Upgrading EFL teachers’ Quality through An Online Mentoring System, An Innovative In-Service Training Model: The Case of Indonesia

https://doi.org/10.22146/jh.34844

Zifirdaus Adnan(1*)

(1) University of New England, Armidale, NSW
(*) Corresponding Author

Abstract


Many studies have been conducted in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher education to improve teachers’ quality, some of these have been on mentoring teachers, with the purpose of improving teaching of English as a Foreign Language (TEFL). However, TEFL teaching is still problematic worldwide including Indonesia. Indonesian TEFL is seriously problematic because the expected levels of competencies are not adequately achieved. A major factor, teacher quality, is at issue. Even though the Government has provided models of training for its teachers, they have not been effective. This paper addresses this issue and proposes an innovative but cheaper mentoring system. This system also overcomes the shortcomings of the existing models of in-service training including its ad hoc nature, lack of practice and feedback, lack of the opportunity to upgrade poor English skills. The paper argues that the system can overcome these issues, and Indonesia is capable of running the system with its existing resources. The model could be adapted to address similar TEFL issues found elsewhere.

Keywords


English as a Foreign Language; TEFL; EFL Teachers; In-Service Training; Online

Full Text:

PDF


References

Adnan, Z. (2014). Membangun kemandirian pemelajar melalui pendekatan Genre. (Developing student independence using Genre approach). Pelbba, 18.

Baswedan, A. (2016) ‘Seratus persen kelulusan ditentukan oleh sekolah’ (One hundred per cent school completion is determined by the schools) (a statement as made by Baswedan in his capacity as Minister of Education and Culture at a conference in Jakarta on 30/03/2015, reported in Kompas newspaper 4 April 2015. http://edukasi.kompas.com/read/2015/04/04/16000041/Mendikbud.Seratus.Persen.Kelulusan.Ditentukan.oleh.Sekolah.

Bismoko, J. (2003). Does our English teacher education need redesigning? TEFLIN Journal, 14, 58–69.

Bjorg, C. (2013). Teacher training, school norms and teacher effectiveness in Indonesia. In Surydarma, D & Jones, G.W. (Eds.) (2013). Education in Indonesia. Singapore: ISEAS Publishing.

Brown, H.D. (2007). Teaching by principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy (Edition 2). White Plains, NY: Pearson Education.

Davies, C. and Slattery, C. (2010). Mentoring a literature review. Melbourne: Semann & Slattery. www.semannslattery.com. Accessed 18 March 2017.

Delaney, Y.A. (2012). Research on mentoring language teachers: Its role in language education. Foreign
Language Annals, 45(S1), S184–S202. DOI: 10.111/j.1944-9720.2012.01185.x.

Emilia, E. (2005). A critical genre-based approach to teaching academic writing at tertiary EFL context
in Indonesia (Unpublished doctoral thesis). Faculty of Education, Melbourne University, Melbourne.

Garvey, B., Stokes, P. & Megginson, D. (2014). Coaching and Mentoring: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage.

Jalal, F., Samani, M., Chang, M.C., Stevenson, M., Ragatz, A.B., Negara, S.D. (2009). Teacher certification in Indonesia: A strategy for teacher quality improvement. Jakarta: Ministry of National Education and World Bank.

Lee, J.J., Murphy, J, & Baker, A (2015). “Teachers are not empty vessels”: A reception study of Freeman
and Johnson’s (1998) Reconceptualization of the Knowledge Base of Second Language Teacher Education. TESOL Canada journal/revue tesl du canada 1 33(1).

Lengkenawati, N. S. (2005). EFL teachers’ competence in the context of English curriculum 2004: Implication for EFL teacher education. TEFLIN Journal, 16(1), 79 – 92.

Malderez, A. (2009). Mentoring. In A. Burns & J. C. Richards (Eds.), The Cambridge guide to second
language teacher education (pp. 259–268). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Man, S & Tang, E.H.H. (2012). The role of mentoring in supporting novice English language teachers
in Hong Kong. TESOL Quarterly, 46(3), 472-495.

Ministry of Education and Culture (MOEC) (Indonesian) (2016). ‘Terms of reference for the award to the outstanding teachers and education personnel and arts and culture activists 2016-2019’. https://www.google.co.id/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF8#q=outstanding+and+dedicated+teachers%2C+education+personnels+and+arts+and+culture+activists+LPDP+Indonesia.

Nielsen, H.D. (2003). Reforms to Teacher Education in Indonesia: does more mean better? In E.R. Beauchamp (ed.). Comparative Education Reader. New York: Routledge Falmer: 391-410.

Raihani and Sumintono, B. (2010). Teacher education in Indonesia: Development and challenges. In K. G. Karras and C.C. Wolhuter (Eds.) International handbook of teacher education world-wide: Issues and challenges, Vol I and Vol. II. Athens: Atrapos.

Rolfe-Flett, A. (2002). Mentoring in Australia: A practical guide. Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Prentice Hall, Pearson Education.

Rudiantara (2016) (Minister for communication and information) in a press conference at Kayong Utara, Solo, Central Java, on 15 October 2016 as reported by Solo Post. http://www.solopos.com/2016/10/16/2017-seluruh-wilayahindonesia-terkoneksi-internet-760880. Accessed 20 February 2016.

Parlo, S. & Allen, J & Rowan, L. (2017). Teacher education programs: local and global connections, Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 45(1), 1-2, DOI: 10.1080/1359866X.2017.1265762.

State of Victoria (2013). Guide to starting a languages program. Melbourne: The Learning and Teaching Division Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/teachers/teachingresources/discipline/languages/startlangprogguide.pdf. Accessed 18 March 2017.

Suharyadi, A and Sambodho, P. (2013). An assessment of Policies to improve Teacher Quality and Reduce Teacher Absenteeism. In D. Suryadarma and G.W.

Jones (Eds.) (2013). Education in Indonesia (pp.139-159). Singapore: ISEAS.

Sulistiyo, Urip (2015). Improving English as a foreign language teacher education in Indonesia: The case of Jambi University. (Unpublished doctoral thesis). RMIT, Melbourne. https://researchbank.rmit.edu.au/eserv/rmit:161521/Sulistiyo.pdf

Sukyadi (2015). The teaching of English in Indonesia. In B. Spolsky and K. Sung (Eds.) (2015). Secondary school English education in Asia from policy to practice (pp.162-191). London & New York: Routledge.

Sumintono, B. & Subekti, N.B. (2015) Teacher inservice training and re-training in Indonesia. In Konstantinos G. Karras and C. C. Wolhuter (eds.) (2014). International handbook of teacher education training and re-training systems in modern world (pp. 255-272). Cyprus: Studies and Publishing.

Surydarma, D & Jones, G.W. (Eds.) (2014). Education in Indonesia. Singapore: ISEAS. Indonesia Mengajar (n.d.). Visi dan Misi Indonesia Menagajar (Vision and Mission of the Indonesia Mengajar). https://indonesiamengajar.org/tentang-indonesia-mengajar/visi-dan-misi/. Accessed 6 December 2016.

Widodo, H.P. (2016) Language Policy in Practice: Reframing the English Language Curriculum in the Indonesian Secondary Education Sector. In R. Kirkpatrick (Ed.). English Language Education Policy in Asia. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.

Yazan, B. (2010). “You Learn Best When You’re in There”: ESOL Teacher Learning inthe Practicum. The CATESOL Journal, 27(2), 201.



DOI: https://doi.org/10.22146/jh.34844

Article Metrics

Abstract views : 3647 | views : 3113

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.




Copyright (c) 2018 Jurnal Humaniora

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.