Syayid Sandi Sukandi | The University of Sydney (original) (raw)

Conference Presentations by Syayid Sandi Sukandi

UHAMKA International Conference on ELT and CALL (UICELL), 2019

One of the required tasks of being an English lecturer in Indonesia is to perform assessment and ... more One of the required tasks of being an English lecturer in Indonesia is to perform assessment and evaluation after teaching in a one-semester course. The learning of English essay writing seems to be important for all majors. After collecting actual data from Indonesian EFL students taking an English essay writing course in the even semester of 2015/2016 and 2016/2017, it was found that the students had a certain pattern of interest to which genre they might prefer to write in their final examination. A convenient sampling technique was applied in this research. In terms of data, 71 students enrolled in the course in 2015/2016 (Group 1) and 75 students enrolled in the 2016/2017 (Group 2) academic year. The highest preferred genre for Group 1 was comparison-contrast with 28% and Descriptive for Group 2 with 33%. Meanwhile, the lowest preferred genre for Group 1 was Argumentative with 11% and Narrative for Group 2 with 9%. By looking at these percentages, a few pedagogical reflective evaluations can be made. Hopefully, one question that may be raised for all English teachers and lecturers in Indonesia: "Have we considered EFL students' interests before evaluating their overall performance on our essay writing course?"

Proceeding of First International Conference on Cultures, Arts, and Humanities (ICCAH) 2017, Sep 7, 2017

The notion of English as a Foreign Language brings students, scholars, teachers, and practitioner... more The notion of English as a Foreign Language brings students, scholars, teachers, and practitioners to the gate of endless virtues of what it means to use a language of the natives – being the non-dominant groups in English academia. These groups somehow are rare to speak and write about themselves, especially their identity, in that language. In line with this idea in mind, this study presents findings on ways that writing rhetorically shapes the world of EFL learners. Context of this study is Indonesia. Data for this study were students’ paragraph writings in final examination of Writing 1 course in even semester of 2016/2017 academic year. Because population of this study was one hundred and twenty students, purposive sampling technique was applied. Twelve students’ paragraph writings, or ten per cent of the population, were used as samples. Findings show that EFL students already have the ‘local content’ that they can share to the world. Individual voices appeared in different instances. In short, this study highlights the notion of peculiarities that EFL learners have in their writing, where the ‘local content’ that the students have needs to be more acknowledged, more than rejuvenating their sense as individual learners in this globalized world.

Proceedings, Oct 23, 2015

To learn how to write well is polemical for college students studying English in Indonesia. Not ... more To learn how to write well is polemical for college students studying English in Indonesia. Not only English as a language has different syntactical structures but it also has different ways of how we make arguments by using this language. When we communicate in English, we, therefore, communicate to speakers from around the globe. Simply put, we begin to talk in wider perspectives. At college levels, the students are expected to be able to compose their ideas on good academic writings. However, the challenges are in the form of ideas, which means that the students often time face conflicting arguments to which position they should stand their points. Should they follow mainstream values of the Western empire or should they oppose such values with the mainstream values that they have from their local cultures? Thus, this article addresses this issue in English language learning. To see the problems textually, source of data in this research are taken from students’ writings at random sampling. The students’ writings that are used for this research are argumentative paragraphs and essays. The point that the researcher has is that the students are encouraged to make arguments confidently in their writings within their own perspectives from any angle they have: Western or Minangkabau mainstream values. Either way is acceptable because the purpose of learning to write well is to guide students to make their own arguments academically. If they can reach this point, we are successful as their English instructors.

Learning English literary studies in Indonesia, particularly in Minangkabau communities, involves... more Learning English literary studies in Indonesia, particularly in Minangkabau communities, involves high expectation on the sides of the students to comprehend the learning objectives that are set by the English instructors in a university. Although, in general, universities in the province of West Sumatera-Indonesia run, manage and handle two-related departments: English Education Department, and English Language and Literature Department; these two departments basically frame students to learn English as a Foreign Language. In this article, the spectrum of ideas being discussed is related to re-visiting English literary studies as the axiomatic cultural boundary in Minangkabau-Indonesian EFL classrooms. The theories being applied in this article are related to the theories applicable in the studies of linguistics and literature. The insights that we could get from this article are that firstly, students’ cultural backgrounds, namely Minangkabau, help them shape themselves in the process of learning English literary studies, and secondly, axiomatic cultural boundary exists when such students encounter ideas that are constructed in societies that are far too different from their cultural background. The point to be made in this article is that English literary studies is difficult for the EFL students because it needs high level of English comprehension and usage, as well as flexibilities to open the minds to understand, or even to respect, cultures from wide variety of nations in the world without losing the very own cultural identities and, even, without visiting the places of the target cultures.

Most instructors in Indonesia focus heavily on grammatical correctness than focus on the aspect o... more Most instructors in Indonesia focus heavily on grammatical correctness than focus on the aspect of the originality of the ideas when they assess students’ writings. This article is written for the purpose of theoretically reviewing the reflections that we could get from the Indonesian EFL students’ writings and the classroom process. Scientific looks toward the reflections are framed within the concept of rhetoric and then such reflections are interpreted through sociolinguistic approach. Students’ writings are used as the data samples in order to represent the overall floors of data. The method being used in this research is descriptive and the theory applied is related to theories that are being debated in the study of rhetoric and composition, or teaching of writing. After the general analysis toward the students’ writings in Writing 1 class of the College of Teacher Training and Education is done, reflections that can be found are: first, the students tend to avoid using their authentic or individualized thoughts in their academic writing assignments; second, students’ writings show different syntactical patterns, but the cultural and social elements still exist in their writings; and the last, in terms of academic writing, the demand of the relevant assessment that is in fit with the quality of the students’ writing is the process approach rather than solely on the product approach per se. In the end, connection between these reflections and the development of Indonesian civilization is briefly presented.

Proceedings of the 3rd International Seminar on English Language and Teaching (ISELT - 3)

Students who are studying English in the environment of EFL context, like those in Indonesia, usu... more Students who are studying English in the environment of EFL context, like those in Indonesia, usually feel afraid to write argumentatively and persuasively in the form of essay when they write about topics that are of sensitive issues to them. If they are brave to do so, they basically frame their thoughts from the angle of being an Indonesian who is filled with prescriptive cultural backgrounds. To be able to argue within their own ideas is what they are generally good the most, even though syntactically and grammatically their writing has certain level of linguistic deficiency. At this point, teaching these types of students to write within their own “voice” is what they need in order to reach the point of being able to express their thoughts. Other aspects of standard academic essay writing, especially in terms of grammar and vocabulary, should follow general concepts along the lines with their ability to express their thoughts. In this writing, holistic views toward the process of learning writing in an EFL context are briefly discussed. From the consulted literature on EFL studies, it can be concluded that considering grammar and vocabulary too much before the act of writing handicaps students’ process in composing solid essay. The solution to this type of EFL pedagogical matter is to help them in letting go their “voice” in writing so that the essence of their writing becomes alive and communicative to their targeted readers; in other words, their writings speak beyond grammar.

Keywords: “Voice”, Writing, Culture, Minangkabau, and EFL

Certain interesting writing behaviors emerge between students coming from homogenous but diverse ... more Certain interesting writing behaviors emerge between students coming from homogenous but diverse linguistic environment in Minangkabau-Indonesian EFL backgrounds. Their writing behaviors show a picture of how complex it is to teach writing to students whose background is in the position of viewing English as a foreign language. In this paper, the core issue being discussed is the idea of English composition—as an intellectual pursuit among Minangkabau-Indonesian EFL students—in facing multi-linguistic challenges in the process of their studies. The focus of the discussion is put within the context of Indonesian higher education. In other words, the data that are presented in this article are taken from the emerging data existing in the classroom process in the courses of Writing at College of Teacher Training and Education in West Sumatra, Indonesia. The findings show that writing behaviors existing within each of the students’ mind reflect how they grow as new novice student writers in the Minangkabau-Indonesian EFL circle.

Keywords:
English Composition, Multi-Linguistic Challenges,
Minangkabau-Indonesian EFL Students, Writing Behaviors

International Seminar Proceedings - ISLA - 2014

Working as an EFL instructor demands us to have serious efforts in terms of recognizing the varie... more Working as an EFL instructor demands us to have serious efforts in terms of recognizing the variety of how people perceive English words in different contexts. The different ways of how people define words in ENL, ESL, EFL, and EIL asks us to be aware of how meaning can have different inclination over different cultural backgrounds of the people who use English. This linguistic diversity triggers us to look at how we value making-meaning differences in teaching and learning English. In this paper, the concentration goes to present a newly constructed insight on how to blend the concept of making-meaning differences awareness with building flexible teacher characters who can understand the position of their students when they try to express their own thought in the English classroom learning process. The idea behind this statement is that an English teacher must read at least few varieties of English literary works in order to get the overall sense of how English-speaking people themselves use English in such works. It would be bias if the teachers teach English to the EFL students, especially in Indonesia—whether in elementary school, junior high school, or senior high school, or even college degree—but they rarely know how English is used in literary context where written expression can have culturally-embedded forms. By learning English literature prior to teaching English, it is hoped that EFL English teachers can have varieties of how they should perceive languages being played out in pedagogical setting.

Keywords: Character, English, Learning, Literature, Meaning, Rhetoric, Teacher.

International Seminar on English Language and Teaching 2014

The ability to write academically well is a crucial skill for students to have, especially for th... more The ability to write academically well is a crucial skill for students to have, especially for those who are studying in higher education. All fields of study in higher education require Indonesian students to be able to compose their thesis concisely in relation to their preferred field of study. The problem occurs when they are in the middle of composing their academic writings, particularly thesis. This paper presents some insights for teachers and lecturers who teach English as a Foreign Language in Indonesia to solve such problem. Besides, the context of this paper is intended for the process of teaching writing for Indonesian students as EFL (English as a Foreign Language) leamers. The core concept of "voice" and "style" refers to a unique character of the students as reflected in the structure of their writing. Both of these items are linguistically higher than "vocabulary," "gramrl;rar," and "s1mtax." As a result, many writings that are composed by Indonesian students seem to be culturally odd and linguistically absurd for native speakers of English, even though grammatically speaking, the sentences are correct. This condition will impact their ability to communicate smoothly in English within the corridor of Cross Cultural Communication, in a written form globally.

Miscommunication could provoke conflicts. In our lives today, we know that people use English as ... more Miscommunication could provoke conflicts. In our lives today, we know that people use English as an international language. Many people from different cultures, areas, and traditions use English as a way to communicate well globally. Unfortunately, as a teacher of English myself, I often times see and experience myself that to have a “better English” is a long process and a never ending intellectual journey. Consequently, I have learned to see English in a contextual manner. In digital space, for instance, different people from different personal life settings tend to use English in different styles, purposes, and expressions. A single word in English is basically framed and constructed within the setting of Western ideas and thoughts. Now, when the same language, containing millions of words, is being used by people who have first language other than English, they tend to have a certain linguistic, social, and psychological barrier with people who have English as their first language. This situation is also supported by the fact that English develops into British English, American English, and Australian English. This linguistic situation creates certain pedagogical effort from the language teacher, especially the teacher of writing. As a teacher of English writing who comes from non-Western settings; being conscious of how Western people use certain words contextually, especially terminologies, is a must. Meanwhile, English native speakers need to remember that they communicate with people from non-Western settings. Only by playing mutual roles, miscommunication could be handled nicely.

mengenai keselarasan dan keserasian kehidupan masyarakat Minangkabau dengan alamnya; kedua, tata ... more mengenai keselarasan dan keserasian kehidupan masyarakat Minangkabau dengan alamnya; kedua, tata pergaulan dalam kehidupan sehari-hari antar individu dalam masyarakat; ketiga, tatanan sistem pemerintahan; keempat, hubungan sinergis pada hubungan system kekerabatan antara mamak dan kemenakan; kelima, keteguhan dalam menjalankan prinsipprinsip hidup; keenam, kebersamaan dan kekompakan dalam kehidupan masyarakat Minangkabau. Kata kunci : Makna Filosofis, Ukiran, "Itiak Pulang Patang", Adat Minangkabau. PENDAHULUAN Bangsa Indonesia adalah bangsa yang kaya akan seni dan budaya (Widagho, Djoko,dkk. 2001). Kekayaan yang dikandungnya tidak hanya berupa materi seperti sumber daya alam namun juga berupa kekayaan abstrak yang ada dan senantiasa dianut dan dipelihara ditengah-tengah masyarakat Indonesia seperti kesenian dan kebudayaan yang beragam. Kebudayaan, menurut PKMI-3-1-2 Koetjaraningrat (1994 : 115) "Kebudayaan adalah keseluruhan manusia dari kelakuan dan hasil kelakuan yang teratur oleh tata kelakuan yang harus didapatnya dengan belajar dan yang semuanya tersusun dalam kehidupan masyarakat". Di Koentjaraningrat (1994) juga menjelaskan tentang seni. Menurutnya seni dibagi atas seni rupa dan seni suara. Seni rupa terbagi atas seni bangunan, seni relief, seni patung, seni lukis atau gambar, seni rias, seni kerajinan, dan seni olah raga. Sedangkan seni suara terbagi atas seni musik dan seni vokal. Salah satu contohnya adalah kesenian dan kebudayaan di Sumatera Barat. Kebudayaan tersebut adalah kebudayaan Minangkabau. Kebudayaan ini banyak memiliki rangkaian Mustika Adat Basandi Syarak, Syarak Basandi Kitabullah. Adat Basandi Syarak maksudnya adalah Adat kebudayaan orang Minangkabau berlandaskan Syarak. Syarak artinya Agama, yakni Agama Islam (Hakimy, Dt. Rajo Panghulu, Idrus. 1994). Kenyataan bahwa kebudayaan Minangkabau sangat unik dan wajib untuk dilestarikan kepada setiap generasinya adalah suatu hal yang tidak terelakkan. Di samping berperan untuk memperkaya khasanah kebudayaan bangsa Indonesia tapi Kebudayaan Minangkabau juga berperan sebagai identitas bangsa Indonesia.

Thesis by Syayid Sandi Sukandi

Tesis ini menjelaskan tentang analisa psikologis tokoh utama novel Robinson Crusoe oleh Daniel De... more Tesis ini menjelaskan tentang analisa psikologis tokoh utama novel Robinson Crusoe oleh Daniel Defoe yang meliputi analisa pikiran dan tindakan tokoh utama menuju ke proses pencapaian maksimal yang didorong oleh unsur-unsur kepribadian di dalam dirinya dalam mempertahankan hidup seorang diri karena terisolasi dari dunia luar selama dua puluh lima tahun di sebuah pulau terpencil.

Papers by Syayid Sandi Sukandi

Jurnal Ilmiah Mahasiswa STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat, Feb 10, 2016

Indonesian EFL students faced online teaching and learning in such a rapid process. Therefore, th... more Indonesian EFL students faced online teaching and learning in such a rapid process. Therefore, this research was carried out to search for EFL students in Indonesia about their responses on teaching and learning online. This research applied the action research method with the paradigm of quantitative descriptive approach. Data for this research was collected via an online questionnaire, distributed to one class size sample consisting of 32 students in the even semester of the 2019/2020 academic year at one of the private colleges in the West Sumatra province of Indonesia. The data were analysed by descriptive statistics, especially the percentage of each item available in the questionnaire. Findings of this research show that the respondents, or the students, had their evaluation toward the online teaching and learning. The significance of this research is that their responses briefly invite us as scholars, teachers, and lecturers, or scholar-practitioners, to think about the feasibility condition of online teaching and learning, that it should be done contextually and prepared carefully. The Covid-19 pandemic situation has forced students to face double challenges in education: learning the materials in such a digitalized situation and handling external issues emerging while learning online.

This research highlights Indonesian EFL students' problems in writing thesis in the field of Engl... more This research highlights Indonesian EFL students' problems in writing thesis in the field of English Education at a private college in Indonesia. Respondents in this research were divided into two groups: Quantitative Research Group (QRG-1) and Qualitative Research Group (QRG-2). In terms of references section of the thesis, 'writing references for different sources' was the most difficult aspect for QRG-1 and QRG-2 indicated that the respondents shown 'confusion with references format'. Findings of this research emphasize that research design influenced to which degree an individual Indonesian EFL student encountered problems in the process of writing a thesis for a bachelor's degree in English Education.

Jurnal Ilmiah Mahasiswa STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat, Feb 22, 2018

This research reports descriptive statistical data on the circumstance in the form of a survey st... more This research reports descriptive statistical data on the circumstance in the form of a survey study through questionnaire about EFL students" preference on learning stylesalone or group. Respondents were students who enrolled in 2017/2018 academic year at Research subject in three class sections: 2015 A; 2015 B; and 2015 D. Findings show that 59% of the respondents preferred to study alone and in group when they were on campus and only 15% of them preferred to study in that style when they were at home. 22% of the respondents preferred to study in group when they were on campus and 9% of them chose to study in group when they were at home. Preference on studying alone when they were on campus was 15% and 77% of the respondents when they were at home. Only 2% were undecided about their preference on learning styles when they were on campus. The findings show that raising our awareness on which learning styles that the EFL students most prefer can help us design how we conduct exercise or tasks techniques to them. Eventually, we can achieve better pedagogical outcomes in academic writing classroom afterwards.

This study investigated thematic intertextuality used by lecturers in communicating learning task... more This study investigated thematic intertextuality used by lecturers in communicating learning task to Minangkabaunese students. It answered the questions about the types and its semantic relation to the text in which the intertextuality was used. The research method is qualitative research with content analysis. Participants included 6 lecturers who taught at English Department of Teachers College called STKIP PGRI in West Sumatera, Indonesia. The data were collected by recording their classroom discourse during the learning task. Finally, the data were analyzed by using (Mayring, 2014, p. 28), namely by transcribing the text into qualitative content analysis, categorizing the intertextuality deductively after describing the semantic similarities between the text and another text within a discourse. Having analyzed the data, the researchers found ten types of intertextuality made by the lecturers when communicating learning tasks to Minangkabaunese students. The intertextuality includes indirect reference, example, quotation, repetition, allusion, illustration, retelling, parody, translation, and conclusion. In addition, all types of intertextuality have semantic relation, except indirect reference. Based on the findings, conclusions can be drawn that the selection of intertextuality depends much on the lecturer's prior knowledge, experience, and their habit in communication; some types of intertextuality are functional and some others are dysfunctional in making the students understand and interested in the tasks.

UHAMKA International Conference on ELT and CALL (UICELL), 2019

Proceeding of First International Conference on Cultures, Arts, and Humanities (ICCAH) 2017, Sep 7, 2017

Proceedings, Oct 23, 2015

Proceedings of the 3rd International Seminar on English Language and Teaching (ISELT - 3)

Keywords: “Voice”, Writing, Culture, Minangkabau, and EFL

Keywords:
English Composition, Multi-Linguistic Challenges,
Minangkabau-Indonesian EFL Students, Writing Behaviors

International Seminar Proceedings - ISLA - 2014

Keywords: Character, English, Learning, Literature, Meaning, Rhetoric, Teacher.

International Seminar on English Language and Teaching 2014

Jurnal Ilmiah Mahasiswa STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat, Feb 10, 2016

Jurnal Ilmiah Mahasiswa STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat, Feb 22, 2018

Jurnal Ilmiah Mahasiswa STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat, Aug 10, 2018

Tujuan utama dari penelitian ini adalah mengetahui bagaimana rasisme sebagai bentuk diskriminasi ... more Tujuan utama dari penelitian ini adalah mengetahui bagaimana rasisme sebagai bentuk diskriminasi tercermin dalam setting pada film The Help, (2011) oleh Tate Taylor. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menganalisis film berdasarkan konten filmnya dan untuk menganalisis film berdasarkan bentuk rasisme dalam bentuk setting. Dalam menganalisis The Help, penulis menggunakan metode kualitatif dan pendekatan Deskriptif. Sumber data terdiri dari data primer dan sumber data sekunder. Sumber data primer adalah film dan sumber data sekunder adalah buku atau informasi apa pun yang terkait dengan rasial diskriminasi dalam setting film The Help. Metode pengumpulan data adalah penelitian kepustakaan. Teknik analisis data adalah analisis deskriptif. Hasil dari penelitian ini adalah ditunjukkan dalam kesimpulan berikut. Pertama, berdasarkan analisis struktural dari rasis, yaitu secara individual ada 6 datum dan secara institutional ada 4 datum, dan dalam film The Help menunjukkan bahwa Taylor ingin mengungkapkan idenya tentang aturan perbedaan antara kulit putih dan kulit hitam. Kedua, berdasarkan unsur fiksi terutama Latar, kesimpulannya adalah bahwa ada bentuk diskriminasi rasial dalam latar film Tate Taylor The Help. Penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa diskriminasi rasial ditunjukkan oleh wanita kulit putih yang menjadi majikan wanita kulit hitam yang menjadi pembantu dan mendapatkan banyak perbedaan fasilitas dari majikan mereka. Kata kunci: diskriminasi, latar, rasis, The help movie

Journal of Language, Literature and Teaching, Jun 20, 2020

A grade that students received after learning a writing course determines their writing performan... more A grade that students received after learning a writing course determines their writing performance in the course. Quite rare for writing instructors, especially those who teach in the EFL setting in a parallel classroom setting of more than one, to reflect on what does it mean to assess a piece of writing composed by EFL students. Therefore, this research was conducted to investigate the aspect above. It is action research in nature. Data were collected from 102 students" final examination answer sheets. The instrument used is analytical scoring rubrics. Findings show that the different raters might show a similar pattern of using the scoring rubrics, but the tendency of arriving at the same conclusion for each item in the scoring rubrics is low.

Certain interesting writing behaviors emerge between students coming from homogenous but diverse ... more Certain interesting writing behaviors emerge between students coming from homogenous but diverse linguistic environment in Minangkabau-Indonesian EFL backgrounds. Their writing behaviors show a picture of how complex it is to teach writing to students whose background is in the position of viewing English as a foreign language. In this paper, the core issue being discussed is the idea of English composition-as an intellectual pursuit among Minangkabau-Indonesian EFL students-in facing multi-linguistic challenges in the process of their studies. The focus of the discussion is put within the context of Indonesian higher education. In other words, the data that are presented in this article are taken from the emerging data existing in the classroom process in the courses of Writing at College of Teacher Training and Education in West Sumatra, Indonesia. The findings show that writing behaviors existing within each of the students' mind reflect how they grow as new novice student writers in the Minangkabau-Indonesian EFL circle.

Plato and Aristotle are key figures in the study of rhetoric. Classical period had been known as ... more Plato and Aristotle are key figures in the study of rhetoric. Classical period had been known as the era where rhetoric emerged as the influential language existence. Experts on rhetoric had discussed deeply about the history of rhetoric from the classical period up to the renaissance. In this writing, the focus of the discussion is in the classical period. The reviews being discussed in this writing are mainly derived from ongoing discussion on rhetoric.

Penelitian ini dilatar belakangi oleh pentingnya untuk mengetahui jenisjenis penggunaan majas dal... more Penelitian ini dilatar belakangi oleh pentingnya untuk mengetahui jenisjenis penggunaan majas dalam lagu Bruno Mars dengan judul (It will Rain, Talking to The Moon, dan Grenade). Berdasarkan penggunaan majas dalam lagu Bruno Mars dengan judul tersebut, maka peneliti mengetahui jenis-jenis majas dalam lagu Bruno Mars. Majas memiliki beberapa tipe seperti: Simile, Metapora, Metonim,Hiperbola, Ironi, Sinekdok, Paradok, Personifikasi dan lain sebagainya. Namun dalam penelitian ini peneliti hanya fokus pada penggunaan Simile, Metapor,Personifikasi, Hiberbola, dan Ironi berdasarkan tipe-tipe yang diungkapkan oleh pendapat beberapa para ahli. Data penelitian ini berupa dokumen dari tiga lagu Bruno Mars yang berjudul (It will Rain, Talking to The Moon, dan Grenade). Dalam penelitian ini peneliti menggunakan analisis dokumen sebagai metode dan teknik analisis data. Dari hasil penelitian, peneliti menemukan ada1 simile, 4 metapora, 4 personifikasi, 9 hiperbola, and 5 ironi.Masing-masing tipe ...

Al-Ta lim Journal, 2017

This article provides investigation on EFL students’ responses related to learning writing academ... more This article provides investigation on EFL students’ responses related to learning writing academic essays in the context of higher education in one of private universities in Indonesia. The gap that is studied in this research is related to rarity of English writing instructors in identifying what their students’ responses towards their learning process after completing an essay writing course and how the responses present significant ideas on improving writing instructors’ pedagogical practices in writing classrooms. Scope of this research is teaching and learning English writing within the context of English as a foreign language. Field of this research is English composition studies. This research applies a quantitative non-experiment design, with descriptive as its method and questionnaire as its instruments. Findings show that students view English writing in neutral attitude; meanwhile, writing thesis statement in an academic essay is the most difficult part to write (40.59% ...

Pimnas 2006, 2010

Dalam masyarakat Minangkabau dikenal tiga macam jenis ukiran. Ketiga ukiran tersebut terinspirasi... more Dalam masyarakat Minangkabau dikenal tiga macam jenis ukiran. Ketiga ukiran tersebut terinspirasi dari alam. Perbedaannya didasarkan kepada inspirasi dari motif ukiran. Pertama, ukiran yang terinspirasi dari nama tumbuh-tumbuhan seperti Aka Duo Gagang, Aka Barayun dan Kaluak Paku jo Kacang Balimbiang. Kedua, ukiran yang terinspirasi oleh nama hewan seperti Itiak Pulang Patang, Ruso Balari dalam Ransang dan Tupai Managun. Ketiga, ukiran yang terinspirasi dari nama benda dalam kehidupan sehari-hari seperti Ampiang Taserak, Limpapeh dan Ambun Dewi. Penulisan ini bertujuan untuk membahas dan menginterpretasikan makna filosofis yang terkandung dalam ukiran "Itiak Pulang Patang" yang mencerminkan pola kehidupan masyarakat Minangkabau. Ukiran ini pada umumnya banyak terdapat di dinding Rumah Adat Minangkabau yang terkenal dengan nama "Rumah Gadang". Adapun pendekatan yang digunakan dalam penulisan adalah pendekatan teoretik yaitu pendekatan yang dilakukan untuk menelaah ukiran "Itiak Pulang Patang" berdasarkan suatu teori, dalam hal ini teori filosofi mengenai estetika. Sedangkan metode analisis yang dipakai adalah metode analisis aposteriori, yakni. suatu metode analisis yang dilakukan secara konsepsional mengenai ukiran "Itiak Pulang Patang" dengan merujuk kepada pengertian-pengertian yang sudah ada dan menjadi pola hidup masyarakat Minangkabau yang didasarkan kepada pepatah "Alam Takambang Jadi Guru". Dalam tulisan ini diketahui bahwa ukiran "Itiak Pulang Patang" ternyata memiliki enam makna filosofis yang terlihat dalam kehidupan masyarakat Minangkabau yang masih ada dan dipertahankan samapai sekarang. Makna tersebut adalah pertama, mengenai keselarasan dan keserasian kehidupan masyarakat Minangkabau dengan alamnya; kedua, tata pergaulan dalam kehidupan sehari-hari antar individu dalam masyarakat; ketiga, tatanan sistem pemerintahan; keempat, hubungan sinergis pada hubungan system kekerabatan antara mamak dan kemenakan; kelima, keteguhan dalam menjalankan prinsipprinsip hidup; keenam, kebersamaan dan kekompakan dalam kehidupan masyarakat Minangkabau.

Context of this research is thesis writing in the level of bachelor"s degree in the field of Engl... more Context of this research is thesis writing in the level of bachelor"s degree in the field of English Education. This research used total sampling. The number of questionnaires returned was 95 questionnaires of the total number of expected questionnaires. Respondents were categorized into two groups: 1) quantitative research group (QRG-1); 2) qualitative research group (QRG-2). Findings of this research were divided into three items: 1) most problematic; 2) problematic; 3) less problematic. Findings show that the most problematic item for QRG-1 is finding sources (30.43%); meanwhile, starting the thesis or idea (21.13%) is most problematic item for QRG-2. Problematic items in QRG-1 have three items with equal percentage: 1) developing ideas in writing (16.67%); 2) typing in wrong spelling (16.67%); 3) analyzing data (16.67%). On the contrary, problematic item for QRG-2 is finding sources (19.72%). Less problematic item for first group is organizing ideas in writing (21.74%); meanwhile, less problematic item for second group is writing in correct grammar (21.13%). In this research, EFL students" problems in writing thesis are basically different individually; however, this condition is largely influenced by their perception on thesis writing and how process approach rather than product approach should be implemented to them.

Englisia: Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities

EFL students learn English within the notion of English as an international language. The gap in ... more EFL students learn English within the notion of English as an international language. The gap in this research is to study the learning of English as a language to the study of the culture of the English-speaking countries. This gap emerged after cross-culture understanding was taught in a one-semester course at an Islamic state university in Indonesia. Phenomenology is the theory used in this research, within the qualitative research approach and descriptive statistics. 110 respondents were given the questionnaires, with open-ended questions asking four interrelated questions about the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Australia as the three English-speaking countries. The respondents’ answers in the questionnaire were analysed by using codes, or themes, that later on show the frequency of each theme. The answers were categorized according to the themes and the percentage based on frequency. Thus, the findings of this research highlighted that Indonesian Muslim stud...

JURNAL ARBITRER

Finding out aspects of learning in small group discussions that matched with the Indonesian Highe... more Finding out aspects of learning in small group discussions that matched with the Indonesian Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) and aspects of local cultures that contradict small group discussion excellence is the purpose of this research. The method of this research is qualitative. Researchers use document analysis by collecting documents from various sources such as journals and articles, which are following the research that the researcher will do. The results of this research show that the implementation of HOTS instruction in teaching speaking skills investigated from students’ small group discussions will be advantageous and beneficial. In essence, HOTS instructions give a positive effect on students speaking skills significantly.

Al-Ta lim Journal

Considering the students’ emotion is essential in having the students to learn. Most Minangkabaun... more Considering the students’ emotion is essential in having the students to learn. Most Minangkabaunese students do not like being dictated for any activities with a thousand words. This paper is aimed at finding out some techniques of using intertextuality to balance lecturer-students’ power relations when communicating learning tasks. This research is qualitative with content analysis. Data were collected from six lecturers, teaching at Sekolah Tinggi Keguruandan Ilmu Pendidikan, Persatuan Guru Republik Indonesia (STKIP PGRI), selected purposively. Techniques of observation and video recording were used in collecting data. The discourse was transcribed and categorized into some techniques of using examples based on the content called content analysis.A contextual analysis was used to show lecturer-students’ power relations and formulated proposition. Findings show that the techniques of using intertextuality includeShowing Techniques of Doing Tasks (STDT), Giving Example of the Tas...

Journal of Innovation in Educational and Cultural Research

The study aims to reveal the implementation CLIL approach in improving students’ English language... more The study aims to reveal the implementation CLIL approach in improving students’ English language use and learning in the science classroom. A descriptive study was employed where data were collected using observation and interview to two classes at of Private Islamic Boarding in West Sumatera. The students for CLIL Strategy are the first grade of junior high school at science classrooms. The result of the research revealed that the use of the CLIL strategy across the curriculum is an effective strategy to develop English language use and learning. The pedagogical implications of the study for the EFL students in science classrooms include the need for teachers to consider underlying theories of teaching English in EFL context taking into account students’ constraints; a focus on the various types of students’ English ability and consider students’ interest in topic selection; teachers to be aware of the significance of the relationship between their attitude and background in clas...

Journal of Education Research and Evaluation

This research investigates Indonesian EFL students writing four types of English sentences in the... more This research investigates Indonesian EFL students writing four types of English sentences in their paragraph writing assignments that were posted online in Writing 1 course of English Education at STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat. The analysed types of sentences are Simple Sentence (code: S.S.), Compound Sentence (code: C.S.1), Complex Sentence (code: C.S.2), and Compound-Complex Sentence (code: C.C.S). The percentage of each type of sentences that appears in the students’ writings within each five genres represents the students’ syntactical composition. Moreover, this research focuses on quantitatively analysing the above five types of sentences that appeared in students’ assignments in each type of following genres: argumentative, descriptive, process, cause-effect, and comparison-contrast. Data are taken from 10% samples of all population. The finding shows that writing Simple Sentence in paragraphs is a common type of sentence that is used by the students. It indicates that the guidin...

RiELT Journal (Research in English Teaching), 2024

Research on the TOEFL Preparation course conducted by an Indonesian lecturer - as an educational ... more Research on the TOEFL Preparation course conducted by an Indonesian lecturer - as an educational practitioner- always provides interesting insights from time to time. However, a contextual approach in such research is crucial. The focus of this research was to investigate insights from the TOEFL Preparation course. The course was held in the Odd Semester of the 2023/2024 academic year. The objectives of this research were related to finding answers to five interrelated research questions. This research is classified as action research that followed Kurt Lewin's (1890-1947) model. It was categorized as qualitative research with a descriptive approach. It also implemented a case study designed to specify research objects into a group of students in one class size. For the data analysis, this research followed the Miler & Huberman (1992) model. In conclusion, this research presents twelfth insights that are useful for TOEFL instructors teaching TOEFL Preparation courses and Indonesian students who are about to take the TOEFL ITP  test.

JEFLE (Journal of English as a Foreign Language Education), 2024

This research is focused on interpreting patterns of students’ ITP TOEFL test scores collected in... more This research is focused on interpreting patterns of students’ ITP TOEFL test scores collected in the TOEFL Preparation course in the Even Semester of the 2022/2023 academic year at an Indonesian private university. The research utilized a mixed-method research design, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative approaches. It was conducted as a form of preliminary action research. This research involved fifteen students in one class size. The results of this study demonstrate the fluctuating nature of ITP TOEFL scores. Furthermore, the Listening Comprehension section proved to be the most challenging segment within the ITP TOEFL examinations. Thus, more practice in the Listening Comprehension section for Indonesian EFL students is encouraged.

Journal At'-Ta'lim, 2017

Being a feminist activist does not always need to be started from women, even though much of disc... more Being a feminist activist does not always need to be started from women, even though much of discussion about feminist topic is related to women. A man can also be a feminist, especially when he considers women as in the same meaningful and useful being as he is. Virginia Woolf, for the writer, is an insightful character because she presents her position as a woman in a masculine manner to the readers. Meanwhile, Plato and Aristotle were exactly masculine in the nature of their arguments, but the writer often sees that their arguments can be linked thoroughly into current discussion on feminist movement within a non-Western view of feminism.

Tulisan ini menjelaskan tentang soft skill sebagai nilai moral kependidikan yang terdapat pada no... more Tulisan ini menjelaskan tentang soft skill sebagai nilai moral kependidikan yang terdapat pada novel Negeri 5 Menara yang ditulis oleh Ahmad Fuadi. Soft skill ini terlihat pada proses pengembangan karakterisasi yang ada di dalam cerita melalui karakter utama bernama Alif.

Literacy, a word that is simply defined as being able to read and write, has different connotatio... more Literacy, a word that is simply defined as being able to read and write, has different connotation among different individuals. One individual has different personal background with another individual, depending on countries, race, gender, and faith. Every one of us was born and raised in different situations that influence the way we understand and see the meaning of literacy. Even though educational institutions had been organized through various mechanisms in order to give proper education to every individual from the children to adults, the phenomenon of the lack of reading and writing ability still emerge. Why does that happen? When we view our daily life that is full of massive development in technology recently, we can see that the problem is not in the media that equip us into the emergence of literacy, but it is in the users of the technology. However, we could still deal with this matter and what literacy means by looking at three literacies that we need in our daily life today: technological literacy, cultural literacy, and internet literacy.

Speaking is an essential form of human communication. The form of the communication is vividly se... more Speaking is an essential form of human communication. The form of the communication is vividly seen in the reality in which human transfers what they have in mind to another human. This transformation process happens toward a take-turn process. In other words, the scenes in which one person speaks with another person and one person speaks with a large number of persons create a specific scene of how the speaking is performed as a form of communication. In communication, human needs space. The gathering of so many people within a particular area, or space, with diverse individual background would be simply known as the society. Therefore, if a person in a particular society would like to stand from the crowd and to make his or her existence reliable and noticeable as well as usable for other people, the only way that the person could do is to speak. As Gusdorf states, “…only speaking men exist – men capable of a language and situated within the horizon of the tongue” (xxix). Speaking, at this point, is then not only meant to be speaking per se but also seen as combination between speaking, as an activity of producing meaningful sound through the mouth; and communication, as an activity of delivering and receiving messages through speaking. It means that the excellent use of language and the excellent performance of the tongue are things that Gusdorf mentioned as the driven factor for a well-speaking act of a person in order to exist and, roughly, to survive in the world of human.

Getting involved as a lecturer of English at College of Teacher Training and Education in Padang ... more Getting involved as a lecturer of English at College of Teacher Training and Education in Padang makes me thinking about developing ways of how to teach writing in effective and efficient way without sacrificing too much times reading students’ papers and grading them. Usually, I got used to applying the system of rubrics. Later in the second year of my teaching experience, I realized that this system had consumed much of my times until I could not have times to read other textbooks to adjust my understanding beyond materials that I usually teach. Since I was teaching Writing I and Writing II, or, let’s say, Composition 101 and 102 at the college, I found that teaching writing needs specific method which is applicable in the classroom setting. After reading Bartholomae’s, Gilles’, and Chase’s Ideas on Composition and Teaching Writing, I found that teaching writing should not be as hard as I had experienced. In my case, which is absolutely different from the case happening in the United States, English is not the first language that my students use in their daily life; however, they have to know this language, especially its written system in order to enable them in reaching their career paths in the future as teachers of English at senior high school.

The practice of teaching has been known as one of the most influential activities conducted and p... more The practice of teaching has been known as one of the most influential activities conducted and performed by human. This activity is now seen as an activity that is mainly administered and performed in an institution, which is in the form of school, college, or university. The activity done in this type of institution is performed in the form of teaching, which is intended to provide a medium for two distinctive units—that are teacher and students—to interact, discuss, or argue in an academic setting about an emerging topics, issues, or even about current claims. Recently, there is a current debate happening between scholars who think about the function and form as well as the role of institution within a society. An institution is expected to provide certain function and role in the society. In this case, a teacher of writing plays significant role in connecting students’ writing to the needs of the society in which the institution performs its main task, which is to provide education and develop improvement for the society. In order to view this connection, especially related to the role of the teacher in teaching writing, an intercourse between composition and cultural studies is seen as an appropriate critical concept in this matter.

This annotated bibliography concentrates on looking at the connection between L1 and L2 rhetorica... more This annotated bibliography concentrates on looking at the connection between L1 and L2 rhetorical patterns among ESL students who learn composition or write different genres in English. Many ESL students have their L1 patterns that influence the way they compose in English. Eventually, what they write in L2 is reflected through different choice of words or the matter of diction, ways of organizing ideas, choosing and using examples, and arranging sentences with different tenses. The idea of writing in L2 does not mean the students compose their writing by neglecting the grammatical component, but the intention of this topic is to see how far the patterns of L1 is transferred into the L2 writing process. It does not mean that knowing all component of L1 is required at the first hand, instead, it means looking at how significant and different the L2 writing can be seen as the point where the transfer of language patterns from L1 to L2 take place and exist within the classroom.