Nowadays, every school in Indonesia competes for an admission of international standard schools, which comes up with a new trend of bilingual teaching. The only reason is that all of the references books use English. Both students and teachers should be able to use English as well. Therefore, willy-nilly they have to deal with English in their learning and teaching process. Automatically, by the time it will create good-quality students that could grant the school to be an International Standard School. Well, bilingual itself means a person that able to use two languages. In this case, the languages are our mother tongue, Indonesian and our International communication language, English. Actually, the advantages and disadvantages of this program are still debated. On 30 years of bilingual education research in National Research Council Study said "We do not know whether there will be long-term advantages or disadvantages to initial literacy instruction in the primary language versus English”. Therefore, now, I want to define the readiness and the effects whether it is the good or bed effects of bilingual teaching from three points of views, the students, the teachers, and the parents.
Firstly, let us define bilingual teaching from the students’ point of view. Students are the target of this program that is why they must be placed on the highest priority of service. It is the students’ process and product achievement that becomes the success indicator of the program. Therefore, do not make them to be forced. It could make them feel frustrated. They tend to keep silent and speechless because they are confused about the languages. Just let them understand it little by little, normally; it will attract their interest to learn bilingual language. The other way is that the students could be taken an English course outside their school. The result if they are accustomed to learning something in bilingual terms, it could increase their brainpower, make them more creative and responsive to the words changing, have an ability to analysis languages, and have better grammatical ability.
Secondly, we are talking about bilingual teaching from teachers’ point of view. Teachers as the most determinant elements who have a direct contact with the students in the teaching and learning process must have English mastery to conduct their instructional process. Teachers, especially the mathematics and science teachers must change their mind set from teaching only using Bahasa Indonesia into teaching using both Bahasa Indonesia and English. Therefore, English is their new and competent in English, to be ideal, or at least, as a principle, he/she must have a great concern on the program. As a motor and motivator, teachers must also totally involve in changing the school culture from monolingual Bahasa Indonesia, to bilingual, Bahasa Indonesia and English.
Thirdly, we are going to tell bilingual teaching from parents’ point of view. The parents are very proud if their children enter to the school that is using this new term of study, bilingual teaching. In 1988 the Educational Testing Service (ETS) conducted a national Parent Preference Survey among 2,900 Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican and Asian parents with children in U.S. public schools. All parents said they wanted their children to be given special help to learn English and to learn their school subjects. However, the big consideration goes back to their children readiness. They should not use their pride to force their student because every child has different ability. Their roles are very important, for instance between the children and the parents should have a transaction communications at home. It means that the parents have to learn the second language that is used in bilingual teaching. That is why the parents should attend workshops of bilingual education actively to prepare their selves or also takes an English course.
Well, we have defined bilingual teaching from three points of view, namely the students, the teachers, and the parents. Finally, we could infer that the using of bilingual teaching should consider many aspects, the students, the teachers, and the parents. Not only the students, but also three of them should have a big readiness of their new way of learning. Three of them should play their own roles as well to make bilingual teaching running as they are expected and indeed giving a good effect on it.
References:
(http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ass/article/viewFile/2483/2330 ; accessed on September 1st, 2010)
(http://smp1wonosari.wordpress.com/2008/06/19/bilingual-program-in-education-in-indonesian-context/ ; accessed on September 1st, 2010 )
(http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ass/article/viewFile/2483/2330 ; accessed on September 1st, 2010 )
written by Rahayu Sekarini
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