Learning resources and materials have always been at the centre of debates about language instruction quality, and the tension between what textbooks provide and what students actually need has become more acute in an era of diverse learners and rapidly changing communicative demands. Learning resources and materials are essential components in language instruction since they control learning and teaching processes. For that reason, an English teacher has to possess the ability to be creative and selective in choosing, adapting, and implementing learning resources and materials, since the teacher’s ability in selecting, adapting, and implementing these resources can and does enhance language teaching (Brinton, 2001 in Murcia, 2001). However, based on the writer’s experience and observation during Praktek Pengalaman Lapangan (PPL), the writer found out that the learning resources and materials used by teachers for their students were just in limited usage; for example, the teacher only used the materials from textbooks and printed materials.
Talking about textbooks, Allwright (1990) argues that materials should teach students to learn and that there should be resource books for ideas and activities for instruction and learning. Moreover, they should give teachers rationales for what they do. From Allwright’s point of view, textbooks are too hard to be used directly as instructional material. O’Neill (1990), in contrast, argues that materials may be suitable for students’ needs, even if they are not designed specifically for them. In this case, textbooks make it possible for students to review and prepare their lessons; they are efficient in terms of time and money and can and should allow for adaptation and improvisation. Furthermore, Willis (1996) points out that some textbook activities are best done at the learner’s own pace, for example as out-of-class activities for homework or to be checked at the next lesson.
Indeed, the teacher can get students to prepare the topic related to their homework prior to the task. It is widely known that in many cases teachers and students rely heavily on textbooks, and textbooks determine the components and methods of learning, that is, they control the content, methods, and procedures of learning (Kitao, 1997). In other words, students learn what is presented in the textbook, and the way the textbook presents the material tends to determine the way students learn it. Consequently, in many cases, textbooks are the centre of instruction and one of the most important influences on what goes on in the classroom. Therefore, there is no doubt that Harmer (1991), Van Lier (1996), and Richards (1998) say that the use of textbooks in many schools and many language programmes has the function as a curriculum.
In relation to teaching-learning resources and materials, the Department of Education in Indonesia has released a guideline for implementing a decentralisation of education at the school level (school-based management). Such management gives a broader authority to schools to run their schools and to work more actively with their communities, but at the same time it also requires more leadership, professionalism, initiatives, and creativity from principals and teachers. In this respect, education policy-makers in Indonesia believe that decentralisation at the school level could lead to improvements, such as better school performance, greater school autonomy, better match between the services delivered and the students’ needs, greater parental and community involvement, and greater participation in decision-making (Depdiknas, 2003).
The consequences of decentralisation at school level are significant. Schools, particularly public schools, are now responsible for the provision and financing of more training for their teacher development as well as more facilities and resources. In line with that, teachers’ role in developing students’ English macro skills — listening, speaking, reading, and writing — to fulfil the national educational goals is very prominent. Therefore, teachers play an important role in catering for learning resources and materials that enable students’ success in learning, especially in developing their macro skills.
1.2 Research Methodology
With the intention of getting data on the use of learning resources and materials in senior high school by English teachers, a case study is selected as the research methodological design. The subjects selected are three teachers from different grades (X, XI, and XII) and their students. In order to get a holistic, accurate picture and the meaning of the use of learning resources and materials, interviews, observations, questionnaires, and a review of documents will be conducted in this research. The use of the data collection methods will ensure the validity of the data through triangulation (Denscombe, 1998; Cresswell, 2008).
1.3 Research Questions
(a) What learning resources and materials are used by the senior high school teachers to develop the students’ macro skills? (b) What learning activities are conducted in relation to the use of the learning resources and materials in the teaching-learning processes? (c) Where do the teachers draw their ideas from to plan their teaching?
2.1 Learning Resources and Materials
Many educators enthusiastically embrace the use of learning resources and materials as a tool for language teaching and learning since their functions are to lend authenticity to the communicative situation. Resources and materials are important in language instruction since they can assist teachers in their jobs, bringing the outside world into the classroom and making language learning tasks more meaningful and engaging (Brinton in Murcia, 2001).
Allwright (1990) argues that materials should teach students to learn and should be resource books for ideas and activities for instruction and learning, while giving teachers rationales for what they do. This means that in employing materials for instruction and learning, it is the teachers who underlie the principle behind the use of materials. O’Neill (1990) says that materials may be suitable for students’ needs even if they are not designed specifically for them. Woods (1996) defines resources as factors which increase the number of possibilities or options open to a teacher. Brown (1995) defines materials as “any systematic description of the techniques and exercises to be used in classroom teaching,” a broad definition that can include lesson plans, books, audiovisual aids, games, or other types of activities.
Brinton in Murcia (2001) summarises the rationale for using materials in the language classroom as follows: they can be an important motivator in the language teaching process; they can create a contextualised situation; they can lend authenticity to the classroom situation; they can address the needs of students, whether they are visual or auditory learners; they can expose the students to multiple input sources as well as enrich the students’ language experiences; they can help students call up schemata and maximise background knowledge; they can provide teachers a time-efficient way of presenting lessons, stimulate students’ senses, and help students to process information readily.
2.1.3 Textbooks as Resources in Language Instruction
Research into the use of textbooks as resources in classroom language instruction has been done by scholars, including Harmer (1991), Van Lier (1996), and Richards (1998), who say that textbooks have the function as the curriculum. Their views are similar to Ariew (1982), who believes that textbook is an important part of the curriculum, especially for foreign language learning contexts. The development of teaching foreign language has brought new ideas into approaches of textbook design, including authentic data and realia which are integrated in textbooks for the purpose of bringing the real world into the classroom (Nunan, 1999). Despite the positive effects of the use of textbooks, Swan (1992, cited in Richards, 1998) says that ready-made textbooks can seem to release teachers of their responsibility. Moreover, since the teachers only teach what is in the textbooks, teachers tend to look at the textbooks uncritically (Richards, 1998).
As Richards (2001) argues in his comprehensive treatment of curriculum development for language teaching, the relationship between materials and curriculum is bidirectional: while materials instantiate curriculum goals in classroom practice, the way teachers adapt or supplement materials also reshapes the curriculum as it is actually experienced by students. For educators studying English language teaching methodology and curriculum development, an understanding of how learning resources and materials are selected, adapted, and implemented is fundamental to developing reflective teaching practice capable of responding to the variable needs of diverse learners in diverse institutional contexts.
References
Richards, J. C. (2001). Curriculum Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511667343
Allwright, R. L. (1990). The Role of the Teacher in Communicative Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press.
Brown, J. D. (1995). The Elements of Language Curriculum. Heinle & Heinle.
Harmer, J. (2007). The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th ed.). Pearson Longman.