Teachers and Students’ Perceptions on the Use of English as a Medium of Instruction in Indonesian Context

Author:

Furqanul Aziez

Muhammadiyah University of Purwokerto, Indonesia

Abstract

This study is designed to identify: (1) the teacher and student perceptions of English as a medium of instruction, (2) the problems encountered by teachers and students in using English as a medium of instruction, and (3) the factors contributing to the problems in the use of English as medium of subject delivery. Some other aspects of the use of English were also explored in this study. The respondents consisted of nine teachers and 227 students from two RSBI (International Standard School Candidate) schools in Purwokerto and Cilacap, Central Java. The study used questionnaire, observation and interview as the instruments of data gathering. The study revealed that both teachers and students agreed that the internationalization of education in Indonesia was timely, but they contended that subjects were more difficult to master if conveyed through English than through Indonesian. This was considered as the result of the lack of English competence on the part of both teachers and students. The study found that teachers held adverse perception of their own spoken skill, while students confirmed their fear of making mistakes. The factors contributing to the problems were apparently the lack of vocabulary and insufficient grammar competence. Finally, the most preferred solution to the lack of vocabulary was using Indonesian equivalents and to the lack of grammar was switching into Indonesian language.

Keywords: mathematics, science, medium of instruction, English, perception

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