As one of the tested skills within popular English proficiency tests in Indonesia such as IELTS and TOEFL, good command of reading comprehension skill is pivotal for the test takers. The nature of reading skill in testing circumstances, however, demands precision in decision making. Enabling test taker candidates with such precision in test preparation class, then, dictates the teaching of the skill consequently. This paper discusses the commonly found challenges in teaching the skill for the test preparation class with known diverse students age and background. The primary aim of the study is to provide insightful information about those challenges which may, then, contribute to better teaching of the skill. The critical analysis of the relevant literature suggests that the challenges are comprised of three domains: students’ unequal linguistic competence, different level of students’ critical thinking, and also their motivation. The paper concludes by re-emphasising the crucial role of pre-test for the test taker candidates prior to commencing the preparation class, especially for instructors to map and to anticipate these challenges with more reflective and equitable teaching approach which is informed by the pre-test result.

Critical literacy, which is derived from critical pedagogy and critical thinking, is crucial for teachers and students to acquire throughout their education. According to critical literacy approach, students are not only expected to read and write different texts but are also required to challenge, synthesize, analyze, and go beyond these forms of skills analytically and critically. With regard to reviewing various literature, this approach is not implemented effectively in the Middle East education systems due to some main obstacles. This paper is aimed at reviewing different literature and case studies in order to grasp these pivotal constraints that students and teachers encounter while learning and teaching in Middle-Eastern educational settings. The main purpose of this article is to review critically the domination of education by politics and religion, the lack of communicative language teaching approach, and the exclusion of teachers from making decisions as to the major impediments of enacting critical literacy in the Middle-east contexts.

For about 2 decades, Slovenian preschools have implemented curriculum established in 1999 without any major reform ever since. Meanwhile, Indonesia has changed its school curriculum three times over the same period (2004, 2006, and 2013). The latest change brings with it the reform of Indonesia"s preschool curriculum. Both countries share context of which preschool education is not made compulsory and the prescribed preschool age range is 1 to 6 years old. This research attempted to compare Indonesian 2013 preschool curriculum (K-13) with Slovenian 1999 curriculum in terms of their development and implementation while also trying to uncover the embedded cultural values and influences on both curricula and how they have impacted different shareholders. In doing so, this research was conducted by reviewing the collated official curriculum documents published by education ministry of the two countries while analysing facts, statistics and issues emerged from related studies and articles. Similarities were found in terms of them functioning as the foundation for the education system, optimised parents" roles, the flexibility of implementation, and their philosophical bases. Slight to significant differences were found in the included parties within the designing processes, the documented and elaborated goals, the privileged groups, and their effects on teachers, staff and school institutions in the implementation basis. The findings suggest that Indonesian curriculum needs to be made more practical instead of being too philosophical while gradual and continuous evaluation in necessary aspects is more recommended than total reforms which tend to result in longer adaptation and transition process.

Motivation, undoubtedly, plays a very crucial role in any learning process including second and foreign language learning. Such cruciality positions the maintaining and motivation raising in the integral part of learning and more so in the currently growing and more technologically advanced learning environments. This paper conceptually discussed the motivation raising strategies which have been employed toward English as second language (ESL) learners in two different dimensions, which are those strategies which depend on the role of an ESL teacher (i.e. pedagogical and material selection) and those which do not (i.e. parents, school institutions, media, and gender difference). Despite the existence of other external factors, we argue that teacher plays the decisive role on ESL learners’ motivation. From the critical review and more extended discussion, it is found that teacher’s awareness toward the cruciality of students’ motivation influences the strategies used by the teachers in order to raise motivation. The paper also re-emphasises the urgent needs for a more learner-centred learning as it is believed to have positive impact for learners’ motivation. This paper concludes by highlighting the significant contributions of the insights discussed within this study, especially for ESL teaching practitioners.

The recent literature of writing studies suggests that there is a possibility of different perception between instructor and university students on what causes students’ writing reluctance which leads to ineffective writing teaching activities initiated by the instructor. Such ineffective teaching has, then, become the main cause of students’ disengagement in writing classes at university. This paper is aimed at exploring the perception from students’ side as the targeted individuals within the teaching process itself. In order to describe such perception, a critical literary review of previous studies from the relevant area is employed. It is argued that students’ perception on instructor-initiated writing activities are influenced by pedagogical consequences, learner’s linguistic competence, and their original perceptions of the English writing skill. This investigation has found that it is very crucial for instructors to design activities that engage students in three dimensions: cognitive, behavioural, and emotional. The study also finds that instructors' selection of teaching strategies influences students' motivation extrinsically in the form of reinforcement, or in contrast, degradation of their motivation. Finally, this study confirms it is possible for students to respond pedagogical activities differently from the expectation of the instructors.