STANDARDS AND REFERENCE

FRAMEWORKS IN THE INDONESIAN

CONTEXT

SISILIA SETIAWATI HALIMI

THE ROLE OF ENGLISH

Educational purposes have been redefined in terms of a narrower

set of concerns about human capital development, and the role
education must play is to meet the needs of the global economy
to ensure the competitiveness of national economy (Rizvi and
Lingard, 2010).
THE ROLE OF ENGLISH

• According to Israel (2012), preparing learners to be a global citizen is not

only about equipping them with the ability to communicate, but also about
enabling them to know about the culture, custom, and history of a foreign
country so as to better adjust themselves to the new working or living
environment.
• It is widely believed that English as a global language mediates access to
information, knowledge and employment both locally and globally (Afip,
Hamid, Renshaw, 2019)
THE ROLE OF ENGLISH

• English language education has been at the forefront of developing human

capital, given the preeminent role of English as a language of globalization
(Hamid, 2016; Majhanovich, 2014)
• English language education is currently a compulsory requirement for
education at all levels in China (Jin, Wu, Alderson and Song, 2017).
THE ROLE OF ENGLISH

• The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of

Japan is planning to a reform of English language teaching in Japan as a part
of revision of the Course of Study to be introduced in 2020 (Tono, 2017)
• Indonesian Research, Technology and Higher Education Minister,
Muhammad Nasir believes that making English interaction compulsory at
the tertiary level will better prepare university students to compete in the
ASEAN economic zone (The Jakarta Post, 2015).
REVIEW OF CURRENT PRACTICE IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE
EDUCATION AND ASSESSMENT IN INDONESIA
REVIEW OF CURRENT PRACTICE IN ENGLISH
LANGUAGE EDUCATION IN INDONESIA

• Reform of English language teaching and assessment have been

done/are in progress in many parts of the world.
• Indonesia has not considered it necessary to develop a national
framework of reference for English language education and
assessment.
REVIEW OF CURRENT PRACTICE IN ENGLISH
LANGUAGE EDUCATION IN INDONESIA
• Dr. Wachidah says,

“It seems that the government takes it for

granted that parents will pay great attention to
improving the English language proficiency of
their children because English is very important
for the future of their children.” (Personal
interview, 29 September 2020)
REVIEW OF CURRENT PRACTICE IN ENGLISH
LANGUAGE EDUCATION IN INDONESIA

• English is only offered as a local content subject in primary

schools.
• There is no document that explains explicitly the English level
proficiency achieved by junior high school graduates, senior
high school graduates and university graduates (for the
students from the English studies program).
REVIEW OF CURRENT PRACTICE IN ENGLISH
LANGUAGE EDUCATION IN INDONESIA

• English textbooks for junior and senior high school students

published by the government are written by paying more
attention to the Indonesian Qualification Framework than
standards and references framework of English language
education.
• These books are used in state schools in Indonesia.
REVIEW OF CURRENT PRACTICE IN ENGLISH
LANGUAGE EDUCATION IN INDONESIA

• Good state and private schools in big cities, and SPK schools
(International schools) use textbooks written by international
publishers that really pay attention to the Common European
Framework References (CEFR).
REVIEW OF CURRENT PRACTICE IN ENGLISH
LANGUAGE EDUCATION IN INDONESIA

• At Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) the situation is more or

less the same.
• The quality of English education is still varied and the reference
used in establishing the curriculum is the Indonesian
Qualification Framework that does not explain specifically
about English language education.
CONCLUSION

There is a lack of consistency in terms of the proficiency

levels to be attained at each educational stage and among
different departments of education (Directorate General
of Primary and Secondary Education and Directorate
General of Higher Education).
REVIEW OF CURRENT PRACTICE IN ENGLISH
LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT IN INDONESIA

• Various forms of English language assessment are used in

Indonesia.
• In junior and senior high schools level, the formative English
language assessment is usually written by the English teachers
themselves. The quality is varied, depending on the quality of
the English teachers in each school.
REVIEW OF CURRENT PRACTICE IN ENGLISH
LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT IN INDONESIA

• There are also tests written by a team of test writers:

National School Exam
University Entrance Test
REVIEW OF CURRENT PRACTICE IN ENGLISH
LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT IN INDONESIA

• The English language proficiency test which is usually conducted

to know the average English proficiency level of new students in
each university is usually designed by the English lecturers from
the English study program. The formats and quality of the test
are varied.
REVIEW OF CURRENT PRACTICE IN ENGLISH
LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT IN INDONESIA
• International standardized tests such as Cambridge English Assessment
(Main Suite Exams), IELTS, ITP TOEFL and iBT TOEFL are widely used in
Indonesia.
• According to Mrs. Rimba, the Director of the Authorized Platinum Exam
Centre for Cambridge English Assessment in Indonesia, Main Suite Exams
from Cambridge are used by good state and private schools, and SPK
schools (Personal Interview, 23 September 2020)
REVIEW OF CURRENT PRACTICE IN ENGLISH
LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT IN INDONESIA
• The other international standardized tests (ITP TOEFL, iBT TOEFL, IELTS)
are used for scholarship applications, studying abroad or joining a double
degree program in some Indonesian universities.
• While ministerial pronouncements may have given encouragement to HEIs
to introduce English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI), there is no official
policy and the legal position of EMI is doubtful – institutions are seeking a
justification for EMI in varied legal clauses because the law states that
Indonesian should be the medium of instruction.
REVIEW OF CURRENT PRACTICE IN ENGLISH
LANGUAGE ASSESSMENT IN INDONESIA

• There appears to be a dichotomy between what is required by

law and what is happening in practice.
• The English language test score requirement and the kinds of
English test recognized by each university are also varied.
CONCLUSION

There is no national standards or references

framework in English language assessment that
can be referred to by education institutions.
WHAT TO DO?

It is time to propose to the government to

establish a National Framework of Reference
for English Language Education and
Assessment.
WHAT TO DO?

Alderson (2009) says that this involves not only the

educational policy-making and implementation at the
macropolitical level, but also the great role of individual
players (individuals within an educational institution to
respond to and to take actions).
WHAT TO DO?

• Alderson (2009, p.3) argued that

“politics with a small p includes not only institutional
politics, but also personal politics: the motivation of
the actors themselves and their agendas. And
personal politics can influence language education
both in day-to-day affairs, and in projects for
innovation and change”
ADOPTING, ADAPTING OR CREATING A
LANGUAGE FRAMEWORK?

• Measures of language proficiency are meant to be a meta

language shared by language teachers, learners and assessors.
• For various political, social, cultural and economic reasons,
however, different measures of language proficiency have been
developed in different parts of the world.
ADOPTING, ADAPTING OR CREATING A
LANGUAGE FRAMEWORK?

• In countries and regions in Asia, CEFR is also used, but not

without problems.
• In Japan it was found that the “Can Do” descriptors were too
narrowly focused to be useful for teachers to reflect on
teaching and construct teaching syllabus (Negishi and Tono,
2014).
ADOPTING, ADAPTING OR CREATING A
LANGUAGE FRAMEWORK?

• The experience of aligning General English Proficiency Test in

Taiwan with the CEFR has suggested that within the CEFR
there is a lack of sufficiently detailed descriptors for describing
how well learners at a particular CEFR level perform (see Wu
and Wu 2007; Wu 2014)
ADOPTING, ADAPTING OR CREATING A
LANGUAGE FRAMEWORK?

• Byrnes (2007) cautioned against simple and inappropriate

transfer of CEFR content decisions to other educational
contexts and suggested that framework like the CEFR, which is
context-free, though by no means context-indifferent, can,
should, and even must be translated into context-relevant
forms in diverse educational environments in order to be
implemented.
ADOPTING, ADAPTING OR CREATING A
LANGUAGE FRAMEWORK?

• Adoption of the CEFR would be a simplistic solution to the

need for a national framework.
• The six-level structure is neat and simple and has been
substantiated to some extent by empirical evidence. Such a
structure, however, may not suit the need for providing
guidance to English language teaching and learning in Indonesia.
ADOPTING, ADAPTING OR CREATING A
LANGUAGE FRAMEWORK?
• Adaptation of the CEFR
• A new framework with a structure of proficiency levels
tailored to the needs of English language education in
Indonesia
• This will no doubt be more functionally efficient and user
friendly.
CHALLENGES

• The construction and implementation of such a national framework will

necessitate substantial research and strategic planning to form a coherent
theory and systematic practice of English language education specific to
the Indonesian context.
• It requires cooperation among educational institutions and
communication between educational institutions and government
organizations.
CHALLENGES

• It is likely to meet considerable individual resistance.

• Practitioners of English language education in Indonesia may find it difficult
to understand and apply the proficiency levels and illustrative descriptors
in their routine practices.
• It is anticipated that teachers may be reluctant to explore new pedagogic
approaches and take on a new set of requirements.
CHALLENGES

• Local or school-based assessment developers may feel obliged

to align their assessments to the new framework.
• Existing large-scale assessments should be aligned to the
framework.
CHALLENGES

This involves not only the educational policy-

making and implementation at the macropolitical
level, but also the great role of individual players
(individuals within an educational institution to
respond to and to take actions) (Alderson, 2019).
THANK YOU
REFERENCES

• Afip, L. A., Hamid, M. O., Ranshaw, P. (2019). Common European framework of reference
for languages (CEFR): Insights into global policy borrowing in Malaysian higher education.
Globalisation, Societies and Education 17(3), 378-393.
• Alderson, J. C. (2009). The politics of language education: individuals and institutions.
Multilingual Matters.
• Byrnes, H. (2007). Perspectives. The Modern Language Journal, 91(4), 641–645.
• Hamid, M. O. (2016). The Politics of Language in Education in a Global Polity. In K. Mundy,
A. Green, B. Lingard, and A.Verger(eds.), The Handbook of Global Education Policy (pp. 259–
274). Wiley Blackwell.
REFERENCES

• Israel, R. C. (2012). What Does it Mean to be a Global Citizen? Kosmos. Spring.Summer.

Retrieved on December 12, 2016 from http://www.kosmosjournal.org/article/what-does-
it-mean-to-be-a-global-citizen/
• Jin, Y., Wu, Z., Alderson, C. and Song, W. (2017). Developing the China Standards of English:
challenges at macropolitical and micropolitical levels. Language Testing in Asia 7(1): 1-19.

• Majhanovich, S. (2014). Neo-liberalism, Globalization, Language Policy and Practice Issues

in the Asia-Pacific Region. Asia Pacific Journal of Education 34(2): 168–183.
REFERENCES

• Negishi, M., & Tono,Y. (2014). An update on the CEFR-J project and its impact on English
language education in Japan. ALTE.
• Rizvi, F.. & Lingard, B.. (2010). Globalizing Education Policy. Routledge.
• The Jakarta Post. (2015, November 30). Bilingual curriculum to be compulsory in
universities starting from 2016. The Jakarta Post.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/11/30/ bilingual-curriculum-be-compulsory-
universities-starting-2016.html. Accessed June 5, 2020
• Tono,Y. (2016). The CEFR-J and its impact on English Language Teaching in Japan. JACET
International Convention: Selected Papers 4: 31-54.
REFERENCES

• Wu, J., & Wu, R. (2007). Paper presented at the Fourth European Association for Language
Testing and Assessment (EALTA) Conference, June, 2007. Spain: Sitges. Using the CEFR in
Taiwan: the perspective of a local examination board.
• Wu, R. (2014).Validating Second Language Reading Examinations: Establishing the validity
of the GEPT through alignment with the Common European Framework of Reference
(Studies in Language Testing 41). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.