THE POLICY OF ELT IN

INDONESIA: OPPORTUNITIES

AND CHALLENGES

JOKO NURKAMTO

UNIVERSITAS SEBELAS MARET

jokonurkamto@gmail.com

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

1. Introduction

2. Learning hour

3. Learning process

4. Obstacles

5. Implication

THE MEANING OF CURRICULUM

Curriculum is a set of plans and blueprints

for students’ learning outcomes, teaching

materials, teaching methodology, and

assessments to achieve certain educational

purposes (Law No 20/2003).

THE DEVELOPMENT OF

CURRICULUM IN INDONESIA

1. 1975

2. 1984

3. 1994

4. 2004

5. 2013

RATIONALE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT

OF 2013 CURRICULUM

1. Internal challenge: It is hoped that the abundance

(approximately 70%) of Human Resources (HR) of a

productive age (15-64 years) can be transformed to

become Human Resources with competency through

education.

2. External challenge: Indonesia’s involvement in global

intercommunication requires Indonesians to have the

necessary skills to communicate and negotiate with

people of other countries.

3. Perfecting the mind-set: The 2013 curriculum is

designed to strengthen systems of independent learning

and online learning.

GLOBE MAP

6

TERDAPAT SEKITAR 195 NEGARA DI DUNIA, YANG TERSEBAR DI 5 BENUA.

INDONESIA’S DEMOGRAPHIC

DIVIDEND

7

EXAMPLES OF DISRUPTIVE

TECHNOLOGIES IN EDUCATION

Online LearningVideo

conferencingE-Books and

E-Journals

AIM OF 2013 CURRICULUM

Preparing Indonesians to have the neces-

sary skills to live as individuals and citizens

who are devout, productive, creative,

innovative and affective, and who are able to

contribute to life in society, in the nation, and

in the world.

PRIORITIES OF 2013

CURRICULUM

(1) Character strengthening, integrated in all

subjects; (2) Literacy development, espe-

cially literacy in reading, writing, and

technology; and (3) 21st Century learning

development, especially competence in the

4Cs: communication, critical thinking,

collaboration, and creativity.

KARAKTER

Moral

Knowing

Moral

Feeling

Moral

Action

TUHAN Y M E

SESAMADIRI SENDIRI

LINGKUNGANKEBANGSAAN

Nilai-Nilai

Nilai-Nilai

Nilai-Nilai

Nilai-Nilai

Nilai-Nilai

LITERACY

21st CENTURY LEARNING

FRAMEWORK

Trilling and Fadel, 2009: 173

STUDENTS’ LEARNING HOUR

Class X: 42 hours/week, classes XI and XII: 44 hours/week

@ 45 minutes. The number of hours for class X is made up

of 24 hours for general subjects + 12 hours for academic

specialization subjects + 6 hours for cross-interest subjects

or in-depth learning of special interests or informatics. The

number of hours for classes XI and XII is made up of 24

hours for general subjects + 16 hours for academic

specialization subjects + 4 hours for cross-interest subjects

or in-depth learning of special interests or informatics.

THE POSITION OF ENGLISH

SUBJECT

English language is in the category of

general subjects, for a total of 2 hours, and

in the category of specialization subjects –

language and culture – for a total of 3 hours

in class X and 4 hours in classes XI and XII.

In the categories of Maths and Science and

Social Science, there is no English

language.

CROSS-INTEREST SUBJECTS

A student potentially has additional hours of

English language lessons if he or she chooses to

take cross-interest subjects of English language

and literature, which are weighted at 3 hours/week

for class X and 4 hours/week for classes XI and

XII. Hence, the total number of hours for English

language lessons is 5 hours/week for class X and

6 hours/week for classes XI and XII. Unfortunately,

not all schools have a policy for taking cross-

interest subjects of English language and English

literature.

TOTAL LEARNING HOUR

If all schools in Indonesia adopt a policy for taking

cross-interest subjects of English language and

literature, students will study the English language

for 5 or 6 hours per week. The learning hour for a

single semester is at least 18 weeks for odd

semesters and 14 weeks for even semesters, so in

three years of study at Senior High School, the

learning hour for English language becomes 6

hours x 32 weeks x 3 years = 576 hours of lessons

@ 45 minutes (= 432 hours).

LANGUAGE LEARNING IN

LANGUAGE CENTRES

As a comparison, the number of lesson hours for

pre-departure training in preparation for studying

abroad, implemented by the Language Center at

ITB Bandung, is 700 hours @ 60 minutes. This

training course lasts for 6 months, Monday to

Friday, from 8 am to 4 pm. In another language

center in Maryland, USA, the number of English

language lesson hours taken by course

participants totals over 900 hours, from Monday to

Friday.

MEETING THE TARGET OF

TEACHERS’ HOURS

In some schools, the purpose of offering

cross-interest subjects of English language

and literature is to meet the target of

teachers’ hours (which must be at least 24

hours/week), not to develop students’

competency in the English language.

NORMAL OUTPUT

With this kind of learning hour – whether it is

2 hours per week or 5 or 6 hours per week –

students’ English skills are generally at the

lower end of the threshold. They lack the

ability needed for higher purposes such as

presentation, discussion, negotiation, and

debate.

2017 ENGLISH PROFICIENCY

INDEX

Renandya, Hamied, and Nurkamto (2018). English Language Proficiency in Indonesia:

Issues and Prospects In The Journal of Asia TEFL, Vol. 15, No. 3, Fall 2018

LEVEL OF PROFICIENCY OF ENGLISH

TEACHERS IN INDONESIA

“As reported in Coleman (2009), of the

27,000 RSBI teachers who took the TOEIC

test, only a tiny percentage (less than one

per cent) of these teachers had a high level

of proficiency in English. Half of them had a

very low proficiency level, while the other

half had a proficiency level in the elementary

and intermediate range” (Renandya,

Hamied, and Nurkamto, 2018)

EXTRACURRICULAR

ACTIVITIES

In order to increase the English language competency of

students, schools hold a variety of extracurricular activities

once or twice a week @ 90 to 120 minutes, including

conversation, speech, presentation, story-telling, debate, e-

writing, and drama performance. Unfortunately, only a

small number of students participate in these

extracurricular English language activities. For example, in

the majority of state Senior High Schools in Surakarta, the

number of students taking English language as an

extracurricular activity ranges between 30 and 60 students

out of a total of over 1000 students.

THE IDEAL MODE OF LEARNING

PROCESS

In the Copy of the Regulation of the Minister of

Education and Culture No 22 Year 2016 about

“The Standard Process of Primary and Secondary

School Education” it states that learning is

implemented in a way that is interactive, inspiring,

fun, and challenging, motivating students to

participate actively, and allowing adequate space

for initiative, creativity, and independence, in

accordance with students’ aptitude, interests, and

physical and psychological development.

DOMAINS OF LEARNING

In accordance with Graduate Competency

Standards, learning objectives include developing

the domains of attitude, knowledge, and skill,

which are elaborated for each educational unit.

Therefore, the learning process is directed entirely

towards the holistic development of these three

domains, none of which can be isolated from the

others. It is hoped that this type of holistic learning

will succeed in creating individuals who are well-

rounded.

OBSTACLES

The obstacles faced by the teacher in the

field include (1) an imperfect command of

learning methods, (2) inadequate learning

facilities, especially multi-media, (3) an input

of students with a generally low quality of

intellectual competency, due to the absence

of selection (as a result of the zonation

policy), and (4) a poor interest in English

language lessons.

TEACHING METHODS

For this purpose, core teaching activities use

learning models, learning methods, learning

media, and learning sources that are

adapted to suit the characteristics of the

students and the subject. Recommended

methods are discovery learning, project-

based learning, problem-based learning,

and a scientific approach.

MAJOR METHODS IN ELT

METHODS

Audiolingual

CLT

TBLT

TBITPR

Natural Approach

ETC...

PARAMETER OF PARTICULARITY

A pedagogy “must be sensitive to a

particular group of teachers teaching a

particular group of learners pursuing a

particular set of goals within a particular

institutional context embedded in a particular

sociocultural milieu”(Kumaravadivelu, 2006: 171)

TEACHER’S COMPETENCY IN

DEPLOYING TEACHING METHODS

Unfortunately, not all teachers have a good

command of these four Government-

recommended learning methods. In one

particular FGD, a number of senior English

teachers from state Senior High Schools

admitted that their command of these

methods was somewhere in the range of 60

to 80 percent.

CONTEXT OF TEACHING

Learning-teaching programs are carried out

in particular contexts, which are very diverse

and complex. To be successful, teachers

are required to analyze a number of factors

(political, social, economic, or institutional) in

the given contexts, identify their (positive or

negative) potential effects on the programs,

and tackle them appropriately and wisely

(Richards, 2017).

Curriculum

Syllabus

Lesson

Plan

LEARNING PROGRAM EVALUATION

LEARNING

PROCESS

Teacher

Students

Teaching

media &

Learning

facilities

PLANNING IMPLEMENTATION

Learning

and

Teaching

Reflection

ASSESSMENT REFLECTION

Assessment

of Learning

Learning Materials

A COMPREHENSIVE TEACHING-LEARNING SYSTEM

ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING

INDONESIA

There are more or less 1.340 ethnic groups inhabiting more or less 13.000 islands in Indonesia.

SCHOOL BUILDING

TRADITIONAL MODERN

CLASSROOM CONDITION

TRADITIONAL MODERN

LEARNING EQUIPMENT

TRADITIONAL MODERN

STUDENT ACTIVITY

PASSIVE INTERACTIVE

NEEDS ANALYSIS

Before a teaching program is carried out, the

teachers must first make an analysis of the

situation as well as an analysis of the

students’ needs. The analysis is intended to

identify the factors which are predicted will

support and/or hinder the implementation of

the language teaching program (Richards,

2017).

CONSIDERING THE

ENVIRONMENT

“Environment analysis involves considering

the factors of the situation in which the

course will be used and determining how the

course should take account of them. One

way of approaching environment analysis is

to work from a list of questions which focus

on the nature of the learners, the teachers

and the teaching situation” (Nation and

Macalister, 2010: 2)

EFFECTIVE TEACHING

Westwood (2008: 56) argues that “teacher

effectiveness is not concerned with any

particular teaching method. Rather, it is

concerned in a more general sense with the

way in which teachers operate in their

classroom – the decision they make, the

actions they take, their interaction with

students, their presentation skills, and the

way they manage the group.”

TEACHING PRINCIPLES

(1) engage all learners in the lesson, (2)

make the learners the focus of the lesson,

(3) provide maximum opportunities for

student participation, (4) develop learners’

confidence, (5) teach learning strategies, (6)

promote cooperation among learners, and

(7) address learners’ needs and interests.

(Richards and Rodgers, 2014: 353)

NATIONAL STANDARD OF

EDUCATION

LOCALISATION OF TEACHING

Localization refers to the activity of choosing

and deploying appropriate linguistic, social, and

experiential aspects of teaching to cater for the

needs of the given teaching population

(Combee, 2018 and O’Sullivan, 2018). The aim

is to ensure that the teaching is appropriate to

individual learner from a range of perspectives.

One-size-fits-all teaching design is not support-

able (O’Sullivan, 2018).

THE NEED TO KEEP LEARNING

AND PRACTICING

Teachers are required to keep learning and

practicing due to the unpredictable situations in

their current workplace (Vangrieken, Meredith,

Packer, and Kyndt, 2017: 48).

Usually, there is a gap between what has been

learned in the teacher education program and the

real condition that (novice) teachers are faced with

(Crandall and Christison, 2016: 10).

THANK YOU

Education is the most

powerful weapon which

you can use to change the world

(Nelson Mandela)