WHY WE STUDY ENGLISH

WHY WE STUDY ENGLISH

           

English is the only language in the world which shows up in the curriculum of every educational system in the world today. Even  countries such as China and all the countries which used to be part of the Soviet Union offer English as one of the compulsory subjects to be learned by students. This shows how important English is in the world today. English is used as a lingua franca or a language systematically used to communicate between persons not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a  third language, distinct from both persons’ mother tongues. It is used for different kinds of activities : science, trade, sports, culture, diplomacy, and many others. Most seminars in many branches of science require that  papers and presentations be written in English . Participants in international meetings will   benefit more  if he or she masters English.

            One of the reasons why English is so important today is the fact that  it is the language of many influential nations  in the world today. The people of England, the United States of America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand use English as as an official or first language. In many other countries such as India, Pakistan,Malaysia and  Singapore English is also a second language. Besides, England is a nation with many colonies in the past and consequently many of these colonies conducted all kinds of governmental , economic and political businesses in English. Sometimes native speakers of English used to say in the past that they did not have to learn another language because no matter where they travel on business or for pleasure, they could always find people who speak English. But it is changing today because the mastery of the language of one’s business partner would make the business expand much faster and much better.

            In light of the facts stated  above, the Sultan Agung Islamic University (Unissula) has decided to make English as a plus factor for its graduates. This means that the curriculum for all faculties/colleges should contain English as an important subject to be taught . Hopefully, if this is carried out in earnest, graduates of Unissula will have a plus factor compared to graduates of other universities.  They have learned to use English which will be useful in their dealings with people, colleagues,business partners or professors here and abroad.The effort of the university to equip their future graduates with this plus factor should be supported by the teaching staff and students of all faculties, schools or colleges of Unissula. Activities such as English Day, English Week or English Month should be encouraged and supported. The establishment ofEnglish clubs should also be promoted in eachacademic unit of the university and students should  be encouraged to shed their embarrasment in using English as much as they could because with practice their self-confidence will grow and this will be beneficial for them when they enter  the job market or when thay establish their own businesses.

            How is English taught in Indonesia today ? By law English can be taught from the fourth grade of elementary schools as a local content subject. This has been done in many schools today. Some schools even start teaching English to toddlers (balita), sometimes as a “gimmick” to boost the number of students applying for a place in the schools. For elementary schools which offer English as a subject in all grades, it should be noted that elementary school teachers are classroom teachers, which means that they teach all subjects in the school curriculum except Religious Education and Physical Education which is taught by non-classroom teachers ? What about English ? Who teaches it today ? They are usually graduates of English Education Departments of various universities, but there are also instances where graduates of non-English Departments become teachers of English to these children. Special training is needed to the teaching of English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) to very young learners. If mistakes are taught, it will take a long time to “repair” them later. Besides, the curriculum for English today does not emphasize  practicing spoken English but on identifying different forms of discourse and memorizing features of grammar. You learn a language by practicing it, not by identifying language features or by memorizing grammatical rules. Let us begin by allowing only professional teachers teach English, and teaching our children to use English. Teaching a foreign language, in this case Englih, should be fun.