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even stated that they do not teach Australian literature in the department. In spite of the not seemingly positive attitude towards the use of the local literature in the
teaching process,
T7
stated that he used literature from different regions and countries. He used Indonesian literature for his creative writing class. To quote him:
“I use literature from various regions and countries. I use Indonesian literature too in my creative writing class”T7.
T3
acknowledged that there are advantages using literary works produced by Indonesians.
“Actually, if we can employ or use Indonesian literary works, I think there is an advantage because first the topics adopted in the literary works will serve
much closer t o Indonesian students”T3.
It can be inferred that the teachers’ showed less enthusiasm towards the use of local
literature in the teaching process. Perhaps, this accounts for the neglect and underutilization literature written by Indonesia. And may even be responsible for the
kind of attitudes teachers have about literature.
2. Factors that affect teachers use and non-use of literature
This second part of the research finding explored the factors that affect teachers use and non-use of literature in the EFL classroom. Based on the analysis of
the data, the following factors were identified; the attitude that literature is difficult, teachers’ lack of confidence, and students’ lack of motivation.
1.
Teachers’ Attitude that Literature is Difficult
Most of the teachers believed literature is difficult despite its values in language teaching. For example,
T1, T2
, and
T4
revealed that literature is difficult
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to teach. This may be as a result of lack training, the language difficulties or just lack of confidence by the teacher. The responses of the teachers reflect in their
predispositions: “Literature is difficult, scary and I don’t often use it because I feel I can’t
teach it well. I am not a literature teacher..”
T1
. “Literature is very complicated and difficult. It contains difficult words and
this can discourage teachers and students
T2
“Well, actually, it is not easy to teach literature nowadays. Am not confident to stand in front of the class to teach literature”
T4
. It can be noted however that lack of background knowledge, methodologies and
approaches in teaching literature as well as language dilemma could affect the teaching of literature. Also, lack of confidence by teachers reflects the psychological
predisposition of the teachers towards the material. 2.
Teachers’ Lack of Confidence
The next factor that clearly affects the use and non-use of literature in the language classroom is
teachers’ lack of confidence to teach literature. As seen from the teachers’ responses,
T1, T2,
and
T4
stated that they lacked confidence to teach literature in the classroom.
“Can I use this correctly or properly? Most teachers including me are not confident to teach literature. What I am going to teach my students? But if we
try hard we will know it is not all that scary”
T1
. “The challenging thing is that most of us think we cannot teach literature
properly. Even when we have chosen literature, we have to think about the teaching strategies and techniques to make the students understand what we
are teaching.”
T2
“It is not easy to teach literature. I am not confident to stand in front of the class to teach literature”
T4
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T2
mentioned that teachers need strategies and techniques to teach literature which some of the teachers lack. By this she implied that teachers need the basic knowledge
training in literature in order to effectively teach literature. 3.
Student’s Lack of Motivation
Some of the teachers believed students lack motivation to read literature,
invariably,this affects the way teachers use literature in the language classroom.
T3
noted that students’ motivation is important when deciding to use literature in the classroom.
T5
emphasized that lack of reading habits may have been caused by lack of motivation and social problems in Indonesia. He explained that the lack of reading
culture in Indonesia could be attributed partly to government policies. He stated that during the government of President Surharto, many books were banned and this
affected a whole generation of students including his own generation. Social problems are caused by poor economy and also the transport system in most cities.
T7
argued that since the students are non English speakers, language dilemma is a factor that affects the use of literature in the language classroom.
T8
however stated that how to motivate the students to appreciate poems is a serious challenge, and
T9
reported that a teacher’s familiarity with literary text, availability of texts and teacher’s notions of the usefulness of literature can affect the use and non-use of
literature in the language classroom. While it can be said that the factors already mentioned affect the teachers, the extent of which they affect the teachers cannot be
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immeditately determined in this study. It could be worthwhile for future research to investigate the degree each of the factors affect the teachers.
B. Discussions
