the functions of reading in indonesia

HARITS MASDUQI

PhD in TESOL Program

THE FUNCTIONS OF READING IN INDONESIA

Faculty of Education and Social Work

1) Indonesia at glance:

Population: 230 + million.

+17,500 islands (6,000 inhabited).

+ 500 vernacular languages & Bahasa Indonesia.

↓

English as a foreign language (EFL)

(Dardjowidjojo, 2000; Mistar, 2004; Jazadi, 2008)

Background of the Study

2) Scholars’ Perspectives on Asian students:

“unconditional” obedience to the teacher culture.

passive in class discussions.

teacher-centred learning.

lack of critical thinking.

Pro: Atkinson, 1997; Pennycook, 2002; Wallace, 2005.

Against: Littlewood, 2000; Liu, 2001; Kumaravadivelu, 2003; Holliday, 2009, 2010.

Background of the Study

• The absence of visible social & cultural uses of English outside the class.

• Influenced by cultural principles (e.g. unconditional obedience to the teacher).

• Low English competence of uni students:

- mastering only - 5000 vocab items.

- 15% considered ‘good English users’.

• Reading is the focus of ELT.

Sadtono, O’Reilly, & Handayani (1999); Nurweni & Read (1999); Lamb (2002); Setiono (2004); Jazadi, (2008).

(3) Indonesian Scholars’ Perspectives

SO WHAT???

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RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The general questions:

1. What is the students’ perspective on the functions of EFL reading in Indonesian universities with different cultural backgrounds?

2. To what extend do the students think that the culture of ‘obedience to the teacher’ reflect their learning attitudes in reading classes?

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The specific questions:

› Related to the Functions of EFL Reading

1. What are the students’ preferences regarding the functions of EFL reading in Indonesian universities?

2. To what extend do the students’ preferences regarding the functions of EFL reading vary across different cultural backgrounds? Are there any differences of their preferences regarding the

functions of EFL reading across different cultural backgrounds?

Are there any similarities of their preferences regarding the functions of EFL reading across different cultural backgrounds?

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› Related to the learning attitudes

To what extend do the students agree that the reading lecturer as somebody whose authority should not be questioned?

To what extend do the students respond that knowledge as something that the reading lecturer should pass on to them rather than something that they should discover themselves?

To what extend do the students think who is responsible for evaluating how much they have learnt?

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DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS

› EFL reading refers to the study of reading in the contexts of English as a foreign language.

› Cross-cultural perspective refers a variety of university students’ responses collected from five Indonesian universities with distinctive geographical, ethnic, religious, and linguistic characteristics.

› Learning attitudes refers the research participants’ personal view, opinion or feeling about English language learning in their reading classes.

› The culture of ‘obedience to the teacher’ refers to a set of cultural principles commonly believed among Indonesian students that they should accept and obey their teachers/lecturers without necessarily challenging or evaluating knowledge or ideas given to them.

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Research Method

The present study is mostly based on qualitative approach.

The researcher primarily interprets and elaborates the students’ written and verbal responses descriptively.

And then calculates the data average using simple statistical procedures.

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The Participants

o 300 students studying at English departments in five Indonesian universities in 4 different islands.

o 60 students recruited In each university.

o 3rd year of undergraduate study (aged 20-25 years old).

o Assumed to represent distinctive geographical, ethnic, religious, and linguistic groups in Indonesia.

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Data Collection

The participants will: fill in a twelve-item questionnaire indicating their

learning attitudes on reading classes (10 minutes). write an essay on the theme “Why I love to read”

(20 minutes) join an interview session (6 participants in each

university, 20-30 minutes).

Adapted from Greaney & Neuman’ (1990); Littlewood (2000);

and Chen (2009)

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Data Analysis

In relation to reading functions:

- Classifying statements on the essays (11 type of reading functions).

- Calculating %, means & SDs of Ss’ statements on the essays.

In relation to their learning attitudes:

- Calculating %, means & SDs of Ss’ responses in the questionnaire: 5 (Strongly Agree) to 1 Strongly Disagree).

Transcribing and analysing the interview.

Discussing all of the data with regard to the Ss’ different cultural backgrounds.

THANK YOU

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