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previous sentence and in giving further explanation.
In specific, she said
“Ya, lebih banyak menggunakan bahasa
Indonesia. Terutama didalam menjelaskan
konsep karena mereka kan harus faham. Saya
biasanya mengawali dengan bahasa Inggris
dulu, ketika siswa menunjukan wajah
bingung atau tidak faham, maka
diterjemahkan kedalam bahasa Indonesia”.
This consideration is also stated by T1, “We are
motivated, but we do not want to be said as crazy”.
She further added that it is going to be useless to
continue teaching in English but have to deal with
the confused expression and speechless class.
Therefore, they prefer to use Bahasa Indonesia. In
line with this, T3 stated he usually translate text into
bahasa Indonesia since most students will ask
teachers the meaning of difficult words to him
instead of looking them up in the dictionary. This
circumstance occurs in teaching reading.
Furthermore, teachers need to deal with other
challenges in implementing EMI within classes.
Students’ low motivation, large classes, and
inappropriate teaching periods are three among some
challenges to answer by the teachers. First of all,
teachers need to teach students who do not have the
will to learn English internally. They had to be in
Language class because they do not have other
choices. Actually, the students prefer to be in
Science or Social class. Obviously teaching less
motivated students will be more difficult than the
lack ability ones. In relation to the teachers’ use of
EMI, all the four teachers believe the students’ better
motivation and great interest in learning English
affect their EMI. Teachers will be able to apply EMI
with highly motivated students in where the students
will pay more attention to the teachers, responding
to the teachers’ instruction and actively involve
within the teaching and learning concept. In relation
to this, one participant, T1 stated “if learning
English is an option, these demotivated students
would have preferred not to learn English”.
Then, teachers also have to deal with large
classes. Most English classes consist of 38 to 40
students with different English language ability. It is
not easy to make a lot of students pay attention to
the teachers’ utterance at the same place and time.
One participant, T4 believes it is one of the
hindrances contribute to problems in providing EMI
classes due to the wideness of the class and the
spread of the students. Ideally, the teaching of
Language should be not more than 30 students. He
further adds “teachers need to speak louder, use
more effort in pronouncing words so the students
will equally understand and to use appropriate
teaching strategies”.
The third challenge deals with the period when
English is taught. English subject is given at noon
where the students are tired, sleepy and boring. The
school arranges the earlier schedule for more
preferable subjects such as science and social
science. Furthermore, T4 adds it takes greater effort
of the teachers to provide motivating atmosphere
using various strategies, to select interesting topics
and to create natural, conducive, and comfortable
language environment for the English language to
develop. Another sad reality also encountered from
the interview. The society—the school and the
parents—believe IPA or science and IPS or social
science subjects are preferable than language ones.
Fortunately this situation can be solved when teacher
teaches using appropriate strategies in teaching. One
participant, T6 state “despite the less conducive
situation and condition, the teacher’s dedication,
motivation and spirit that supported with the
availability of facilities like LCD and speakers will
encourage students to learn English”.
Furthermore, the teachers’ response during
interview also revealed the inability to use English
outside class despite the habitual nature of language
learning. Teachers only speak in English when
teaching and not outside class due to unsupportive
environment. The colleagues do not support the use
of English surround the school as the result of lack
of confidence, afraid to make mistake, lack of
speaking ability and because of misunderstanding.
One participant T1 stated “we cannot use English
here (teachers’ room) because other teachers will
think we are gossiping or discussing about the other
teachers just like what we are doing now. The other
teachers stare at us, give confused expression and
showed displeased expression. This hindrance
demotivates us to use English here (teachers’
room)”. In fact, this condition is worsened since the
school does not provide programs to improve the
teachers’ speaking ability and particular setting for
improving speaking ability among English and non-
English teachers. Obviously, this is an interesting
fact.
Finally, the teachers do not believe that in the
future the teaching of English in Indonesia will be
conducted in full English. One of the participants,
T1 state “as long as we still use English as a Foreign
Language, the teaching of English will be conducted
partially and not fully English”. Furthermore, she
added “the use of English in classes will depend on
the students’ readiness and interest in learning
English”.
Secondary High School English Teachers’ Perception toward English as Medium Instruction
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