Focusing on the EFL Learners’ Spoken Language: An Analysis of Classroom Discourse

This paper discussed the spoken language produced by adult learners who attended a General English Intermediate course at one of the best English course providers in Indonesia. The writers analyzed examples of inaccurate and accurate spoken language produced by the students during an observed lesson and then shed light on possible reasons for the spoken language from linguistic point of views. The results of this study were intended to offer some insights into the nature of inaccurate and accurate spoken language in the learning of English as a foreign language. English teachers are, therefore, expected to focus not only on fluency but also on accuracy in English language teaching.  Keywords: accuracy, classroom discourse, fluency, spoken language&nbsp

CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS AND MEANING IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

Many ELT experts believe that the inclusion of critical thinking skills in English classes is necessary to improve students' English competence. Students' critical thinking skills will be optimally increased if meaning is prioritized in English lessons. Those two inter-related elements can be implemented when teachers do collaborative activities stimulating students' thinking process and meaning negotiation. Yet, the realization might be counter-productive if they are applied without careful consideration of task purposes and of students' roles. Based on the consideration, this paper is focused on presenting how critical thinking skills and meaning should be properly incorporated in an English lesson

ELT STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS TOWARDS WHATSAPP FOR LEARNING ENGLISH DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

The research was conducted to find out the perceptions of ELT students towards the use of WhatsApp as a Mobile-Assisted Language Learning (MALL) device for learning English during the COVID-19 pandemic. The researcher distributed a survey which was filled out by 225 English Language Teaching (ELT) students of Universitas Negeri Malang, Indonesia. The data analysis results show that the students find WhatsApp convenient features due to its connectivity, instant, portability, spontaneity, personalized, and ubiquity. They think that the app is useful for bite-size learning, blended learning, collaborative learning, various learning strategies, learning autonomy, task-based learning, asynchronous and synchronous learning, facilitating interactivity, and for mediating learning. They are also content to use WhatsApp for self-study and improving learning motivation

Enhancing the Students’ Learning Motivation by Using Instructional Media for Thailand’s Municipal School

In today’s era, the idea of conducting student exchanges and teaching practices overseas continues to grow. In this way, the cooperating countries can share their recent innovations in the field of education. The existence of a language barrier, however, may hinder learning and teaching in the classroom. Language barrier refers to the lack of a common language that prevents people from speaking to or understanding each other. It should be overcome as the information shared between teachers and students might be misinterpreted. This research was carried out as the researcher believed that the existing language barrier could be helped by increasing students’ motivation in the classroom. The aim of this study was to integrate the use of instructional media to enhance the students’ learning motivation of primary school in Thailand’s municipal school. This research used Classroom Action Research (CAR) design. The data was collected through the use of worksheets, still pictures, video recordings, interview guides, and field notes. The research results fulfilled the three criteria of success, namely classroom atmosphere, students’ learning motivation, and the strategy’s practicality. The researchers found that the use of instructional media could enhance students’ learning motivation and overcome the language barriers in the classroom

‘I THINK THAT AUSTRALIA IS A NICE COUNTRY’: AN INTERLANGUAGE ANALYSIS OF AN EFL LEARNER STUDYING IN AUSTRALIA

Studies on interlanguage in English learning in countries where English as a foreign language have been highlighted for decades. Interlanguage is the type of language produced by second- and foreign-language learners who are in the process of learning a language. This single‐participant study is intended to investigate and analyse the English competence of an Indonesian student who learns English as a foreign language. The study reveals that there are four major errors areas in the learner language, such as past tense, plural form ‘s’, quantifiers, and subject-verb agreement. The source of the learner’s errors might be due to the interference of the learner’s first language, intralingual factors, incomplete application of rules in the target language, failure in comprehending the rules, and the learner’s communication strategies

FINDING THE TRANSCENDENTAL BEAST IN POETIC TRANSLATIONS OF CHAIRIL ANWAR’S AKU

This study sets out to present the combined application of qualitative research and a translation method to elucidate the transcendental aspect of Chairil Anwar's poem entitled Aku. The translation process uses the poem’s verbatim format at first, then its interpretation of the content, and finally its inherent ideas by reading behind its lines. The transcending process is achieved through the use of a symbolic beast that permeates the poem’s structure. The beast-symbol has twofold functions in the poem, to say that everything beyond the persona-self is unworthy and thus the persona itself is capable of reaching a more divine place or becoming a higher being. Such a powerful symbol further substantiates the presence of a textual being, a voice of a persona that is inherent within the poem’s structure, and of which function is to express the persona’s wish to transcend into something bigger or higher than himself, which is resembling, if not equal to, a godly being. Keywords: poem’s persona, poetic translation, transcendentalism

Language, Society, and Cultural Differences in Representation: The Strange Case of Malangese Boso Walikan

This paper offers a critical response to fundamental theories of representation in the introductory section of Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices, a book written by Hall, Evans, and Nixon. As of January 2023, the book had won critical acclaims and was cited 13,500 times. The writers discuss how important a system of representation operates to connect language, society, and cultural differences in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. Using a specific case of Boso Walikan, the Malangese slang language as a representational system, the writers discover that cultural differences may occur within the same society where most people share the same cultural values and speak the same language. In this case, not all Malangese people like to speak their unique slang language although they were born and grew up in Malang and can speak the slang well. In the end, the whole process of strange to familiar ideas of expressions, thus representations, matches very closely with the concept of shared meaning in any given culture or unique system of representation. For the case of Boso Walikan, it seems safe to suggest that any of its native users are just ‘more experienced’ speakers of the slang language

Media Representations of Islam and Muslims in Indonesia: A Review and Research Direction

Current political issues related to power struggles in Indonesia are playing a divisive role in the country and escalating religious cases are a common sight. With Muslims dominating the nation's population, Islam inevitably plays a pivotal role in the country's political pageant. Indonesian government claim that they manage to secure moderate Muslims' loyalty to the political system while groups that are labelled as 'intolerant and radical Muslims' by the mainstream media often reject the mainstream democratic interpretations. In light of this situation, it is imperative that studies on factors contributing to the case and discourse strategies used in news and articles in secular and Islamic mass media dictating the current constructions of Muslim and Islamic identities in the country be encouraged

Assessment in Indonesian Higher Education: Developing a Reading Comprehension Test for English Students

This paper describes the processes of designing, administering, and evaluating a reading comprehension test for intermediate–level students who have taken a General English course at the English language centre of an Indonesian university. Using R&D method, the writers developed the test which contains two authentic texts. The first text is It isn’t a Rehearsal, You Know, written by Ray Connolly and the second text is Ageing around the World, written by Timothy Johnson. The reading comprehension test is a part of summative assessment which is aimed to measure the students’ ability to comprehend two different types of texts based on skimming, scanning, and vocabulary skills. Having done the processses of developing the reading test, the writers have some important points to revise including level of difficulty of the texts, the test organisation, and the reading skills tested. The writers recommend that understanding and practicing appropriate procedures to develop a reading comprehension test is not only crucial for English teachers to measure their students’ reading skills, but also necessary for their professional development