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LEARNING FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS COLLABORATIVELY TO SUPPORT UNS BIPPA PROGRAM IN THE NATURAL SETTING
M. Sri Samiati Tarjana
Sebelas Maret University
Abstract
: The globalization era opens the possibility for human beings to develop communication among ethnic groups and nations. Among others, this happens in the field of education, where study exchanges between people
from different countries happen in new environments. In the case` of education, in the last few years aome foreign students from different parts of the world have come to study at the University of Sebelas Maret UNS
to learn academic programs. Before entering the program, they have to learn Bahasa Indonesia BI. Thus, they have to learn BI, called the BIPA Program Bahasa Indonesia untuk Penutur Asing formally, and are provided
with authentic materials, and books, relevant to their future studies. However, the present world gives rise to some form of language which is used for communication purposes called communication language. The
language has certain language features in its vocabulary and grammar, that are not always available in books and dictionaries. Prior researches have shown that the specific features, such as personification, metaphores, and
idioms; and therefore called figurative expressions. The present research tries to identify how the foreign learners set up the strategies to learn the language for communication.
Keywords: figurative expressions, BIPA, language for communication Introduction
Foreign students learning in UNS have to attend the BIPA program before entering their respective academic programs. The BIPA program aims at providing them with language for survival in the Solo setting,
whwre the local people use Javanese, Indonesian, and also some foreign language like Arabic, English and Chinese.
They learn the languages in-class and outside-class, mostly by interactive learning with friends, teachers, and people in the society. Reseach has shown that after one or two semesters, they are able to
communicate with the people around them. By the time they have to attend their academic programs, they mostly understand how to communicate in BI, English and even some fenomena of the vernacular language
namely Javanese or BJ properly. It is worth noting that at first most of the foreign students did not know BI, and neither BJ, so that it is often difficult for them to communicate with the people around them. Likewise, their
Indonesian teachers and friends often could not understand their expressions.
Research has indicated that students who cannot cross the border of imroving their language competence easily are reluctant to make mistakes in front of their teachers and friends. They would rather keep
silent and almost never discuss their problems openly. On the other hand, theis structured, re are students who are always open to discuss their learning problems and like to make jokes. Of course, the latter usually help to
make the learning environment lively..The following parts dicuss about their strategies of learning, both inside and outside class.
Learning BI and BJ in-class
The BIPA learning in class is structured in a formal situation, with a rigid schedule. UNS assigns the Language Centre called UPT. P2B to take care of the language classes, providing the foreign students with
books and kanguage`learning facilities used collaboratively or individually. The teachers are experienced, professional, and know both BI and BJ well. The teaching is carried out based on the syllabi and strict
monitoring and assessment are implemented. The classes at the beginning program especially aim at introducing and improving basic BI and also BJ. The aaaims are to introduce basic vocabulary and grammar, focussing on
linguistic strategies, learning strategies, and communicative strategies at the beginning levels. Besides learning the BIPA materials for BI language mastery, students also learn BI and BJ for practical communication
purposes. The strategies for learning the languages cover practicing language skills using relatively easy, short texts. They regularly have take-home assignments to discuss during the monitoring sessions. Sometimes they
have to participate in drills, particularly when they do not make proper spelling nor correct pronunciation, such as: “menek, entek, embek, and “ben.”
In addition, the students are able to watch learning materials about the cultire and social life in the society. This is necessary to famiirize them with cross cultural understanding of the Javanese high context
culture. BJ has undha usuk basa, having expressions of various forms, For example, second person pronoun or “you” may be expressed`depending on the interpersonal relarion of the speakers, namely, “nan-dalem,
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panjenengan used to highly respected persons, jenengan, sliramu used to respected ones, sampeyan to
persons of equal postions, and kowe to younger persons or subordinates. In addition, the Javanesee prefer to use figurative espressions to avoid inconvenient interactions. For instance, a mother would rather say: “Ah,
Dimas isih ingusen BJ, to show andhap asor, rather than Dimas isih cilik BI ;which in BI and English are “
Dimas masih kecil BI”. Dimas is still a kid.”
The above illustrations indicate the students need to take active participation in learning the languages.
Learning BI and BJ Outside Class
The language learning outside class is mostly unstructured, depending on some personal program of the teacher, tutor, or the students themselves. It mainly emphasizes on elaborating and strengthening the strategies
mentioned above. At tge beginning a guide is needed, but after some time living in Soko, the foreign students prefer to tour around on their own, in pairs or in groups, to famialize themselves in town.
Since Solo is noted for having various cultural activies, the outbound activities are usually related to some cultural event happening in rown, Besides providing opportunity yo meet and communicate with the local
peopla, they alsso make up an excellent setting for learning language and culture in the natural environment. This can motivate foreign students to have a keen undrrstanding of cultural practices, xuch as tourism,
cullinaries,, batik processing, cultural heritage, performing arts, and other cultural activities regarding the human life cycle. These outside class activitites contribute much in the understanding of the cultural terms. The word
tedhak siti
or turun tanah for instance, is a cultural term of which meaning is not available in the western society. It refers to a cultural activity where a todler is considered mature to touch or walk on the ground. It has lots of
symbolisms, among others where he will encounter many vices and virtues in his life. The todler is believed to be protected from evil spirits after he “walks on“ seven glutinouos rice-cakes having seven colours. Obviously
the meaning of the coltural term will only be well=understood when the foreign student watches the tedhak siti event. While watching the activities, they learn rhe vocabulary in the natural setting and be able to describe it in
practicing the language..
Besides, the atmosphere in Solo also provides opportunities for foreign students to learn the language and culture of the Javanese. Solo is well-known of its delicious meals and culliariy practices which are relatively
cheap. Students can also lean about various handy-crafts like batik, rattan, and woven materials. All of them provide opportunities for foreign students to learn.
As Solo is famous for being the “Spirit of Java” there are also regular cultural events that also provide tourist attractions. Most foreign students enjoy the cultural events, which may be organized with various
purposes, such as Performing Arts, Heritage, Museums, and Environmental Issues. Therefore these activities may motivate language learning in the natural setting. Some of the foreign students even take active
paarticipation in thr performances. This indicates that the environment in Solo provides various views of the social, political, economic, historical and geographical realities.They can be beneficial for increasing the world
view of students learning the language, and also for sharing opinions and cooperating for common activities. .
As stated earlier, in this matter the language learning will be best when the students take active participarion in the activities, and make discussions about them. They may need to learn about the basic
principles and their underlying philosophy of the culture. .
Closing
The BIPA Program at UNS provides opportunities to learn the languages starting from the basic level until the most advance, since there are` various forms of activities based on the needs of the foreign students.
Since the stydents may practice the languages in class and outside ckass, they will be highly motivatedm and consequently learn faster than when they learn in the traditional setting.
Some phenomena that contribute to the positive nature of UNS BIPA Program sre among others the highly dedicated and professional language teachers, the language learning facilities which students can get easy
access, and the strict monitoring and assessment procedures. Another positive condition is the natural setting with lots of cultural activities where students may learn and practice the language for communication in the
natural setting.
References
Brown, Dougla H. 20 01 Teachimg by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. New York: Addison Weasley Longman Ltd.
Brown, James Dean. 1995. The Elements of Language Curriculum. Boston. Heinle Heinle Publishers. Feare, Ronald E. 1980. Practice with Idioms. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Fernando, Chitra. 1996. Idiom and Idiomicity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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Giora, Rachel. 2003 On Our Minds: Salience, Context, and Figurative Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Glucjsberg, Sam. 2001 Understanding Figurative Language: From Metaphores to Idioms. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Kovecsess, Zoltan. 2010. Metaphor: A Practical Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Larsen, Diane, Freeman. 2001. Techniques and Principles in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University
Press. Merill, Joyce Valdes. ed.. 1986. Culture Bound. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.
Mitchell, Rosamond Florence Miles. 1989. Second Language Learning Theories. New York: Oxford University Press.
Richards, Jack C. Theodore S. Rodgers.2001. Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rivers, Wilga M. ed. 1993. Interactive Language Teaching. New York: Cambridge University Press. Stern, Josef. 2000. Metaphor in Context. Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
Wendem, Anita Joan Rubin. 1987. Learner Strategies in Language Learning. New York: Prentice Hall.
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EXPERIMENTING JEREMIADIC APPROACH AS AN ALTERNATIVE FOR TEFL IN MEETING THE DEMAND
OF THE 2013 CURRICULUM Mister Gidion Maru
mrhekangyahoo.com
Abstract : This research paper aims at sharing the application of Jeremiadic Approach in the attempt to arrive at
the competencies prescribed in the 2013 Curriculum. The application of this approach serves as an alternative to respond toward teachers’ need for more approaches in dealing with the goals of TEFL in Indonesia. Being
inspired by the Jeremiad tradition in American literature, the jeremiadic approach implies three phases of dealing with the use of text in teaching activity which seems to be in line with the frame of text-based learning of the
current curriculum. The phases consist of text explanation as suggested by the jeremiad’s lamentation of the present, text examination as implied by jeremiad’s evocation of the past, and text expectation as framed by
jeremiad’s calling for renewal. As a preliminary experimentation, this approach is applied in the teaching of short story in the class of the sixth semester in the English Department, Unima. The evaluation used for this
experiment is carried out in qualitative method by analyzing students’ notes accompanied by doing interview. The results of the experimentation show that the jeremiadic or T-Ex approach had creatively and interactively
provided students the opportunities to involve in active sharing and discussion within which they observed, questioned, tried, associated, comprehended, analyzed, created, presented, implemented, respected, experienced,
and accepted as well as evaluated as summarized in the 2013 Curriculum as the skill, knowledge and attitude competence.Further, the use of the students’ intellectual diaries, a kind of daily note, did not only contribute to
monitor the advantage of the approach to the class activities but also alternatively to assess authentically students’ absorption as well as competency outputs.
Keywords : Text-based learning, Competencies, Jeremiadic Approach
The National Ministry of Education and Culture, Muhamad Nuh, in Harian Kompas, Kamis, 7 Maret 2013, asserted the essentiality of language “in transferring the content of the material from all of the sources for
learners’ competencies”. Language plays as an integrating role for inter-subjects in the national curriculum. The proper and correct use of language positions a text as the basis for learning. It confirms “language always
happens as text and not as isolated words and sentences” Thornbury, 2005: 8. A text constitutes an arena for language exploration and elaboration. The text can be viewed, then, as the object for language studies,
information resources and creative works. The language rises in its contextual application. In terms of English learning, a text does not merely open the path to elaborate the linguistic objects but also to implement English
for communication. It appears that, within this logic, the 2013 Curriculum prescribes that English competencies are built out of the texts within which the use of English is intended to be a tool of communication for expressing
ideas and knowledge, the habit of reading, understanding, summarizing and reproducing a passage, and the habit of composing a text and the awareness to its rules Kemendikbud, 2013. It implies that such material contents
fill the text in the effort to arrive at developing the knowledge, skill and attitude competence. The text as the basis for learning seems to be used as a stepping stone for creative, innovative and productive activities in the
classroom within which students discover, learn and apply. In connection with this, The scientific approach is then suggested to be used for teaching all of the subjects in the 2013 Curriculum.
However, the approach which includes the phases such as observing, questioning, associating, experimenting and networking appears to be slightly problematic in the teaching English. Marsigit 2013 argued
that the scientific approach used for all of the subjects is philosophically and ontologically questioned. Ontologically, there are two kinds of science namely “geistesweisensaften” and “natureweistensaften”.
According to Marsigit, the scientific approach is only suitable for “natureweistesaften” while hermeneutics meets the need for “geistesaften”. Thus, it can be inferred that using the scientific approach in English teaching
may lead to the ontological challenges and, later, to the failure to achieve the aims of the curriculum. Empirically, the other voices of doubt and confusion also come from some teachers concerning with the
approach implemented to this new curriculum Kompas 3 September 2014. They found it difficult to follow the phases or logic of the scientific approach in the English teaching activity. It is not easy to translate the
observation phase, for instance, when it deals with a text.
These challenges drive the writer to propose and share the experimentation of using the jeremiad approach which is assumed to meet the demand for a proper text based learning as an alternative for EFL
teaching in the frame of the 2013 curriculum. This approach is considered to be more suitable to the English
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teaching due to its basis upon the stages of rhetoric text interpretation which is close to that of hermeneutics, and workable in the sense of its simple stage activities. The jeremiadic approach, which the writer likes to call “T-Ex
Approach”, suggests the following phases namely text explanation, text examination and text expectation. As a preliminary experimentation and study, this approach is applied in the teaching of English using
the text of a short story in the subject of British and American Prose in one of the classes the sixth semester in the English Department, Unima that is Ron Dhal’s Beware of the Dog. The choice of the short story is related to
the insights that, for the purpose of English teaching, a literary text can be an authentic material, cultural enrichment, language enrichment and personal involvement Collie and Slater, 1990. A literary text provides
learners with real world experiences, relationships between society and people where the target language is spoken, even if they are fictions. The class is taken by following the schedule assigned to the writer. The
evaluation used for this experiment is carried out in qualitative method by combining teacher’s observation and analyzing students’ guided diaries which are so-called intellectual diaries. This analysis is done by the way of the
informed Grounded Theory as synthesized by Thorberg.
Finding and Discussion
The jeremiadic approach is in fact inspired from a jeremiad which constitutes a type of American Puritan literary genre and rhetoric Maru, 2013, Miller, 1953,p.29, Bellah, 1992,p.42, Madsen, 1998, p.27, Smith
and Smith, 1994, p.134. A jeremiad builds up its points through the application of the stages which put forward the idea of make meaning of the text and communicating it. The final aim of the stages can be defined as the
expectation toward obtaining of particular attitude or skill related to the previous found knowledge or understanding. A text in a jeremiad perspective has to be interpreted in three consecutive phases of presentation
to the audience namely the lamentation of the present, the evocation of the past, and the calling for renewal. The first phase perceives a text as something comes from the present condition. It can portray the reality of moment
of the text production. The text can be a reaction or response and the highlights of the ongoing circumstances. The second phase urges the deep examination of the text which is carried out by connecting the context with
knowledge such as multidiscplinary references, history, past figures, location, and Holy Book verses. These are intended to gain encouragement and solution for the current condition. The last stage is marked by the finding of
moral values out of the text. The value discovery is crucial at this moment of interpretation since it is capitalized to suggest the enactment of a certain expected attitude. The value serves to be the basis for character
development. Seeing these jeremiadic logics, the writer detects its link to the essence of the 2013 Curriculum that is integrating skill, knowledge and attitude. Therefore, these phases of logic are elaborated and translated
into three parts of text explanation, examination and expectation for EFL context. The writer likes to call this teaching approach applying the jeremiad logic as T-Ex approach. This approach is regarded to be a potential
alternative for EFL teaching as it works in the way of hermeneutics which is thought to be more suitable for language teaching compared to the scientific approach Marsigit, 2013.
Unlike the order of stages in the scientific approach, the jeremiad approach relies upon three stages that concentrate on the use of the text in the classroom activities. The text becomes the center for teacher-student
interaction. The absence of the text will turn out to be clueless activities. Once a text is introduced to students, it serves to be axial for the class to define its activity. The text is assumed as a bonanza whose advantages depend
on the dialectic action performed in the classroom. This means that the teachers’ creativity and students’ participation should be part of the design or plan for learning activity. The criterion of a text must cover the
possibility of English exposure and its relation to knowledge enrichment as well as character development. The text ought to spark the flames of language aspects and activities which burn out students learning practice and
character. However, it is important to note that the effectiveness of using the text turns to the teachers’ ability to bring it “down” to the class. Further, the text is also viewed to be the zero point at which teachers commence the
interaction with students in terms of recounting ideas, references, figures and other issues. These constitute activity for mutual knowledge enrichment. In the practice of teaching English, the text is not only linked to the
language knowledge but also engaged to other relevant disciplines. In so doing, the text based learning in the frame of this jeremiad approach or T-Ex approach involves knowledge sharing and enrichment. A text in this
approach is also defined as the moral guide or attitudinal guide. It produces the values that organize an individual within a social interaction and a group within a group even larger community. The activity in the classroom
using the text must come to the revelation of moral values which prescribe the enactment of certain attitudes and, later, bring them into the daily context or future expectation both in the social and spiritual domain or both in the
local and national scope and even in the international one.
Such conception is synthesized into three stages of a learning approach following ones that have been defined as the structure of the jeremiad. The three stages which are so-called the T-Ex approach are
experimented as the practice of the text-based learning as suggested in the 2013 curriculum particularly in the learning of EFL.
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A. Text Explanation
