Teaching English through English

That’s exactly what I’ve got from sitting in Bu Rina’s class this morning. I feel really grateful to have this opportunity for I discuss many important things related to teaching English to Indonesian speakers. This morning’s class is IE.1 (Ilmu Ekonomi/Economic Studies) with free conversation skill.

As a new instructor/teacher at the Language Training Center of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY), I should have at least six sessions of sit-in in my first semester of teaching. Until today, I have had 3 sessions. I had the first two before the midterm test and this third just now. From the first two, what I really point out is that actually, our tone of teaching should engage students in the learning. A good model of teacher having brilliant-adjustment to tone of teaching is Bu Marga. From her, I learn that we teachers should make adjustments to the classes we teach, by considering students’ background of department, semester, level, English skills mastery and degree of motivation. Some departments typically have high-motivated learners, while others do not. To the first, we should be thankful and try to keep maintaining the tone engaging just the way we are. To the second, we need to adjust to their attitude towards English learning. Make it count!

Not only tone, another I have got is about being creative to give consequences to the late-coming students to our classes. Pak Lathif, one of the teachers whose class I sit-in, applied tongue twister. Not only it makes students encouraged to come on time, but also it improves their pronunciation. A uniquely excellent way! Bravo!

Last but not least, today, I have a stunning model of free conversation class of Bu Rina’s. She’s totally an awesome English speaking teacher! And what makes her class event more brilliant is that all students are engaged in the learning communicatively. I’m really enjoying this sit-in. One important thing to note from her is that in whatever level your class is, whether it is basic, intermediate, or advanced, try to speak English all the time. For the basic level, it gets students used to various English expressions that they might need to speak daily. For the advanced, it makes the atmosphere more natural and communicatively engaging. Starting from now on, I promise to my self: “Teach English through English!”