The English Language Teaching students’ beliefs toward

The English Language Teaching students’ beliefs toward English Language Teaching in the era of World Englishes

THESIS

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of

Sarjana Pendidikan

Aulia Febriana Suryaningtyas

112008131

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

SALATIGA

2013

ii


THESIS

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of

Sarjana Pendidikan


112008131

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

SATYA WACANA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

SALATIGA

2013

iii


THESIS

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Sarjana Pendidikan

Aulia Febriana Suryaningtyas 112008131

Approved by:

Nugrahenny T. Zacharias, Ph. D. Prof. Dr. Gusti. Astika, M. A. Supervisor Examiner

iv

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT

This thesis contains no such material as has been submitted for examination in any course or accepted for the fulfillment of any degree or diploma in any university. To the best of my knowledge and my belief, this contains no material previously published or written by any other person except where due reference is made in the text.

Copyright@ 2013. Aulia Febriana Suryaningtyas and Nugrahenny T. Zacharias, Ph. D.

All rights reserved. No part of this thesis may be reproduced by any means without the permission of at least one of the copyright owners or the English Department, Faculty of Language and Literature, Satya Wacana University, Salatiga.


v

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Name : Aulia Febriana Suryaningtyas Student ID Number : 112008131 Study Program : English Department Faculty : Faculty of Language and Literature Kind of Work : Undergraduate Thesis

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Date : May 2013

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Approved by

Thesis Supervisor Thesis Examiner

Nugrahenny T. Zacharias, Ph. D. Prof. Dr. Gusti. Astika, M. A.

1

The English Language Teaching students’ beliefs toward English Language Teaching in

the era of World Englishes


ABSTRACT

This study was conducted to analyze the English Language Teaching students’ beliefs toward English language teaching in the era of World Englishes. The participants of the study were one hundred participants of English Language Teaching, Satya Wacana Christian University from all existing batches. This study used quantitative research, but it was elaborated qualitatively. The findings of the research were organized by breaking the research question down into three sub-research questions. The first finding showed that western-published materials were more preferable since it could serve as a language model. The second finding showed that the use of students’ mother tongue in the classroom was considered necessary by the participants to help them catch the teachers’ explanation easily. However, the teachers merely occasionally used it in the classroom practice to make their students master English well. The last finding showed that ELT students agreed that the students should learn the cultures from English-speaking countries to avoid misunderstanding and also to enhance students’ awareness of cultural diversities about the language they learnt. However, the teacher sometimes related the topic of the materials with the students’ cultures in classroom practice. It meant that learning English-speaking countries’ cultures made the students become more aware of other cultures and therefore, they could enrich their knowledge. The study suggests that according to the participants, both English and local cultures are important considerations in English language teaching in the era of World Englishes.

Keywords: beliefs, World Englishes, materials, mother tongue, culture

Introduction

The aim of my study is to investigate what Standard English in the era of World

Englishes is based, whether on the students’ cultures or English-speaking countries’ cultures.

This study was conducted based on my experience as a student of English Language Teaching,

Satya Wacana Christian University, especially when I took cross-cultural understanding (CCU)

2

class (ED605). The experience began when my friends had a presentation about “The Global

Spread of English”, which was one of materials in CCU handbook. In the presentation, my

friends had an opinion that ESL/EFL teachers had to help students in gaining access to a

standardize English, which later might empower them to achieve an effective international

communication. This student believed that English-speaking countries were the providers of

Standard English. So, the teachers must follow English-speaking countries’ standard of English

so that effective international communication could be achieved.

However, I had a different opinion toward the Standard English in the era of World

Englishes. I believed that ESL/EFL teachers had to relate their teaching not only based on

English-speaking countries’ standards but also based on the students’ own culture because the

students had to know about the interconnections and also differences between local cultures and

English speaking countries. This argument was supported by Hiep (2006) that says “ESL/EFL

teachers must be working to help students to communicate effectively with the world while

maintaining their national and cultural values.” Therefore, it was very important for the teacher

to know this principle, because they must know the different communication needs of the

students. It is also used to help the teacher shows the difference between global and local

communication to their students. In other words, teachers should help their students to master

their English language better on one hand and preserve their cultural identities on the other hand.

My personal experience above supports my reason to conduct this study because I was

wondering and interested in to know the English Language Teaching students’ beliefs toward the

Standard English in the era of World Englishes. Besides that, I also wanted to answer my

curiosity toward the culture that should be used in English Language Teaching. In order to

conduct the study, I distributed questionnaires to one hundred students of English Language

3

Teaching students from all existing batches. The study was aimed to know and to explore to

what extent English Language Teaching students’ beliefs toward the way English is taught in

EFL country.

Another reason that motivated me to conduct this study was English Language Teaching

students’ future jobs as a teacher. As future English teachers, they are expected to have

awareness on various different varieties of English. It makes me curious to know what kind(s) of

English should be taught in English language teaching? Does the teaching must be based on

students’ culture or must follow western speaking countries’ cultures? This situation leads me to

a question; and I arranged the research question for this paper, “What are the English Language

Teaching students’ beliefs toward English language teaching in the era of World Englishes”?

The finding of a study by Zacharias (2003) about materials, the use of the students’

mother tongue, and the issues of culture in English language teaching supported that ESL/EFL

teacher feel curious toward Standard English in the era of World Englishes. In a similar view,

Hiep (2006) emphasized on the dilemmas faced by those “ESL/EFL teachers, as they need to

resolve conflicts between internationalism and national culture identity- that is, working to help

students to communicate effectively with the world while maintaining their national and cultural

values.”

Many ESL/EFL teachers do not have sufficient information related to the variety of world

Englishes and also the way English is taught in the era of World Englishes. Regarding to what

English should be used in the classroom practice; it is hard for most English teachers to consider

either Western speaking countries’ cultures or students’ own culture. Since many people are still

confused about this issue, then this study attempted to raise the awareness of English Language

Teaching students, as the EFL learners, about the role of English as an international language.

4

As future English teachers, it is important to know the role of English as an international

language. It would help them to choose the suitable English according to the students needs.

Since they were going to be an English teacher in the future, choosing the suitable English

according to the students needs would help them to find the best English to be used and followed

when they start to teach English. Besides that, our awareness on the way English is taught in the

Word Englishes is also needed to help us in learning English.

From some reasons above, as an English Language Teaching student, finally I interest to

conduct these issues as my study. My curiosity to know the students’ beliefs about the way

English in the era of World Englishes is taught have driven me to conduct the study.

Literature Review

It is a widely accepted fact that English is the world language (Graddol, 1997). English

has become the “global language” or “world language” or “international language” and the

lingua franca of the modern era. The definition of a global language is “a language which has

been given a specific place within countries and communities around the world, even in places

where there are very few native speakers of this language” (Rimando, 2010).

McKay (2002) says that, “As it is an International language, the use of English is no

longer connected to the culture in Inner circle countries.” It means that in the era of World

Englishes, local culture is very important in learning English since the inner circle countries’ are

no longer the most and only important thing. In this case, the World Englishes comes with the

concept of using local culture in English learning and teaching activity. Seelye (1984:26) argues

that “the study of language cannot be divorced from the study of culture” for language is the

means through which all elements of culture are represented and carried out (Moran 2001).

5

From the point of views above, a problem arise. The problem is whose culture we should

use when we learn about the Word Englishes. Does it based on students’ culture or not? Does the

teaching must be based on our culture or must we follow the role of international language? The

answer is “as varied as the numerous English speakers around the world” (Alptekin 1996:60).

Everyone has different views, perspectives and opinions about English language based on

how they see, think and examine the object (Arnold, 1999), as well as the culture we should use

in English language teaching. All of them are related to our beliefs. To get better insights about

this study, we should firstly know and understand about what belief is and how it is connected to

language teaching.

Theoretical Framework

a. What are beliefs?

As has been stated above, Sigel as cited by Griffiths (2008) says that beliefs can

be defined as “mental constructions of experiences”, which not only cognitive constructs

but also social constructs are arising from experience. Beliefs are central construct in

every discipline that deals with human behavior and learning (Fishbein & Ajzen as cited

in Bernat & Gvozdenko, 2005). Beliefs are important because learners hold their beliefs

to be true and these beliefs then guide how they interpret their experiences and how they

behave (Rubin’s as cited by Griffiths, 2008).

Riley (1996) argues that beliefs will directly shape learners’ strategy use as well

as their attitude and motivation. Everyone has their own beliefs based on their

experiences and behaves of the object. The differences in beliefs which they have will

influence their ability, motivation, attitudes and learning procedures in learning English.

6

b. The purpose of beliefs

The characteristic of belies are: beliefs are socially constructed and culturally

transmitted (McAlpine, Eriks-Brophy, and Crago, 1996) and have to be inferred from

statements, intentions, and actions (Pajares, 1992). It means that, beliefs and actions are

necessary in order to gain a better understanding of the practices happen in language

classrooms. The study of teachers’ beliefs, as Richards, Gallo, and Renandya (2001, p.

42) have pointed out, "forms part of the process of understanding how teachers

conceptualize their work". Some of research had been already measured and identified

beliefs held by school teachers respectively. Little research has been done to explore the

nexus between language course teachers’ beliefs and the pedagogical decisions

manifested in their teaching and learning contexts.

c. Beliefs in relation to English in the era of World Englishes

Zacharias (2003) argues that “One of the fundamental consequences of the global

spread of English has been the rapid increase of English speakers around the world.” It

means that English has become a global language that is most frequently spoken by

people all over the world..

According to Kachru (1985), the speakers of English fall into three categories,

which can be represented through three concentric circles. The Inner Circle represents the

traditional bases of English, incorporating various accents of the native spoken English

speaking countries as the UK, the USA, Canada, Australia, or New Zealand. the Outer

Circle refers to the country contexts in which English was first introduced as a colonial

language, then was used as a second language such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the

7

Philippines, and Singapore. The Expanding Circle involves countries where English is

introduced as a foreign language as China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia.

d. Beliefs in relation to materials

Teaching materials is believed to be an important part of most English teaching

programs. Teaching materials are used to support the teaching and learning activities. It

refers to a spectrum of educational materials that teachers use in the classroom to support

specific learning objectives. “Materials can be categorized broadly into unpublished

materials (e.g. teacher-made materials, visual aids, and teachers’ voice) and published

materials (e.g. resource books and course books)” (Zacharias, 2003).

e. Beliefs in relation to the use of students’ mother tongue

“Mother tongue is a window into students’ understanding of the concepts being

taught” (Zacharias, 2003). Mother tongue is used to make sure whether the students

properly understand particular concept of English or not. There are some suggestion for

the function of mother tongue in the classroom, such as; checking students’

understanding, giving feedback to individual students, giving instruction, explaining the

meaning of new words, explaining the content of reading texts, explaining grammar

concepts, and also the student’s mother tongue should never be used in class.

Besides that, Cook (2001) believes that “using mother tongue can be time

efficient in certain situation”. It means that mother tongue can be used as a tool to

provide a quick and accurate translation of an English word so that the students

understand the explanation correctly.

8

f. Beliefs in relation to the place of English-speaking culture

Seelye (1984:26) believe that “the study of language cannot be divorced from the

study of culture”. It means that in the era of World Englishes, culture is very important

for learning English, beside we learn about language, we also must learn about the

culture itself because both of them have a relationship each other. Richards (2002) asserts

that “the teaching of English should still include culture but not the culture of English-

speaking countries.” English is no longer viewed as the property of the English-speaking

world but is an international commodity

With different beliefs, it can lead to the emergence of differences in varieties of English

language teaching that we use. It often serves a different purpose. The varieties of English will

become mutually unintelligible and so undeserving the label 'English' (Kachru and Nelson

2001:20).

It might be more useful to focus on the way English is taught since they are the one who

deals with English language teaching every day. It is important for English users, including

teachers, to develop a greater tolerance of difference, and the ability to adapt and adjust their

expectations according to the interlocutors and settings (Jenkins, 2000). Thus, teachers need to

make learners aware of cross-cultural variations embodied in different varieties of English and

by maximizing their abilities to negotiate, accommodate and accept plurality of standards (Bhatia

1997 cited in Jenkins 2000).

9

The Study

Research Question

The study was guided by the following research question:

What are the English Language Teaching students’ beliefs toward English language

teaching in the era of World Englishes?

I will answer the research question by breaking it down to the three following Sub Research

Questions.

1. What are the English Language Teaching students’ beliefs toward the materials used

in English Language Teaching?

2. What are the English Language Teaching students’ beliefs toward the use of students’

mother tongue in English Language Teaching?

3. What are the English Language Teaching students’ beliefs toward the place of

English-speaking culture in English Language Teaching?

Context of the study

This study was conducted in English Language Teaching, Faculty of Language and

Literature, Satya Wacana Christian University, Salatiga. The participants of this study were the

English Language Teaching students. The participants of the study were one hundred

participants from all existing batches. This study was conducted in the odd semester (2012-

2013). The reason why I chose the participants was I thought about their future job as future

English teachers. I wanted to find out their beliefs in choosing the suitable English according to

the students needs would help them to find the best English should be used and would follow

when they started to teach English in the era of World Englishes.

Instrument of Data Collection

10

This study used questionnaire (in Appendix) as an instrument of data collection. The

questionnaire was adapted from Zacharias (2003) which consisted of nine questions which

focused on ELT students’ beliefs and classroom practice. The questionnaire is more focused on

the materials used in the lesson, the use of students’ mother tongue (Bahasa Indonesia or

Javanese), and the place of English-speaking culture in English language teaching. In the

questionnaire, I used close and open-ended questions where students would explain their answers

more specifically.

Procedures of Data Collection

First of all, I spread one hundred fifty questionnaires to ELT students from all existing

batches to find ELT students’ beliefs about English language teaching in the era of World

Englishes. After that, I analyzed this study use quantitative research, but it was elaborated

qualitatively. This study focused more on students’ perceptions and beliefs. But when I analyzed

the questionnaire, there were a lot of participants who did not answer open-ended question and

just answered close-ended question for about fifty participants. Because the open-ended question

was needed in my research, I tried to sift the participants become one hundred participants. I

used close and open-ended questions where the students would explain their answers more

specifically.

Data Analysis

This study was a descriptive study in which the writer here tried to find out ELT

students’ beliefs toward English language teaching in the era of World Englishes. This study

used quantitative research, but it was elaborated qualitatively. This study was more focused on

students’ perceptions and beliefs. This study analyzed the three major categories, that were

11

materials used in the lesson, the use of students’ mother tongue (Bahasa Indonesia or Javanese),

and the place of English-speaking culture in English language teaching

Findings and Discussion

This study was guided by the research question:

What are the English Language Teaching students’ beliefs toward English language

teaching in the era of World Englishes?

The findings were organized by breaking the research question down to the three sub-research

questions.

1. What are the English Language Teaching students’ beliefs toward the materials used

in English language teaching?

a. Students’ stated beliefs

This section discusses the students’ beliefs about materials to be used in English language

teaching. The focus was to explore the students’ belief between published materials from locally

produced and English speaking countries which should be used in English language teaching.

Table 1 below presents their beliefs on the materials used in several English skills.

Table 1 below presented the percentages of students’ beliefs on the materials used in

several English skills. When each of the participants was asked to choose the most preferable

materials to learn from all skills that were written in the questionnaire, there were 81% of the

participants chose published materials from English-Speaking Country to teach pronunciation

skill, 26% of participants chose locally produced to teach reading skill, and 20% of participants

chose both locally produced and English-speaking countries published materials to teach reading

skill. But, 20% of participants had no preferences to choose any materials to teach writing.

12

Table 1. The percentages of students’ beliefs on the materials used in several English skills

SKILLS

Publish Materials

Locally

Produced

From English

Speaking

Country

Both No

Preference

Speaking (other than pronunciation) 10 % 70 % 13 % 7 %

Pronunciation 5 % 81 % 4 % 10 %

Reading 26 % 39 % 20 % 15 %

Grammar 19 % 58 % 8 % 15 %

Writing 23 % 41 % 16 % 20 %

Listening 13 % 63 % 16 % 8 %

AVERAGE 16 % 59 % 13 % 12 %

Figure 1. The average of students’ beliefs on the materials used in all English skills

Table 1 and Figure 1 clearly showed that when the participants learnt English, more

students preferred having materials published in English speaking countries (59%) to materials

published locally (16%) in order to learn the language features, such as speaking, pronunciation,

reading, grammar, writing, and listening. In particular, they preferred materials from English

16%

59%

13%

12%Locally Produced

From English Speaking

Country

Both

No Preference

13

speaking countries for these particular skills, such as Speaking (other than pronunciation) (70%)

and Pronunciation (81%).

There were some reasons from the participants based on their answers from the

questionnaire. Materials which were published by English speaking countries (59%) were chosen

to learn speaking (70%) and pronunciation (81%) skill because twenty one of the students

thought that it was better to learn from the natives since the contents of the native-produced

materials can be used as models for the correct English pronunciation. Many students (34

students) had the same opinion that learning speaking and pronunciation from the English

speakers’ materials were clearer and more valid so that they could speak English like natives. It

was important because the main purpose of learning English was to communicate with the native

speakers so that they needed to speak like natives. Besides that, fifteen of students also

mentioned that when they learned English, they needed to learn about its cultures, so native

speakers’ materials were considered better since it presented the real English cultures.

Zacharias (2003) supported the assumption by sharing the following things regarding to

the advantages of English-speaking published materials:

- they provide ‘natural’, ‘authentic’, ‘real’, ‘original’, ‘realistic’, ‘accurate’ and

‘correct’ (error-free) exposure to English,

- they provide appropriate cultural background to language teaching,

- the quality is better in terms of content and appearance,

- they are more easily available than locally-produced materials and thus provided

more alternative and choice.

In contrast, those who chose materials which were published locally (16%) when learning

speaking (10%) and pronunciation (5%) said that it was easier to understand local materials since

14

the topics presented in the materials came from the environment around them. An interesting fact

was found that there were six of students who said that the students should learn language from

what they were familiar with. Moreover, there were also some students (4 students) who said that

since students were more familiar with local cultures, it would encourage them to speak more.

b. Stated Classroom Practice

Still related to materials to be used in English language teaching, I would like to explore

the extent to which English speaking countries materials were used in the classroom for several

skills. The data was showed in Table 2 below.

Table 2. The use of materials from English-speaking countries for several skills

Skills Regularly Often Sometimes Rarely Never

Speaking (other than pronunciation) 16% 50% 28% 5% 1%

Pronunciation 26% 45% 22% 6% 1%

Reading 18% 43% 33% 5% 1%

Grammar 21% 26% 41% 9% 3%

Writing 16% 37% 40% 7% 0%

Listening 34% 44% 16% 4% 2%

AVERAGE 22% 41% 30% 6% 1%

Table 2 above presented how often the use of materials from English-speaking countries

for several skills. From the data showed that 34% of the participants “regularly” used materials

from English-Speaking country as a model in listening skill, 50% “often” used it in speaking

skill, 41% “sometimes”, 9% “rarely” and 3% “never” used it in grammar skill.

15

Figure 2. The average of the use of materials from English-speaking countries for all skills

It could be seen that the majority of the participants (71 students) mentioned that the

teachers used English-speaking-published materials either ‘often’ (41%) or ‘sometimes’ (30%)

for all skills. From the experience of the participants, we could be seen that speaking (50%) and

pronunciation (45%) classes used English speaking countries materials more often than other

classes, followed by listening (44%) and reading (43%) classes. It proved that in classes which

needed language models were more likely to choose western-published materials which

contained more English speaking countries language models and cultures.

Besides that, Zacharias (2003) supported that “materials from English-speaking countries

are more accessible, especially since many books are donated to universities or institutions from

foreign companies, foreign teachers, or even non-native teachers studying abroad.” So, they used

the materials from English-speaking countries more often to teach their students.

From the examples mentioned previously, it was concluded that although there were 16%

students who chose local materials as tools to enhance students’ abilities and motivation to learn

22%

41%

30%

6%

1%

Regularly

Often

Sometimes

Rarely

Never

16

English, 59% students believe in English speaking countries materials, mainly because they

wanted to produce English like natives. Besides that, 41% students believe that their teachers

also used the material from English-speaking countries more often in the classroom practice

which contained more English speaking countries language models and cultures.

2. What are the English Language Teaching students’ beliefs toward the used of students’



One important aspect of local cultures was students’ mother tongue. There were the

students who agreed (96%) and disagreed (4%) with the use of students’ mother tongue. The use

of students’ mother tongue in a foreign or second language teaching could not be avoided for

several reasons. Figure 3 presented the finding on the students’ beliefs about the importance of

using mother tongue in learning English.

Figure 3. The use of the students’ mother tongue

48%

33%

26%69%

16%

50%

4% Checking students’

understanding.

Giving feed-back to individual

students

Giving instructions

Explaining the meaning of new

words

Explaining the content of reading

texts.

Explaining grammar concepts

The students’ mother tongue

should never be used in class

17

Based on the questionnaire, the mother tongue were used to explain the meaning of new

words (69%), to teach about grammar concepts (50%), to check the students’ understanding

(48%) to or give feedback to individual students (33%). There were even few students who said

that the teacher could use students’ mother tongue to give instructions in the classroom (26%), to

explain the content of reading texts (16%) and the students’ mother tongue should never be used

in class (4%). It proved that most students (96%) were more comfortable if the students’ mother

tongue used in the classroom.

Fifty of the participants stated that the main reason why mother tongue was preferable

was to make the students easier to catch the teacher’s explanation, especially when it dealt with

feedback and difficult meaning of vocabularies in reading. Besides that, it used to check

students’ understanding because it was easier for the students to follow the teaching learning

process. Thirty one of participants also taught that it used to help students in understanding the

materials and get better result in learning English, if the teachers were local, or use local

language.

However, there were very few students (4 students) who mentioned that students’ mother

tongue should never be used in the classroom. They mentioned that English learners should be

encouraged to use English all the time if they wanted to master the language. The use of mother

tongue could only be used in the instruction as the last option, for example when there were too

complex grammatical rules or new vocabularies, in which delivering the material in English

might lead the students into confusion.

The previous argument supported with Zacharias (2003) said that “one reason for this

was the fact that the use of L1 would limit opportunities for exposure to L2. In Indonesia English

18

is a foreign language and so exposure to English is rather scarce. Therefore, all opportunities to

expose students to the target language should be used to the fullest.”


The regular use of students’ mother tongue in the instruction showed that mother tongue

was still preferable as a medium to teach, mainly to checking the students’ understandings,

giving instruction, explaining the content of the reading text, explaining the meaning of new

words, explaining the grammar concept respectively, and giving individual feedback. Table 3

below illustrated the data of the students’ experience when their teachers tried to use their mother

tongue when teaching for several skills.

Table 3.The actual use of the students’ mother tongue for several skills stated by the respondents

SKILLS Regularly Often Sometimes Rarely Never

Checking their understanding 9% 22% 43% 23% 3%

Give instruction 5% 11% 43% 34% 7%

Explain the content of reading texts 2% 8% 48% 35% 7%

Explain the meaning of words 6% 20% 53% 19% 2%

Explain grammar concepts 7% 28% 44% 19% 2%

Explain feed-back to individual

students

7% 12% 49% 24% 8%

AVERAGE 6% 17% 47% 25% 5%

Table 3 above presented how often the actual use of the students’ mother tongue for

several skills stated by the respondents. From the data showed that 9% of the participants

believed that their teacher “regularly” used students’ mother tongue to check their understanding,

28% “often” used it to explain grammar concepts, 53% “sometimes” used it to explain the

19

meaning of words, 35% “rarely” used it to explain the content of reading texts and 8% “never”

used it to explain feed-back to individual students.

Figure 4. The average of actual use of the students’ mother tongue for all skills stated by the

respondents

It could be seen that the majority of the participants mentioned that the teachers tried to

use the students’ mother tongue either ‘sometimes’ (47%) or ‘rarely’ (25%) for all skills. From

the data above, the participants thought that the teachers sometimes used their mother tongue to

check the students’ understandings (43%), to give instruction (43%), to explain the content of the

reading text (48%), to explain the meaning of new words (53%), to explain the grammar concept

respectively (44%), and to give individual feedback (49%) in classroom practice. It meant that

the teachers tried to minimize the used of the students’ mother tongue in English language

teaching. In general, the data showed that “the used of students’ mother tongue in English

language teaching was viewed as potentially beneficial for certain purpose” (Zacharias, 2003).

From the two findings mentioned previously “students’ stated beliefs and stated

classroom practice”, it was concluded that there were very few students (4%) who believed in

students’ mother tongue should never be used in the classroom if they wanted to master the

6%

17%

47%

25%

5%Regularly

Often

Sometimes

Rarely

Never

20

language, more students (94%) preferred the used of mother tongue to help the students easier to

catch the teachers explanation. Although 94% of students preferred the used of mother tongue to

help the students easier to catch the teachers explanation, but, their teacher was not always used

their mother tongue in classroom practice. Their teacher used it sometimes (47%) in classroom

practice to make their students can master the language well.

3. What are the English Language Teaching students’ beliefs toward the place of English-

speaking culture in English Language Teaching?


Like what had been stated previously, some participants answered that learning a new

language could not be separated from learning its cultures. This section dealt with the student’s

belief toward learning culture of the English-speaking countries. Figure 5 illustrated the data of

the students’ beliefs toward the place of English-speaking culture in English language teaching

from the questionnaire.

Figure 5. The students’ beliefs toward the place of English-speaking culture in English language

teaching

75%

3%

22%

Agree

Disagree

Not Sure

21

In this respect, 75% of the participants agreed that the students should learn foreign

cultures. However, only 3% disagreed to learn foreign culture and 22% of the participants were

not sure that learning foreign cultures were necessary.

Based on the data above, I analyzed that most the participants (75%) agreed that the

students should learn English speaking countries’ culture. From the questionnaire, 39% of the

students’ reasons were to avoid misunderstanding and cultural shock when they dealt with the

natives. 26% of students were also stated that learning foreign culture would enhance students’

awareness of cultural diversities and enrich students’ knowledge about the language they learnt.

Besides that, 10% of students who agreed that the students should learn foreign cultures believed

that it used to understand the richness of the culture of English speaking countries, so that it

could also motivate the students to learn the language by knowing the culture

On the contrary, those who disagree (22%) that the students should learn English

speaking countries’ culture believed that attending foreign culture activities was not desirable

since there were some fears that students may forget their own cultures. These participants

claimed that as Indonesians, they had responsibilities to preserve Indonesian culture in order to

show their identity as Indonesian. Besides that, it was not relevant with our habit and culture in

Indonesia because now, the national identity issue is become a really hot topic that government

emphasized on.

And those who were not sure (3%) about learning foreign culture activities stated that

although it was good to teach foreign cultures, they were not sure whether bringing and applying

those cultures in Indonesia was good. 1% of student claimed that national identity was now

becoming a really hot issue that celebrating foreign cultures in Indonesia would be seen as a

22

violation toward Indonesian culture. They believed that both Indonesia and English speaking

countries had their own cultures and they should respect each others’ cultures.


This section dealt with the student’s experience when their teachers tried to relate the

topic of the materials to their culture when teaching. Table 6 illustrates the data of the students’

experience when their teachers tried to relate the topic of the materials to their culture for several

skills.

Table 4. The actual use of the students’ experience when the teachers try to relate the topic of

the materials to their culture when teaching.

SKILLS Regularly Often Sometimes Rarely Never

Speaking 17% 34% 42% 6% 1%

Pronunciation 6% 21% 38% 30% 5%

Reading 9% 44% 33% 14% 0%

Grammar 2% 17% 27% 48% 6%

Writing 10% 19% 59% 12% 0%

Listening 5% 20% 48% 22% 5%

AVERAGE 8% 26% 41% 23% 2%

Table 4 above presented how often the actual use of the students’ experience when the

teachers try to relate the topic of the materials to their culture when teaching. From the data

showed that 17% of the participants believed that their teacher “regularly” used students’

experience to teach speaking, 44% “often” used it to teach reading, 59% “sometimes” used it to

teach writing, 48% “rarely” and 6% “never” used it to used it to teach grammar.

23

Figure 6. The actual use of the students’ experience when the teachers try to relate the topic of

the materials to their culture when teaching.

The table above showed the percentage of the data from the participants experience in

English language teaching. It could be seen that the majority of the participants mentioned that

the teachers try to relate the topic of the materials with the students’ culture either ‘sometimes’

(41%) or ‘often’ (26%) for all skills. From the data above, we could be known the finding how

often the teachers in English Language Teaching try to relate the topic of the materials with the

students’ culture in classroom practice. From the experience of the participants, we could seen

that the teacher sometimes try to relate the topic of the materials with the students’ culture in

speaking (42%), pronunciation (38%), writing (59%), and listening (48%) classroom practice.

From the examples of data above, we could known that 75% of participants agreed that

the students should learn culture from English-speaking countries to avoid misunderstanding and

also enhance students’ awareness of cultural diversities about the language they learnt. However,

41% of students believe that the teacher sometimes related the topic of materials with students’

8%

26%

41%

23%

2%

Regularly

Often

Sometimes

Rarely

Never

24

culture in classroom practice. It meant that learning culture of the English-speaking countries

made the students more aware of other culture and they can enrich more knowledge. Besides

that, the students also can respect another culture.

Conclusion

The purpose of this study was to analyze what are the English Language Teaching

students’ beliefs toward English language teaching in the era of World Englishes. The findings

of the research were organized by breaking the research question down to the three sub-research

questions.

1. What are the English Language Teaching students’ beliefs toward the materials used in

English Language Teaching?

There were 59% English Language Teaching students believe in English speaking

countries materials, mainly because they wanted to produce English like natives. Besides

that, 41% students believe that their teachers also used the material from English-speaking

countries more often in the classroom practice which contained more English speaking

countries language models and cultures. It meant that English speaking countries published

materials were more preferable.

2. What are the English Language Teaching students’ beliefs toward the use of students’


There were more students (94%) of English Language Teaching preferred the use of

mother tongue to help the students easier to catch the teachers explanation. Although 94% of

students preferred the used of mother tongue to help the students easier to catch the teachers

25

explanation, but, their teacher was not always used their mother tongue in classroom

practice. However, their teacher only occasionally used it (47%) in the classroom practice to

make their students could master the language well. Therefore, although most students

believed that it was very desirable to use students’ mother tongue to enable them grasped the

teachers’ explanation, the percentage of local language used was not as high as what the

students wanted since the teachers also wanted their students to master English well.

3. What are the English Language Teaching students’ beliefs toward the place of English-

speaking culture in English Language Teaching?

There were 75% of ELT students agreed that the students should learn culture from

English-speaking countries to avoid misunderstanding and also to enhance students’

awareness of cultural diversities about the language they learnt. However, 41% of students

believe that the teacher sometimes related the topics of the materials with students’ cultures

in classroom practice. It meant that learning the cultures of the English-speaking countries in

combination with learning students’ own culture could make the students more aware of

cultural diversities and interconnectedness of the cultures to enrich their knowledge. It can

be concluded that that the faculty of Language and Literature put cultures, both English and

a local culture, as important consideration toward English language teaching in the era of

World Englishes.

There were several limitations of conducting the study. This study took seven months to

be conducted and I found several problems while collecting data for my thesis. In the beginning,

the participants of the study were one hundred fifty students from English Language Teaching

students from all existing batches. The limitation of knowledge about the concept of EIL was

26

one of the problems that I faced. Since I used questionnaire to collect the data with open and

close-ended questionnaire, 30% of the participants didn’t answer the open-ended question and it

made me sifting the participants became one hundred participants who answered the open-ended

question.

Finally, at the end of my writing, I would like re-state that most of the students believed

that they would get more advantage if they had English ability. As future English teachers,

English Language Teaching students must have awareness of the various kinds of English.

Besides that, they must understand both English-speaking country and a local culture was

important consideration toward English language teaching in the era of World Englishes.

27

References

Alptekin, C. (1996). Target-language culture in ELT materials. In T. Hedge and N. Whitney

(Eds.), Power, Pedagogy & Practice (pp.53-61).Oxford : Oxford University Press.

Arnold, J. (1999). Affect on language learning. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.

Cook, V. (2001).Second Language Learning and Language Teaching(3rd ed). Oxford: Oxford

University Press.

Graddol, D. (1997). The Future of English. London : The British Council.

Griffiths, C. (2008). Language Teaching Library : Lesson From Good Language Learners.

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.

Hiep, P. H. (2006). The Global Spread of English : Ethical and Pedagogic Concerns for

ESL/EFL Teachers. The Journal of Asia TEFL, 21-37.

Jenkins, J. (2000). The phonology of English as an international language. Oxford : Oxford

University Press.

Kachru, B. B., & Nelson, C. L. (2001). World Englishes. In A. Burns and C. Coffin (Eds.),

Analyzing English in a Global Context (pp.9-25).London : Routledge.

McAlpine, L., Eriks-Brophy, A., & Crago, M. (1996). Teaching beliefs in Mohawk classrooms:

Issues of language and culture. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 27 (3), 390-413.

McKay. (2002). Culture in teaching English as an International language. (pp.81-101).

Moran, P. R. (2001).Teaching Culture : Perspectives in Practice. Massachusetts : Heinle &

Heinle.

Pajares, M. F. (1992). Teachers' beliefs and educational research : Cleaning up a messy

construct. Review of Educational Research, 62 (3), 307-332.

28

Richards, J.C. (2002). 30 Years of TEFL/TESL: A Personal Reflection, RELC Journal, 33 (2), 1-

35.

Richards, J. C., Gallo, P. B., & Renandya, W. A. (2001).Exploring teachers’ beliefs and the

process of change.PAC Journal, 1 (1), 41-58.

Riley, P. (1996). “BATs and BALLs” : Beliefs about talk and beliefs about language learning.

Paper presented at the International Conference : Autonomy 2000 : The development of

learning Independence in language learning, Bangkok.

Rimado, G. (2010). Global Language of English – The Importance of Learning

English.Retrieved February 11, 2012, from

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Grace_Rimando

Seelye, H. (1984) Teaching Culture : Strategies for Intercultural Communication (2nd ed).

Lincolnwood, IL : National Textbook Company.

Zacharias, N. (2003). A survey of tertiary teachers’ beliefs about English Language Teaching in

Indonesia with regard to the role of English as a global language.Unpublished master’s

thesis, Assumption University of Thailand, Thailand.

29

APPENDIX

Questionnaire

ED Students’ Belief toward English Language Teaching in the era of World Englishes

(Adapted from: Zacharias, 2003)

Dear Colleagues,

I am interested in researching English Language Teaching students’ belief toward English

language teaching in the era of World Englishes. Your participation will help me to complete my

thesis at English Language Teaching, Satya Wacana Christian University. Please kindly spare a

few minutes of your time to fill out this questionnaire. Your responses to this Questionnaire will

be treated with utmost confidence. Thank you for your cooperation.

Sincerely,


English Language Teaching, Satya Wacana Christian University

I. Section A.

Please fill in the following :

Sex :

� Male

� Female

NIM :

Number of years learning English experience :

II. Section B

This deals with students’ beliefs on aspects concerning the role of English as an

International Language.

Put a tick (�) in the appropriate box (-es). You can tick more than one box.

30

1. Which is the most preferable materials to learn on the skills below?

Publish Materials

Locally From English – speaking No preference

produced countries

Speaking (other than pronunciation) � � �

Pronunciation � � �

Reading � � �

Grammar � � �

Writing � � �

Listening � � �

2. Please provide a brief explanation for your choice above.

(It is very welcome if you want to answer it in Indonesia)

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

3. Teachers are advisible to use students’ mother tongue for :

� Checking students’ understanding.

� Giving feed-back to individual

students.

� Giving instructions.

� Explaining the meaning of new

words.

� Explaining the content of reading

texts.

� Explaining grammar concepts.

� The students’ mother tongue should

never be used in class.

31



______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Put a tick (�) in the appropriate box (-es) to indicate your beliefs.

Agree Disagree Not sure

5. Students should learn culture of the English � � �

speaking countries.



______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

III. Section C

Put a tick (�) accordingly to present approaches the teachers uses when teaching English.

Please put a tick in one column only.

7. The teachers use materials from English-speaking countries to teach :

Regularly Often Sometimes Rarely Never

Speaking (other than � � � � � �

pronunciation)

Pronunciation � � � � � �

Reading � � � � � �

Grammar � � � � � �

Writing � � � � � �

Listening � � � � � �

32

8. The teachers use students’ mother tongue to :


Checking their � � � � � �

understanding

Give instruction � � � � � �

Explain the content � � � � � �

of reading texts

Explain the meaning � � � � � �

of words

Explain grammar � � � � � �

concepts

Explain feed-back to � � � � � �

individual students

9. The teachers try to relate the topic of the materials to the students’ culture when teaching:


Speaking � � � � � �

Pronunciation � � � � � �

Reading � � � � � �

Grammar � � � � � �

Writing � � � � � �

Listening � � � � � �

IV. Section D

Are you willing to participate in oral interview? If so, please write down telephone number

below:

☺ Thank you ☺

33

Acknowledgement

I am so grateful that I have finally finished my thesis successfully. First of all, I would like

to present my big gratitude to Allah S.W.T who always strengthens and supports me with His

blessing so that I could finish my study. This thesis would not have been possible without the

support of many people. I wish to express sincere appreciation to, Nugrahenny T. Zacharias,

Ph. D., for her invaluable supervision, advice and guidance in helping me finishes my thesis.

Deepest gratitude is also due to my examiner, Prof. Dr. Gusti Astika, M. A. without whose

knowledge and assistance this study would not have been completed. This thesis would have

never been completed without the encouragement and devotion of my lovely parents, “especially

my mother”, my sister “Ulfa”, my nephew “Fadhil”, my cousin “Mirna” and also my aunty

“Yayuk” who always support me. Thanks for their endless love and pray through the duration of

my study. Special thank goes to Bagus for all the supports, prayers, advices, and care.I will not

forget to say thank you to my special friends: Silvi and Rieka, we could finish it together

guys!Rachma, Febi, Siska, Rut, Ika, and Dina. Thank you for being my new family. Then, I

would say thank to: mbak Hanum for the nice chatting. The last but not least, I would also like to

convey thanks to ED 2008ers. We are gr08 coz we are united!

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The English Language Teaching students’ beliefs toward