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CAHAYA Lingua Vol. 01, No. 01, September 2012 E. Sadtono
ENGLISH ACROSS THE CURRICULUM: An Uphill Battle
E. S a d t o n o
Ma Chung University
sadtono@gmail.com
Abstract
Language across the curriculum is premised on Krashen’s idea that foreign language learners will acquire the L2
most effectively through sizeable input which they can understand whereby the conscious focus is on meaning,
not form. In other words they can learn much better by concentrating on learning the content of an academic
discipline through the foreign language, instead of focusing on the language per se. The ramifications of EAC are
complex; many of them are beyond the control of the teachers. The discussion in this paper is focused on the
question of potential success or failure of EAC as practiced in Indonesia. EAC is in fact an uphill battle in Indonesia.
Keywords: language across curriculum (LAC), English across the curriculum (EAC)
language learning success, failure
1. Introduction overwhelming and it seems that Indonesia
Language across the curriculum (LAC) or is not well-prepared to face the challenge yet.
English across the curriculum (EAC) refers to The stake is really high, and substantial
the use of the target language (e.g. English) as amount of money could be wasted. The major
a medium of instruction to teach content components of EAC are objectives, students,
subjects to improve the teaching of the target teachers, medium of instruction, materials,
language as well as to prepare students to class size, methods, facilities, and time
expand their knowledge through the target allotment. It is assumed that the objectives are
language. Another name is CLIL (Content and clear, now about
Language Integrated Learning) which is used in students: are they ready to be taught in
Europe and many other parts of the world English? Would they be using English inside
(Deller & Price, 2007:3). and outside the classroom? Teachers: are they
However, as can be seen in the mind-map proficient enough in English so that they can
above, the challenge of LAC/EAC is teach using English as the medium of
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CAHAYA Lingua Vol. 01, No. 01, September 2012 E. Sadtono
instruction? Medium of instruction: is it fully “The book I’ve got is so boring”
in English, or is it interspersed with Bahasa “I can’t get my students to participate in
Indonesia or code-switching? Materials: are English.”
materials in English? Are they authentic These complaints also sound familiar in
materials or teacher-made materials? Are they Indonesia.
easily available and affordable? Class size: is According to Musni Umar
the average class around 20? Methods: do (Kompas.com.4/26/2010), the head of SMA
teachers use a specific method or an eclectic Negeri 70 Committee Jakarta, there were more
one? Facilities: what facilities do the students disadvantages than advantages of the
have? (labs, learning resource center, library, international schools, and the main reasons to
etc.). Time allotment: Is the time allotment reject the international schools were firstly
and frequency of meeting sufficient? commercialization of education, as such only
If all the answers to the questions above the rich could enjoy the good schools, secondly
are satisfactory, schools claiming to be it is superfluous and futile because the dream
‘international’ would run smoothly, otherwise of the majority of senior high school students
they would end up in failure. is to enroll at UI, UGM, ITB, etc. and not to go
It is worth noting here that success in EAC overseas, and thirdly the assumption that
in one country may be failure in another English should be used as the medium of
simply because the extent of the underlying instruction at the international schools is
factors differs from country to country. wrong. He further mentioned that developed
countries such as Japan, France, Finland,
2. The Uphill Battle Germany, and Korea use their own national
The uphill battle refers to the schools language, not English, as the medium of
using English as the medium of instruction, instruction if they want to internationalize
especially their teachers who have to teach their schools. He suggested that we should
content-subjects in English when their own orient our schools to our own national
proficiency in English is still questionable. In education, not to a foreign system such as
addition, students also fight the battle against Cambridge.
their own lack of English. The battle is also
waged against the inadequacy of materials,
and the question whether to use authentic, 3. Language Across the Curriculum (LAC)
semi-authentic, or non-authentic materials, a. Terms used for Languages Across the
and whether they should be graded and Curriculum are LAC (Languages Across
ungraded. Fighting a losing battle is waged Curriculum, used mainly in the US), LUAC
against the linguistic environment as (Language for Understanding Across the
Indonesian as language is already strongly Curriculum, Australia), and CLIL (Content
established in all disciplines and all walks of life and Language Integrated Learning,
making Indonesians reluctant to learn a Europe and some other countries). But
relatively difficult foreign language and its for Indonesia, the term should be
benefits are remote for the majority of people. changed to English Across the Curriculum
Indonesian as a tool of communication is (or EAC).
sufficient to satisfy their primary, secondary, b. LAC and EAC should be distinguished
even tertiary needs. In other words, the because in countries where English is L1,
linguistic environment is not conducive to LAC is actually English used to teach
English language learners. content-subjects for children of migrants
In addition, there seems to be universal living in those countries. The teachers are
complaints regarding EAC (Deller & Price, native speakers of L1, so there is no
2007:7) as follows: problem of the English proficiency of the
“It’s so difficult for me to explain in teachers, whereas in Indonesia the
English” teachers’ English proficiency constitutes
“My students don’t like listening in a major problem.
English” c. Language across the curriculum is
“My students find it hard to read in premised on the following:
English” i. LAC is based on the premise that
“I have to write most of my own “language is acquired most
materials” effectively through rich
comprehensible input with the
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CAHAYA Lingua Vol. 01, No. 01, September 2012 E. Sadtono
conscious focus on message, not content in English. The task is
form” and foreign language certainly overwhelming.
proficiency “can improve by vi. Because language is the key to learning,
concentrating on learning the all our teaching, in all subject areas,
content of an academic discipline needs to have a language focus.” (LUAC
through that language” (Krashen’s Strategies Handbook, p. 5)
input hypothesis.) (Kecht, 1999: 17- Comment: Well understood and fully
22) agreed.
Comments: The statement above d. Assumptions underlying LAC
is conditional upon the English In the era of globalization, the global
proficiency of the teachers. language is English, so it is expected that
ii. Students can use language to learn school graduates should be able to use
and teachers can organize language English effectively.
in the classroom to assist learning. Science and technology develop fast and
Comments: Content-subject the language used is English, as such school
teachers may find difficulties in graduates are expected to be able to keep
organizing language in the up to date with science and technology.
classroom to help them teach Students learn English better if they are
their own respective subjects. taught using English which is really
Actually it is the job of English meaningful to them, so they will be more
teachers to organize language motivated. It is presumed that the
used in the classroom to help separation of teaching English as a subject
teaching. and teaching content-subject in Bahasa
iii. Language development is the Indonesia is not as good as when English is
responsibility of all areas in the used to teach the content-subject whereby
curriculum. the students would feel the relevance of
Comment: Agreed. But can English.
content-subject teachers develop Globalization. In the era of globalization,
the English of the students? the lingua franca is English as such we
iv. Different areas of learning involve should teach English successfully if we are
highly specialized language styles, to survive in the era of globalization,
technical vocabulary, text types and otherwise we will be superseded by other
illustrations. countries.
Comments: This is a big problem for Even if LAC is successful, the following are
sour notes from the US
Indonesia. The teachers’ English is The fate of teaching foreign languages in the
still general English, they still need US:
to learn specialized language styles, a. “We expend almost all of our national
technical vocabulary, text types and resources for foreign language learning on
examples. Furthermore, teachers first-time, low-level language learning
need to have materials relevant to among high school and college students,
the subjects taught. Technical then watch those minimal skills decay and
vocabulary would be difficult to get. disappear through lack of use or
Authentic materials in the form of
textbooks may be expensive if not reinforcement.” (Lambert, 1991). The
statement was made in relation to the
prohibitive in price. conditions in the US which are much better
v. Teachers need to understand how than the school conditions in Indonesia.
language is used in the content areas b. “With the exception of students who major
and share this understanding with in languages or area studies, or who study
learners. abroad, college graduates in the United
Comments: Indonesian teachers still States typically possess less non-English
have to struggle with general language proficiency than they had when
English, and now they should also they entered college. Even students with
learn the content-area through advanced proficiency seldom develop
English and teach their students the bilingual skills and intercultural knowledge
sufficient to meet their professional career
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CAHAYA Lingua Vol. 01, No. 01, September 2012 E. Sadtono
needs by the time they graduate. “ learning will become easier as the most
(American Council on Education, 1989) important tool for learning is language.
c. “Although language instruction is If focus on language is implemented at all
widespread in the United States, it typically times, it will certainly bear fruit; it is the best
does not lead to a high degree of when starting new courses or topics, during
proficiency or specialization. ………………. fail the gathering and processing of new
to mandate continued use of those skills information, and during assessment.
after students have demonstrated Language –focused teaching can be achieved
intermediate level proficiency. “ (Stephen, through several ways. First, we should provide
1998: 1). students with pre-teaching activities, such as
d. “The lack of foreign language competence an overview of a new topic, so that they would
is as much a fact within academic be able to see the overall picture of the topic.
disciplines as in the society at large ……… In this session, they can also ask questions; the
at the graduate level, language teachers can also ask them questions on the
requirements are notoriously topic as some of the students may already
underenforced across the humanities and have schemata of the topic which would
the social sciences ….. Four-year language facilitate their understanding. Secondly we
majors often graduate with disappointingly should also plan time for discussion and
low levels of linguistic ability…” (MLA negotiation to find out whether the topic is too
(undated) p.4) easy or too difficult, or whether it is interesting
or boring and so we can change or modify it
The phenomena above happened in the US accordingly. Thirdly we should provide support
where everything is available and good: teachers for new challenges. For example if they have
are qualified and well paid, classrooms are good, no background knowledge about the topic to
class size is not as large as it is in Indonesia, and be discussed we can provide them with the
in other words the situations are conducive. The background knowledge and we also suggest
fact is foreign language is painstakingly slow to that students should get the background
learn, but it quickly disappears when not used. knowledge from materials in the internet. In
Those learners may not have achieved the addition, we can also explain the meaning of
threshold level, the time when they can be difficult vocabulary items as well as
independent from the teacher and continue terminology used in the text. Fourthly, we
learning without teacher’s guidance. should create a classroom environment which
Based on the statements above, we should values approximations and feedback. It would
realize that foreign language teaching is complex be better if we could also bring realia, pictures,
and difficult to carry out successfully. video clips, etc. which would enhance the
understanding of the topic. We can even
4. The role of language across the assign students to bring any of those to class
curriculum in general because by so doing the class would be much
First, let us discuss language in relation to more interesting and they would be more
curriculum. Language is dynamic, as such it motivated. Whilst-teaching activities are
changes continuously and is unstoppable. In conducted using the foreign language as the
addition, it is also cultural and culture shapes medium of instruction. Last but not least, in
our way of thinking, mostly through language, the post-teaching activities we should provide
and thus shapes our world view also. Most of time for reflection and learning. This can be
our learning is achieved through language, and done by asking them to write their reflection in
each area of learning has special language their portfolio about what benefits they have
demands, so we have genre, it is also a means gained or things which should be excluded.
of empowerment and exclusion or inclusion. CLIL (Deller & Price, 2007:8, 12, 14) is
Language is an issue. Firstly, it is the main implemented by applying the following
instrument for teaching and assessing in principles:
schools. Secondly, each student has their own The process of teaching – learning is highly
different language backgrounds and needs; interactive.
therefore ideally they need individual Depending on the subject and level of
treatment which is impracticable, knowing the proficiency, sometimes students are given
average class size in Indonesian schools is big. more talking time and sometimes teachers
Thirdly, if language is focused on teaching, talk more especially when they deal with
complex subjects.
STBA Cahaya Surya Kediri 4
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