A Review of Current Conceptual Research on Short Stories Use in EFL Classrooms

Literature use in EFL learning and teaching has regained great attention in the last decades, and among all literary genres, short stories are regarded the most effective to fuse in EFL classrooms. Conceptual research exploring the use of short stories has significantly increased. However, reviews identifying the insights and ideas concerning the what, why, and how of using short stories in EFL classrooms in these articles are still rare. Thus this paper aimed to review 14 conceptual research published in 2011-2020 and indexed in Google Scholar focusing on short stories use in EFL learning and teaching to draw a general picture of the underlying reasons and difficulties in using short stories, considerations for selecting short stories, and how to exploit short stories in the classroom. Based on the analysis employing the constant comparative method, this paper reports the results. After discussing the findings, some suggestions are recommended. &nbsp

Integrating the 4Cs into EFL Integrated Skills Learning

The accelerative globalization and digitalization in the 21st century have been growingly changing the way we live, interact, learn and work. Consequently, to thrive in the 21st century, besides knowledge and the basic skills, today’s students should also be equipped with what is called the 4Cs (communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity). To meet the challenges, EFL classrooms should not merely focus on students’ language skills development but also integrate the 4Cs into the learning process. This article reviews current ideas and research findings on integrated skills learning, the 4Cs, significance of blended learning in the 4Cs and integrated skills the integration, and offers practical tips for integrating the 4Cs into integrated skills learning

Print vs Digital Reading Comprehension in EFL

Printed texts have long been used as the prime medium of learning to read and reading to learn. However, the ubiquity of technology has emerged digital texts, and the accelerating influx of digital texts requires new comprehension skills and strategies. This article reviews and synthesizes current ideas and research findings on digital reading in EFL context to provide a more solid theoretical basis for digital texts use in reading comprehension programs. Discussion in this article begins with the comparison of the nature of conventional or print reading versus digital reading and the characteristics of printed texts versus digital texts. After that, the discussion proceeds to the findings of relevant studies concerning the effect of digital reading to comprehension, students and instructors' perception of digital texts, and strategies for reading digital texts

Improving EFL Students' English Pronunciation by Using the Explicit Teaching Approach

Due to several reasons, pronunciation instruction had often been neglected in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes. Consequently, many EFL learners always find it difficult to speak confidently because of their poor pronunciation. This study is a three-cycled action research aimed at enhancing EFL students' pronunciation by using the explicit teaching approach. The participants were 21 students majoring in English Education at Universitas Kristen Indonesia who attended Integrated Skills IV class in the even semester of 2015/2016 Academic Year. The participants were provided with special practices on pronunciation, including watching a video or listening to English expressions containing elements of English pronunciation difficult to them, drillings the elements, recording and transcribing their utterances, and comparing the transcriptions with those of native speakers'. Data were collected through tests and questionnaires. The results revealed that the explicit teaching approach enhanced the participants' English pronunciation skills, as shown by the increase in their average scores in the four tests administered during the implementation of the actions. The survey results revealed that for the participants the approach was interesting, helped pronunciation development, and increased self-confidence in English speaking. Keywords: action research, pronunciation, explicit teachin

Use of Mother Tongue in EFL Classes of Secondary Schools In Jabodebek: Students' and Teachers' Perception

This study aims to investigate senior high school students and teachers’ perception of the use of Indonesian in their English classes. To achieve the objective, two sets of questionnaires were administered to gauge the perceptions of 556 students and 15 teachers of 10 senior high schools in Jabodebek (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, and Bekasi). The findings revealed: (1) the majority of both students and teachers preferred to use Indonesian in their English classes; (2) they believed Indonesian is helpful in language skills development, language components learning, learning materials understanding and classroom interactions; (3) the students preferred the predominantly use of Indonesian, while the teachers preferred the predominantly use of English during the class hour; (4) the higher their grade, the higher amount of English the students would like to have in their English classrooms; and (5) teachers with longer teaching experience tended to expect the use of bigger proportion of Indonesian in English classrooms

Secondary School Students’ Perception of ICT Use in EFL Classroom

Its huge potential to facilitate learning has made information and communication technology (ICT) use grow as one of the main advancements in the education sector in the 21st Century. This study aims at exploring secondary school students’ perceptions of  ICT use in the EFL classroom. To achieve the objective, 197 students in 15 secondary schools located in Jakarta, Depok, and Bekasi were surveyed using a questionnaire. The data obtained were analyzed employing the descriptive analysis technique. The results showed that the participants’ perception was positive and high in some dimensions of ICT use in learning but low in one dimension. Positive and high perceptions were found in (1) the potentials of ICT use to increase learning interest and motivation; (2) the impacts of ICT use in learning; (3) ICT educational values; and (4) ICT use self-efficacy. It was also found that the participants used ICT more frequently for entertainment and socio-economic purposes than for learning activities. Finally, a majority of the participants thought taking formal ICT training to enable them to effectively use ICT in learning is not necessary

Using Short Stories to Teach Language Skills

The notion that the main objective of EFL teaching is to help students to communicate fluently in the target language cause many teachers still believe that an EFL class should focus on mastering linguistic elements only. However, recent trend in EFL teaching indicates the necessity of integrating literature because of its rich potential to provide an authentic model of language use. Among literary genres, short stories seem to be the most suitable choice for this due to its potential to help students enhance the four skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) more effectively because of the motivational benefit embedded in the stories. The purpose of this article is to familiarize EFL instructors with the effectiveness of using short stories in EFL instruction. After presenting the criteria for selecting a short story, the discussion is focused on how to exploit a short story for enhancing students' language skills

Blended Learning for ELT

Information and communication technology (ICT) has grown exponentially during the past three decades considerably changed many aspects in industrial and trading sectors. Currently, it is revolutionizing education. One of the most important results of the revolution is the emergent of blended learning, which combines the best of face-to-face and ICT application. This article reviews current ideas, practices, and empirical information concerning the nature of blended learning in general and Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL), a version of blended learning particularly used in English Language Teaching (ELT), in particular. All of these will hopefully enrich creative ideas for implementing blended learning in ELT to enhance our student’s achievement

Secondary School EFL Teachers’ Perception of ICT Use in Learning and Teaching: A Case Study in Greater Jakarta

The influx of ICT tools into EFL classrooms has provided an increasing range of possible solutions for refining teaching and learning inputs, processes, and outcomes, and their use can benefit students and teachers. However, ICT implementation in the learning process is affected by various factors, among which teachers’ perception is the most significant. This study aimed at investigating teachers’ perceptions of ICT use in EFL learning activities. To attain the aim, data as collected by asking 32 EFL teachers from various junior and senior high schools in Greater Jakarta to fill in a questionnaire consisting of 60 closed-ended questions. To triangulate and elaborate the quantitative data, 5 open-ended questions were asked to 8 of the participants selected as the interviewees. The results indicate that the teachers had a good level of perception of ICT use in EFL learning and teaching activities. The majority of them had integrated ICT in their EFL classrooms. Regarding the issues related to facilities and technical expertise they sometimes encountered, they either asked for help from technicians or colleagues. Many of them also agreed with the importance of attending training to enhance their skills in using ICT in learning and teaching. &nbsp

ACTION RESEARCH ON USING SHORT STORIES TO BOOST EFL LEARNERS’ PERFORMANCE: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Various conceptual and empirical research has revealed that short stories are effective learning tools teachers can use to boost English as a foreign language (EFL) learning performances. However, most EFL teachers are still find using short stories in EFL classrooms challenging. To solve the problem, conducting action research on using short stories in EFL teaching seems to be the best option. This study aims at reviewing action research on using short story use to increase EFL students’ learning achievement. Employing four inclusion and three exclusion criteria, 12 action research articles indexed in Google Scholar and published in 2011-2020 were selected. Data were analyzed using the constant comparative method. The results showed that the use of short stories employing the Before-During-After reading strategy, language-based model, and literature as content model managed to attain the intended outcomes in 2 to 3 cycles. This review is ended by highlighting some research gaps for future action research and future review as well.