International Journal of Indonesian Studies Volume 1, Issue 1 | Page 2

International Journal of Indonesian Studies, Vol 1 2013 Designing and implementing a critical literacy-based approach in an Indonesian EFL secondary school Gin Gin Gustine BIODATA Gin Gin Gustine is a PhD candidate at Deakin University, Australia. Her research interests are in critical literacy, teachers‘ professional learning and EFL secondary school students. Her contact email is [email protected]. ABSTRACT This paper explores the design and implementation process of a critical approach to teaching English, one that is termed Critical Literacy, in an Indonesian secondary school. Despite its popularity as pedagogy and a way of thinking in the West, there is a gap in terms of the implementation of a Critical Literacy approach in South East Asian countries, especially in Indonesia. The methodology of this study is action research involving a teacher at one school in Bandung, West Java province and his classroom consisting of 39 students. Data includes classroom observation, students‘ reflective journals and interviews both with the teacher and the students, as well as reflective dialogue between the teacher and me as the teacher-researcher. This study also investigates the benefits as well as the challenges of this new approach that is expected to bridge the gap between its implementation in Western countries and in Indonesia. For teacher educators, this project provides both theoretical and practical frameworks that are needed to prepare pre-service teachers to teach this critical approach in English language teaching. Keywords: Critical literacy, Action research, EFL secondary teacher INTRODUCTION English teaching in Indonesia has been dominated mostly by conventional grammar teaching that emphasizes memorisation of language and linguistics rules and conventions. Despite a number of curriculum changes in Indonesia (Depdiknas, 2006), this approach continues to prevail in most English classrooms throughout the archipelago. This practice of English language teaching is not without criticism. Critical language educators in Indonesia such as Alwasilah (2001), Dardjowidjojo (2003) and Mistar (2005) argue that the grammar-driven methodology is not sufficient to enable students to communicate well; moreover, it does not support learners to think critically. 2