EXAMINING THE ISSUE OF ABOLISHING ENGLISH TUITION IN PRIMARY SCHOOL IN INDONESIA

Khairul Azmy

Abstract


This paper examines the reasons behind the philosophy of the Indonesian government’s decision on abolishing English tuition in primary school. The Indonesian government has recently omitted English as compulsory tuition since English has been excluded in the curriculum at the primary level. The findings show that people have misinterpreted about whether English at the primary level is a compulsory, local-content or extracurricular tuition. In addition, it is found that teaching English at a young age is not practically efficient in Indonesia due to lack competence of teachers, unrelated syllabus and uninteresting teaching methods. Furthermore, the misconception of younger foreign language learners and cultural discrepancy are the other key findings in the issue provided. Ultimately, the implications of this article have given new insights on the issue of abolishing English tuition, whether it is effective or significant for primary students in Indonesia at this moment and condition.

Keywords


English tuition; primary school; abolishing English; local-content subject

Full Text:

PDF

References


Arif, N. (2015). Removing English as compulsory subject from primary schools on the 2013 curriculum based on teachers’. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 5(8).

Asriyanti, E., Sikki, A., Rahman, A., Hamra, A., & Noni, N. (2013). The competence of primary school English teachers in Indonesia. Journal of Education and Practice, 4(11), 139 – 146.

Aydin, S., Harputlu, L., Çelik, Ş. S., Uştuk, Ö., & Güzel, S. (2017). Age, gender and grade effect on foreign language anxiety among children. TEFLIN Journal, 28(2), 133-154.

Bryman, A. a. (2016). Social research methods (Fifth edition. ed.). Oxford University Press.

Darmi, R., & Albion, P. (2013). English language in the Malaysian education systems: Its existence and implications. Paper presented at Malaysian Postgraduate Conference (MPC 2013), New South Wales. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/4275280/English_language_in_the_Malaysian_education_system_Its_existence_and_implications

Dewantara, C. (2014). Dilema penghapusan mata pelajaran bahasa Inggris di sekolah dasar [The dillema of abolishing English tuition in Primary School]. Retrieved April 28, 2014, from https://www.kompasiana.com/charisdewantara/dilema-penghapusan-mata-pelajaran-bahasa-inggris-di-sekolah-dasar_54f77a9da33311f96c8b4584

Guilherme, M. (2007). English as a global language and education for cosmopolitan citizenship. Language and Intercultural Communication, 7(1), 72-90. doi:10.2167/laic184.0

Hadisantosa, N. 2010. ‘Insights from Indonesia’. In R. Johnstone (ed.), Learning through English: Policies, Challenges and Prospects. British Council, pp. 24–46.

Hapsari, A. (2012). Polemik pelajaran bahasa inggris di kurikulum SD [The polemic of English lesson in primary curriculum]. Retrieved from http://www.sekolahdasar.net/2012/11/polemik-pelajaran-bahasa-inggris-di.html#ixzz2tcoedkzm

Hawanti, S. (2014). Implementing Indonesia’s English language teaching policy in primary schools: The role of teachers’ knowledge and beliefs. International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning, 9(2), 162-170. doi:10.1080/18334105.2014.11082029

Istiqomah, F. (2016). Reintroducing the importance of teaching English at primary schools in Indonesia. Lingua Scientia, 8(1).

Kirkpatrick, A. (2011). English as an Asian lingua franca and the multilingual model of ELT. Language Teaching, 44(2), 212-224. doi:10.1017/S0261444810000145

Kirkpatrick, A. (2012). English as an Asian lingua franca: the ‘lingua franca approach’ and implications for language education policy.Journal of English as Lingua Franca 1(1), 121-139. doi:10.1515/jelf-2012-0006

Klinger, J., Mayor, J. and Bannard, C. (2016), Children's faithfulness in imitating language use varies cross-culturally, contingent on prior experience. Child Dev, 87, 820–833. doi:10.1111/cdev.12503

Kubota, R. (1998). Ideologies of English in Japan. World Englishes, 17(3), 295-306. doi:10.1111/1467-971X.00105

Larson-Hall, J. (2008). Weighing the benefits of studying a foreign language at a younger starting age in a minimal input situation. Second Language Research, 24(1), 35-63. doi: 10.1177/0267658307082981

Lestari, L. A. (2003). Should English be a compulsory subject in the elementary schools?, Jurnal Bahasa dan Seni, 31(2), 197–213.

Lie, A. (2017). English and identity in multicultural contexts: Issues, challenges, and opportunities. TEFLIN Journal, 28(1), 71-92. doi: 10.15639/teflinjournal.v28i1/71-92

Liu, H.-J., & Chen, T.-H. (2013). Foreign language anxiety in young learners: How it relates to multiple intelligences, learner attitudes, and perceived competence. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 4(5), 932.

MacKay, I. R., & Flege, J. E. (2004). Effects of the age of second language learning on the duration of first and second language sentences: The role of suppression. Applied Psycholinguistics, 25(3), 373-396. doi:10.1017/S0142716404001171

Mairi, S. (2016). An english as a lingua franca (ELF) perspective in asian english language teaching. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, 39(4), 401-420. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.lib.monash.edu.au/10.1515/cjal-2016-0026

Manara, C. (2014). "That's what worries me": Tensions in english language education in today's indonesia. International Journal of Innovation in English Language Teaching and Research, 3(1), 21-35,110.

Marinova-Todd, S., Marshall, D., & Snow, C. (2000). Three misconceptions about age and L2 learning. TESOL Quarterly,34(1), 9-34. doi:10.2307/3588095

Ministry of Education and Culture (2013). Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia Nomor 65/2013 tentang Standar Proses Pendidikan Dasar dan Menengah. [The Regulation of the Minister of Education and Culture of Republic Indonesia Number 65/2013 concerning the Process Standard of Education in Elementary and High School]. Jakarta: Author.

Mocanu, M., & Vasiliu, E. (2012). English as a global language methodological challenges and perspectives. Euromentor Journal, 3(4), 84-91.

Muñoz, C. (2008). Age-related differences in foreign language learning. Revisiting the empirical evidence. IRAL - International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 46(3), 197-220. doi:10.1515/IRAL.2008.009 Muñoz, C. (2011). Input and long-term effects of starting age in foreign language learning. IRAL - International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 49(2), 113-133. doi:10.1515/iral.2011.006

Nguyen, H. T. M. (2011). Primary English language education policy in Vietnam: Insights from implementation. Current Issues in Language Planning, 12(2), 225-249. doi:10.1080/14664208.2011.597048

Nguyen, T. T. T. (2017). Integrating culture into language teaching and learning: Learner outcomes. The Reading Matrix: An International Online Journal, 17(1).

Nikolov, M., & Djigunovic, J. M. (2006). Recent research on age, second language acquisition, and early foreign language learning. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 26, 234-260.

Nunan, D. (2003), The Impact of English as a global language on educational policies and practices in the Asia-Pacific region. TESOL Quarterly, 37, 589–613. doi:10.2307/3588214

Piehl, K. (2011). Can adults learn a second language? Research findings and personal experience. Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 78(1), 33-37.




DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33021/lrs.v1i1.1039

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.


Articles in this journal have been indexed in major research databases, including: