14 Teaching English as Foreign Language
more of the types discussed above. The choice really depends on the method
that has been developed based an assumption about the nature of language.
Besides determining the type of language syllabus, assumptions both about
language and language learning in approach also determine the roles of
language teachers and language learners.
The roles of language teacher are also regarded as techniques, which
have been developed based on assumptions introduced in approach .
As discussed earlier, the assumptions about the nature of language and
the assumptions about language learning will determine all plans of the
language teaching, which is called a method. How an approach views the
nature of language will determine how a language teacher should perform
his or her roles. And, how an approach believes about the conditions
that promote language learning will also determine the roles of language
teachers. Principally, language teachers have two functions: the instructional
function and the managerial function (Wright, 1987: 52). The two functions
complement each other; the former would be more or less impossible without
the latter. In practice, it is difficult to separate the two and language teachers
can perform both functions simultaneously. Some methods may suggest
the language teachers to perform the instructional function more than the
managerial one, while some other methods may encourage the language
teachers to function as the manager of the classroom more. In some methods
the role of a language teacher is very dominant while in some other methods
the teacher role is less dominant in instructional strategies. As stated in
Richards and Rodgers, (2001: 28), some methods are totally dependent on
the teacher as a source of knowledge and direction; others see the teacher’s
role as catalyst, consultant, guide, and model for learning. Understanding
the roles of language teachers will be important for understanding the
methods, which will be discussed in most of the next chapters. Following
are the most common roles of language teachers, which are implemented in
different methods.
1. Language teacher functions as an organizer in the classroom. The teacher
maintains discipline to the extent that an effective learning atmosphere
is established. It can be done by involving the learners more actively in
the classroom activities that demand inter-student communication and
co-operative efforts.
Language Teaching 15
2. Language teacher functions as a counselor. The teacher role is to respond
the learners’ problems nonjudgmentally and help the learners to reach
what they want to learn.
3. Language teacher functions as a motivator; the language teacher gives
praise and encouragement for positive efforts by the learners. It can be
done by giving positive feedback on returned assignments.
4. Language teacher functions as an observer. The teacher shows the
errors that the learners have produced and let the learners work on the
correction.
5. Language teacher functions as a model for producing correct expressions
and judges whether the learners’ contributions to the learning process
and their efforts are relevant and correct.
6. Language teacher functions as a resource of knowledge and direction.
The teacher establishes a position of dominance over the learners in
selecting the materials to learn and also how to acquire them.
The teacher role will determine the role of language learners
automatically. When a language teacher is very dominant, language learners
will be less dominant in learning teaching interaction. Some methods
have been criticized for making language learners stimulus-response
mechanisms whose learning is a result of repetition. Language learners will
be more active in learning when a language teacher can be less silent in the
classroom. The role relationship of language learner and teacher are many
and varied from one method to another. Some methods suggest that they
should be in an equal position but in some other methods the role of the
language teacher is regarded as the primary source of skills and knowledge
in language learning. Johnson and Paulston (cited in Richards and Rodgers,
2001: 28) suggest five possible learner roles that can make language learners
more autonomous. Following are the roles of language learners, which are
suggested by advocates of different methods.
1. Learners plan their own learning program and thus ultimately assume
responsibility for what they do in the classroom.
2. Learners monitor and evaluate their own progress.
3. Learners are members of a group and learn by interacting with others.
4. Learners tutor other learners.
16 Teaching English as Foreign Language
5. Learners learn from the teacher, from other students, and from other
teaching sources.
A number of ways of conceptualizing approaches, methods and
techniques may have been proposed. Different people may have different
ways of conceptualizing them. Understanding how people conceptualize
the terms will provide language teachers with a clearer picture of language
teaching methods. This understanding may avoid the teachers from
misunderstanding the concepts among themselves. Following certain
methods, language teachers may be expected to develop their own techniques
by considering the underlying principles of the methods. Approaches and
methods are relatively permanent but techniques may be adapted to the
environment of the language learners and language teachers. The procedure
of a method, which comprises a set of techniques, may not be fixed even
though the assumptions of an approach and the basic principles of a method
are relatively fixed.
1.3 ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE AND ENGLISH AS A
SECOND LANGUAGE
Language teaching is influenced by ideas on the nature of language
(language theories) and the learning conditions that make learners to acquire
the language (learning theories). Differences in language theories may affect
the selection of the teaching materials and differences in learning theories
may affect the teaching methods. A method that is based on the assumption
that we learn another language as a child learns his native language (L1) will
differ from one based on the assumption that learning a foreign language
is not the same as learning a mother tongue. It may be argued that the
actual teaching of English in Indonesia may differ from the English teaching
in Malaysia or teaching English in the United States of America, in which
people should learn English in the conditions where the language is used
for communication in their daily lives. Some people prefer to call the former
learning English as a foreign language and the latter learning English as a second
language.
Not all people agree with the distinction between second language and
foreign language. Dulay, Burt, Krashen (1982) states that second language
acquisition includes learning a new language in a foreign language context
Language Teaching 17
(e.g. English in Mexico or German in the United States) as well as learning
a new language in a host language environment (e.g. German in German).
They use the term second language (L2) to refer to both foreign and host
languages and the teaching methods apply to the acquisition of both (1982:
11). It implies that the way to teach English as a second language is not
necessarily different from the way to teach English as a foreign language,
and whether English is learned in Indonesia or in Malaysia, English is called
the target language (TL).
Even though they seem not to agree the distinction between second
language and foreign language, Krashen (1985: 8) differentiates the two
different ways of gaining a target language. He states that there are two ways
of developing ability in a target language: “acquisition” and “learning”.
Acquisition is defined as a subconscious process that is identical to the process
used in first language acquisition in all important ways, while learning is
defined as conscious knowing about a target language. While acquisition is
taking place, language learners are not always aware of the results; they are
not very concerned with grammatical rules and error correction. They are
gaining a target language by living in the society where the language is used
in their daily lives. When language learners talk about the rules of a target
language, they correct errors, and people in the society do not speak the
target language, they are learning the target language.
English is learned in Indonesia by talking about the grammatical
rules of English and errors are always corrected. For language learners in
Indonesia, where English is not spoken in the society, accuracy is really
the focus in learning English. It is not the case when people learn English
in countries where English is spoken in the society, such as in the United
States or Malaysia. People in those countries emphasize on the ability and
fluency in communications of daily lives; they acquire English because they
are exposed to the language in the society. They are not always aware of the
process of gaining the language. Referring to the theory of gaining a target
language mentioned above, the process of gaining English in Indonesia
is regarded more as learning while in Malaysia more as acquisition. Even
though some people may disagree with the distinction between the term
second language and foreign language, it is not denied that the status of English
in Indonesia is different from that in Malaysia. In Malaysia English is gained
18 Teaching English as Foreign Language
in the society where the people speak the language; in Malaysia English is a
second language. In Indonesia English is learned only at schools and people
do not speak the language in the society. English is really a foreign language
for language learners in Indonesia. The discussion on the differences between
learning a target language in L1 environment and in L2 environment is also
proposed by Els et al (1984: 36), as shown below.
L2 learning in L1 environment L2 learning in L2 environment
guided learning unguided learning
tutored learning untutored learning
formal learning spontaneous/ naturalistic learning
foreign language learning second language learning
learning acquisition
Whether people learn English as a second language or a foreign
language, they are learning a target language. The learning of the target
language can take on a variety of patterns. Dozens of factors are involved
and it is doubtful whether we can make it possible to propose a complete
analysis of all the factors. Nevertheless, there are sorts of opinions and beliefs
on what influence language learning. Mackey (1975: 108-124) suggests that
there are three main influences that determine the learning, namely linguistic,
social and psycho logical influences. The three influences may make the
teaching of English as a second language or as a foreign language different.
In the following section, the three influences will be discussed and the ideas
presented here are adapted from Mackey (1975).
Linguistic
Process and progress in learning a target language may depend on (1)
how the target language differs from the mother tongue and (2) how much
the mother tongue interferes with the target language.
Differences
Each language is unique and each has its own system. A language is
always different from others even though the language may be similar to
some languages. The differences between the target language and the mother
Language Teaching 19
tongue may be in the realm of grammar, phonology, vocabulary, stylistics
and graphics. Differences in each realm may cause different problems in
learning another language. The more different the target language is from the
mother tongue, the more problems language learners may face in learning
the target language.
Because of differences in grammar language learners may find it
difficult to understand the systems of the target language. Language learners
whose mother tongue has no tenses tend to have more difficulties in learning
a target language which has tenses. For most Indonesians, English tends to
be very difficult because the Indonesian language has no tenses that are
similar to the tenses of English.
Differences in phonology may cause difficulties in producing sounds
in the target language and in combining the sounds. For example, some
Indonesian learners find it difficult to pronounce the word “she”; they tend
to produce the pronunciation for the word “sea” or “see”.
In the realm of vocabulary, the difficulty of a target language depends
on the number of words which are similar to the words in their mother tongue.
If the mother tongue of the language learners has a large number of words
which are similar or the same as the words found in the target language, the
language learners may find it easier to learn the target language.
A language learner whose culture is similar to the culture of the target
language may find it less difficult to understand the contexts in which the
target language is used. Learning another language cannot be separated
from learning its culture. Difficulties in understanding another culture may
also cause difficulties in learning the language in which the culture lives.
In the field of graphics some language learners are more handicapped
than other learners because their language has a different way of how the
language is written. There are many ways of how languages are written;
some languages are more alphabetical, for example Indonesian, and some
other languages are not alphabetical, for example Chinese. In learning
English, Indonesian learners may find it easier to understand English words
than Chinese learners.
20 Teaching English as Foreign Language
Interference
When people learn another language, their mother tongue sometimes
interferes with the target language. This phenomenon is often called
interference. Interference is often caused by the similarities between their
mother tongue and the target language. How their mother tongue interferes
with a new language depends on whether they are learning to speak the
new language or simply they are learning to understand the language by
listening and reading. The possibility of transfer from L1 can be negative or
positive interference.
If they are learning to speak the target language, the similarities
between the two languages may cause much difficulty. They will use their
knowledge of their mother tongue and based on the knowledge they may
produce utterances which do not exist in the target language (Dickerson, 1975:
405). The negative interference may result in errors but learners’ errors are
not necessarily caused by the interference of their mother tongue. Different
people may have proposed different classifications of errors (Corder, 1974
and Dulay, Burt and Krashen, 1982); the following types of errors and their
examples are taken from Dulay, Burt and Krashen (1982:154-162)
a. Omission: the absence of an item(s) that must appear in a well-formed
utterance
Example : Mary president new company*
b. Double markings: the failure to delete certain items which are required
in some linguistic construction
Example : He doesn’t knows my name*
c. Regularization: applying the rules used to produce the regular ones to
those that are irregular.
Example : He eated ten apples yesterday*
d. Simple addition: the presence of an item which should not appear in a
well-formed utterance.
Example : The fishes doesn’t live in the water*
e. Misformation: the use of the wrong form of the morpheme or structure.
Example : hisself* (himself)