Learning and Teaching English in Indonesia

CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

This chapter presents a theoretical framework which consist of the learning and teaching English in Indonesia, English curriculum and the latest syllabus, English instructional materials at SMA, teaching gerund, the function of gerund, approach, method, and strategy smart solution method, definition of smart solution method, language and thought, and issues of smart solution method problem solving approach, the implementation of Remedial Enrichment Consulting REC, extra program of smart solution method.

A. Learning and Teaching English in Indonesia

In indonesia, the teaching of English is considered as Teaching English as Foreign Language TEFL since it is taught as a school subject but not used as the medium of teaching of other subjects and not widely used by people in the country either. This consideration is in line with Prator 1991:21 who differentiates TEFL Teaching English as a Foreign Language from TESL Teaching English as a Second Language. In TEFL English is used in educational situations where the teaching of other subjects is not normally given in English. Whereas in TESL English is used in educational situations where English is ethe partial or universal medium of instruction for other subjects. The implementation of teaching English at SMA is based on the 2004 English curriculum. The objective of English instruction is “By the end of the program, the students will have developed English language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in accordance with their individual levels and interest, using 2500 word level and appropriate structures.” According to Syaukah 1997 states that basically, the meaning communicative approach to teaching English at the secondary school is based on five principles; 1 language is viewed as an instrument to express meaning which is realized by ways of structures and vocabulary; 2 meaning is determined by linguistics and situational contexts; 3 learning a language is learning to use the language in communicative activities in the target language written as well as oral, receptive as well as productive; 4 the mastery of language components is needed to support the mastery of the communicative competence; and 5 the teaching of the language components can be done whenever necessary. Thus, in line with the discussion above, the teaching of English at SMA considered as TEFL Teaching English as a Foreign Language and it is a compulsary subject which is taught based on the 2004 English curriculum and aimed at developing the students English language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. It means that listening skill must be covered at the teaching of English at SMA. Learning English at senior high school can not separate from five competencies; such as linguistics competence, sociolinguistics competence, actional competence, strategic competence, and discourse competence. Linguistics competence is related with how well a person has learned that features and rules of the language. This includes vocabulary, pronunciation, and sentence formation, 2 sociolinguistics competence is related with how well a person speaks and is understood in various social contexts. This depends on factors such as status of those speaking to each other, the purpose of the interaction, and the expectations of the interaction, 3 actional competence is related with proficiency of students’ skill either productive or receptive skills, and 4 strategic competence is related with how well the person uses both verbal forms and non-verbal communication to compensate for lack of knowledge in the other three competencies, and 5 discourse competence is related with how well a person can combine grammatical forms and meanings to achieve different types genres of speaking or writing Noam Chomsky. The learner, in this case is senior high school students in Indonesia still find many complexities of mastery those English competencies. That is why we know that the curriculum has changed for several times in Indonesia. But in Listening Speaking recent curriculum School-Level Curriculum KTSP, the English learning in senior high school only focuses on an actional competence. Teaching can not be defined apart from learning. Nathan Gage 1964:269 noted that ‘to satisfy the practical demands of education, theories of learning must be ‘stood on their head’ so as to yield theories of teaching. Teaching English in senior high school has a purpose that is by the end of their study, the students are expected to master two competence, that are actional competence which is divided into productive skills speaking and writing and receptive skills listening and reading and linguistic competence grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and spelling. 12 Besides, teaching English in senior high school is proposed to implant the awareness about the importance of English language as a vital medium of transfer of knowledge that has a role to widen science, implant positive thinking to foreign people and help the students in doing cross cultural activities. As a foreign language, English is taught in senior high school as a compulsory subject, the English instructional material which is suggested in the syllabus can be developed by the teacher themselves. This subject includes listening, speaking, reading and writing equally. Actional competences are not taught linearly but cohesively. Thus, the linguistics competences must be taught integrated to support the development of those four actional competences. Without knowing the linguistic competences Vocabulary, Grammar and Pronunciation, it is impossible for the English learner perform language skills. To see the correlation between four skills, the diagram 2.1 below is presented 13 : Diagram 2.1 The correlation between four language skills by Kern 2000:132 12 Depdiknas, Kurikulum 2004, Standar Kompetensi Mata Pelajaran Bahasa Inggris SMA MA, Jakarta; Depdiknas, 2003 13 Depdiknas, Kurikulum 2004, Standar Kompetensi ….p.24 Reading Writing Adapted from SMAMA Kurikulum 2004

B. English Curriculum and the Latest Syllabus