Part II

2. Discussion

Studies about teaching English in Indonesia (Hamied, 2001; Lengkenawati, 2005; Luciana, 2006) reveal that it is considered to be failing to develop learners’ competence due to factors such as teachers’ insufficient command of English, poor teaching and learning facilities, and inadequate learning resources (Hamied, 2001; Lengkenawati, 2005). Another important factor that contributes to unsuccessful English language teaching is teacher education programs that are not well designed to produce the desired outcomes among EFL teacher graduates (Luciana, 2006). Yuwono (2005) emphasised that English teaching in Indonesian schools cannot operate successfully when there is an absence of suitably qualified teachers. Due to teacher shortages, some schools in rural areas employ English teachers who do not have English language teacher credentials. These teachers do not have adequate knowledge and skills to teach English to students, which results in less than optimum performance from teachers in helping students learn English.

2.1.Problems

There are some problems which are faced by students and teachers in speaking and teaching English in Indonesia. One of problems faced by teacher is about the technique and method that is used for speaking English. The common problems are because lack of vocabularies and  motivation. Gardner was one of the pioneering researchers in second language acquisition (SLA) to focus on motivation. He chose to define motivation by specifying a goal, effortful behavior to reach the goal, a desire to attain the goal, and positive attitudes toward the goal as four aspects of motivation. (Gardner, 1985, citied in Root, 1999).

A goal, however, was not necessarily a measurable component of motivation. Instead, a goal was a stimulus that gave rise to motivation. Gardner focused on classifying reasons for second language study, which he then identified as orientations (Gardner, 1985, citied in Root, 1999). He found two main orientations through his research:

1. integrative: a favorable attitude toward the target language community; possibly a

wish to integrate and adapt to a new target culture through use of the language.

2. instrumental: a more functional reason for learning the target language, such as job promotion, or a language requirement.

Gardner’s socio-educational model of motivation focused on the integrative motive.

Motivation was the central concept of the model, but there were also some factors which

affected this, such as integrativeness and attitudes.

Lack of motivation is one of problem faced by student in learning, Importance of Motivation and Language Learning Strategies in Language Learning and Teaching. It seems that motivation and language learning strategy use have a strong correlation.

Being aware of how teacher-student interaction (relations) can promote motivation may provide implications in a variety of areas for educators. Teachers can likely restructure the teaching and learning environment by providing different strategies to students, finding ways to motivate student to learn and engage them in active learning, and understanding their students’ learning strategies. Without knowing and understanding how teacher-student interaction influences motivation, teacher may limit their abilities to improving instruction. Students engage in learning through behaviors and motivation, and those learners who are highly motivated remain engaged, enthusiastic and are more likely to participate in learning activities. “On the contrary, the less motivated the students are, the less they remain engaged in learning” (Rugutt and Caroline, 2009). Understanding of students’ motivation and language learning strategies (LLSs) as individual differences is crucial for all target language teachers in order to help development of their students' competence and language learning. Teuku Zulfikar (2009) in his article suggested that the first attribute of successful teachers is their understanding of their students’ attitude to learning because having knowledge of students’ learning and factors that affect their learning attitudes are necessary for effective teaching. He further stated that teachers need to look closely at their students’ learning styles and other related factors such as family background and social status. Understanding students’ learning styles and other factors like learning strategies and motivation that influence students’ learning enables teachers to develop the most appropriate ways of interacting with their students in and out of the classroom. They would also be more conscious of their students’ social circumstances.

To be continue...