The English Language Teaching students' beliefs toward English Language Teaching in the era of World Englishes

Abstract

This study was conducted to analyze the English Language Teaching students' beliefs toward English language teaching in the era of World Englishes. The participants of the study were one hundred participants of English Language Teaching, Satya Wacana Christian University from all existing batches. This study used quantitative research, but it was elaborated qualitatively. The findings of the research were organized by breaking the research question down into three sub-research questions. The first finding showed that western-published materials were more preferable since it could serve as a language model. The second finding showed that the use of students' mother tongue in the classroom was considered necessary by the participants to help them catch the teachers' explanation easily. However, the teachers merely occasionally used it in the classroom practice to make their students master English well. The last finding showed that ELT students agreed that the students should learn the cultures from English-speaking countries to avoid misunderstanding and also to enhance students' awareness of cultural diversities about the language they learnt. However, the teacher sometimes related the topic of the materials with the students' cultures in classroom practice. It meant that learning English-speaking countries' cultures made the students become more aware of other cultures and therefore, they could enrich their knowledge. The study suggests that according to the participants, both English and local cultures are important considerations in English language teaching in the era of World Englishes.