Concept : Community Concern for English Pedagogy and Teaching

The portrait of teaching English in primary school under Kurikulum Merdeka: Teachers' voices

2024-01-01T16:26:05+07:00

The changes in the national curriculum in Indonesia have been regular since independence day. It is an action taken to improve the quality of education given the demands of both the era and society, as well as to prepare for more competitive outcomes. This study concerns teachers' perceptions of the current curriculum (Kurikulum Merdeka). It is important to see how it is going in the practical field, particularly in teaching English in primary schools. Six English teachers from six different schools in Indonesia took part as participants in the current study. They were interviewed in two modes, onsite and online, to share their views regarding the Merdeka curriculum implementation. The result shows that both schools and policymakers have done several things regarding implementation. Meanwhile, along with its implementation, challenges exist, including time allotment, students’ proficiency, and students' motivation. Therefore, the findings should be taken seriously to improve the quality of teaching English at the primary level.

Keywords: English; primary school; Kurikulum Merdeka; policy

The implementation of peer tutoring through lesson study to develop learners` collaborative and communicative skills

2024-01-01T17:48:14+07:00

The purpose of this study is to investigate the implementation of peer tutoring through lesson study in developing candidate English teachers` collaborative and communicative skills. The sample of this study was 22 third-semester students who joined the speaking for professional contexts course. In order to gather the data, three steps (plan, see, and do) were applied. The first is having a discussion with the teacher and the headmaster to analyse the students` needs, the current situation of the teaching strategies, and problems or challenges in the classroom. Second, observation of three learning sessions with the implementation of peer tutoring through lesson study. It covers observation notes, reflections, and video recordings. Then, the data were analysed descriptively. The result showed that the students had made progress in developing collaborative and communicative skills, improved trusting relationships and supportive behaviours among classmates, and developed confidence in expressing themselves, representing themselves, and accepting other opinions while speaking.

Keywords: peer tutoring; speaking; collaboration; communicative; lesson study

Exploring teacher talk in training classrooms: A case study at SD Linimasa, Kuningan

2024-01-01T16:48:04+07:00

The aim of this study is to investigate the types of teacher talk and their meanings in dealing with diverse students. This research aimed to explore several fundamental aspects that occurred in classroom interaction. They are: 1) the types of teacher talk; 2) the most dominant and least performed type of teacher talk; and 3) the contribution of teacher talk to supporting learning. This research was a case study with the participation of three English teachers. The data had been collected through classroom observation, semi-structured interviews, and questionnaires. In examining the utterances uttered by all teachers, video recordings were utilised throughout the learning process. The result of the video transcription was then analysed using Moskowitz’s FLINT system to categorise the type of teacher talk. The result was then cross-checked with the interview and questionnaire to support the validity of the data. The study's findings demonstrated that during the teaching and learning process, teachers used nearly every kind of teacher discourse. Joking was the least frequent sort of speech, while asking questions was the most frequent. Through their utterances during the session, the teacher also provided support to the students who transferred from situations where English was not their first or second language. Teachers facing comparable situations may find it helpful to consider the study's implications and outcomes while trying to boost student engagement, which in turn encourages students to participate more actively in the learning process.

Keywords: Exploration; classroom interaction; teachers’ talk;

Politeness strategies employed by teachers in making requests to eleventh-grade students

2024-01-01T17:02:52+07:00

This study aims to find the types of politeness strategies used and the implications of using politeness strategies in the teaching and learning process by using the theory of Brown and Levinson (1987). This study used qualitative research with descriptive analysis with eleventh-grade students as the participants. As a result, there were four types of politeness strategies that occurred when the teacher made a request: bald on record, positive politeness, negative politeness, and off record. .According to the statistics, the most prevalent politeness method utilised by teachers in making requests was the bald-on-record strategy. A bald-on record technique was employed since the idea presented became clearer and unequivocal, and it did not take long for pupils to understand.. While the least was off record because the utterances with this strategy were considered to be unclear and ambiguous, and not all students could interpret the meaning of the utterance,. This study also found out the implications of using politeness strategies, which were effective communication, cooperative interaction, and less imposition. Besides, the result can be used as evaluation material for teachers and schools in using politeness strategies to persuade the students to fulfil the request.

Keywords : Politeness strategies; requesting; teaching learning process

Coordinating conjunction in students’ recount text: A sentence construction analysis

2024-01-01T17:59:09+07:00

This study sought to examine student errors in employing a coordinating conjunction to produce recall text. This study found all errors in 36 recount texts written by senior high school students in Indramayu (district in West Java) using Halliday and Hasan's Taxonomy (1976) and Ong's framework (2011) about the errors in using conjunction: misuse, unnecessary addition, omission, and repetition of conjunction. The results describe the condition of the students: they overgeneralized the use of coordinating; they also lacked understanding in terms of sentence construction due to limited knowledge of particular conjunctions and the function of coordinating conjunctions, which led to the incomplete application of rules in sentences. A comprehensive explanation of conjunction is needed when teaching writing to students. The students should clearly understand each function of conjunction to produce a meaningful text. Some limitations are provided along with suggested directions for future research to get a deeper and wider perspective in a similar context.

Keywords: Recount text; conjunction; error analysis; sentence construction