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It was not difficult to divide the class into some groups. Even the students seemed happy by doing this activity. When the students interacted to each other,
they were not aware of the structural or grammatical features of the English. In other word, they lacked of using English in their daily conversation because they
still used their mother tongue in the interaction among them. It is also supported by teacher AN’s statement. She stated:
“Mereka masih kurang dalam menggunakan bahasa Inggris, apalagi jika berinteraksi dengan teman sejawat. Susahnya karena bahasa Inggris itu
masih bahasa asing dan mereka belum terbiasa. Jadi ini tugas besar kami sebagai guru mereka” Interview with teacher AN on Monday, May 30
th
2010.
3. The Strengths and Weaknesses of Bilingualism in Teaching Learning Activities
a. The Strengths
There are some strengths in the implementation of bilingualism in the teaching learning activities in International Standardized School. First, bilingual
education makes the students know another language English and learn it in their subjects matter Mathematics, Science, and English. In this research
context, the students learned Mathematics and Science in English. The teacher gave them material, tasks, and homework in English. It seems that the students are
prepared to reach the goal of International Standardized School which is to improve the quality of national education, especially getting international
acknowledgement and having international competitiveness ability.
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Second, in bilingual education, the students have better skills in learning English than other schools which only use one language as the medium of
instruction. During teaching learning activities, the teachers always gave the students material, either tasks or note, in English. They also tried to make
communication with their students in English. It showed that they were making every effort so that in the future the students are able to communicate in English
fluently and help them to cope with global competition and cooperation. Third, teachers in bilingual education are required to be creative and open
minded. It means that the teachers should avoid delivering the materials in conventional techniques. In International Standardized School, where the
researcher did the research, the teachers delivered the materials in English, so they attempted to make the materials interesting. Before the teacher gave the
explanation about the topic they taught, they asked the students to make a simple experiment or a simple practice about the topic. It was done to make the students
understand the concept of the topic that they had just learned. By doing this, the teacher expected the students to become active and enthusiastic in the teaching
learning activities. In choosing and giving materials, the teacher must be careful. Although the materials were taken from internet or international source, such as
My Pals text book from developed country Singapore, they must be suitable with the curriculum used and the students’ need.
b. The Weaknesses
