English Learning Theoretical Review

28 content and method are based on the learners reason for learning ” Hutchinson et al., 1987:19 Further, Masduqi 2014:390 says that, at Indonesian universities, English in non-English departments is only taught once or twice a week, each meeting is 100 minutes during the first two semesters. In few universities, English is taught at the first semester only since it is not a part of the university core courses. In line with this, Lowenberg, 1991 and Dardjowidjojo 2000 propose that at the university level of Indonesia, students in non-language departments have to take English for two semesters and for two to three hours a week. Based on their explanations, since the goal of English at this level is to assist students to develop their reading ability relates to their fields of study, the kind of English taught is ESP English for Specific Purposes. Kirkpatrick 2007, in case of ELT situation in university level in Indonesia, suggests that as the entry level of most students is very low, the class focuses on grammar and translation. Thus, most of English learning fail to develop students’ proficiency in English. In agreement with Kirkpatrick 2007 and Nur 2004 asserts that university graduates who have studied six years of English in both junior and senior high schools and another year in university generally cannot communicate adequately in English. Dardjowidjojo 2000 and Nur 2004 recognize that since independence, Indonesia has experienced several changes in curriculum with different teaching approaches or methods from grammar-translation method and audio-lingual method to communicative approach which is regarded as the most popular teaching 29 approach. By 1984, the revised curriculum for English had adopted the communicative approach with an emphasis on the development of speaking skills. However, the practice did not reflect the communicative learning Dardjowidjojo, 2000; Musthafa, 2001; Nur, 2004. Therefore, although the four skills remained as the targets for learning, the order of priority was changed to reading as the most important, then listening, writing and speaking. c. English at Faculty of Engineering- Yogyakarta State University As one of seven faculties in Yogyakarta State University, Faculty of Engineering has focused on education, research, and services to society as roles of the university Tri Dharma Perguruan Tinggi, or “Three Services of Higher Education”. The Faculty of Engineering- Yogyakarta State University aims at becoming an excellent faculty in technical and vocational education based on conscience, autonomy and intelligence as well as producing pious, autonomous, and intellectual Bachelor of Education and Diploma in the field of technology and vocation in accordance with the development of science and technology in the global era. The main focus of this Faculty of Engineering Yogyakarta State University is to support and to enhance the vocational education in Indonesia. Haryanta 2010 states that students at vocational area typically receive more hand-on, career minded education that requires practical expertise than students in general high school. Individuals are given the opportunity to explore and identify potential career goals. This includes specific trades such as welding, blacksmithing, mechanics. Other careers are typical at vocational field include plumbing, electricity, carpentry, floral 30 designer, motorcycle repair technician, etc. He states that there are more than one hundred and fifty different skill programs in Indonesia. Faculty of Engineering- Yogyakarta State University itself has six major which consists of nine study programs for bachelor level and eight study programs for diploma. The study program for bachelor level consist of Elcterical Engineering, Mechatronic Engineering Education, Electronic Engineering Education, Information and Technology Engineering Education, Mechanical Engineering Education, Automotive Engineering Education, Civil Engineering and Planning Education, Fashion Design Engineering Education Study Program, and Culinary Education. Meanwhile the diploma level covers Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Automotive Engineering, Civil Engineering, Fashion Design Engineering, Culinary, and Cosmetology. With respect to the role of English in technical education, Adedeji 2005 observes that English is very crucial to the success of the technical and vocational education program. It is stated that, English language has vital roles to play for vocational education to be effective. This is because all the textbooks and technical manuals are written in English and it is also the language of instruction for all the subjects being offered by the students. It then follows that for graduates of technical colleges to be skilled and competent and to function adequately in their chosen careers, they must have sufficient knowledge of English lexical items, especially those that are relevant to technical registers Adedeji 2005: 15. According to 2014 Curriculum of Faculty of Engineering Yogyakarta State University, English subject is considered as Mata Kuliah Umum general subject 31 course. It covers two credits on the first semester for all bachelor programs and on the second semester for diploma level. The teaching learning process is held theoretically at classrooms based on English for Specific Purposes. Furthermore, based on English Module for Faculty of Engineering UNY 2007, the course has been developed under the following views, a English subject should be oriented to the students’ needs for English relevant to their subject matters in each study program, b English as a general subject that should be ideally taught by subject- matter lecturers or instructors in each study program. The syllabus of English learning in this faculty is based on Contextual Teaching and Learning CTL approach where the learning and the learning activities referring to the students’ field of expertise. It situates learning process in real-life and vocational contexts to which students can relate and incorporate, not only the content but the reasons why that learning is important. see Appendix 7 The main goal of English subject in this faculty is to facilitate the students to be able to perform reading skills, speaking skills and writing skills, especially in engineering area. The materials consist of geometrical shape, job vacancy, position, quantity expression, natural and artificial process, manual, American and British English, speaking in public, mathematical formula, interview, table, graphic, diagram as well as grammatical structures most needed in academic English and vocabulary items related to engineering field. Moreover, the students should have PROTOEFL score at least 425, as the requirement of graduation. Therefore, the English learning process also focus to discussing the test items of TOEFL such as reading comprehension and grammar. 32

B. Review Related Studies

Vibulphol 2004 on his dissertation has listed the studies that have been conducted on the area of learner beliefs. Then, he underlines that an investigation of learner beliefs is needed to succeed students learning process. He urges that based on to the assumptions about possible effects of beliefs, researchers have made various claims about how studies on beliefs about language learning may contribute to the second language acquisition field. First of all, an understanding about learners’ beliefs may help adjust learners’ attitudes and behavior Benson Lor, 1999. More specifically, Horwitz 1987 and Holec 1987 suggested that insights about learners’ beliefs about language learning can help teachers prepare their learners to be receptive to new ideas and information by “deconditioning” learners’ prejudices or mistaken beliefs that may cause resistance to some instructional approaches or activities. Horwitz claimed that learners may lose “confidence in the instructional approach and their ultimate achievement can be limited” p. 119 when there is a mismatch between learners’ preconceived ideas about learning and teachers’ teaching approaches andor instructional activities. Furthermore, learners may be less receptive to new information if their preexisting beliefs conflict with the new information received from school and that this conflict can prevent learners from learning the new information Cotterall, 1 995; Dole Sinatra, 1994. Therefore, by refining learners’ beliefs, it is hoped that teachers can promote learners’ confidence in their teaching approaches and activities and will ultimately enhance learners’ motivation and attempts in learning Horwitz, 1987. 33 Secondly, insights about learners’ beliefs may help promote the use of effective language learning strategies Wenden, 1987; Rubin, 1987. Wen and Johnson 1997 claimed that learners’ beliefs may be more influential to learners’ use of language learning strategies than strategy training. In other words, learners who received strategy training may not employ appropriate language learning strategies when their beliefs do not accommodate the use of those strategies. Then, an investigation of learners’ beliefs about language learning may help teachers to design and prepare a course or program for particular purposes. For instance, Mantle-Bromley 1995 suggested using insights about beliefs to create “learner centered” programs that take into consideration learners’ needs. In addition, an understanding about beliefs can help develop a language program that enhances learners’ autonomy Cotterall, 1995. It was found that learners became more directed in their own learning after having some counseling sessions to refine their beliefs about language learning that were counterproductive to autonomy Victori Lockhart, 1995. Briefly, the studies above concluded that an investigation of beliefs about language learning of foreign and second language learners is worthwhile and the insights gained from such study can help foreign and second language teachers enhance their students’ capability in language learning. Some researchers suggest teachers help to refine students’ beliefs while the others merely recommend teachers raise students’ awareness about their beliefs. Then, related to the studies of beliefs for English as a second or foreign language, Yang 1999 used a 35-item BALLI including an additional item about the 34 role of memorization in language learning to investigate students’ beliefs about language learning. The subjects were students at six universities in Taiwan. Yang classified the 35 items into 4 factors: self-efficacy and expectation about learning English, perceived value and nature of learning spoken English, beliefs about foreign language aptitude, and beliefs about formal structural studies. She found that the participants agreed most with the beliefs about the perceived value and nature of learning spoken English. For example, they believed that they wanted to learn to speak English well, that it is important to repeat and practice a lot, that people in their country feel that it is important to speak English, and that it is best to learn English in an English-speaking country. Meanwhile, Kao 2012 investigates 518 Taiwanese university students to measure students’ beliefs and strategy use in the Taiwanese EFL exit test context. Related to students beliefs the results suggested the following: 1 students believed in the importance of speaking English well, repeating and practicing, learning vocabulary words, acquiring excellent pronunciation, and correcting errors; 2 English majors had stronger beliefs and higher levels of strategy use than non-English majors ; 3 students’ beliefs were associated with their strategy use; 4 English majors had stronger beliefs and higher levels of strategy use than non-English majors. From both studies, one major finding indicates that non-English major students considered English as an important aspect of their future carrier and they are highly motivated to learn this language. 35

C. Conceptual Framework

Beliefs are human psychological aspect, which determines how they give meaning of this world. Several factors have been investigated as the influencing aspects in shaping students’ belief towards language learning. Students past learning experience, gander and individual differences such as gender, age, nationality, learning style, as well as personality type are the prominent variables, which contribute to students’ beliefs towards language learning. Learner beliefs are considered as a fundamental aspect for the success of learning process. This is because learners belief gives influence on how they approach in their learning in which the impact is on their motivation to learn, their expectation about language and also their perception about language learning. Based on the related research findings, it is found that belief has strong correlation to the students ’ achievement, learning strategy use, and students’ level of anxiety. Briefly, beliefs have been defined as “implicit theories” Clarck, 1988, “self- constructed representational systems ” Rust, 1994 and general assumptions that learner holds about themselves as learners, about factors influencing language learning and about the nature of language learning and teaching ” Victori and Lockhart, 1995 in Bernat, 2007:1. Therefore, in conducting a study on students’ beliefs about language learning, it should examine the nature of language learning, i.e. 1 theories of language, 2 language skills, 3 language learning. Also, the way the learner see themselves as a learner and the factors which is influencing language learning, such as 5 self-esteem and 6 learning sources.