1 Interactive English Language Teaching of English subjects in IAIN Walisongo Semarang By Daviq Rizal, M.Pd. I.

Background of the Study Interaction is when students' attention is focused on conveying and receiving authentic messages. Authentic messages are messages that contain information of interest to speaker and listener in a situation of importance to both. Wells 1981 as Wilga M Rivers quoted explained that Exchange is the basic unit of discourse....Linguistic interaction is a collaborative activity involving the establishment of a triangular relationship between the sender, the receiver and the context of situation whether the communication is in speech or writing.. Interaction involves not only the expression of one's own ideas but also the comprehension of those of others. One listens to others and the others respond either directly or indirectly. Participants interpret meanings through this interaction in a context, physical or experiential with nonverbal cues beyond the verbal. In a shared context, all of these factors must be present. The communication here must be interaction between people who have something to share1. Why is interaction so significant in English language learning? Wilga M. Rivers further explained that part of the teacher's role is to create or stimulate student creation in which interaction can take place naturally and students can make use for actual communication. In this way, they can get
1 1 Wilga M. Rivers, Interaction as the key to teaching language for communication, in Interactive Language Teaching, edited by Wilga M. Rivers, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990), p.4

2 involved in human relations. Besides, through interaction, students can increase their language skills as they listen to or read authentic materials or even in discussions or dialogue journals. In interaction messages students can express their real from what they hear since meanings in real-life exchanges. They can have experience exchanging comprehension is a process of creation to create discourse that conveys their intentions. Our brain is dynamic constantly interrelating what we have learned with what we are learning and the exchange of messages enables students to interrelate materials. In a second-language situation, interaction is significant to survival in the new language and culture. As the most important component of education is students, students behaviors and teaching system are affected by teachers' interactions, ways of communication and verbalnon--verbal behaviors, class management and activities. A teacher is responsible for planning activities of teaching and application by having interaction. Interaction between a teacher and students simplifies the process of communication and provides them with the formation of a shared common area. Communication disturbance can be easily destroyed though communication. Communication is the key of English teaching and learning and it affects the life of an individual throughout important his/her concept whole related life. to As all communication sciences and is an English,

communication is a process in which two or more people share the same meanings and without communication no life will be available2.
2 2 Engin Karadag and Nihat Caliskan, Interaction and communication in the process of education and shared common area in the classroom, (Turkey,

3 There are two main types in the study of communication. The first deals with the transmission of messages, how senders and receivers encode and decode, with the channels and media of communication. The second is concerned with the production and exchange of meanings, how messages or texts interact with people in order to produce meanings. In this type, the communication is the study of text and culture3. As we know that interaction occurs during communication between a teacher and students. However, interactive teaching does not only involve asking questions from the teacher, but it also deals with higher-order questions, extensions of pupil responses and more sustained-pupil interactions4. Through interaction students can enhance their language skills. To get the students interacted, it is significant to give interactive activities. Activities are the key to an effective English as a foreign language classroom5. Interactive teaching is a two-way process in which the lecturer modifies his or her approach in response to the students' need. The interactive lecturer is keenly aware of the learners and their different learning styles since all good lecturers are interactive lecturers. It is not possible to teach
2009) available from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCR/is_1_43/ai_n31413215/? tag=content;col1 (7 February 2012) p.1 John Fiske, Introduction to Communication Studies, (Great Britain: Guernsey Press Co Ltd, 1994), p.2 4 4 Janet Moyles et al, Interactive Teaching in the Primary School: digging deeper into meanings, (London: Biddles Ltd, 2003), p.21 Rabeya N Khan, Classroom Interaction in ESL Classrooms: A Comparative Study between Group Work and Individual Work (Thesis), (Bangladesh: Brac University press, 2009), p.4

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4 effectively without interaction. Moreover, interactive learning is also a two-way process with the interaction between the students and the lecturer, with peers, with resources or with all three6. II. Discourse Competence in ELT The English subjects in IAIN Walisongo Semarang needs to be placed within this competence-based perspective or theory which means that we need a clear definition regarding what is meant by language competence. This is necessary because the main goal of English education is communication itself, that is, to enable learners to use English as a means of communication. Communication in its broad sense covers a wide range of language use: from the use of language as something to accompany action (the most spoken language) up to the use of language as representation (the most written language). Competent language users are those who can handle communication covering this wide spectrum of language use: from language accompanying action to language as representation. This ability is theoretically referred to as communicative competence. Bringing discourse competence into perspective has far reaching implications both at the theoretical and at the implementation levels. This implies that whoever is involved in English education in IAIN Walisongo Semarang needs to comprehend what discourse is and how to develop discourse competence. It is important, therefore, that those involved in English education be informed about what discourse is and
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5 what to it means developing Celce-Murcia discourse et als competence. communicative

Comprehending the phrase discourse competence is the key understanding competence model. Following Celce-Murcia et al., the ultimate communicative competence is discourse competence. Having discourse competence means being able to participate in communication, or being able to participate in the creation of texts because communicating (orally or in writing) is creating texts in different contexts. A text is language used in context and it is the context that determines what kind of language we choose. For example, to invite people to a birthday party, one can choose different styles depending on who the interlocutor is, and what channel of communication is used (spoken or written). Thus, the act of inviting can be lexico-grammatically realized in different forms depending on who we invite, and how the message is conveyed. This means that the learners need to be able to handle linguistic consequences required by contexts of communication. A person who can communicate or use language effectively in a context of culture is often labeled as a literate person. Hammond et al. (1992) suggest that a literate person is a person who can participate in modern societies, who has abilities essential for further learning opportunity. English is needed when learners communicate with people who do not share our language(s). They need English to communicate with native speakers of English and those who communicate globally using the language. In order to be understood by people from modern societies, learners need to get used to the ways of communicating used by those people; the people who do not always share our ways of thinking. Our job is not only to introduce the language, but also

6 to make learners get used to the native speakers ways of thinking. One way of thinking is reflected in the types of text (genres) commonly used by English native speakers in spoken and written communications. This means that learners need to be familiar with English texts if they are expected to be effective communicators in English. They need to get used to the English literacy practices (discourses) which are almost always fully integrated with, interwoven into and part of, the very texture of wider practices that involve talk, interaction, values and beliefs (Gee, 1992:32). For Gee (cited in McKay, 1996:428), Discourse are not mastered solely by overt instructions, but rather by supportive interaction with people who have already mastered the Discourse. McKay (1996:428) contends that In this way, becoming literate entails social interaction with those who know how to use a text to serve a particular social purpose. If this is what it takes, then, English teachers need to have proper understanding about discourse and classroom practices that help learners develop the targeted English literacy. A literacy-based perspective needs to be introduced so that learning activities in classrooms can be geared around the axes that integrate knowledge and skills in such a way to achieve a particular discourse competence set up for a particular stage. It is important that all classroom activities provide well-orchestrated learning experiences that are aimed at the achievement certain communicative competence target, say, a genre. The key word in implementing the ELT is learning experience. This means that every time a teacher makes plans for classroom activities, s/he needs to determine what the target competence is and how to get there. The phrase how to

7 get there means what learning experiences the learners should have so that the target competence can be achieved. For example, if the target competence indicates that the learners should be able to write their favourite recipes (procedural texts), the teachers will have to consider what lexicogrammatical are involved (noun phrases, imperative pattern, temporal conjunctions etc.), what text structure to be used. However, the most difficult part is when it comes to determining what activities to carry out so that the learners will have the best learning experiences to ensure the attainment of the target competence. Experienced teachers know very well that teaching sentence patterns, phrases, and conjunctions can be easy especially if they are taught as knowledge. However, transforming the knowledge into a real speaking or writing ability such as in demonstrating how to cook fried rice or in writing fried rice recipe will take much more time and energy. That is the reason why the ELT selects a small number of genres as the target text types. Those are the genres the learners are likely to encounter in their daily and academic lives. This illustration indicates that language teaching and learning is not only a matter of giving knowledge and doing exercises to enable learners master the knowledge, but to engage learners in real literacy practices. Kern defines literacy in the specific context of academic of second and foreign language education as follows: Literacy is the use of socially, historically, and culturally situated practices of creating and interpreting meaning through texts. It entails at least the tacit awareness of the relationships between textual conventions and their contexts of use, and, ideally, the ability to reflect critically on those relationships. Because it is purpose-

8 sensitive, literacy is dynamic, not static and variable across and within discourse communities and cultures. It draws on a wide range of written and spoken language, on knowledge of genres, and on cultural knowledge. (Kern 2000:16) The most challenging job in a literacy-based approach is how to make the learners involve in the creation of discourse or in language use. In other words, teachers need to engage the learners in series of literacy events which means students learn not only about vocabulary and grammar but also about discourse and the processes by which it is created (Kern 2000: 17) To help teachers select or plan classroom activities so that such learning can take place, Kern cites the seven principles (suggested by the New London Group 1996) in planning activities. When a teacher plans activities, s/he needs to contemplate whether or not the activities allow the learners to experience literacy practices involving the seven principles: interpretation, collaboration, convention, cultural knowledge, problem solving, reflection and self-reflection, and language use. (Kern 2000: 17-18). III. English Language Teaching in IAIN Walisongo Semarang As it has been mentioned above that the ultimate goal of ELT is discourse competence: the ability to participate in the creation of discourse in real communication, the reality of teaching English subjects in IAIN Walisongo is far from the discourse competence. Besides reaching the discourse competence, the ELT should be interactive too. First of all, the teaching of English subjects in IAIN Walisongo Semarang should be taken into account. The English lecturers are divided into three categories in IAIN Walisongo

9 Semarang. First, they are graduates from English Department and they teach English subjects. Second, they are graduates from Non English Departments and as long as they graduated from abroad; they also teach English subjects. Third, they are non graduates from neither abroad nor English department but they like English very much. They also teach English. This is the reality of ELT in IAIN Walisongo Semarang. Moreover, there is no selection of the competency of the English lecturers. There should be a test such as TOEFL or IELTS for English lecturers if they are assigned to teach English subjects. The competence of the English lecturers can be more guaranteed. Meanwhile, the English reading texts of English I and II are so easy that students are sometimes bored to have the teaching and learning process. The texts should be variable from the easiest into the most difficult and from the variety of texts. Grammar and vocabulary exercises should not have a specific section but rather included into the reading exercises as we should not teach only grammar and vocabulary. Finally, the interactive ELT is not taken into account in IAIN Walisongo Semarang. One of the success of ELT in IAIN Walisongo Semarang also depends on the interaction between the lecturer and students, students with peers, students with texts or materials and other resources. IV. Solutions There are a number of ways to improve the teaching of English subjects in IAIN Walisongo Semarang. 1. There should be a selection of English lecturers, who will teach English subjects. The selection include the

10 requirement of TOEFL score of 500. 2. The English materials should emphasize the discourse competence rather than grammatical or vocabulary competence; 3. The English subjects should have clear discourse competence. English I should focus on listening and speaking competence while English II concentrates on reading competence. Finally, English III is concentrated on writing competence. 4. There should be ELT evaluation team in IAIN Walisongo Semarang to closely monitor the development of ELT. The team will examine the classroom and give comments and reports to the head about the implementation of ELT. The evaluation also includes the interactive English language teaching as well.

11 References Celce-Murcia, M., Z. Dornyei, S. Thurrell 1995. Communicative Competence: A Pedagogically Motivated Model with Content Specifications. In Issues in Applied Linguistics, 6/2, pp 5-35. Fiske, John. 1994. Introduction to Communication Studies. Great Britain: Guernsey Press co ltd Gee, J. 1992. Socio-cultural approaches to literacy (literacies). In W. Grabe (Ed.), Annual Review of Applied Linguistics. New York: Cambridge University Press. Hammond, J, A. Burns, H. Joyce, D. Brosnan, L. Gerot. 1992. English for Special Purposes: A handbook for teachers of adult literacy. Sydney: NCELTR, Macquarie University. Karadag Engin and Caliskan, Nihat. 2009. Interaction and communication in the process of education and shared common area in the classroom, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCR/is_1_43/ai_n31413 215/?tag=content;col1 (7 February 2012) Kern, R. 2000. Literacy and Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Khan, Rabeya N. 2009. Classroom Interaction in ESL Classrooms: A Comparative Study Between Group Work and Individual Work (thesis). Bangladesh: Brac University Press McKay, S. L. 1996. Literacy and Literacies. In S.L. McKay and N. H. Hornberger (eds.), Sociolinguistics and Language Teaching. New York: Cambridge University Press. Moyles, Janet et al. 2003. Interactive Teaching in the primary school: digging deeper into meanings. London: Bidles Ltd Rivers, Wilga M. 1990. Interaction as the key to teaching language for communication, in Interactive Langauge Teaching. New York: Cambridge University Press The Excellent Gateway. What is interactive teaching/learning?, available from http://archive.excellencegateway.org.uk/page.aspx? o=ferl.aclearn.page.id865