Learning Environment Construction in Islamic Higher Education: Connecting the Puzzles of Ideas

Abstract

This study aimed at analyzing the learning environment construction in Islamic higher education in Indonesia. It seems that this study realized that the concepts of social studies, culture and learning theories are key factors of learning a foreign language undoubtedly. A qualitative descriptive method was utilized in this research to collect the data through observation, interviews and library research. However, this paper only tried to share the data mostly from the library research due to its limitation. As a result this study believed that; socio-cultural factors, intercultural communicative competence, Whorfian hypothesis and learning environment as a learning media are the missing puzzles of the important elements to support nowadays language learning in Islamic higher institutions, especially in eastern Indonesia. This study tried to connecting these puzzles of the idea in order, to give some views for helping the institutions re-designing or constructing their learning environment to support language learning process. Beyond its limitations, this study sees an effective teaching and learning of social studies should bring about development not only to the individual learner but to the society in which such an individual lives and operates. This study realized also that learning in an individual is somehow a complex phenomenon and it’s depending on a multitude of factors. In the end, this study recommended that Islamic higher institutions should start to see the school as a social system in implementing a multicultural education so it cannot be overemphasized and their duty is to create and sustain an effective multicultural school environment.