THE JOURNAL OF ASIA TEFL

Vol. 14, No. 3, Fall 2017, 414-429

http://dx.doi.org/10.18823/asiatefl.2017.14.3.3.414

The Journal of Asia TEFL

http://journal.asiatefl.org/
e-ISSN 2466-1511 © 2004 AsiaTEFL.org. All rights reserved.

Heritage Narratives, Motivation to Learn English and the Development

of National Identity: An Indonesian Perspective

Ahmad Bukhori Muslim

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia

Although locality has been considerably discussed in the area of teaching of English as a foreign
language, little is known how it relates to young learners’ motivation and their sense of national identity.
Framed by Canagarajah’s (2005) local reclamation, this descriptive qualitative study investigates the
potential impact of using Indonesian heritage narratives in English teaching on students’ motivation to
learn English and the development of their sense of national identity. Data are generated from English
text-book analysis, a questionnaire administered to 100 students of junior and senior high schools and 20
English teachers followed by semi-structured interviews on the use of heritage narratives in the
classroom. Students’ motivation in the foreign language was classified into Dörnyei’s (1994) types;
language, learner, and learning situation. Meanwhile, students’ identity development was analysed by
Kelman’s (1998) agency of identity development and Guibernau’s (2007) dimensions of national identity.
Analysis reveals that students’ familiarity with the topic of heritage narratives can improve their language
skills and motivation to learn English. How these heritage narratives can also lead to heightened sense of
national pride, involving cultural, psychological and territorial dimensions is further explored.

Keywords: local material in TEFL, Indonesian heritage narratives, national pride and identity

Introduction

Despite a stronger force of globalization, one irony of our contemporary, more global world, is that
locality has received greater attention. This phenomenon is often considered as “reinforcement of local
cultures on global ideologies and pressures” (Wilson, 2006, p. 288) or maintenance of positive local culture
values (Fu & Chiu, 2007). This global village with its linguistic interconnectedness and English as a lingua
franca, to certain extent, has urged people to follow and adjust themselves to the dominant English inner
circle culture (Kachru, 1992). As an effort to reclaim locality in language learning (Canagarajah, 2005),
however, non-native English learners whose culture is different from the dominant inner circle often think it
important that they also show, in various ways, their heritage culture as their signifying identity.
The greater attention paid to locality may also mark the wider acceptance of multiculturalism, showing
evidence that the world is not homogenous but has diverse cultures. Multiculturalism has enabled ethnic
minority groups to come up with their own cultures and languages as signifying markers. Besides,
postcolonial study has shown its power and strength by mainstreaming local colors and identities which
include language and cultural values. In the area of English language education, there is a growing demand
for “living multiculturalism” (Tanaka, 2006, p. 47) as indicated by World Englishes which focus on
accepting language varieties that language users learn and use (Canagarajah, 2005; Kachru, 1992).

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 Many fields of endeavour have embraced the global-local issue including the teaching of English as a
foreign language. From very early on, the business of English language teaching has undergone various
phases of development by employing various research findings to get the best practices in the teaching of
English, including the use of local teaching materials. For example, teachers should help English learners
reflect on their personal meanings in learning English (Kim & Kim, 2016), one of which is through the use
of local narratives which have important meaning in the life of the learners. As a response to locality,
English language learning material development should shift from “homogenous into hybrid language and
texts” as well as from “published in the centre” into “locally generated” (Canagarajah, 2005, p. xxvii). This
has significant relevance with the most current developments in English learning at Indonesian schools
which focus on genres so that the learning process becomes easier and more effective. The inclusion of
heritage narrative in learning materials has the potential to make students feel more motivated to learn
English as they find the learning materials familiar to their cultural background. They may also feel prouder
of their own cultural background, which can be an important means of intercultural communication.
However, the relation between local learning materials and students’ motivation is rarely studied. Despite
the significant importance of local materials in the teaching of English, especially for secondary college
students who are in the age of identity search and development, studies on how local stories influences
students’ motivation and its relation to the development of national pride remains under research. Although
heritage language identity has been introduced into pre-service teacher programs (Cho, 2014), and it
influences adult learners’ perspectives of national identity (Turnbull, 2017), how it relates to high school
students’ motivation and the development of national identity (Davis, 2016; Gu & Patkin, 2013) particularly
among children (Montvilaite, Mazolevskiene, & Keruliene, 2015) is still under research. Therefore, this
study investigates the inclusion of Indonesian heritage narratives in English learning materials in Indonesia
and their impacts on students’ learning and the development of their national pride or identity. Heritage
narratives researched in this study are those found in the culture of different ethnic groups across Indonesia,
and with which most children are usually already familiar. Most of these narratives are legends orally
handed down from generation to generation. Currently, efforts have been made to write and compile these
narratives for English learning materials (Djatmika, Khrisna, & Nuraeni, 2013), which can be either
accessible online or written in English text books prescribed for students of junior and senior high schools.
Within the Indonesian context, such inclusion is relevant with the genre-based approach (Halliday, 1985;
Martin, 1992) adopted as the national curriculum of English for secondary college students in Indonesia
(years 7-12). Since its first implementation in 2006, this curriculum has provided teachers with wider
autonomy in designing their teaching materials in accordance with their students’ cultural backgrounds. This
wider mandate is also in line with the country’s current political movement, wider district autonomy and
more-decentralized government. When teaching narrative text, a genre mandated by the national curriculum,
for instance, teachers are given freedom to incorporate heritage narratives written in English relevant with
their students’ cultural or ethnic backgrounds, besides those of English-based (foreign) narratives found in
the English text-books. Although not all nationally published text books contain heritage narratives, the
number of these stories included in these books keeps increasing with their writers’ increasing awareness on
the importance of incorporating context, local stories, in English learning materials.
Moreover, considering the contemporarily tougher international competitiveness and the increasing
recognition of local culture, it is, therefore, imperative that Indonesian youngsters be familiar with their own
national identity as embedded in their local narratives so that they can develop their potential as global
citizens who reclaim their own local unique characteristics. Therefore, this study seeks to identify the impact
of using heritage narratives on Indonesian teenagers’ learning of English and their sense of national pride by
elaborating two questions. First, how can the use of local narratives help scaffold students’ learning process
of English and improve their motivation? Second, how may these narratives help shape and form their
identification as Indonesian youth?

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 Research Backgrounds

The National Curriculum of English in Indonesia

Responding to the development in English language teaching practices, the National Curriculum of
English (NCE) for secondary school in Indonesia has undergone several revisions. The NCE started with a
grammar-and-translation-based approach in 1970s and earlier. From 1984, the NCE adopted a
communicative approach, and then a meaning-based approach in 1994, followed by a competence-based
approach in 1999. Starting 2006, policy makers at the Centre for National Curriculum, Department of
Education of Indonesia decided to adopt a genre-based approach into English curriculum for secondary
schools. This policy was, to a certain extent, initiated by some local English specialists who had been
influenced by Halliday’s (1985a) functional grammar, Swales’ (1990) genre in academic writing and
Martin’s (1992) English text structure. They brought the issue of genre in literacy teaching into the teaching
of English as a foreign language in the Indonesian context. The purpose of this adoption was to make
learners more aware of the linguistic structure and purposes of each text and to empower them with
necessary strategies to reproduce different texts (Key & Dudley-Evans, 1998). This Genre-Based Approach
was still widely adopted in the latest 2013 National Curriculum for English subject which is a scientific-
based approach (Department of Education and Culture, 2015).
In practice, the genre-based approach adopted by the NCE is more text-type (Paltridge, 1996). The
curriculum lists about five types of text (narrative, descriptive, recount, report and procedure) that students
of years 7-9 should acquire and about 11-13 text-types that students of years 10-12 should master. These
text-types include the five mentioned for years 7-9 plus discussion, analytical exposition, hortatory
exposition, review, news item and spoof (English curriculum, Department of Education and Culture, 2015).
In its implementation, the curriculum tends to be global and suggests that this genre-based approach be
modified by Johnson’s (2002) contextual teaching and learning which claims the importance of connecting
the learning process to students’ community culture, including their heritage culture. In reading, for instance,
students can use schema theory in which they construct meaning through a dynamic interaction between
their prior knowledge, the information suggested in the text, and its context situation (Graves, Juel, &
Graves, 2006) in which narratives are produced. Describing genre as a system with its own registers, Martin
(1992) defines narrative as a genre with its own specific structure covering abstract, orientation,
complication, evaluation, resolution and coda.
Along with the issue of learning autonomy, the content of the 2013 NCE is rather global, allowing
teachers’ self-sufficiency. This notion of independence influences the implementation of the genre-based
approach. The NCE only requires the inclusion of different texts students should learn and acquire which
leaves flexibility for teachers to adjust the texts to the learning contexts of their students. For instance, for
narratives, teachers in different regions of Indonesia have flexibility in determining stories or folktales that
come from the cultural background of their students. Given the relevance of local folktales with the
background of students, this inclusion of Indonesian heritage stories which may serve to increase students’
motivation is the main issue discussed in this study.

Motivation in English Learning

Learning any languages needs persistence and perseverance. This persistence is usually supported by
motivation as a driving force. As Schunk, Pintrich, and Meece (2008) state, motivation “instigates and
sustains” (p. 4) the process of learning and it becomes “the reasons underlying behavior” (Guay, Chanal,
Ratelle, Marsh, Larose, & Boivin, 2010, p. 712) including English learning. Moreover, motivation
influences what, when, and how we learn, and relates new learning experiences to the previously acquired
skills, strategies, and behaviours (Schunk, 1995). This reason for having certain behaviors which leads to
persistence and perseverance is an influential key in the success of all learning processes, including English
as a foreign language.

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 Many studies have been conducted to identify types of motivation in learning second and foreign
languages. Dörnyei (1994) mentions three components of foreign language learning motivation. They are
language, learner, and learning situation with their own specific components. For language, he mentions two
components; integrative and instrumental motivational subsystems. As for learner level, he mentions some
more components such as need for achievement, self-confidence, language use anxiety, perceived L2
competence, causal attributions, and self efficacy. Finally, this learning situation is divided into three levels,
each with its own components. The first is ‘course-specific motivational components’ which include interest,
relevance, expectancy and satisfaction. The second, teacher-specific motivational components, include
affiliative motive, authority type and direct socialization of motivation (modelling, task presentation and
feedback). The last component is ‘group-specific motivational’ (p. 277) which includes goal-orientedness,
norm and reward system, group cohesion, and classroom goal structure.
Motivation has a strong relation with the mastery of language skills. English proficiency has important
effects on the motivational of status the learner (Tanaka, 2015). Frequently perceived as fluency and
competency in listening, speaking, reading, and writing, mastery of language skills is influenced by the
learner’s familiarity with the learning context. Besides, learners also have varied mastery on each skill. In
the Indonesian context, many researchers have investigated the application of Dörnyei’s (1994) motivation.
Studying the motivation of Indonesian students who learn English, Lamb (2004) found that Indonesian
students have both integrative and instrumental motivation. English is not associated with Anglophone
culture but identified with the strong forces of globalization. In another study, Lamb (2007) also found that
social context like the role of English in the life of students determines their attitudes towards English
learning. Included in this social context is heritage narratives from the cultural background of the learners.
Digital storytelling has become an interesting learning material for teaching English speaking skills and can
lead to more active class participation and better comprehension (Afrilyasanti & Basthomi, 2011). In
addition, storytelling is a rich interactive process that “facilitates imagination, creative thinking, language
abilities and cooperative learning... storytelling offers limitless opportunity for developing a more authentic
awareness of and respect for children with diverse language and cultural backgrounds” (Palmer,
Harshbarger, & Koch, 2001, p. 199).
However, developing students’ motivation for learning English often faces challenges. In the Indonesian
context, the implementation of this genre-based approach (GBA) is not without polemic. Evidence from the
author’s involvement in a local teacher’s professional development program shows that many teachers
misunderstood the GBA concept and its implementation in their classroom practices. Instead of naturally
familiarizing their students with the characteristics of each text-type, they asked their students to memorize
the structure and grammatical features of each text. As such, their students feel more confused and become
more discouraged to learn English. This ‘malpractice’ needs quick response from competent parties,
otherwise the purpose of the NCE in teaching heritage narrative to improve students’ interests and
motivation in learning English cannot be effectively achieved. As an intervention, the currents of students’
motivation should be directed and energized towards a clear and attractive learning goals (Dörnyei, Henry,
& Muir, 2016).
In addition, the support for the use of heritage narrative in English learning is not sufficient yet. The
number of Indonesian heritage narratives translated into English is still limited. Most of those translated are
from the majority ethnic groups, excluding those from minority ones. Also, the English versions of
Indonesian heritage narratives have poor quality. They still have grammatical mistakes and difficult words
which need to be addressed properly (Djatmika et al., 2013). Moreover, most of the translated versions are
only available online whereas the printed ones are rare. Given that the majority of English learners in
Indonesia still have limited access to online materials, printed heritage narratives deserve more attention.
This condition should also be the concern of English specialists in the country so that heritage narratives
become an empowering and motivating English learning material for the country’s young generation.

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Ethnicity and Heritage Narratives in Indonesia

Consisting of five big islands and hundreds of small ones, Indonesia is linguistically and ethnically
diverse. This country is projected to have a range of 546 (Nababan, 1991) to 742 ethnic languages (Kompas,
11/08/2008). As Appendix 1 shows, each ethnic group has their own language different from that of others.
Some ethnic languages share similarity with others while others are totally intelligible. As such, Indonesian
language is urgently required to mediate these people of different ethnic backgrounds and languages, serving
as a unifying force that bridges the communication gap among this imagined community (Anderson, 2006).
Despite this relatively new national language, however, ethnic languages, which include narratives, have
long been rooted in the life of the Indonesian people and can be powerful learning materials, including in the
teaching of English. For years and years, educators such as parents and teachers have used stories and story-
telling to entertain, challenge and educate young people. Story is believed to be able to develop and
perpetuate common understanding of language and culture as well as an important basis for harmonious
society (Morgan, 2012), especially for a multicultural society like Indonesia. This local tradition remains
available and currently becomes stronger with the assistance of technology in the form of digital heritage
narratives (Afrilyasanti & Basthomi, 2011). Providing a real teaching and example, Morgan (2012) has also
identified and practised the use of a story written by a young Indonesian poet to teach English in her
classroom, which she found successful in improving students’ interests in learning English.

Heritage Narrative and National Identity

Heritage narratives have become a common part of ethnic groups in Indonesia. Most of these narratives
are legends about places of interest, natural phenomena and important events. More detailed information
about heritage narratives across Indonesia and their brief accounts can be seen in Appendix 2. These
narratives are rich in moral values that young people, including students of junior and senior high school,
should learn for wisdom and pride as a nation. Learning heritage narratives familiar to English learners can
become a means of nurturing national identity, beside other activities like learning history (Andrews,
McGlynn, & Mycock, 2010) and sporting success (Elling, van Hilvoorde, & van Den Dool, 2014). As for
the Indonesian context, other cultural aspects like wayang or puppet shows can be used to teach local values
of perseverance, patience and sincerity (Wardani, Widyahening, & Suhita, 2016). With this, investigating
narratives to develop local wisdom will be interesting and enlightening.
However, these narratives are currently facing a rather serious threat of extinction. In the past, parents or
elderly people used to tell these narratives to their children during bed time. This activity might be hard to
find these days, with the media war, especially television and online gaming. Children prefer to stay in front
of the television or computer to watch movies or play games instead of reading or listening to heritage
narratives. Therefore, parents and other adults should be more creative in the maintenance of these heritage
narratives so that they can still attract the attention of young people, including the use of digital stories
(Afrilyasanti & Basthomi, 2011). As social agency (Kelman, 1998) of group affiliation, together with
parents at homes, teachers at schools should play more active roles in their students’ social identification.
Student’s individual agency of group affiliation should be nurtured and directed by teachers as social agency.
For instance, teachers should be able to make use of the existing heritage narratives to develop children’s
national pride and identity.
Furthermore, national identity is multidimensional. It is a large entity encompassing various aspects such
as psychological, cultural, territorial, historical, and political (Guibernau, 2007). The first means that a
nation is formed by a feeling of a uniting ‘closeness’ (Guibernau, 2007, p. 11). Second, this identity is also
built on the basis of similar values, beliefs, customs, conventions, habits, languages and practices. Third,
most nations usually have certain concentrated territory, called nation-state. Some nations, however, do not
have territory yet like the Catalan in Spain. Next, a nation also usually has similar historical roots, be it new
or old. Finally, all nation-states have strategies to ‘generate a culturally and linguistically homogenous
citizenry’ (Anderson, 2006, p. 24). Considering the cultural super-diversity of Indonesia, it will be

418
interesting to investigate how heritage narratives influence the dimensions of imagined national identity of
English learning young Indonesians.

Method

This qualitative descriptive study uses document analysis, questionnaire, and interview as a triangulated
data collection method. The documents analysed in this study were 15 English textbooks nationally
distributed for years 8, 9, 11, and 12 of junior and senior secondary schools. The books in these four levels
are purposively selected for their inclusion of heritage narratives from different local ethnic groups in the
country as mandated by the NCE. The textbooks are distributed by different publishers across Indonesia
(Appendix 3).
The second instrument of data collection is a questionnaire about the impact of using local narratives
found in 15 English textbooks on students’ motivation and mastery of the four English language skills
(listening, speaking, reading and writing). The questionnaire also asked aspects of national identity including
language and story, food, film and fashion. The respondents were as many as 100 junior and senior high
school students (years 8, 9, 11 and 12) and 20 teachers from different big and small cities across Indonesia.
The questionnaires asked about their perception and motivation on the use of these heritage stories and how
these stories help form their identity as Indonesian youth. In addition to textbook analysis and questionnaire,
the study also involves interviews with respondent students and teachers. As many as 12 students,
representing six big and small Indonesian cities were interviewed via telephones to clarify some issues in the
questionnaire. Similarly, six teachers were also interviewed to investigate issues not thoroughly explained in
questionnaire.
As for analysis, results of students’ motivation were then analysed by Dörnyei’s (1994) three components
of motivation in foreign language learning; language, learner and learning situation with their derivatives.
Meanwhile, their identity development as supported by the result of teachers’ questionnaire was analysed by
Kelman’s (1998) social factors in the development of identity. The analysis is also complemented by
Guibernau’s (2007) dimensions of nationalism; psychological, cultural, territorial, political and historical.
Finally, this study faithfully adheres to ethical requirements for research. The administration of
questionnaire and interview was assisted by research assistants who come from different regions of
Indonesia. At the time of the study, they were enrolled as students of a state teacher’s college in Bandung,
Indonesia. Prior to questionnaire completion and interview, approval was sought from all participants. They
were also given a research statement which explains their rights as volunteer participants. All names used in
this study are pseudonyms.

Findings

Findings in this study are divided into three sections: heritage narratives in English text-books and
participants’ English language skills, learners’ motivation to learn English, and elements of national identity
development.

Heritage Narratives and Participants’ English Language Skills

As the result of document analysis shows, the number of Indonesian heritage narratives in English
textbooks is still far below those of the English-based ones. Of 15 nationally published and distributed
English textbooks selected and identified in this study, they consisted of 95 English-based narratives and
only 32 heritage narratives for a ratio of 3:1. Five of these books do not even contain heritage narratives at
all. The highest number of English-based narratives in one book is 16 whereas the highest number of
heritage narratives is 8. Appendix 3 shows a comparison between English and heritage narratives observed

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in 15 English text books.
In relation to participants’ English language skills, most respondents believed that the use of heritage
narratives can scaffold their mastery of English which includes all four language skills; listening, reading,
writing, and speaking. However, the number of respondents who supported the use of heritage narratives
varies from one skill to another.
First, heritage narrative supports receptive skills. Most responding students (85%) believed that they have
better comprehension when listening to their heritage narratives such as Malin Kundang, Sangkuriang, and
The Legend of Crying Rock told in English than those from English culture. While some English
vocabularies in these heritage narratives might be still new, they guessed word meanings due to familiarity
with the plot of the story. Besides, teacher’s building knowledge of the field during the teaching process also
helped shape their comprehension. On the other hand, only four respondents (4%), mostly from schools in
big cities, believed that heritage narratives are more difficult to understand since they are not as famous as
those of the English-based ones. The remaining responding students (11%) stated that both heritage and
foreign narratives have similar difficulty. Limited vocabulary and reading frequency have been the major
problems for this group, regardless of their school location.
Second, most participating students (80%) also agreed that they can understand heritage narratives more
easily in reading. They could guess the meaning of new words by focusing on the plot of the story.
Meanwhile, a few respondents have the opposite opinion. Respondents believe that the amount of unknown
words in one heritage narrative influences their comprehension. The more the unknown words they found
the less their comprehension level. They also claimed that they are not really familiar with the heritage
narratives found in the English text-books. These respondents are mostly from schools located outside of
Java island. The remaining (8%) respondents believe that both types of narratives are of similar complexity.
Furthermore, heritage narratives also support production skills. The majority of respondent students
(83%), especially those of senior high schools, were also convinced that they could produce their heritage
narratives in English better, both orally and written. A few respondents (12%) believe the opposite whereas
the remaining respondents found both heritage and foreign narratives hard to learn.
Finally, the use of heritage narratives also sustains the development of national pride and identity.
Questionnaire results showed how all 20 respondent teachers showed their pride as Indonesians. Also, most
of them (85%) stated that the use of heritage narratives helps make their teaching easier. The heritage
narratives can make their students comprehend their subjects more easily as most of them are already
familiar with the content of the narratives.

Motivation to Learn English

Respondent students have different preferences for narratives. Most of them (60%), especially those from
schools in small cities, like reading heritage narratives better than the English-based ones. In contrast, a few
students from schools in big cities have the opposite preference. They prefer to read foreign narratives as
promoted through movies, TV programs or exported English books to which they can have access. They
show feeling less proud of being young Indonesian. Meanwhile, the remaining respondents (17%) love to
read both domestic and international narratives.
In addition, teachers’ instructions have a significant impact on their motivation. Having learned some
heritage narratives prepared by their teachers, most students felt that the subject belonged to them. Due to
familiarity with the story plots, students showed higher motivation to learn English. This relevant
background knowledge also enables students to express themselves in all four language skills more fluently.
In this case, teachers serve as external agency who can direct students’ motivation to learn English.
Besides, teachers’ incorporating some values of moral and national identity in their subjects can improve
their students’ sense of national identification and their pride as Indonesian youth. At the end of each session,
teachers related the values learned from heritage narratives to their students’ pride as Indonesians who are
blessed with rich cultural artifacts and diversity.

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Elements of National Identity Development

Heritage narratives support the development of national pride. After learning heritage narratives written in
English, most students (89%) felt more proud of being young Indonesians. They believed that Indonesia is
the best country they can live in, their mother land which is rich with natural resources and cultural heritage.
Some students also believed that their heritage narratives are as interesting and artistic as those of the
English-based ones so that they tend to have higher pride in becoming young Indonesians.
Furthermore, age and school grade influence national pride. The older and higher the age and grade, the
lower the sense of national pride. Interview results indicate that students of junior high schools showed
higher sense of national identity than those of their senior high schools. They were more proud to be
Indonesian youth, to a certain extent, because of having less exposure to foreign cultures than their senior
high school fellows. Supported by media, these teenagers might assume that overseas popular culture is
more interesting than their own local heritage.
In addition, respondent students seemed to show similar pride with other elements of national identity. In
terms of food, most respondent students (92%) preferred Indonesian cuisine to foreign ones. In contrast, of
the few students who liked foreign cuisine (8%), most of them are high school students living in big cities
like Bandung and Yogyakarta on Java island. However, comparing between local and foreign films and
music, a half of respondent students (50%) preferred foreign films and music. Only some (30%) preferred
local or Indonesian music whereas the rest (20%) liked both foreign and local music and films. Likewise, the
world of fashion suggests similar findings. Most respondent students preferred to have local dress (81%)
whereas another (10%) like the internationally branded fashion better. The rest (9%) of respondents were
fond of both domestic and international brands.
In relation to national identity development, learning heritage narratives for young people is still
considered very important. The majority of respondents (96%) were convinced that learning and being
familiar with heritage narratives are important factors for their sense of national pride and identity. Only a
few of them (4%) argued that heritage narratives are not really significant as a marker of national identity.
Moreover, a large number of responding students (81%) felt more proud as Indonesian youth when they
read heritage narratives written in English whereas only (3%) respondents had the opposite argument. The
other (16%) believed that learning both heritage and foreign narratives can make them proud as Indonesian
youngsters.
Finally, as Indonesians, all participating teachers also showed high pride when using heritage narratives in
teaching. Most of them (85%) believed that this practice helps make their teaching easier. The use of
heritage narratives may enable students to comprehend their subjects more easily as most of them are
already familiar with the content of the narratives. This familiarity serves as strong background knowledge
for students so that they can become more fluent in all English language skills. Students have more
comprehension when learning receptive skills and more expression in productive ones.

Discussion

Following the subsections in findings, the analysis section is also divided into three sub-headings;
heritage narrative and English language skills, motivation for English learning, and national identity
development.

Heritage Narrative and English Language Skills

Findings show some relations between heritage narratives and English language learning. First, to certain
extent, English text-book analysis indicates that heritage narratives have been included as learning materials
for students. Text-book authors have reclaimed the importance of the shift into more heterogeneous and
local learning materials (Canagarajah, 2005). However, the number of Indonesian heritage narratives is far

421
below that of English-based narratives. At the time of the study, the ratio is still 3:1, which is still considered
the minimum to build and form students’ sense of national identity. To stimulate and scaffold their English
learning, the ratio should increase to 2:1 or even 1:1. With this better ratio, the scaffolding process is
expected to improve so that students’ English skills can improve significantly. This scarcity may be due to
some reasons such as unavailability of heritage narratives written in English, low awareness of text-book
authors on the importance of reclaiming local culture or the dominance of inner circle culture in English
learning material development (Canagarajah, 2005; Kachru, 1992).
Second, within a wider autonomy, teachers should be more competent and have increased professionalism.
The use of Indonesian heritage narratives in English learning relates students to familiar cultural contents.
By relating the teaching material to their students’ cultural backgrounds (Dörnyei, 1994, p. 277), teachers
have provided a relevant context for students (Johnson, 2002; Graves et al., 2006). At the same time, they
also have built their students’ self-confidence (Williams & Burden, 1997) and a sense of need for
achievement (Dörnyei, 1994), which is significantly necessary for successful learning. This professionalism
can also reduce teacher’s ‘malpractice’ of asking students to focus on narrative structures as prescribed rules,
instead of developing their English language proficiency.
Third, familiarity with the story plot or schema helps scaffold English learners. In reading and listening,
they can guess the meaning of new vocabularies by focusing on the story plot. During speaking and writing,
they can also use words they know to describe the story already familiar to them before. They sometime
switch from English to Indonesian just to describe the characters, settings and events they have known
previously. Prior knowledge of local culture should be reclaimed as an important context of language
learning (Canagarajah, 2005; Graves et al., 2006; Johnson, 2002).

Motivation for English Learning

In general, findings show that heritage narratives have been a driving force for students to learn English.
The local narrative has been able to ‘instigate and sustain’ (Schunk et al., 2008, p. 4) their learning of
English as a foreign language. The use of heritage narratives becomes an underpinning reason for their
learning (Guay et al., 2010) and an attractive learning goal (Dörnyei et al., 2016). Borrowing the classic
definition of motivation (Ryan & Deci, 2000), participating students have both intrinsic and extrinsic
motivations. As for intrinsic motivation, following Dörnyei’s (1994) motivation of foreign language
learning, learner and learning context seem to be the most dominant elements of participants’ English
learning. Questionnaire and interview results show learners’ high self-confidence and self-efficacy when
they were given reading texts about Indonesian heritage narratives or asked to talk about local narratives of
their own interests. Similar to Tanaka’s (2015) finding among Japanese students, English proficiency has
important effects on participants’ motivational status. Together with perceptions, beliefs, and values,
interests are important elements of motivation for the participating students (Lai, 2011).
Furthermore, students’ motivation to learn English was also, to a certain extent, externally motivated by
teachers as “significant others” (Williams & Burden, 1997, p. 56) or social agency (Kelman, 1998) who
influence their learning process. Teachers’ decision to use the textbooks with heritage narratives can arouse
students’ curiosity, which is an intrinsic interest of activity. With the use of heritage narratives, teachers are
able to scaffold their students to learn English more effectively. Confirming similar studies by Lamb (2004,
2007) on the motivation of Indonesian students, the participating students in this study also agreed that
teacher’s use of heritage narratives has instrumentally aroused their motivation.
Finally, external drive is still dominant in the English learning process among respondent students. As
“significant others” (Williams & Burden, 1997, p. 56), teachers motivate their students to learn English
more effectively by providing both ‘course- and teacher-specific motivational components” (Dörnyei, 1994,
p. 277). This was conducted by using heritage narratives which can build students’ interest since the learning
material is relevant with their cultural background. To achieve this, teachers should have good knowledge of
their students’ cultural backgrounds. In the case of Indonesia, they should really match the heritage
narratives found in the text-books with their students’ various ethnic backgrounds.

422
National Identity Development

Findings show that English language learning relates to many dimensions of national identity
development such as psychology, culture, and territory (Guibernau, 2007). First, English learning has
psychological element of national identity. Apart from other learning elements such as history (Andrews et
al., 2010), and sports (Elling, van Hilvoorde, & van Den Dool, 2014), as questionnaire and interview results
indicate, heritage narratives written in English can heighten students’ sense of national pride and identity.
Having learned the English version of Indonesian heritage narratives, students believe that people of
different nationals will be able to read this English version of heritage narratives, and thus, introducing
Indonesia to other countries. With this, they believe that their country will be internationally more well-
known through its heritage narratives, making them more proud Indonesian youth.
Second, heritage narrative is an aspect of cultural products, beside food, fashion, and music, which
supports national identification. Both students and teachers in this study believe that these cultural artifacts
show and represent who they are as Indonesians. The richness of their cultural artifacts makes these young
people more proud of their own ancestry and cultural identity. Having acquired English sufficiently as a
medium, they will be able to promote these cultural artifacts to their counterparts overseas, which can, at the
end, add to their self-pride as a nation.
Third, heritage narratives also support territorial elements of national identity. Respondents of different
ethnic backgrounds believe that despite their different local heritage language and culture, they all belong to
Indonesia, due to their shared geographical location, relatively similar race, customs, ethnicity, and ways of
life. Regardless of their diverse territorial locations, all respondent students imagine themselves as
Indonesian (Anderson, 2006) who should be proud of their own country and cultural identity.
Furthermore, as group affiliation, national identity is socially constructed. Apart from parental influence
at homes, as social agency (Kelman, 1998), school and environment influence students’ sense of national
identification. In the teaching and learning process, teachers also play roles as ‘significant others’ of identity
agency (Williams & Burden, 1997) who stimulate the development of their students’ national pride and
identity through subject preparation. Teachers, for instance, included Indonesian national heroes when
teaching descriptive texts. They also asked students to talk about heritage narratives from their own ethnic
group, asked about the food and fashion their students prefer, and their knowledge of Indonesian culture.
When starting a topic on narrative, teachers included heritage narratives relevant to their students’ ethnic
background. They also asked students about their favourite foods, fashion, and movies while emphasizing
the importance of using local products in these domains as a sign of national identity. By incorporating
values of national identity into their teaching materials, teachers have acted as social agency who use
specific motivational components (Dörnyei, 1994) to shape students’ national and cultural identification.
However, social construction of national identity is posed with challenge. While parents and teachers may
provide positive influences, the environment may give more realistic and sometimes unsatisfactory impacts.
Due to more dominant social agency (Kelman, 1998) of parents and teachers, students of junior high school
tend to have higher pride as Indonesian compared to those of senior high school. This might be caused by
their more limited exposure to the social environment and being less critical to the social phenomena around
them. On the other hand, more intensive exposure to the real environment may have exposed students of
senior high schools to some social inequalities and injustice so that they show lower pride with their country
of origin. These practices may have opened up their critical thinking that can sometimes reduce their pride
as Indonesian youth. This difference in schooling experience shows that intrinsic motivation decreases and
weakens with higher grades (Ryan & Deci, 2000) due to the influence of the social environment.
Finally, school mission and location also promote a different sense of national identification among
students. Students of religion-affiliated schools tend to have a higher sense of national identification than
those of public schools. This is, to a certain extent, influenced by their beliefs that something ‘foreign’ or let
alone ‘western’ such as food, fashion and even narratives is often considered alien or ‘negative’ that they
should stay away from. These students show stronger preference to something local or domestic, thus,
showing higher identification with Indonesia. As for location, students living in big cities, with the help of

423
more exposure to media, tend to be more critical to the social phenomenon around them. Having observed
some inequalities in their community, they sometime believe that Indonesia is not as good as they have
thought before. Their sense of national identity might decrease when they compare inequalities in their
native country with what has happened in especially some developed countries.

Conclusion

Having thoroughly analysed the findings above, this study finally concludes the following. First, despite
the minimum number of heritage narratives observed in English textbooks, most responding students believe
that the use of heritage narratives in English learning supports receptive comprehension due to familiarity
and relevance with their cultural background. Second, teachers’ use of Indonesian heritage narratives makes
the learning process more interesting, thus, improves students’ motivation to learn English. Having learned
English-written Indonesian narratives, students also feel more proud of their own heritage cultures which are
accessible by foreigners. In addition, students’ national identification includes cultural, psychological and
territorial dimensions with teachers playing a role as social agency of identity development. Due to strong
social agency, students of lower levels and those living in small cities tend to show higher sense of national
identity compared to the higher ones and those living in big cities.
Finally, this study also suggests some pedagogical implications. First, teachers should include more
heritage narratives in English learning so that students become more motivated to improve their English
skills and feel more proud as young Indonesians. Teachers should also be able to make the most benefits of
heritage narratives by exploiting its potential values to improve students’ English skills and avoid the
‘malpractice’ of memorizing narrative structures as prescribed rules. In relation to territorial equity, non-
Java based heritage narratives should be explored more intensively so that more local ethnic backgrounds in
Indonesia can benefit from the inclusion of these heritage narratives. Meanwhile, to clearly portray the
development of students’ English fluency and national identity on which heritage narratives may have
impact, this study should include classroom observation. Finally, as students today become stronger digital
natives, future research should examine some possible benefits of using digitalized heritage narratives in
English learning and how it may influence students’ language skills and sense of national identity in a more
global world.

Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the Indonesian Department of Education and Culture, National Strategy
Scheme, year 2009.

The Author

Ahmad Bukhori Muslim is a senior lecturer at the Department of English Education, Universitas
Pendidikan Indonesia. His research interests include English learner’s identity, bilingual education, sister
school partnership, and language maintenance.

Department of English Education

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia
E-mail: abukhmuslim@upi.edu

424
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 Appendix 1

Major Ethnic and Language Groups in Indonesia

No. Ethnic/Language Main concentration Percentage of the population

1. Indonesian Various regions of Indonesia 15.34
2. Javanese Central, eastern, and southern Java 38.44
3. Sundanese Western third of Java 13.80
4. Madura (Madurese) Madura, Sapudi islands, northern coast 5.11
of easter Java
5. Malay Riau, Bangka 5.11
6. Minangkabau West and central Sumatra 3.32
(Padang)
7. Batak North Sumatra 1.53
8. Balinese Bali, Lombok, east Java 1.94
9. Bugisi South Sulawesi 1.79
10. Acehnese North Sumatra 1.53
11. Betawi Jakarta, Java 1.38
12. Banjarese Banjarmasin, Kalimantan 1.07
13. Sasak Lombok 1.07
14. Chinese Throughout Indonesia 1.02
Total 93.92
Source. Barbara F. Grimes, Ed. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 12th ed. (Dallas, Texas: Summer Institute of
Linguistics, 1992).

Appendix 2

Some Famous Heritage Narratives from Different Ethnic Groups in Indonesia

No. Ethnic group Province Narratives Brief accounts

1. Acehnese Nanggroe Aceh The Origin of Guel Dance How Guel dance was performed for
Darussalam the first time
2. Batakese North Sumatra Toba Lake The legend of how lake Toba was
formed.
3. Padangese West Sumatra Malin Kundang It talks about a poor boy who was
spelled into a stone as he treated his
mother badly.
4. Palembangese South Sumatra The Legend of Palembang How the name Palembang, the capital
city of South Sumatra first coined.
5. Kubu Jambi The King of Jambi The story of King of Jambi
6. Betawi Jakarta Si Pitung A hero from Jakarta who fought
against the Dutch.
7. Sundanese West Java Sangkuriang The legend how mount Tangkuban
Parahu was formed.
8. Javanese Central/East Java The Golden Cucumber The story of a bad giant and a poor
little girl.
9. Bantenese Banten The Legend of Batu The legend of how Batu Kuwung (the
Kuwung holed stone)was formed in the past.
Batu Kuwung is now a famous
tourism site.
10. Balinese Bali The Legend of Bali strait The legend how the strait between
Bali and Java islands was created. In
the past, Bali used to be part of Java
island.
11. Dayakese Kalimantan The Crying Stone The legend of a girl who was cursed
into a stone.
12. Asmat West Papua The Legend of Irian It is about how the name if Irian
comes from.

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 Appendix 3

Comparison of English and Heritage Narratives

in Indonesian English Text Books for Junior and Senior High Schools
No. Book Titles English/Foreign narratives Local narratives
1. Contextual Learning The Angle who Became a Buffalo (Asia) The Noble Koling Lumanau
(XII) A Story About Yellow (King Midas) (Kalimantan)
The Art Game (English) Lebai (West Sumatra)
Jealous Ken (English) Sambua Koto (Nias)
Who Do You Believe (Arab) The Strange Porridge (Timor)
Soapy’ Winter Home (English)
2. English in Context The Man, The Boy, and The Donkey No narrative at all
(XI) Martin, Jeremy, A Famous Cherry Tree
The Wizard of Oz
The Old Man Who Made Flowers On Trees (A
Home For Shiro,
Shiro Discovered Gold Coins,
A Wicked Neighbor,
A Giant Tree, Ashes and Flowers,
Scotty
3. Learning to Use A Star Story, The Two Goats Dayang Sumbi
English The Ugly Duckling
The Banker And The Pauper
Beauty And The Beast
4. Look Ahead 1 The Legend Of Minos, King Of Crete Batara Kala, A Myth From Java
Indian Tall Tale, Paul Banyan Bandung Bondowoso And Roro
Daedalus And Icarus Jongrang
Thumbelina, The Fly And The Bull
The Silvery Key
The Gift (O’Henry), The Necklace
5. Linked to The Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella The Hare And The Tortoise
World 1 Peter Pan, Lazy Jack
The Oldman And The Bell
6. English on Sky 2 Snow White, Cinderella, Geppetto Calon Arang
Princess, Beauty and the Beast, Rapunzel Kancil (The Mouse Deer)
The Shoemaker, The Stingy and the Generous, The Golden Cucumber
Mulan, Sleeping Beauty Malin Kundang
Spiderman, Hercules, Shrek Takatuliang (Sulawesi)
The Wizard of Oz (The Tinman) Bawang Merah And Bawang
The Wizard of Oz (The Cowardly Lion) Putih
The Wizard of Oz (The Deadly Poppy Field)
7. Real Time 2 Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella The Story of Loro Jonggrang
Little Mermaid, Peter Pan
Snow White, Pinocchio
Rohan and The Dragon
Penelope And Anastasia
8. Seize Your English Jack and the beanstalk Mount Tangkuban Parahu
Greedy Hamster, Mico, the monkey Malin Kundang
Rapunzel Timun Mas
Titanic The lake of color
9. Let’s Talk Magic Flower Mouse deer and crocodile
The Frog King Banyuwangi, Roro Jongrang
The Little Sparrow Lake Toba, Princes Mandalika
Brilliant child (Lombok)
Malin Kundang, Talaga Warna
Legends from Celebes
10. Developing Cinderella, Snow White Mount Bromo, Lake Toba
competencies in Sleeping Beauty Prambanan Temple
English Thumbelina Tangkuban Parahu
11. English on Sky 3 The frog who wanted to be as big as an ox PM Toh: An Acehnese
Class IX The boy who cried wolf Storyteller
The fox and the crow

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12. English for A Better The Hitch-Hiker No heritage narrative at all
Life Class XII The locket, Aladin
The goose girl (Grimm Brothers)

13. Interlanguage: The Four Friends No heritage narrative at all

English for senior Damon and Phintias
high school students Androcles and the Lion
XII Beware of Mean Friends (India)
A Story of Friendship
The Jackal who Saved the Lion (India)
No Charge for Love, A Miracle
The CD Boy
14. The Bridge English No narrative No narrative
Competence Class
IX
15. Interlanguage: The Dancing Fairies No heritage narrative at all
English for senior Peterpan, The Fairies’ Cake
high school students Why the Cat Kills Rats
XII Peter and the Mountainy Men
The Elves and the Shoemaker
Total Narrative 95 32

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