English Classroom Culture Reformation: How Can It be Done?

 

 

Lies Amin Lestari

 

 

People say that the teaching of English in Indonesia is unsuccessful. Senior High School graduates, after having been studying English for six years, are unable to use the language in daily communication. One of the causes of this failure, in my opinion, is our classroom “culture” that is not conducive to the learning process. In the classroom students are supposed to sit nicely, listen to the teacher attentively and are obedient to him. The teacher is the only one who is supposed to know everything and therefore becomes the one who dominates the classroom. If this culture, especially during the English class, is not reformed, I think, whatever efforts undertaken to improve the quality of the teaching will be futile. English classroom culture should be different from other classes since the objective of the teaching is also different. An English classroom, therefore, should be a lively one in which students have the chance to practice the language they are learning, and the teacher is the one who facilitates the learning process.

 

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Lestari, L. A. (1999). English classroom culture reformation: How can it be done? TEFLIN Journal, 10(1), 75-87.

 

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