INVESTIGATING EARLY-CAREER TEACHERS’ ADAPTATION CHALLENGES: A CASE OF INDONESIAN EFL TEACHERS

Teacher professional development has recently become a central focus in the Indonesian context, particularly after the implementation of the post-bachelor teacher professional education program or Pendidikan Profesi Guru (PPG) for both pre-service and in-service EFL teachers in 2013. However, studies reveal that the transition from teacher education programs to the initial teaching career at schools has been described as a challenging phase. Despite the growing attention of scholars in exploring beginning teachers’ challenges, studies focusing on the early-career Indonesian EFL teachers, particularly those who just completed the PPG program, are considered limited. Therefore, drawing on a qualitative case study with two beginning Indonesian secondary EFL teachers, this study aims to unravel the challenges during their first-year teaching experience at school after completing the PPG program. By thematically analysing the semi-structured interviews, this study indicated that the teachers experienced four significant challenges: 1) pedagogical (classroom management, lack of teaching resources, test-based learning atmosphere), 2) professional (complex self-identification), 3) social (maintaining rapport with senior teachers), and 4) personal (mood management).  Despite having been trained professionally through the PPG program, the result suggested that the beginning teachers still faced considerable challenges during their initial endeavour as an English teacher at school. Pedagogical implications are discussed in terms of the need for continuous professional development for the newly certified teachers during their initial career at schools

STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES IN RETELLING PAST EXPERIENCE:(A Case Study at One Private Junior High School in Bandung)

The present study aims to discover the students’ difficulties in retelling past experience based on generic structure and linguistic features analyses. Nine stories were analyzed by transitivity of functional grammar developed by Halliday (1994) to identify linguistic features and the theory of generic structure of recount proposed by Emilia (2011) to analyze the generic structure of the students’ stories. To make it clearer, the grammatical errors discovered in the stories were classified by Dulay et al. (1982) on surface strategy taxonomy. The findings showed that all students have developed their stories based on the obligatory elements of recount. However, the optional part (re-orientation) only appeared in one student’s story. In other words, the students did not give their personal comments on the events they have experienced. In terms of linguistic features, low achievers and two high achievers did not apply one linguistic feature of recount, namely past tense. Misformation is the most frequent type of grammatical errors in students’ stories at 54%, followed by omission at 35%, addition at 8% and misordering at 2%. The dominance of misformation and omission reveal that the students still find it difficult to apply correct form of verb (process) in retelling past experience. The study also revealed that lack of understanding in applying correct verb (process) form, lack of knowledge in terms of vocabularies, and nervousness due to lack of exercise become the possible causes of the students’ difficulties. Teachers are recommended to give more exposures to the students about the stories or texts with appropriate structures and features, and to promote activities which allow students to train their capability of speaking. Keywords :students’ difficulties,speaking, error analysis, transitivity Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mencari tahu kesulitan siswa dalam menceritakan pengalaman masa lalu berdasarkan analisis struktur umum serta fitur-fitur linguistik. Sembilan cerita dianalisis dengan menggunakan transitivity of functional grammaryang dikembangkan olehHalliday (1994) untuk mengidentifikasi fitur-fitur linguistik serta teori mengenai struktur umumrecountyang diajukan oleh Emilia (2011) untuk menganalisis struktur umum cerita siswa. Lebih jelas lagi, kesalahan gramatikal yang ditemukan di dalam cerita tersebut diklasifikasikan dengan menggunakan teori yang dikembangkan olehDulay et al.(1982) yaitusurface strategy taxonomy.Hasil temuan menunjukkan bahwa seluruh siswa telah mengembangkan cerita berdasarkan elemen wajib dalamrecount. Namun, bagian opsional (re-orientation) hanya muncul dalam satu cerita siswa. Dengan kata lain, para siswa tidak memberikan komentar personal terhadap kejadian yang telah mereka alami. Dalam hal ditur linguistik, siswa low achieversdan duahigh achieverstidak menggunakan salah satu fitur linguistik dalam recount, yaitupast tense. Misformationmerupakan kesalahan gramatikal yang paling umum dalam cerita siswa dengan 54%, diikuti olehomissionpada 35%, additionpada 8% danmisorderingpada 2%.Dominasi darimisformationdanomissionmenunjukkan bahwa para siswa masih kesulitan dalam menggunakan bentuk verba (process)yang tepat dalam menceritakan pengalaman masa lalu. Penelitian ini juga menemukan bahwa kurangnya pemahaman dalam menggunakan bentuk verba(process)yang tepat, kurangnya pemahaman dalam hal kosakata,serta kegugupan akibat kurangnya latihan menjadi penyebab dari kesulitan para siswa. Para guru disarankan untuk memberikan paparan lebih pada siswa perihal cerita atau teks dengan struktur dan fitur yang berterima, serta melakukan aktivitas yang memungkinkan siswa untuk melatih kemampuan berbicaranya. Kata kunci : kesulitan siswa,berbicara, analisis kesalahan, transitivit

Primary School Teacher’s Perception of Game-Based Learning in Online Learning: the Advantages and Challenges

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted almost all aspects of life, including education. This unprecedented shift to online learning has forced schools to implement distance learning through online-based learning. To keep the students engaged and motivated through online learning, many teachers changed their learning method from traditional learning to game-based learning (GBL) by incorporating games into learning. This study investigated primary school teachers' perceptions of game-based learning advantages and challenges in Science Learning on online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were collected through observation and semi-structured interviews of five primary school teachers and analyzed using thematic analysis of qualitative data. The results revealed that the teachers found a positive association between GBL and students' performance. GBL is a learning media that could engage students' participation and learning motivation in class. However, some teachers were also concerned about the declines in students' grades and several obstacles teachers encountered while implementing GBL. Some recommendations for future research and practice are proposed in the current study.The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted almost all aspects of life, including education. This unprecedented shift to online learning has forced schools to implement distance learning through online-based learning. To keep the students engaged and motivated through online learning, many teachers changed their learning method from traditional learning to game-based learning (GBL) by incorporating games into learning. This study investigated primary school teachers' perceptions of game-based learning advantages and challenges in Science Learning on online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The data were collected through observation and semi-structured interviews of five primary school teachers and analyzed using thematic analysis of qualitative data. The results revealed that the teachers found a positive association between GBL and students' performance. GBL is a learning media that could engage students' participation and learning motivation in class. However, some teachers were also concerned about the declines in students' grades and several obstacles teachers encountered while implementing GBL. Some recommendations for future research and practice are proposed in the current study

Improving Student-Teachers' Research Literacies through APA Citation 7th and Mendeley Workshops

Academic honesty and plagiarism awareness become essential abilities for university students and early-career researchers. One way to enhance academic honesty and awareness of plagiarism issues is by mastering the skills of managing citations and references/bibliographies. Moreover, nowadays, various reference manager applications can be utilized to assist college students and early researchers in their research activities. Based on these statements, the Primary School Teacher Education (PSTE) study program and Center of Language and Culture (CLC) at President University conducted a community service program for university students and early researchers. This program was conducted through an online platform called Zoom as a preventive measure to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus. There were 370 students, teachers, and early researchers from campuses across Indonesia and even overseas (Australia & China) who registered for this community service program. Based on the survey distributed after the program, the majority of participants responded very positively, in which their comprehension of referencing and citing and Mendeley is considered improving significantly. Some implications for future practice and research are also outlined in this article

Persepsi Guru Bahasa Inggris Pemula tentang Pelatihan Kemampuan Menulis melalui Lokakarya IELTS Daring Terintegrasi: The Perception of Early-Career English Teachers towards Writing Skill Training through Online Integrated IELTS Workshop

During the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers experienced a significant shift in the learning context from offline to online learning. Various studies suggest that teachers, particularly beginning teachers, experienced problems accommodating student teaching activities during online learning. Consequently, early-career teachers need to enhance their understanding and skills to maximize their role as effective teachers. Therefore, this community empowerment program aims to train early-career English teachers’ writing skills. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the workshop was conducted through an integrated online IELTS lesson via Zoom in six different sessions. Forty teachers from different schools in Indonesia participated in this program. The teachers perceived that they better understood general writing structure, paraphrasing introduction, writing body paragraphs, and conclusion. The teachers also stated that the program improved their comprehension of IELTS Writing and lowered writing anxiety. The teachers face difficulties in using vocabulary and developing ideas in writing. Based on the perceptual analysis, teacher educators are recommended to conduct future community programs to address the issues and offer programs for different skills tested in IELTS

Conceptualizing Bilingual Education Programs through CLIL and Genre-Based Approach: An Indonesian Context

The implementation of bilingual education programs in the Indonesian secondary school context has experienced considerable changes in the last decade. In this case, the enactment of the International Standards School (ISS) program that propelled the students to experience bilingual education programs at schools was discontinued by the government in 2015. Consequently, the discontinuation of the ISS program leads to the scarcity of studies in examining the progress and effectiveness of bilingual education programs in Indonesia. At the same time, the phenomenon of private schools that offer bilingual programs has been significantly more popular after the ISS program was abolished. However, there is a lack of established instruction on how to implement bilingual programs in such schools. Therefore, this paper aims to conceptualise the implementation of bilingual education programs through the implementation of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and Genre-Based Approach (GBA). Drawing on the relevant literature, this paper examines a new perspective in bilingual education programs by considering the suitability between CLIL and genre theory in the Indonesian secondary school context. Further, this paper also provides a unit of work/syllabus sample that incorporates both CLIL and GBA. Ultimately, future implications in responding to the enactment of bilingual education programs in Indonesia are also discussed

Online self-regulated learning strategies amid a global pandemic: Insights from Indonesian university students

Purpose – At the beginning of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic affected many aspects of life, including education. In response, the Indonesian government mandated all educational institutions, including universities, to implement online learning. Through online learning, many university students experienced considerable changes in the way they regulated their knowledge-seeking process. This research examined the level of EFL university students' self-regulated learning during their online learning activities for an English academic writing course, as well as the difficulties encountered and strategies developed in the online learning context. Methodology – This research employed a convergent mixed-method research design by adapting the Online Self-Regulated Learning Questionnaire (Barnard et al., 2009) and an open-ended questionnaire to discover the students' difficulties and strategies during online learning. The study involved 307 students of the English 3 (Academic Writing) course at President University, Indonesia. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyse the quantitative data sets, while the qualitative data sets were systematically coded and thematically analysed. Findings – The statistical analysis indicated that the students had a medium level of self-regulated learning skills. The qualitative analysis revealed that in the context of online self-regulated learning, the issues they faced included technical, material, time management, study space, and motivation issues. At the same time, the students attempted to alleviate these issues by improving collaboration and time management, and adopting technical, academic, and affective strategies. Significance – By exploring the level of students' self-regulated learning skills, this study provides insights for universities and lecturers into students’ ability to regulate their learning in an online learning context. Additionally, this study has identified the difficulties students face in the online learning process and their strategies to overcome these issues, which can practically inform educational institutions about the necessary support that should be provided to facilitate students' self-regulated learning skills in the online learning context