The pedagogy of English as an international language: Indonesian pre-service teachers’ beliefs

Abstract

This study was designed to examine how pre-service teachers’ beliefs on the teaching of English as an international language in Indonesia were constructed. Fifty participants were recruited by means of convenience sampling. They were asked to fill out a questionnaire and five of them were invited to participate in semi-structured interviews. Many of the participants viewed English instrumentally for securing job positions imposed by globalization. This reflected on their passive tenets of studying English. In terms of NESTs, they preferred native speakers to teach speaking and pronunciation. Another finding was that L1 use was perceived as a tool for checking students’ understanding, explaining new words, and giving instructions. When asked about teaching materials, respondents preferred using materials from the inner circle countries. Most of them also agreed to including Western cultures in teaching English. These findings call for the attention of both curriculum designers and future researchers.