Preparing Teachers for Postgraduate Studies Overseas:
An Indonesian Experience
Teachers are expected to maintain continuous improvement during their service. Normally, this can be done through in-service training programs. Teachers can attend in-service training programs conducted by some institutions such as the Subject-Matter Teachers’ Forum (MGMP), or by teacher-training colleges. However, recently there has been a policy to send teachers for postgraduate studies in universities both in the country and overseas. Teachers who are sent to study in universities overseas need English language support. This paper reports the implementation of a pre-departure English training course (PDETC) program aimed to prepare teachers to study for a postgraduate degree overseas. This study involved twenty-five secondary school teachers who were going to study in Singaporean and Malaysian universities. These teachers attended 10-week (246-hour) English training program on materials used to equip them with English for academic purposes (covering speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills, as well as grammatical structure and social/ academic orientation). This paper describes the curricular components of the program and reports the participants’ perceptions toward their own English language learning as well as their impression of the program. It also shows the results of the participants' final scores in the English subjects.
INTRODUCTION
In Indonesia, in order to be a secondary school teacher, one has to finish a four-year education (S1) at the tertiary level. Then, in order to develop knowledge and skills in his/her subject matter (Luciana, 2003), a common way that he/she could do is to attend in-service training programs such as those conducted by offices of education at regional or regency/ municipality level, the institutes of quality assurance of education (LPMP) at provincial levels, or subject-matter teachers forum (MGMP). In-service training programs such as these are usually conducted in a relatively short period of time (varying from one day to several weeks) and they are non-degree programs (Limantoro, 2004).
In addition to these kinds of in-service training programs, recently there has been a tendency that the government send secondary school teachers to a graduate level of education at School of Graduate Studies. For example, in the academic year of 2006/2007, the Ministry of Religious Affairs sent 60 teachers from Islamic junior (Madrasah Tsanawiyah/MTs) and senior (Madrasah Aliyah/MA) high schools to continue their study for a graduate degree (S2) in English language education at State University of Malang. Approximately the same number of MTs and MA teachers were also sent to study for the same program at the same university in the academic year of 2007-2008. All of the MTs and MA teachers sent to the higher level of education hold S1 degrees in English language education. Thus, the teachers are unlikely to find serious problems in terms of language proficiency when attending the courses delivered in English in the graduate program.
In the same academic year of 2007/2008, the Department of National Education sent 25 teachers from junior and senior high schools and from offices of education to continue to their study for a graduate degree (S2) in Education Management at the School of Graduate Studies of State University of Malang. Most of the teachers (22 teachers) were graduates of non-English departments, whereas only three of them were from English departments. The graduate program is designed as a sandwich program, in which during the four-semester education, the teachers have to study in the Indonesian university for three semesters and they have to spend one semester (the third semester) to study in universities overseas, that is National Institute of Education (NIE) based in Singapore (10 teachers) and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) based in Malaysia (15 teachers). Indonesian is used as the medium of instruction in the Indonesian university, whereas English is used as the medium of instruction in both Singaporean and Malaysian universities. Thus, in order to succeed academically in their graduate education, the teachers have to be able to follow the courses delivered in English. However, due to the fact that most of the teachers were not English department graduates, they were required to attend an academic language development program which is called a Pre-Departure English Training Course (PDETC) Program conducted in the Indonesian university in their second semester. An academic language development program such as this, as research shows, has a significant role in supporting international non-English speaking background (NESB) students to complete their graduate education in universities where English is used as the medium of instruction (Cahyono, 2004).
The PDETC Program was conducted concurrently when the students were taking their course in the Education Management Program. This adjunct model of English for Academic Purpose (EAP) is considered beneficial for students if the materials in the two courses can be related. The success of this model has been reported by Snow and Brinton (1998) who have combined Psychology course and language development program. Snow and Brinton (1998: 49) stated that in this adjunct model “gives students access to authentic, unsimplified language of academic texts and lectures in the content course, yet enables them to benefit in the content course where their particular language needs can be met.”
This paper describes the implementation of the PDETC Program, outlines its curricular components, reports the participants’ perceptions toward their own English language learning as well as their impression of the program, and discusses the results of their achievement in the English subjects..
CURRICULAR COMPONENTS OF THE PDETC
The PDETC Program was designed for teachers taking a graduate study in Education Management at the School of Graduate Studies of State University of Malang. The Program aimed to prepare these teachers to study in Singaporean and Malaysian universities as part of their sandwich program. In these overseas universities English is used as a means of communication with professors, fellow students, and university staff members, and with members of general public outside campus. Success of one’s study depends to a great extent on the ability to successfully complete courses conducted in English, to ask and answer questions, and to express ideas and opinions in discussions. To be successful academically, one is also required to actively use English to participate in academic activities such as seminars, complete assignments including writing papers, to read textbooks, and to communicate with people with whom one has to interact in English formally or informally, either in a written form or orally.
The curricular components developed for the PDETC Program include: Course objectives, course subjects, and description of subjects.
Course Objectives
The general objective of the course is to prepare and facilitate the teachers who plan to study in National Institute of Education (NIE), Singapore, and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Malaysia. In these universities English is the medium of instruction and daily means of communication with members of society. The course is intended to facilitate the course members to improve their general English proficiency and enable them (1) to take International TOEFL and get a minimum score of 500, and (2) to participate actively in academic activities in the campus and daily life in the society at large.
Brief Description of the Course Subjects
To achieve the objectives the course curriculum is designed to consist of the following subjects:
1) Listening Comprehension (LC)
2) Reading Comprehension (RC)
3) Academic Writing (AW)
4) Speaking for Academic Purpose (SAP)
5) English Grammar (EG)
6) Academic and Social Orientation (ASO)
Activities and contents of each subject typically includes: reviews and discussions of important issues of the subject, followed by practice and exercises, as well as discussions of problems and difficulties encountered. Tests are conducted for practice and for checking progress. Practice in using English for daily communication in presenting papers and participating in seminars is included. Individual and personal assistance may be provided to those in need of additional help.
Description of Subjects
In general the English subjects (listening, reading, speaking, writing, and grammar) were aimed to improve the participants linguistic competence, whereas the academic and social orientation subject is given to make students aware of academic and cultural differences between
Listening Comprehension aims to enable participants to comprehend oral discourse about various topics delivered in English either orally or mostly prerecorded. Comprehension of the discourse is indicated in the ability to answer questions about main ideas or specific details, as well as to make summaries of contents in writing or orally.
Through Reading Comprehension attempts are made to improve and build up course members’ ability to comprehend texts written in English as commonly found in textbooks used in colleges and universities. Ability to comprehend texts is developed through discussions of written essays on various topics and practice in identifying and answering questions on explicitly stated facts and details of contents as well as implied inferences and generalizations.
Academic Writing aims to enable students to write for academic purposes in universities which may involve writing various academic papers, reports, and thesis. In this case, participants need to be provided with activities that include reviews and exercises in actually planning and step-by-step developing writing pieces in English.
Speaking for Academic Purpose provides opportunities to participants in expressing themselves orally in English and be understood by those listening and talking to them. The participants need to practice and make a habit of expressing their ideas in English clearly in daily activities, especially in academic activities such as asking questions, clarifying points of view, giving comments, or presenting papers.
English Grammar is intended to give participants opportunities to review major English grammar issues and principles and a series of relevant exercises, followed by discussions of and exercises in grammar points that are typically used and found in written discourses as well as in tests of grammar.
Academic and Social Orientation provides participants background knowledge and information about living in
With the above curricular components, the program was set up and 16 instructors were recruited to teach the participants. These instructors were given autonomy to develop their learning materials and types of assessment based on the course descriptions. At the end of the PDETC Program, these instructors were required to submit the results of the evaluation of the participants' English learning achievement.
The PDETC course was conducted for ten weeks in second semester of 2007/2008 (January-April 2008). The course hours for each subject was determined on the basis of the need of the participants, with emphases on grammatical mastery and the improvement of their ability to communicate in English. With these considerations, the Listening Comprehension, Reading Comprehension, and Academic Writing are given twice a week (4 course hours each per week), while Speaking for Academic Purpose and English Grammar were taught three times a week (6 course hours each per week). The Academic and Social Orientation subject is given only in six course hours during the PDETC program. The course hours for each subject and the overall time needed for the course can be seen in Table 1.
Table 1. The Course Hours of Subjects in the PDETC Program
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Subjects Course hours Overall time
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Listening Comprehension 4 40
Reading Comprehension 4 40
Academic Writing 4 40
Speaking for Academic Purpose 6 60
English Grammar 6 60
Academic and Social Orientation - 6
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THE PARTICIPANTS
The participants of the PDETC Program were 25 teachers from the
THE PRESENT STUDY
The study reported here was conducted to examine the participants' perceptions toward their own English language learning and their impression of the program. The study also reported the results of their English learning achievement after the PDETC Program was over. Questionnaires were distributed to gain data on the teachers’ perceptions toward their own English language learning and their impression of the program. The questionnaire consisted of two parts. The first part contained five items asking the participants’ responses on five questions regarding each particular subject, except the Academic and Social Orientation subject, as follows:
- Do you think the subject is important?
- Is the objective of the subject clear?
- Are the course materials of the subject relevant to the need of your study?
- Is the teaching and learning process of the subject conducted effectively?
- Are tasks and evaluation of the subject conducted appropriately?
Each of the questions of the questionnaire is accompanied with five responses which are based on the Likert-scale type. The responses vary from the most favorable option (with 5 value on the scale) to the least favorable option (with 1 value on the scale). The Academic and Social Orientation subject was not included in the questionnaire because when the questionnaire was administered, the subject was not given yet as this subject was taught following the completion of the teaching of the five other subjects. The second part of the questionnaire is used to record the participants' impressions of the PDETC Program and comments related to the implementation of the program. The format of the questionnaire can be seen in Appendix 1. The data from the questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the results are presented in the following section. The analysis is based on the average score of the participants' responses on the questionnaire items. Twenty four participants responded to the questionnaire.
RESULTS
The results of the analysis of the questionnaire data are presented according to the parts of the questionnaire: Responses to the questionnaire items and impressions and/or comments about the PDETC Program and its implementation. The presentation of the results of analysis is followed by the presentation of the participants' English learning achievement.
Responses to the Questionnaire Items
The results of the analysis of responses of the questionnaire items showed that, according to the participants, the five subjects in the PDETC program have been conducted favorably. The responses of the participants indicated that all of the courses are very important. Academic writing, in particular, is considered completely important as the mean of the responses is 5, meaning that all of the participants thought that this subject is very important.
With regard to the clarity of the objective of each of the subjects, the participants' responses showed that, except Listening Comprehension, all other subjects have very clear objectives, whereas the objective of the Listening Comprehension subject (with the mean of 4.08) was considered clear.
When asked whether or not the course materials of the subject relevant to the need of the participants' study, the responses indicated that the materials for Academic Writing and English Grammar (with the mean of 4.79 for each of them) are very relevant, whereas those for other subjects (Listening Comprehension, Reading Comprehension, and Speaking for Academic Purpose) are relevant.
Responding the the questionnaire item probing about the effectiveness of the subjects, the participants inclined to suggest that, except Listening Comprehension, all of the subjects, were taught very effectively. The Listening Comprehension subject (with the mean of 4.29) was effectively taught.
With regard to the last item of the questionnaire, i.e., the one questioning the appropriateness of the administration of tasks and evaluation of the subject, the responses indicated that except for Listening Comprehension and Reading Comprehension, the other subjects had tasks and evaluation that were given very appropriately. The means of the participants' responses on all of the questionnaire items are shown in Table 2.
Table 2. The Means of the Responses on the Questionnaire Items (N = 24)
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| Subject | (1) Do you think the subject is important? | (2) Is the objective of the subject clear? | (3) Are the course materials of the subject relevant to the need of your study? | (4) Is the teaching and learning process of the subject conducted effectively? | (5) Are tasks and evaluation of the subject conducted appropriately? |
| Listening Comprehension | 4.63 | 4.08 | 3.96 | 4.29 | 4.04 |
| Reading Comprehension | 4.92 | 4.71 | 4.25 | 4.54 | 4.42 |
| Academic Writing | 5.00 | 4.79 | 4.58 | 4.92 | 4.63 |
| Speaking for Academic Purpose | 4.88 | 4.67 | 4.46 | 4.83 | 4.58 |
| English Grammar | 4.83 | 4.79 | 4.67 | 4.67 | 4.79 |
Impressions and/or Comments about the PDETC Program and Its Implementation
The results of the analysis of the participants impressions and/or comments about the PDETC Program and its implementation are not generalizable for all participants because each participant is likely to highlight a particular aspect of the PDETC Program. As a matter of fact, not all of the participants wrote their impressions or comments and not all of the participants who wrote their impressions or comments wrote impressions or comments which are relevant to the PDETC Programs and its implementation. The irrelevant impressions of comments refer to those focusing on instructors' personalities and teaching styles which are likely to be personal. In this analysis, only relevant impressions and comments are included. These impressions and comments can be categorized into several main issues: (1) perceptions about their own learning, (2) Emphasis on particular subjects, (3) The difficulty in concentration due to the concurrent model of the course, and (4) Awareness of the participants' lack of English proficiency. These issues will be discussed in greater detail in the following.
A number of participants thought that they benefited from the PDETC Program. For example, this is evident in the statement expressed by Participant 1, who stated, “In general we have got a lot of knowledge from the program.”
Some participants considered that some subjects need to be given more attention than other subjects. For example, Participants 1 and 23 considered that the course hours for Reading Comprehension and Academic Writing need to be added because of the need to study overseas. Participant 1 also thought that materials for English Grammar should be more oriented to the skills in academic writing, not in working with the TOEFL. Participant 19 stated that participants need to be equipped with content-based materials oriented to the contents of the field they are going to study in universities overseas. Additionally, Participant 10 thought that materials for Reading Comprehension and Academic Writing should be more directly related to the field of study they are learning, that is Education Management.
Some of the participants (e.g., Participants 3 and 13) thought that the concurrent implementation of the PDETC program with their courses in Education Management program was hard for them. This conditions, as they admitted, reduced their focus of learning.
A number of comments show the participants' feeling of inferiority in attending the PDETC program. Participant 17 stated, “In general, the instructors have taught us well, but because of our lack of English competence, it is hard to understand the explanation.” Participant 16 added, “Our educational background which is not English department made it difficult for us to follow the lessons”. On the basis of this condition, one participant (Participant 19) requested the instructors not to consider them as learners of the same level of proficiency.
Some of the other issues noted relate to time and instructors. Several participants (e.g., Participants 1, 12, & 21) requested a longer time for the PDETC program implementation. Some other participants recommended that native speakers be involved as instructors in the PDETC program implementation.
Participants' English Learning Achievement
At the end of the PDETC Program implementation, the instructors reported the English learning achievement of the participants in the five English subjects. In general, the means of the scores of the participants indicated that they are very good in Reading Comprehension subject (83.20), good in three other subjects, e.g., Academic Writing (mean = 74.32), Speaking for Academic Purpose (mean = 76.84), and English Grammar (77.24), and fairly good in Listening Comprehension subject (mean = 56.4).
DISCUSSION
As outlined above, the results of the analysis showed that the PDETC program included five English subjects and the academic and social orientation subject. The responses of the participants indicated that the five English subjects have been conducted in a favorable or most favorable way (see Table 2). The success of the teaching of the five subjects may be caused by the competence of the instructors. All of the instructors were lecturers of English and other subjects related to English at the English Language Education Program at the School of Graduate Studies of State University of Malang. With their long experience in teaching English to various group of learners, the chance to be successful in teaching new groups of students was quite high. Moreover, the PDETC Program given to the students from the Education Management was not the first program. PDETC programs have been conducted for more than thirty times before the PDETC Program reported in this paper was conducted.
With regard to the implementation of the PDETC Program, it should be highlighted that the Program was considered effective in improving the participants knowledge and skills in English. However, several aspects need to be improved as evident in the impressions and comments from the participants. More particularly, techniques of teaching and the teaching styles of the instructors need to be improved so that the participants can learn English better in the program. This is so sue to the fact that the PDETC Program was a concurrent program which was given along with the teaching of subjects in the Education Management Program that could reduce the participants' focus in learning.
Dealing with the results of the learning achievement, the progress of the participants' English learning should be appreciated as most of the participants had no educational background related to English. Their excellent result in the Reading Comprehension subject might be supported by their frequent use of references or textbooks written in English for the subjects that they attended in the Education Management Program of the
CONCLUSION
This paper has reported the results of the implementation of the PDETC Program specifically designed for participants who followed a sandwich program for their graduate study in Education Management. The results of the Program implementation showed that, overall, the PDETC program has been successfully implemented as viewed from several categories: aspects of the subjects taught in the PDETC program, the participants' impressions and comments about the PDETC Program and its implementation, and their English learning achievement as reported in the end of the PDETC program. While a number of aspects of the PDETC Program need to be improved, the program has been successful in giving experience to the participants in attending courses delivered in English in their home country prior to their departure to universities overseas to pursue their graduate education in Education Management as part of the sandwich program in the School of Graduate Studies of State University of Malang.
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