today with equal justification. Whereasmany of the wide variety of texts employed were commendable asregards both content and presentation, others were found to beof very indifferent quality.

Of course, there is another variable to which this poor achieve-ment is due; namely, the teaching method. Since the standard

of achievement is poor and the teaching of English important,we should do our best to discover the most effective ways ofteaching the language.

The best way, Brooks says, 'is that every teacher shouldfind out the most suitable method appropriate to his need.Teachers are free to choose any method in accordance with theirneeds; as long as methods in language learning do not falsify

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64 T. E. Tarigan

and betray objectives, they may vary according to the size of theclass, its age and ability, its interest, its previous training, thematerials available, and many other details that are likely to be

peculiar to a given situation. This means that the teacher mustmake the ultimate decision about methods."

1

The ministry of education, however, decided that the 'Salatigaor aural-oral method' was the only available method, but most ofthe teachers did not know what that method was. Of course,this variable also made the result of the teaching of English inthis country unsatisfactory.

The teacher of English

Secondary-school English teachers are classified into three broadcategories, determined by educational background. The firstcategory comprises those who possess a recognised qualificationin English granted by I.K.I.P. or a university department ofeducation. The second includes those who have obtained aprofessional qualification in some other subject besides English,together with those who have completed advanced studies inEnglish but for some reason, such as travel abroad, have not yet

graduated. The third category embraces all untrained or partly-trained teachers. The first category, however, does not neces-sarily imply an advanced degree of specialisation. The reallycompetent teacher of English, boasting a prolonged period ofresidence and relevant study in an English-speaking environment,is rare .

Since the standard of living in this country is very low, teachersare often obliged to hold posts in several schools and to teachmore than one subject. The most unfortunate thing is that several

teachers attend their classes once a week only, and, since theyare very tired, only ask their students to copy from text-booksor from the blackboard. This factor, of course, degrades thequality of the teaching.

Universities and I.K.I.P.s

Teacher training is provided in the educational faculties of someforty-three government universities and I.K.I.P.s, and in manyprivate colleges and universities. Of these, only three centres haveso far established fully-fledged courses specifically designed toprepare English teachers, i.e. I.K.I.P. Malang, I.K.I.P. Bandung,and I.K.I.P. Jakarta. Similar programmes have since beenestablished at the Indonesian University, the Atmajaya Catholic

1T> . Nelson Brooks, Language and Language Learning, Harcourt Brace

and W orld, New Y ork, 1964, p. 140.

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Teaching English in Indon esia 65

University, and several foreign-language academies, both govern-ment and private. The changes of political situation also makethe progress and the development of the programmes difficult.

Indonesian students, moreover, experience a variety of socio-economic difficulties. In particular, although tuition fees arecharged according to parents' incomes, many students have tosupport themselves during term-time by taking up employmentlocally, and occasionally further afield, so regular attendancecan not be strictly enforced. The part-time studen t has his coun ter-part in the part-time lecturer, who seeks elsewhere for additionalincome.

Against this backgro und it is not easy to foster m atu re attitudesto advanced studies, and exacting programmes may be renderedineffective by the high rate of student dropout. For example, thenumber of English teachers expected to qualify at three govern-ment I.K.I.P.s this year is not more than ten.

In-service training

During the past few years the British Council and the FordFoundation in Jakarta, in collaboration with the ministry of

education, has held holiday training courses for English teachers.These have recently been held for two or four weeks.

The real need of English teaching is for eminently practicalin-service training, aimed at improving the teacher's knowledgeof English as well as his teaching skill. This can be best achievedby concentrating on methods, thereby shifting emphasis from'why' to 'how' and making proper use of the limited time avail-able. The given certificate would not be based on a writtenexamination, but on evidence of performance.

Foreign help

The United Kingdom government affords technical assistance tothe development of Indonesian education. Scholarships areoffered for study in Great Britain. The United States governmentalso gives aid. Co-spon sored Indonesian-A me rican c ultural centreshave been set up and visiting advisers consulted on matters ofeducational policy. Many Indonesian teachers are sent to study

in the United States.The most effective and potentially influential contribution to

this programme is the placing of foreign lecturers in the Englishdepartments of higher institutions.

The Colombo Plan and UNESCO make a great contr ibut ionto English teaching in Indonesia, since both these institutionscarry out research in developing the prog ram m e and send teachers


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66 Mira Roy

to study English more seriously in countries where English is themother tongue. These foreign institutions have also helped theIndonesian government in preparing English textbooks for junior

and senior high schools.

Outlook

In teaching English as a first foreign language in Indonesiateachers face many problems, because this language is verydifficult for the pupils. There are several variables workingtogether, such as the geographical conditions, the nationalpolitical, economic and social situations, the educational back-

ground of the teachers, the shortage of textbooks, and the absenceof teaching methods.

Financial support for education is still too low, so there aremany teachers who hold several posts. We acknowledge that theuniversities and I.K.I.P.s are growing rapidly, but they areinadequate to the teaching of English in this country.

We also acknowledge that the way to success in teaching aforeign language is a long and difficult one, and therefore patienceand hard work are necessary. Facilities should be given to the

teachers of English, in particular to improve their command ofteaching methods.

The importance of English needs to be given more officialrecognition, so that English may be more effectively taught.

Bengali Difficulties with theSounds of EnglishM I R A R O Y

NIE Campus, New Delhi, India

Most Bengali speakers of English mispronounce English vowelsand c on son an ts because there is interference b y the m oth er ton gue.The mistakes in English pronunciation committed by Bengalilearners can be classified into a few common categories.

Some English sounds are unfamiliar to Bengali learners, partlybecause they do not get proper ear-training in these sounds andpartly because the sounds do not exist in Bengali. Bengalis have


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Teaching English in Indonesi