A Situational Analysis of English Language Learning among Eastern Indonesian Students

Abstract

Abstract-Nowadays, English is widely spread for communication in the world. It is also considered as the first formal language for international communities. The importance of English as a global language is also felt by a lot of countries, in this case, Indonesia. As a part of ASEAN Economic Community, Indonesian people should be able to use English since it becomes the medium of communication in almost aspects of life namely finance, mass media, health, education and others. However, Indonesia still encounters challenges particularly in rural regions in the eastern part of this country. The challenges are related to the lack of English competence due to some factors. This study will reveal possible factors affecting Eastern Indonesian students' lack of English competence based on situational analysis of some categories such as: students' competence, English Language Teaching (ELT) management and ELT resources. Those ideas will be presented based on the research of one-year college students whose origin is from Eastern Indonesia such as: Ambon, Maluku, Papua, etc. The data gathered is analyzed qualitatively in a form of substantial categories description. Finally, the result shows that English education in Eastern Indonesia need to be maximized in the area of student' competence, teachers' management skill and the use of resources.

The Challenges of International EFL Students to Learn English in a Non-English Speaking Country

“…Problems in teachers' resources. One of the English language mastery problems faced by most EFL students, especially in Indonesia, is the lack of English teachers' competence (Kurniawan & Radia, 2017).…”

“…The notion added that the teachers' competence had important roles in managing their classes, enriching the students' skills, and providing innovative resources. Some problems of low teachers' ability were mentioned clearly by Kurniawan and Radia (2017), such as insufficient time of teachers' availability to practice English for students and incompetent skills while delivering the learning materials or simply providing insufficient teaching methods for the students. Their finding is in line with the result of Keong, Ali, and Hameed's (2015).…”