All things English
Published on: Saturday, November 22, 2014
By: Pauline Sidhhu
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I saw evidence of this when I attended the 61st TEFLIN International Conference which was held in the city of Solo (or Surakarta) in Central Java from Oct 7–9, 2014.
Yes, not only was the courteous spirit of Java truly alive among the locals (taxi drivers, shopkeepers, batik artists, hotel staff and the common man on the street) but it was equally vibrant in the hearts of the Indonesian participants who were among the 600 I met in Lor In Hotel where the 2014 TEFLIN meet-up happened.
Not that it matters but I was the only Malaysian presenter at the three-day conference. My 20-minute talk was on my learning journey as an education columnist with 18 years’ experience writing for two Malaysian newspapers – The Sunday Star and of course, The Daily Express.
I was invited by Prof. Dr. Joko Nurkamto of Universitas Sebelas Maret, Solo, who, by the way, is going to be the TEFLIN President for 2015. This humble man will do a good job and I wish him all the best for his upcoming tenure.
TEFLIN (which stands for The Association of Teaching English as a Foreign Language in Indonesia) sprouted its first leaves in Jogjakarta in 1970 and is today, recognized by the Indonesian government as a professional and reputable national organization which promotes quality English Language teaching and learning in a country that extends itself over 18000 islands!
No mean feat and for this reason alone, TEFLIN is to be commended for what it does every year to bring together academicians, researchers, teachers, lecturers and even foreign English Language fellows working in this expansive country.
For the conference, featured speakers arrived from New Zealand, South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, Australia and USA.
Notable among them were: Prof Jack. C Richards (Australia), Dr. Peter Mickan (Australia), Prof. John Macalister (New Zealand), Dr. Helena I.R. Agustien (Indonesia) and Prof. Unchalee Sermsongswad (Thailand) - all senior educators who spoke about the challenges and opportunities in the realm of English Language education by using a moderated voice bred of experience.
I must say here that I enjoyed the good humour injected by 2014 TEFLIN President, Prof Fuad Abdul Hamied, into all the speeches he made and even in his explicit commentary about the curriculum changes that Indonesia has seen in recent years.
I wish I could name some of the teachers I met at the conference but since this is not possible without offending those I inadvertently omit to mention, I shall only say this: The main issue of the day was the fate of the English Language, specifically the implication of curriculum development in pedagogical practices and teacher professional development.
Let’s face it: Language policy and planning at the national-level is beyond teacher control. The average English Language teacher is therefore more concerned about his responsibilities in the school he is posted to.
The question that plagues him is: “How do I get my students interested to learn, what more master, this foreign tongue?”
And: “Am I adequately trained or prepared to make the learning of the English Language meaningful and impactful in the classroom?”
First things first: The English Language teacher must be proficient (to a certain extent) in the intricacies of the language.
Foreign languages are cantankerous and none more so than English. Grammar, for instance, in terms of its tenses alone, will not only make a student shake his head in confusion but also baffle a teacher who does not have a firm grasp of it.
Today, in the countries which were once colonised by Britain or a European colonial power, the standard of English has generally gone down the drain.
Let me give you some examples from the messages that I received recently on my phone:
[1] “Madam, if I got the invitation, I inform you.”
[2] “I am you fan”
[3] “Have you take your breakfast?”
[4] “Did you gave the talk?”
All four sentences have grammatical mistakes in them. Of course, I understand them but as a well-read 54-year-old writer who speaks fluent English and was taught proper English by good teachers in my schooling days, such errors jar on my senses.
So, one of the questions that came to my mind during the conference was this: “Do we forgive the errors an individual makes in grammar, vocabulary or spelling due to his lack of exposure to the language and just focus on the fact that communication is happening?”
Learning and teaching good English are difficult. If you throw in vocabulary and pronunciation issues, English can be growlingly confounding!
For Asian children who are frustrated at every turn to learn this foreign language, do not be surprised if they give up easily and excuse their poor effort by asking: “Why do I need to learn this language anyway? So what if it is an international language? In my current life and even in my future workplace, my mother tongue is good enough.”
You also cannot blame the context-sensitive teacher in a rural provincial school who believes that practicality and realism should rule. And, ends up teaching English by using the language the kids use at home!
How is such a teacher to follow the English curriculum and language policy demands set at national level when his students can neither understand the difference between ‘is’ and ‘are’ nor care that there is one?
Despite listening to all the research studies conducted to study various aspects of the teaching and learning of this foreign language, and the cut-and-dried findings revealed at a conference, the one burning question English Language teachers face when they return to teaching at school is:
“How do I find the wherewithal to keep going at this uphill task without losing hope or momentum?”
My answer is: Believe, and then achieve. Yes, it is a challenging job but you have to practise patience and perseverance. You cannot escape the curriculum, so you have to find a balance between what you can minimally cover and your own experience-based “this-works-better” strategy.
As to why you should attend conferences, the main reasons are: You do need to heed the voice of experience expressed by others; you should be interested to gather more perspectives; you do need to expand your world and you ought to go home and reflect on your own teaching practices.
“Adopt or adapt” is a wise maxim to follow when you go back to the world in which you work in.
Yes, a teacher should keep on learning. You have to (as Lord Tennyson put it in his poem Ulysses), “follow knowledge like a sinking star, beyond the utmost bound of human thought.”
As for teaching, all educators must listen to the most famous words used by Tennyson in his poem, which are for them to be “strong in will – to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
Yes, keep at it, just keep at it.
The Malays say it best: “Sedikit, sedikit, lama-lama jadi bukit.”
Yes, even the love and mastery of a foreign language grows bit by bit.
As an English Language teacher, please try to achieve at least two objectives:
First, to ensure that your students want to learn the language and two, that they enjoy the lessons so much that they are willing to work hard at being able to use English, even at its most rudimentary level, for the purposes of communication.
May God grant you with the faith, enthusiasm, professionalism and dedication needed to make this happen.
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