Pesantren Schools Research Articles

Negotiating the complexities of English language teaching in a religiously rooted environment: Indonesian pesantren teachers’ perspectives

Abstract. In the dynamic landscape of language education, understanding the perspectives of educators within unique cultural and educational contexts becomes imperative for fostering effective learning environments. This qualitative study explores the perceptions and challenges faced by English language teachers in pesantren schools in Indonesia, where cultural, religious, and linguistic dimensions intricately influence language education. Through in-depth interviews, the research uncovers the complexities teachers navigate in balancing cultural preservation with the imperative of equipping students with English language skills. Findings highlight how English language teachers navigated the integration of ELT practices with students’ context and needs, primarily aiming to convey the importance of learning English, aligning it with Islamic teachings and dispelling misconceptions about its compatibility with religious principles. The study underscores the necessity for tailored pedagogical strategies and contributes insights to the discourse on language education in culturally rich settings.Keywords: English language teaching, teachers’ experiences, Indonesian pesantren

A Completely New and Sudden Reality: English Language Teacher’s Voices on Emergency Remote Teaching in Indonesian Pesantren Schools

Unexpected shift to emergency remote teaching (ERT) engendered a complex situation for all schools around the globe, in particular those with inadequate prior experience of this distant online learning mode. Whilst the bulk of research has dealt with ERT practices in various school contexts, this issue in Indonesian pesantren – a type of Islamic boarding school which provides full-time comprehensive religious educational activities but have considerably lack of practice in distance online learning – remains underexplored. This qualitative study addressed this gap by unpacking English language teachers’ voices and experiences in ERT in pesantren school contexts. The study was conducted during school closure in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and its data were generated through open ended questionnaires and analyzed using six-phase thematic analysis. The findings show that the teachers indicated positive attitude toward ERT. Despite several challenges, they expressed opportunities that might potentially contribute to the better enactment of ERT in pesantren learning process. Pedagogical implications and recommendations for further research are discussed. Keywords: Emergency Remote Teaching, ELT, Pesantren School

The impacts of school on English learners’ motivation in Indonesian Islamic schools

Among the teaching practitioners in Indonesia, there is a general belief that some learners of English in some Indonesian pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) have a negative view on English, which consequently affects their motivation. However, it remains unclear what has affected the trend. The current study investigates this issue in three pesantren schools in Indonesia affiliated with different Islamic groups. Using the L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS) model proposed by Dörnyei (2009) as an analytical lens, a survey instrument was designed to describe and compare students’ motivation to learn English (n = 376). A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was run to describe and compare the students’ motivation, and a stepwise multiple regression analysis was performed to discover which motivational factors made the most significant contribution to motivation by predicting reported learning effort in English. In addition, a thorough document analysis was performed to obtain background information regarding the teaching of English in the three institutions. It was found that institutional factors do play a role in influencing the learners’ motivation, in that in the most religiously conservative context, the school policy does shape the learners’ ideal L2 self. As the learners’ ideal L2 self was weak, it leads to weak motivational power as well. The paper concludes by emphasizing the crucial role of educational contexts in shaping students’ ideal selves and in providing favourable learning experience, which are key elements in motivating learners to learn English.

Internalization of Pesantren School Culture to from Students' Religious Character in SMP PGRI Brebes

Currently, many students attend residential schools, private institutions, and public schools. Many students board during the day while attending Junior High School Teachers' Association of the Republic of Indonesia (SMP PGRI) Brebes from the morning till lunchtime. The purpose of this study is to identify and evaluate the contribution that schools and boarding schools make to students' assimilation of school culture and their religious character (SMP PGRI Brebes). It is a qualitative sort of study. Students, teachers, school administrators, and leaders served as study informants. In-depth interviews and documentation were employed for data collection in this study. Data collection, data reduction, data display, and conclusion retrieval are used in data analysis. The habituation and application of religious principles in the classroom and in society are the functions of schools in the establishment of religious culture in schools. The religious character traits that SMP PGRI Brebes kids can exhibit include, among others, helpful character, discipline character, courtesy character, and justice character. Students who receive support from boarding schools and from schools that instill boarding school culture show signs of internalizing religious culture in their behavior. This study is anticipated to serve as a source of information for school-based character education.

Translanguaging Pedagogy in ELT Practices: Experiences of Teachers in Indonesian Pesantren-based Schools

Despite the prevalence of English-only instruction in foreign language classrooms, many affirm the use of diverse linguistic repertoires particularly in linguistically-diverse society contexts where multilingual learners tend to naturally function their linguistic repertoires at daily basis (Canagarajah, 2011). This study aimed to explore teachers’ attitude toward the translanguaging approach in English language teaching (ELT) practices in pesantren schools and how it is used in the learning process. Six-phase thematic analysis was used as its qualitative research method and data were generated via in-depth semi-structured interviews to English teachers in pesantren-based schools in Lampung province. The findings showed that teachers had positive attitude toward translanguaging, as it allows them to take benefits of students’ languages other than English in English classroom. They found translanguaging helpful to explain, elaborate, and reinforce the meaning of learning materials as well as to motivate students and to create enjoyable learning atmosphere. In addition, the accommodation of knowledge or skills of other languages serves as a way to integrate the local and contextual values and culture of pesantren schools into English classroom. Some practical pedagogical implications for are discussed.

Symbolic capital and the problem of navigating English language teacher practice: the case of Indonesian pesantren

English is the most widely taught and learned language in the world. Within the broader literatures on the worldwide spread and dominance of English as a key skill for 21st century education, the use of English(es) and English Language Teaching (ELT) in the context of schooling in Asian countries represent an important research direction. Our paper contributes to these debates by exploring the problem of English language teachers’ beliefs about their pedagogical practices in Indonesian pesantren schools. The system of religious pesantren schools provides a unique research context to examine teacher practice in classrooms where English is not assigned the assumed de facto status of a ‘global lingua franca’. In engaging a Bourdieusian lens, this paper explores teachers’ perceptions of the (lack of) symbolic and linguistic capital of English language learning in pesantren, the emergent tensions, and how these frame teacher beliefs and practice. In so doing, this paper aims to contribute to the broader debates in the field that seek to critically analyse and reframe the hegemonic status of English as a global educational commodity of political-economic power.

English for Da'wah? L2 motivation in Indonesian pesantren schools

Anecdotal evidence suggests that some students, in some of Indonesia's Islamic boarding schools (pesantren), harbor negative attitudes towards English, prompting resistance to learning the language at individual and institutional levels. This paper reports on an empirical study investigating this issue in three pesantren in Java. Employing Dörnyei’s (2005) L2 Motivational Self System as the main theoretical framework, a questionnaire consisting of well-established and context-specific constructs was designed to measure students' motivation for learning English (n = 376). The one-way MANOVA performed suggested that religious factors do play a role in shaping learners' motivation. To further examine this, a follow-up qualitative study involving class observations and student interviews was conducted. This revealed that the participants relate their motivation to their spiritual vision, i.e. using English mainly as a means of da'wah (Islamic propagation) and for communicating with other Muslims worldwide. However, this da'wah motive does not appear to generate much learning effort, and is possibly a way of overcoming the dissonance they feel in studying the non-believer language. The paper concludes by emphasizing the need for L2 researchers to further examine religious attitudes and religiosity as consequential socio-cultural aspects of learning English with pedagogical implications for institutions in many global contexts.

Photovoice interactive media improves the personal hygiene of teenage students at pesantren school in Tangerang

Teenagers' personal hygiene behaviors at pesantren schools, which are Muslim schools in Indonesia operated by religious leaders, found to be low, putting them at risk for hygiene-related diseases, such as skin diseases. Teenagers are excited to learn new things, especially operational and technical things, about health education methods that reflect experience and are interactive and tangible as well. This research aimed to determine the effect of education using the photovoice method on the personal hygiene behavior of teenagers (10-19 years old). The study used quasi-experiments with a treatment group of 38 teenagers and a control group of 40 teenagers. Using t-tests, the results showed an increase in the mean value of the behavior in the treatment group that was higher than in the control group, with each p-value <0.05. Education using photovoice interactive media significantly increased the teenagers' personal hygiene behavior. The photovoice technique is recommended for educating teenagers who have problems with personal hygiene.

Multilingual learning program: pesantren students’ perceptions of the multilingual simultaneous-sequential model

This study aimed at determining whether or not the knowledge, educational level, perception, and attitude of the pesantren students affect the implementation of the multilingual simultaneous-sequential model (MSSM). This research employed quantitative research using a survey design. The sample of the study consisted of 100 students of three pesantren schools in the city of Makassar (Pesantren Modern IMMIM, Pondok Madinah, and Pesantren Darul Arqam Muhammadiyah Gombara). The data were collected through the questionnaire and be analyzed descriptively and inferentially using SPSS program. The results found that the knowledge, level of education, perception, and attitude of pesantren students collectively had a positive impact on the MSSM. However, these perceptions have no significant effect on the MSSM implementation partially. The results of this study contributed to developing further multilingual teaching and learning material such as syllabus, lesson plan, and course book for pesantren students in Indonesia, especially in Makassar.

Multilingual Instructional Model of Pesantren Schools in Indonesia

The study investigated the multilingual instructional model of pesantren schools. It employed qualitative study by applying grounded theory. This study was conducted at the three of pesantren schools in the city of Makassar, Indonesia (Pesantren IMMIM, Pondok Madinah, and Pesantren Darul Arqam Muhammadiyah Gombara). The respondent of the current study were four non-native speakers of English, Arabic, and Mandarin teachers who have the ability to speak and to communicate in three or more languages. In collecting the data, the researchers employed three primary data collection techniques, they are observation, interview, and examining the record. The results found that the multilingual instructional model of pesantren schools applied simultaneous-sequential model with some phases to generate the students changed from monolingual to multilingualism and at the end, they become mono multilingualism.

The Implementation of Islamic Teaching in Multiculturalism Society: A Case Study at Pesantren Schools in Indonesia

The role of culture, ethnicity, race, belief and religious sects cannot be separated from the individual and social interaction and communication that often due to the conflict of thought and interest such in the political, social, and education. Thus, this study aimed at exploring how the implementation of Islamic teaching in a multiculturalism society at three of modern pesantren schools in Makassar, i.e. pesantren IMMIM, Pondok Madinah, and pesantren Darul Arqam Muhammadiyah Gombara. This study applied qualitative approach using a case study design by conducting the in-depth observation and interview to the teachers, stakeholders, and students. The data collecting were analyzed descriptively using three-stage models of Miles and Huberman. The results found that the pesantren educational policy, teaching methods, pesantrenenvironment, stakeholders and teachers’ control, and the evaluation were the dominant factors of the successful of Islamic teaching due to the strict of reward and punishment applied by pesantren to rehearse the students’ awareness earlier to be well-behaved in a multiculturalism society.