Interest Based Language Teachings in EFL for ‘Yahya’ School Teachers: Increasing Communicative Skills and Student-Centered Learning

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 66 (2012) 267 – 282

The 8th International Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) Seminar - Aligning Theoretical Knowledge with Professional Practice

Interest Based Language Teachings in EFL Teachers: Increasing Communicative Skills and Student-Centered Learning Sri Wahjuni, S.IP* SMAK Yahya (Yahya Christian Senior High School), LLRE Martadinata No. 71-73, Bandung, Indonesia

Abstract This study investigates whether Interest Based Language Teaching (IBLT) in EFL for teachers (respondents) can improve their English communicative competence as well as Student Centered Learning (SCL) application to their own (Yahya) students. This Descriptive Qualitative study employs Action Research methodology, conducted in two cycles. In the first d to e second cycle -up activities. The study found more © 2012 The The Authors. Authors. Published Published by Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license. © 2012 by Elsevier Elsevier Ltd. peer-review under responsibility of the LSPLSP 2012 Committee, Language Academy, Universiti Teknologi Selection and and/or peer-review under responsibility of the 2012 Committee,Language Academy, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Keywords: English as a Foreign Language; Student Centered Learning Methods; Interest Based Language Teaching; English Communicative Skill

1. Introduction Yahya Christian Schools consist of Kindergarten to Secondary levels. For the past few years, these schools have been promoting Student-Centered Learning (SCL) methods in their vision to produce graduates with high academic achievement and quality to serve their society. This vision derives from the higher order thinking -- Applying, Analyzing, Evaluating, then Creating. For years, most Yahya teachers had been conducting conventional teaching methods that linger around lower cognitive

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +62-8122196270 E-mail address: [email protected]

1877-0428 © 2012 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the LSP 2012 Committee, Language Academy, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.11.269

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skills

Remembering and Understanding (Comprehension), until their head of schools agreed to improve their

YPK Yahya Training Division has been realizing trainings and workshops to produce teachers with qualities to realize SCL activities in their classes. One of the programs is EFL for Yahya Teachers and Staff, which has been running since 2008. The initial aim of EFL mastery in English communicative skills, especially speaking. In line with the SCL efforts, the EFL teacher, this study researcher, adds her mission with ingraining SCL teaching methods to be applied by the EFL learners (Rs) -Based Language methods in their own teachings. The first cycle of observation is conducted during the SCL method application. The second cycle of observation is conducted during the IBLT application. This study attempts to solve these problems: 1. How effective is Studentcommunicative skill? 2. How effective is Interest-Based Language Teaching at EFL for Yahya School teachers to promote their own 2. Theoretical and Conceptual Background 2.1 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) ESL refers to countries where English has an official status as the main language to carry on the affairs of government, education, commerce, the media, and the legal system. ESL then tends to be learnt in naturalistic ways, through communication that takes place in naturally occurring social situations. When English is not an official language, it is learned as a foreign language in education institutions [11][15]. EFL is the teaching of English to students whose first language is not English [65]. At Yahya Christian Schools, English is taught as EFL. However, English communicative mastery is not only conducted, focusing on speaking mastery since the key to successful communication is speaking nicely, efficiently and articulately, as well as using effective voice projection, speaking is linked to success in life, as it occupies an important position both individually and socially [60]. 2.2 Student Centered Learning (SCL) 2.2.1 Origin and Definition SCL approach emerged around the second half of the twentieth century from Constructivism theories, ognitive disequilibrium results, triggering the learning process. This disequilibrium leads to adaptation. Reflection on successful adoptive operations leads to new or modified concepts, contributing to re-equilibrium. Thus knowledge is not passively received from the world, others, or from authoritative sources. Rather all knowledge is created as individuals adapt to and make sense of their experiential worlds [31]. 2.2.2 Characteristics of SCL as opposed to Conventional Learning In terms of student roles, SCL reflects the following parameters: (1) Communicatively active learners achieve more than passive learners. They may challenge a theory, choose a particular part to

[10][15][6][35][50][58][61]

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focus on, meaningfully compare their ideas with peers and teachers, even tutor peers; (2) Students become significant contributor to the pre-designed curriculum [29]; (3) Students tend to be self-regulating/ independent learners [7][29][61][64] in setting their own specific goals, adopting powerful strategies for attaining these goals, monitoring their own performance, restructuring their own learning environment, managing time effectively, selfevaluating, and adapting future methods; and (4) Students construct a meaningful products [42]. 2.2.3 Teacher Roles in SCL education is a planned academically designed system. Teachers are to be: (1) A motivator [10][15][35][50][57] to design motivating and meaningful instructions. The value that students place on subject matter or their interest in what they learn is a force that drives intrinsic motivation. Intrinsic motivation yields greater success than external rewards. In addition, interest is related to both quality of experience during instruction as well as achievement;(2) A facilitator [10][23][32][49][61] as when students' personal meanings and connections to prior knowledge are limited, they have difficulty engaging in creative behaviours and motivation. Lack of reading comprehension practices impedes word recognition, speed, and cognitive knowledge of the dictions, behavioral habits, and background variables of the discussed topics [12][19][21][63]. Interesting conversations also engage the mind [52]. Teachers should offer reading resources, clarifies the subject matter, offers examples, suggests arguments for or against a point of view, and provides criteria to judge their progress. Teachers write course units and modules in terms of intended student-learning outcomes, offer alternative tasks to accommodate different learning styles, encourage students to enrich their learning through technology (for research, writing, reading, publishing) and discovery; (3) A modernizer to Conventional Teachings[31][59] critical thinking and lifelong independency provides opportunities for self-appraisal; and (5) Preventing chaos: group structures alternately selected by the 2.2.4 Innovative Teachings and Achievement Evaluation in SCL SCL may be realized in project work, problem-based learning, resource-based learning, use of the case analyses, role plays, classroom workshops, group presentations, the use of web-conferencing environment to enhance student discourse and interaction in distance education, and the use of learning logs for students to record their educational experience [59]. The followings are some terminologies used to explain the difference achievement evaluation. Within the area of foreign language learning and teaching, problem-based learning (PBL) [13][48] enables students to learn the target language by using it, rather than being presented with and then practicing predetermined language structures. Approaches based on similar principles include task-based learning [16][55][62], content-based learning [18][47], and project-based learning [1][27][38]. Problem-based learning core focuses on learning through solving real, open-ended problems to which there are no fixed solutions [17]. The teacher provides students with appropriate problems to work on, assists them in identifying and accessing the materials and equipment necessary to solve the problems, gives necessary feedback and support during the problemsolving process, and evaluates -solving as well as their language and literacy skills. One learning method that combines PBL and art is a Dramatic Activities. It develops oral communication, reading, and writing skills on which part of the language functions are based [33]; provides students with an opportunity to use language to express various emotions, to solve problems, to make decisions, and to socialize; helps students with limited vocabulary to communicate in the foreign language [2] -verbal representation of an idea through gesture, bodily movement, and expression [14]

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where participants are assigned roles which they act out in a scenario [4][25][34] functions, and responsibilities within a structured situation involving problem solving in a real life reflection [66] -discipline and the ability to work with others through exercised based on their imagination and fantasy [26][34]. Another terminology emphasized in a SCL in EFL is Task-based instruction, which refers to the use of tasks as the core unit of planning and instruction in language teaching to achieve a goal using language, such as finding a solution, giving direction, making a telephone call, writing a letter, and so on [46]. The stages cover reasoning, classifying, sequencing information, and transforming info from one form of representation to another [16]. In the mean time, Content Based instruction refers to an approach to a language teaching which is organized around the content of information that students will acquire, rather than around a text-book linguistic or other type of syllabus directly [46]. Thus language teaching holds a secondary significance [22]. The fundamentals of Content Based teachings are [8] that (1) the topics should be of high interest to students, presented by the teacher as a vehicle for language development; and that (2) the units incorporate all skills (listening, reading, writing, grammar). Facilitating learners to fulfill a task, solve problems, and do projects is not so complicated a role when teachers seek support from technology, including Information and Communication Technology. Arko-Cobbah [3] expands the learning day and places as it connects people, communities, and resources to support learning. Through the use of graphics, sound, video and other forms of interaction, it gives teachers and students multiple paths for understanding. Another support to SCL applications may come from Curriculum Compacting, a curriculum modification for academically advanced students [51]. Teachers determine the learning objectives for the material, get the students who may have already mastered or could master the objectives more quickly practices with instructions [43]. Such students are then ready to help teacher by tutoring their peers. By the end of the lesson, SCL objective achievement by the learners is assessed with detailed, clear, and standardized criteria. Such evaluation instrument is called Scoring Rubric. Scoring Rubrics are descriptive efforts [9]. They evaluate writing, group activities, extended projects, and oral presentations [37]. There are two types of rubrics: holistic and analytic. A holistic rubric requires the teacher to score the overall process or product as a whole, without judging the component parts separately [39]. With an analytical rubric, the teacher scores separately, individual parts of the product or performance first, then sums the individual scores to obtain a total score [37][39]. Table 1. Analytical Rubric Template [36]

Criteria 1 Criteria #n

Beginning 1 Description reflecting beginning level of performance

Developing 2 Description reflecting movement toward mastery level of performance

Accomplished 3 Description reflecting achievement of mastery level of performance

Exemplary 4 Description reflecting highest level of performance

-- as above --

-- as above --

-- as above --

-- as above --

When is the rubric Learning increases when learners have a sense of what they are setting out to [28] learn, a statement of explicit standards . Based on that principle, all rubrics in this study is socialized before activities right after the warming up activity, along with the socialization of lesson objectives.

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2.2.5 Why Yahya Christian Schools should Apply SCL Yahya Christian Schools (Pirmary Secondary) uses national curriculum, whose operation is under the Indonesian Government Law No. 20/ 2003 on National Education System. It regulates Education National Standards, broken down into 8 affairs in the Government Regulation (PP) No. 19/ 2005. One of them is Standard of Content, the curriculum principles. Thus, Yahya Curriculum development: 1. is centered on the potential, development, need, and interest of students and their environment to become a religious, well-mannered, healthy, knowledgeable, skillful, creative, independent, democratic, and responsible citizen; , residences, education levels, religions, cultures, social-economic status, or gender; technology, science, and art; 4. encourages relevance between education and the needs/ demands in society and profession by providing life skill education (critical thinking, social interaction, academic achievement, and vocational competence). Another Indonesia National Board of Education standard is the Standard of Evaluation (National Education Ministry No. 20/ 2007). Its principles comply with the evaluation development recommended by SCL methods above. It says that achievement evaluation should be (1) valid and criteria-based (pre-planned achievement indicators); (2) objective (attainable by stakecultural, social status, economic condition, gender differences, and disability); (4) integrated with other subjects; (5) comprehensive and sustainable (covering all skills, sui and (6) systematic, accountable techniques, procedures, and outcomes. Furthermore, Yahya Christian Schools implement the National Curriculum on English Teachings as pinpointed in The Standard of Content that language, including English, aims at increasing communication competence in writing as well as in oral performances. Linguistic rules, including grammar, vocabulary, phonological aspects, structure, gambits, speech acts, communication strategies, and discourse formation, support the competence (Standar Isi, 2006). 2.3 Interest Based Language Teaching (IBLT) IBLT offers SCL syllabus and procedures. Hence, IBLT principles are those upheld by SCL instructions with additional values [35][41][56][58]. Those values include: (1) ability to express personal interest and conviction; (2) syllabus determination in collaboration with learners; (3) topic identification at a (optional); (4) autonomous learning (determining their own topics, material preparation, and how to express interest); (5) Appropriate cultural contextualization for the language materials (audio/ visual aids); (6) contribution in decisions relating to simplicity, frequency, smooth handling of the procedures, and relevance to other language skills and areas being studied as part of the established syllabus; (7) Minimal teacher intervention for the ways learners receive and share meaning; and (8) Diagnostic teaching through spoken and written output (no formal assessment, no pressure to perform). IBLT activities fall into one of these three categories -- all tapped regularly. Students may be given no choice (for activities that develop essential skills and are required by the teacher), guided choice (when students select from a pool established by the teacher), or free choice (when students pursue their interests and options fully). Finally, for students' interests to be used effectively as the basis for instruction, reflection is essential. The selfdirection that is required by students in IBLT requires the formation of personal goal, identified and realized through self-awareness [67]. The use of scoring rubrics is more crucial here.

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3. Methodology 3.1 Respondents (Rs) This study observes 15 Kindergarten - Secondary Yahya (Indonesia) School teachers aged 25-55. They learn EFL taught by the researcher. They are R1 (Indonesian Language), R2 (Grade 2/ Thematic), R3 (Math 1), R4 (Mandarin Language), R5 (Math 2), R6 (English 1), R7 (Social Studies1), R8 (Social Studies2), R9 (Math3), R10 (Christian Studies), R11 (Kindergarten 1), R12 (Science), R13 (English 2), R14 (Kindergarten 2), and R15 (Kindergarten3). 3.2 Research Instruments It is a descriptive-quantitative study. Data is gathered with scoring rubric calculation (e.g. appendixes 1-3) to effectiveness of a learning approach. The outcome is described qualitatively as well, based on a qualitative observation and interview sheets.

Scoring Criteria

SCL method applications

Low motivation (1 or 2) Monotonous, not creative, no enthusiastic response, little use for context building Unclear socialization, too much focus on recall, a little skill building Repetitive and conventional methods, no innovation

Teacher guidance/ dominance Teacher roles to facilitate active participation

Teacher too dominating, low student participation Rare case of engagement, encouragement, assistance/ clues, review, and alternatives

Rubric Development

No/ hardly ever used

Warming strategies

up

Life Skill practices

Overall employment

ICT

Hardly ever employed, simple if ever (slides, not mind challenging)

Authentic materials to support Life Skill Education

Mostly using outdated sources, over simplified engineered texts/ tape scripts

Medium effort (3 or 4) Few varieties, enthusiastic response rarely observed, context building not smooth Limited life skill mastery practices Various methods, occasionally task-based, content/ projectbased, problem-based Not monitoring, too loose to Student dominance, chaotic encouragement, assistance/ clues, review, and alternatives occasionally observed Sometimes used, lack of criteria or description details Non-challenging animated slides, limited internet browsing, no relevant worksheet/ practical follow up activities occasionally using authentic materials, merely for recalls/ comprehension, a little for life skill practices

Highly motivated (5 or 6) Highly creative, various methods, content and skill mastery built up through them Life skill practices paramount Task-based, content/ projectbased, Problem solving with various methods Facilitating student-dominant activities, limited dominance frequent case of engagement, encouragement, assistance/ clues, review, and alternatives Usually used, given to students, criteria and descriptions clear, competence details Analysis prompting animated slides, various internet searches, relevant worksheets, practical follow up activities Frequent use of authentic materials, a lot of life skill practices (analysis, comparison, evaluation, creation)

Three observers (the researcher/ EFL teacher, the head of Quality Control Division, and the curriculum staff) assess respondents SCL application in their own teaching to Yahya students. The outcome is transferred into bar graphs for further analysis and description.

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3.3 Research Procedure This study adopts Action Research, in which the teacher is the researcher aiming to improve current state of affairs [40]. Action Research Model is first suggested by Kurt Lewin and developed by Eric Trist to solve social and minority problems. Stephen Kemis [30] describes an Action Research Model this way:

Figure 1. Simple Action Research Model [30]

Nunan [40] notes that reliable data in classroom research can be obtained in reference to activity type, participants, content, skills involved, and materials used. 3.3.1 The First Cycle: SCL application in EFL for Yahya School Teachers The first cycle in this study is observed from August 2010 August 2011. Respondents learn EFL once a week for 28 weeks, interrupted with public holidays and school events. At this level, the respondents have passed basic level and at pre-intermediate levels using Interchange 1 and 2 text books with modification towards more content-based and SCL methods. Learning methods gradually move from 50% teacher-centered with pre-determined grammar-based syllabus learning towards SCL. Rubric format socialization is done through in-house trainin Warming-up activities intend to bring out learners curiosity, motivation, and prior knowledge to achieve certain mastery regarding certain language functions applied in integrated skills. In this context building stage, learners are exposed to visuals (symbols, drawings, unfinished drawings, clustered pictures, photographs with covered parts, etc.) or sounds (animals, elements in nature, bumping objects, etc). Pre-modeled by the teacher, learners respond to the exposures by brainstorming for possible associated words/ phrases, possible connections with other objects/ words given, possible picture/ drawing completion, possible picture/ situation that has been taken out from the sequence, and so forth. Teacher then limits the brainstorming results to the linguistic functions (grammar, structure), vocabulary (dictions, gambits greetings, leave-takings, agreement, disagreement, offer, request, refusal, acceptance, invitation, wishes, hopes, and so on), and the skills (mainly speaking, reading, then listening) they should master, guided by their textbook units. Interchange Series is especially useful as the book provides grammar and structure

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rules in the light of communicative mastery -- oral and wr Progressive), and Problem Solving (modals, conditionals). This study breaks down the theoretical foundation above into more practical classifications of differentiated instructions for the Skill Practices (exploration, elaboration, confirmation). Over time, all students complete tasks individually, in small groups, and in whole group settings. These are the differentiated learning strategies in general [23]: Table 3. Differentiated Instructions for SCL Skill Practices SCL Types of Method Investigative clusters

Samples of Activities

Linguistic Functions

(*)

Finding intended words/ phrases by decoding passwords, treasure hunting, gapinterpretation) Giving directions (location/ map, physical features) Interviews (job application, broadcasting, live news, interviewing potential tenants)

Question Word Interrogatives, prepositions, embedded questions, adjectives, past tenses

P/ T

Expressions to agree, disagree, interrupt Modals, expressions to request and offer a help The linguistic functions being studied

T

Dictions being learnt, conjunctions/ continuatives, expressions to state an opinion

I/ P/ T

Integrated conjunctions, gambits

tenses, integrated

P/ T

All tenses, present v.s. past participle, conditionals, wishes, adverbial clauses, sentence development (new vocabulary application)

I/ P/ T

All tenses, derivation, expressions to explain, fillers, continuatives

I/ P/ T

Debate teams Detective squads Mentor-guided teams ICT uses

Performance clusters

Tournament teams

Problem-solving (investigating suspects, the soundest advice, the cheapest yet most fun holiday) Peer-tutoring, key-note speakers related to certain profession/ expertise, exchanging recipes, exchanging tips, assisting EFL teacher on certain linguistic functions Internet/ Computer-based: data gathering, classifying, additional knowledge to enrich the topic being discussed, ICT-based presentation, letter writing, business/ formal letters, distance learning (through e-mails); Animated slides or clips displayed one fraction after another for students to guess what comes next (context building) Drama (mime, simulation, role play, improvisation): complaining a merchandise, betrayals, teenage problems, Theme-based presentations/ speech, show and tell, story telling (narratives/ recount/ anecdote), arranging jumbled pictures/ symbols to create a recount/ narrative Guessing games (mime and guess; win, lose, or draw; Lie Detector, pictorial Board rush (writing the answer on the board, swatting the right option, pasting the right signals) Board games (puzzles, crossword puzzle, scrabble, dice game) Card games (flash cards - vocabulary, cue cards vocabulary and definitiion, domino sentence building)

Clock race (time telling) linking learning to real-life experiences through: Class Projects: Planning, actualizing, reporting, evaluating (charity bazaar, Christmas program for orphans) (*) = Individual/ pair/ team Integrative teams

P/ T I/ T

Reflection at the end of this cycle is based on Scoring Rubric calculation and analysis towards the mastery of Skills (e.g. appendixes 1-3) and SCL application in their own teaching (table 2). The reflection is used for the second Action Research cycle development. 3.3.2 The Second Cycle: IBLT application in EFL for Yahya School Teachers The second cycle is observed from August 2011 June 2012. Respondents learn EFL once a week for 20 weeks, interrupted with public holidays and school events. Learning methods gradually move from SCL to IBLT.

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Rubric format socialization is done through in-house trainings, teacher researches. At the second cycle, the EFL students have mastered English in the intermediate level. They have also been introduced to various SCL learning methods. Interchange 2 and 3 are used sparsely with modifications After reflection/ confirmation session at the end of each lesson, teacher offers a student, in turn, 3 reading passages (authentic from newspapers, magazines, or internet articles) assumed to be interesting for him or her. He/ she chooses one and is asked to prepare for an opening presentation and a follow up SCL activity. The EFL teacher becomes an advisor and n. She is also ready with additional activities (new methods), text-based language function emphasis, and linguistic-based confirmation strategies. Reflection at the end of this cycle is based on Scoring Rubric calculation and analysis towards the mastery of -3) and SCL application in their own teaching (table 2). The reflection will be used for further Action Research cycle revision. 4. Findings and Discussion 4.1 IBLT implementations in EFL for Yahya School Teachers In this part of discussion, here are some implementations of IBLT at EFL for Yahya School Teacher Classes. Everyday is a Masterpiece Chicken Soup for the Soul pictures showing successful people and famous masterpieces. She directs her classmates to brainstorm for opinion and knowledge about those pictures. She leads the discussion towards small daily successes people should be thankful for. Then she presents her own . She asks others to do so. She tells the class to choose some pictures from Google Image that depicts/ symbolizes their . The class then about it. Her socializing the rubric (appendix 3). The EFL teacher monitors and assists R3 the whole time. EFL teacher wraps On another occasion, R1 shows up in comfy shorts, leather boots, a t-shirt, and a brim hat. Her peers guess what her plan is. During the brainstorming of the plans, EFL teacher directs the use of future tense in conveying plans and prediction. R1 continues with her slide presentation about the reading passage on Venice she has chosen before. Her peers underline the missing information in the passage. After the presentation, they inform R1 ultimate project is organizing budget and program proposals to be reviewed by the Foundation. The chosen proposal is followed up with real teacher gathering activities, taken care of by the whole EFL class. -arranged by the presenter and revised by EFL teacher.

English Communicative (especially spoken) Skill Mastery. The rubric scores are figure 2 below.

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The first top English communicative skill achievers are Thematic, Math1, Math2, English1, Kindergarten1, and Science teachers. The middle achievers are Indonesian Language, Mandarin Language, Social Studies1, Social Studies2, Religious Studies, English 2, and Kindergarten3 teachers. The lowest are Math3 and Kindergarten2 teachers. Overall, SCL applications in cycle 1 increase the skill mastery. Freedom to choose materials and activities, along with minimum control by EFL teacher, in IBLT (cycle 2) enhance the respondents and mastery.

during the second Action Research cycles. Figures 3 to 11 show the progress.

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The top 4 achievers for warming up strategy innovation are one of Thematics, Mathematic1, English1, Kindergarten1 teachers. The bottom 3 are one of Religious Studies, Social Studies2, and Mandarin teachers. One strategy used by Kindergarten 1 teacher is showing one animal body part after another, through LCD projection, until her class can guess what animal it is.

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Figure 4. Life Skill Development (Higher Order Thinking)

The top Higher Order Thinking (Bloom Taxonomy) Developers are Mathematics 1 and Thematics teachers, followed by Science, English1, another Mathematics2, and Kindergarten1 teachers. The bottom 2 are a Social Studies2 and Mathematics3 teachers. Some problem-solving strategies used by grade 5 Math, Science, and Environmental Studies teacher respondents are collaborative projects for water treatment and mosquito repellent using cheap but effective materials.

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Figure 5. SCL Method Applications in Skill Practices

The top 3 in SCL method application in the skill practices (exploration, elaboration, confirmation) are Thematics, Math1, and English1 teachers. The bottom 3 are Religious Studies, Math3, and Social Studies2 teachers. The Thematics, Math1, and English1 teacher respondents use collaborative activities (gap-fill activities on universe objects, writing the best recipe Math project, interviews with English native speakers, investigation, and so forth) as well as competitive ones (board race on vegetation, fraction case competitions, story telling contests, and so forth). 100 80 60

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The higher the bar, the lower the dominance is. The most dominating teachers teach Religious Studies, Math3, and Social Studies2, while the minimum domination is done by Thematics, Math1, and English1 teachers. From the qualitative observation and interviews, this study finds that teaching activities on the lower cognitive levels (remembering and understanding) force the respondents to dominate the class by imposing as a lot of knowledge their students have to recall. Such students tend to look passive and depressed, compared with the more SCL classes, which open opportunities to speak up and do tasks the way students are comfortable with. 100 80 60

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The most facilitating (supportive to student active participation) are Thematics and Math1 teachers, with Math2, English1, Kindergarten 1, Science, and Indonesian Language teachers are slightly below them. The least facilitating are Religious Studies and Math3 teachers. One of this strategy employments is by appointing during discussion activities. Students who are deemed more advanced in a particular lesson tutors her/ his peers or juniors. 100 80 60

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Figure 8. Rubric Development and Use

The highest Rubric Developers and User are Thematics and Kindergarten1 teachers, with Social Studies1 and Science teachers slightly below. The lowest are Mandarin, English 2, Math3, and Social Studies2 teachers. open house. The lessons collaborate are English Language, Math, Social Studies and Visual Art. Through the interviews conducted after each observation, respondents feel more confident and facilitated by using rubrics in their assessments. Rubrics also help students and parents realize particular aspects they are good and weak at. This way, students, parents, and respondents can focus on different areas of development in their next lessons.

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Figure 9. ICT employment

The highest ICT users are Thematics, Science, and Math1 teachers. The lowest are Religious Studies and Indonesian Language teachers. The ICT uses by respondents and their students range from slide shows, animated visual aids, e-mails, site browsing, slide making, and academic article publication at Yahya school website. 100 80 60

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Figure 10. Authentic Materials to Support Life Skill Education

The top users of authentic materials are Thematics and Social Studies1, then Science, Kindergarten1, and English1 teachers. The least is English 2 teacher, Indonesian Language, Math3, and Social Studies2 slightly above. Newspapers articles, library books, website articles, and brochures are the most common. 100 80

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Figure 11. Overall SCL application

In general, all respondents show progress in all criteria of SCL applications in their own classrooms. The best SCL users are Thematics, Math1, English1, Kindergarten 1, Social Studies1, and Science teachers. The second best is the Math2 teacher. Some effort, although still unsatisfactory, starts to be displayed by Indonesian, Mandarin, and English2 Language teachers as well as the other Kindergarten teachers. The least are Math3, Social Studies2, and Religious Studies teachers. Compared with their Communicative Skill progress (Figure 10), the Social Studies1 and Kindergarten2 teachers show higher SCL application in their own classes. That is better than the

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Social Studies2 and Religious Studies teachers, who display better skill performance than their SCL application. It means their English Communicative Skill achievement is not the only motivation for the SCL application. Another fact is a great concern to Yahya school management. Authentic materials for Language teaching, Social Studies, and Religious Studies are easy to find in public media. The broad range of discussion over values, rules, and social concerns should have enabled SCL to be implemented. The content load discussions in these subjects should have also enabled teachers to conduct differentiated instructions. role as a researcher to turn a prolonged belief that Math and Science are recall-stricken, non-communicative, and thus teacher-centered. 5. Conclusion It is believed SCL encourages analytical, innovative, creative, and critical thinking among students. EFL for Yahya School Teachers program has proven it. The most obvious progress is seen in the EFL classes themselves, in their English grammatical mastery and communicative competence. overall). However, the progressive tendency from one cycle to another shows the promising SCL and IBLT Yahya school management should keep promoting such training programs; motivating the best achievers with attractive reward; setting minimum standard for eligible teachers; and providing sources, access, and tools (ICT) to authentic materials. References [1] Alan B & Stoller FL. Maximizing the benefits of project work in foreign language classrooms. English Teaching Forum 2005, 43(4), pg. 10-21. [2] Aldavero, Vanesa, Alonso. Drama in the Development of Oral Spontaneous Communication. Encuentro 17. 2008. Retrieved on 1/ 8/ 2010 from www.encuentrojournal.org/ [3] Arko-Cobbah A. The Role of Libraries in Student-Centered Learning: The Case of Students from the Disadvantaged Communities in South Africa. The International Information and Library Review 2004, 36, pp.263-271 [4] Blatner A. Role Playing in Education 2002. Retrieved on 1/8/2010 from www.blatner.com/adam/pdbnbk/rlplayedu,htm. [5] Bologna Process. The Bologna Process 2020: The European Higher Education Area in the New Decade. 2009 [6] Boyer EB. Scholarship Reconsidered. Priorities of the Professoriate. New York: The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; 1990 [7] Brandes D & P Ginni. A Guide to Student Centered Learning. Oxford: Blackwell; 1986. [8] Brinton DM & Snow MA. Content-based classroom. New York: Longman; 1997. [9] Brookhart SM. The Art and Science of Classroom Assessment: The Missing Part of Pedagogy. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report (Vol. 27, No.1). Washington, DC: The George Washington University, Graduate School of Education and Human Development. 1999. [10] Caine RN & Caine G. Making Connections: Teaching and the Human Brain. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development; 1991. [11] Crystal, David. The English Language. London: Penguin Books Ltd; 2002. [12] Cunningham, Anne E. and Stanovich Keith E. What Reading Does for the Mind, Journal of Direct Instruction1997, Vol. 1, No. 2 [13] Dewey J. Experience and education. New York: Collier Books; 1938. [14] Dougill John. Drama Activities for Language Learner. London: MacMillan Publishers Ltd; 1987. [15] Ellis Rod. The Study of Second Language Acquisition. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1996. [16] Ellis R. Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 2003. [17] Ertmer PA, Lehman J, Park SH, Cramer J & Grove K. Barriers to -based learning. Proceedings of the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE) Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) International Conference. 2003, 1761-1766. [18] Garner M & Borg E. An ecological perspective on content-based instruction. Journal of English for Academic Purposes 2005, 4(2), 119-134. [19] Guthrie JT, Schafer WD & Hutchinson SR. Relation document literacy and prose literacy to occupational and societal characteristics of young black and white adults. Reading Research Quarterly 1991, 26, 30 48.

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