Skip to main content

Language Policy in Practice: Reframing the English Language Curriculum in the Indonesian Secondary Education Sector

  • Chapter
English Language Education Policy in Asia

Part of the book series: Language Policy ((LAPO,volume 11))

Abstract

English language curriculum development in a culturally and linguistically diverse setting is always a site of struggle. Particularly in Indonesia, there has been a dramatic change in English language curricula in the secondary education sector during the past decade. This change has much been driven by the ideological and political agenda instead of pedagogical benefits of interested stakeholders (e.g., students, teachers, and parents). This is evidenced by the fact that the current curriculum, The 2013 ELT Curriculum, does not detail key elements, such as curriculum materials, pedagogy, and assessment from relevant theories of language, language learning, and language teaching. Though there is much literature on English language curricula in Indonesia, it does not specifically highlight key principles of reframing English language curricula in the Indonesian secondary education sector from a critical situated perspective (Tollefson, Language Policy, 14, 183–189, 2015). To fill this gap, the present chapter attempts to provide directions for reframing the current curriculum and to give fresh insight into the design of English language curricula, which takes into account agencies of teachers and students as well as socio-cultural environments. These directions are also applicable to other ELT contexts in Asia or the context where the status of English is a foreign language or an additional language.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Alwi, H. (2000). Bahasa Indonesia: Pemakaian dan pemakaiannya [Bahasa Indonesia: Use and its use]. Jakarta: Pusat Bahasa/Departeman Pendidikan Nasional.

    Google Scholar 

  • Badan Standar Nasional Pendidikan. (2006). Panduan Penyusunan Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan Jenjang Dasar dan Menengah [Guidelines for school based curriculum design for primary and middle schooling]. Jakarta: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bascia, N., Carr-Harris, S., Fine-Meyer, R., & Zurzolo, C. (2014). Teachers, curriculum innovation, and policy formation. Curriculum Inquiry, 44, 228–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bax, S. (2003). The end of CLT: A context approach to language teaching. ELT Journal, 57, 278–286.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Creemers, B., Antoniou, P., & Kyriakides, L. (2013). Teacher professional development for improving quality of teaching. New York: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Dardjowidjojo, S. (2000). English teaching in Indonesia. English Australia Journal, 18(1), 22–30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Departemen Pendidikan Nasional [Ministry of National Education]. (2003a). Kurikulum 2004 standar kompetensi mata pelajaran bahasa Inggris sekolah menengah pertama dan madrasah tsanawiyah [The 2004 ELT competency based curriculum for junior high schools]. Jakarta: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Departemen Pendidikan Nasional [Ministry of National Education]. (2003b). Kurikulum 2004 standar kompetensi mata pelajaran bahasa Inggris sekolah menengah atas dan madrasah aliyah [The 2004 ELT competency based curriculum for senior high schools]. Jakarta: Author.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dorn, C. (2008). “Treason in the textbooks”: Reinterpreting the Harold Rugg textbook controversy in the context of wartime schooling. Pedagogica Historica: International Journal of the History of Education, 44, 457–459.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doyle, W. (1992). Curriculum and pedagogy. In P. W. Jackson (Ed.), Handbook of research on curriculum (pp. 486–516). New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drakeley, S. (2005). The history of Indonesia. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Errington, J. J. (1986). Continuity and change in Indonesian language development. The Journal of Asian Studies, 45, 329–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farr, M., & Song, J. (2011). Language ideologies and policies: Multilingualism and education. Language and Linguistics Compass, 5, 650–665.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Firth, A. (1996). The discursive accomplishment of normality: On ‘lingua franca’ English and conversation analysis. Journal of Pragmatics, 26, 237–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goebel, Z. (2010). Language, migration, and identity: Neighborhood talk in Indonesia. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Graves, K. (2008). The language curriculum: A social contextual perspective. Language Teaching, 41, 147–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamied, F. A. (2012). English in multicultural and multilingual Indonesian education. In A. Kirkpatrick & R. Sussex (Eds.), English as an international language in Asia: Implications for language education (pp. 63–78). New York: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hu, G. (2007a). The juggernaut of Chinese – English bilingual education. In A. W. Feng (Ed.), Bilingual education in China: Practices, policies and concepts (pp. 94–126). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hu, Y. (2007b). China’s foreign language policy on primary English education: What’s behind it? Language Policy, 6(3&4), 359–376.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu, G., Li, L., & Lei, J. (2014). English-medium instruction at a Chinese university: Rhetoric and reality. Language Policy, 13, 21–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keiny, S. (1994). Constructivism and teachers’ professional development. Teaching & Teacher Education, 10, 157–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kridalaksana, H., Verhaar, J. W. M., & Moeliono, A. M. (1982). Pelangi bahasa: Kumpulan esai yang dipersembahkan kepada Prof. J.W.M. Verhaar [Essay collection presented to Prof. J.WM. Verhaar] [H. Kridalaksana & A. M. Moeliono]. Jakarta: Bhratara Karya Aksara.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kumaravadivelu, B. (2001). Towards a postmethod pedagogy. TESOL Quarterly, 35, 537–560.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lamb, M., & Coleman, H. (2008). Literacy in English and the transformation of self and society in Post-Soeharto Indonesia. The International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 11, 189–205.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Littlewood, W. (2007). Communicative and task-based language teaching in East Asian classrooms. Language Teaching, 40, 243–249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Macalister, J., & Nation, I. S. P. (2011). Case studies in language curriculum design: Concepts and approaches in action around the world. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minahan, J. B. (2012). Ethnic groups of South Asia and the Pacific: An encyclopedia. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mistar, J. (2005). Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) in Indonesia. In G. Braine (Ed.), Teaching English to the world: History, curriculum, and practice (pp. 71–80). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nababan, P. W. J. (1991). Language in education: The case of Indonesia. International Review of Education, 37, 115–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Opfer, V. D., & Pedder, D. (2011). Conceptualizing teacher professional learning. Review of Educational Research, 81, 376–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paauw, S. (2009). One land, one nation, one language: An analysis of Indonesia’s national language policy. In H. Lehnert-LeHouillier & A. B. Fine (Eds.). University of Rochester Working Papers in the Language Sciences, 5(1), 2–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paulston, C. B. (2003). Linguistic minorities and language policies. In C. B. Paulston & G. R. Tucker (Eds.), Sociolinguistics: The essential readings (pp. 344–407). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pease-Alvarez, L., & Alisun Thompson, A. (2014). Teachers working together to resist and remake educational policy in contexts of standardization. Language Policy, 13, 165–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poehner, M. E. (2008). Dynamic assessment: A Vygotskian approach to understanding and promoting L2 development. New York: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Poehner, M. (2009). Group dynamic assessment: Mediation for the L2 classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 43, 471–491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poehner, M. E., & van Compernolle, R. A. (2011). Frames of interaction in dynamic assessment: Developmental diagnoses of second language learning. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 18, 183–198.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Priestley, M., Edwards, R., & Priestley, A. (2012). Teacher agency in curriculum making: Agents of change and spaces for manoeuvre. Curriculum Inquiry, 42, 191–214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Priyanto, A. D. (2009). Maximizing SFL contribution to ELT in Indonesia (UAD TEFL conference). Yogyakarta, Indonesia: UAD Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards, J. C. (2010). Competence and performance in language teaching. RELC Journal, 41, 101–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sakhiyya, Z. (2011). Interrogating identity: The international standard school in Indonesia. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 19, 345–365.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schiffman, H. F. (2006). Language policy and linguistic culture. In T. Ricento (Ed.), An introduction to language policy: Theory and method (pp. 111–125). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoenfeld, A., & Pearson, P. (2008). The reading and math wars. In G. Sykes & D. Plank (Eds.), AERA handbook on educational policy research (pp. 560–580). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shawer, S. F. (2010). Classroom-level curriculum development: EFL teachers as curriculum-developers, curriculum-makers and curriculum-transmitters. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26, 173–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (2000). Linguistic genocide in education or worldwide diversity and human rights. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Snyder, J., Bolin, F., & Zumwalt, K. (1992). Curriculum implementation. In P. W. Jackson (Ed.), Handbook of research on curriculum (pp. 402–435). New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stoynoff, S. (2012). Looking backward and forward at classroom-based language assessment. ELT Journal, 66, 523–532.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tollefson, J. W. (2015). Language education policy in late modernity: Insights from situated approaches—commentary. Language Policy, 14, 183–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Voogt, J., et al. (2011). Teacher learning in collaborative curriculum design. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27, 1235–1244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Widodo, H. P. (2015). The development of vocational English materials from a social semiotic perspective: Participatory action research. Unpublished Ph.D thesis, The University of Adelaide, Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Widodo, H. P., & Fardhani, E. A. (2011). The language rights of indigenous languages: An approach to maintaining Indonesia’s linguistic and cultural diversity. In Q. Le & T. Le (Eds.), Linguistic diversity and cultural identity (pp. 129–140). New York: Nova Science.

    Google Scholar 

  • Widodo, H. P., & Park, G. (2014). Moving TESOL beyond the comfort zone: Exploring criticality in TESOL. New York: Nova Science.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zacharias, N. T. (2013). Navigating through the English-medium-of-instruction policy: Voices from the field. Current Issues in Language Planning, 14(1), 93–108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Handoyo Puji Widodo .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Widodo, H.P. (2016). Language Policy in Practice: Reframing the English Language Curriculum in the Indonesian Secondary Education Sector. In: Kirkpatrick, R. (eds) English Language Education Policy in Asia. Language Policy, vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22464-0_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22464-0_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-22463-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-22464-0

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics