By Sudirman
 |
| Melbourne 2013 |
Mercer (2001) convinces that the application of
sociocultural perspective has an important impact on the field of educational
endeavor, although she claims that the application of this perspective is quite
new to be brought to modern language pedagogy. Mercer (2001) furthermore
explains that teachers who have a deep understanding and awareness of the
sociocultural aspects and the use of language as a pedagogic tool will be more
successful to improve their curriculum-related learning and also will be easier
for them to convince their students that a language is a tool for constructing
knowledge. The relationship between language and socio-culture is very close
and they cannot be split from each other.
Another academic, Canagarajah (2001), sees the close
relationship between English education and British colonialism in Srilanka.
Since the British colonized island of Ceylon, English become very important to
provide socioeconomic advantages for Native Lankans, and this factor causes
most Sri Lankan to become English-speaking bilinguals. However, based on his
study, Canagarajah (2001) observes that the language teaching method/approach
applied in Sri Lanka is mostly grammar-based, product-oriented, and
teacher-centered. He strongly argues against this strategy, and he claims that
focusing on grammar learning will detach students from the language and the
course and even will prevent the students from active use of the language. This
situation, although will be useful in helping them to pass an examination, will
lead the students to be far from cultural and social language aspects. Cultural
and social aspects should not be split from the language, he confirms.
Shameem (2000) tries to relate the first language and second
language of ESL learners. He argues that first language maintenance is very
important in learning a second language and its importance is not only for
social justice but also for long-term cognitive and educational benefits.
Therefore, the identification of students' language and cultural background
will help them to address their particular English education needs to be
addressed more appropriately. Also, it will help them to maintain their first
language and culture. Studying language other than one's first language should
not cause subtraction to their first language, but it should facilitate
additive rather than subtractive.
In Indonesia, historical factors influence much toward
language education much. Since Indonesia was colonized by Dutch and Japan, at
the beginning of Indonesia's independence, these two languages strongly
affected Indonesia's education. However, the Indonesian government stipulated
not to use these two languages as the national language, and also they are not
compulsory subjects in Indonesian schools. The Indonesian government decided
English as the first foreign language to be taught in Indonesian schools, but
of course, this historical factor caused Indonesian people to find difficulty
in learning English compare to Sri Lanka for example as stated by Canagarajah
(2001) above or other countries which were colonized by British. From a
cultural perspective, Indonesia comprises of so many ethnic groups with different
cultures. Some people, especially old age people, worry about the negative
effects of foreign cultures if we learn other languages. In this case,
Shameem's (2000) opinion above can be a solution because learning other
languages should not subtract one's first culture and language. From the above
explanation, I can conclude that socio-cultural and historical aspects do
influence second language learning.
References
Canagarajah, S. (2001). Critical ethnography of a Sri Lankan
classroom: Ambiguities in student opposition to reproduction through ESOL. In
C. N. Candlin, & N. Mercer (Eds.), English language teaching in its social
context (pp. 208-227) London: Routledge.
Mercer, N. (2001). Language for teaching a language. In C.
N. Candlin, & N. Mercer (Eds.), English language teaching in its social
context (pp. 243-258.) London: Routledge.
Shameem, N. (2000). Factors affecting language gain and loss
in young immigrants and the case of the Wellington Indo-Fijians. Prospect,
15(2), 48-64.
