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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
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
iii
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
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.
Aulia Febriana Suryaningtyas
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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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The English Language Teaching students’ beliefs toward English Language Teaching in the era of World Englishes
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Made in : Salatiga
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Verified by signee,
Aulia Febriana Suryaningtyas
Approved by
Thesis Supervisor Thesis Examiner
Nugrahenny T. Zacharias, Ph. D. Prof. Dr. Gusti. Astika, M. A.
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The English Language Teaching students’ beliefs toward English Language Teaching in
the era of World Englishes
Aulia Febriana Suryaningtyas
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)
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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
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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.
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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).
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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.
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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
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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.
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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).
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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’
mother tongue in English Language Teaching?
a. Students’ stated beliefs
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
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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
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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.”
b. Stated Classroom Practice
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
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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?
a. Students’ stated beliefs
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.
b. Stated Classroom Practice
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’
mother tongue in English Language Teaching?
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
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(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.
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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
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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,
Aulia Febriana Suryaningtyas
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
4. Please provide a brief explanation for your choice above.
(It is very welcome if you want to answer it in Indonesia)
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
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.
6. Please provide a brief explanation for your choice above.
(It is very welcome if you want to answer it in Indonesia)
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
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 :
Regularly Often Sometimes Rarely Never
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:
Regularly Often Sometimes Rarely Never
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!