26
a. The Rationale
Basically, like the 1994 syllabus, competence-based curriculum stresses that English language be a tool to convey meaning, thoughts, ideas and feelings. English
is the first foreign language in Indonesia which is considered important for absorbing and developing science, technology, art and culture, and building relationship with
other nations. Furthermore, this new curriculum adds that English mastery is a principal requirement for Indonesian people to overcome the globalization era. There
are a lot of ways to master English but teaching English in school seems an effective way to overcome the problem.
b. The Definition
English is a communication device both orally and in written. To communicate means to understand and share information, ideas and feelings. By
using the language, students can develop themselves in science, technology and culture.
c. The Goals and Functions
English subject has the following goals and functions. They are: § Develop communication competence in English both orally and in written.
Communication competence includes listening, speaking, reading and writing.
§ Grow the awareness of the meaning of language, both English as a foreign language and Indonesian as mother language by comparing the two
languages.
27
§ Develop the understanding about the relationship between language and culture and widen the cultural scope.
d. The Scope
The English aspects comprise macro skills, basic language elements, culture aspects, and literature aspects. The abilities that are stated in macro skills are
listening, speaking, reading, and writing in a basic level. Fur thermore, grammar, vocabulary, intonation and pronunciation are the examples of basic language
elements. Equally important, cultural aspects are also included in the English expressions in texts or materials. In addition, literature aspects take important part as
well, such as to understand and appreciate literature. There are some terms, which are often used in the CBC and in consequence
need to be clarified. The terms are: a. Competence standard: Competence standard is an ability which is mastered and
implemented by the students in a subject after the learning process is carried out Nurgiyantoro, 2003: 3. Competence standard is the spelling out from the
functions and objectives of the national education. b. Basic competence: Basic competence is minimum ability mastered by the students
Nurgiyantoro, 2003:4. Basic competence is spelled out directly from the competence standard. The mastery of the competence standard is achieved
through the mastery of the basic competence. c. Achievement indicator: Achievement indicator is spelled out directly from the
basic competence. Achievement indicator is characteristic, feature, performance,
28
or response showed by the students in relation to the basic competence Nurgiyantoro, 2003: 4.
Therefore, English skills become the main concerns of the CBC. The standard competence for each skill for the seventh grade students is described in Table 1.
According to Direktorat Pendidikan Lanjutan Pertama 2004: 3, there are four phases in presenting any kinds of texts in spoken or written cycles. The phases
are: 1 Building Knowledge of the Field BKOF, 2 Modeling of Text MOT, 3 Joint Construction of Text JCOT, and 4 Independent Construction of Text
ICOT. The first phase is meant to bring the students’ attention to specific features of the text, such as the vocabulary, sentence structure, generic structure, and lexicon
grammar. In the second phase, models of texts are given. It is advised to present authentic texts. The students are required to write a certain kind of text in pairs or
groups in the third phase. Finally, the students write a piece of writing individually. More importantly, it is noticeable that those four phases are not always
implemented thoroughly. Those phase s can also start from any phases in a disorderly fashion. The considerations are the competence to achieve and the students’ ability.
6. The Curriculum in School Level
Kategori