Developing English Proficiency Model in the Indonesian Context: A

Design-based Research Approach

Sri Imelwaty

, Edwar Kemal

, Trisna Helda

, and Yendra

English Education Department, STKIP PGRI Sumatera Barat, Padang, Indonesia

Keywords: Design-Based Research, English Proficiency, English Language Teaching and Learning.

Abstract: The models of language proficiency have been informed by various linguistics schools of thoughts ranging

from structuralism, generativist, cognitivism, and functionalism. There is no regarding the model of English

proficiency. This leads to the confusions among English language teachers, particularly those in countries

where English is taught and learned as a foreign language. This article describes the implementation of the

design-based research for designing an English proficiency Model intended to meet the needs of local learners.

The process of this research consists of four main stages, i.e., 1) the analysis of practical problems, 2) the

development of solutions, 3) the evaluation of the solutions in practice, and 4) the reﬂection to produce design

principles and enhance solution implementation (Amiel & Reeves, 2008). This research also involves design

and scientific methods to generate the model of English proficiency as a product directed to the goals of

English language teaching and learning in the Indonesian context..

1 INTRODUCTION

Language proficiency is a notion commonly assumed

to be as the aim for language teaching and learning

(Harch, 2017). It encompasses various aspects which

may serve as directions for language educators. For

example, Canale (1983) suggests that language

proficiency encompasses language users’

communicative ability, language knowledge systems

and language skills. However, the concept of

proficiency becomes more complicated due to

different views of linguistic schools of thoughts

which contribute to its definition. As a result, there is

no consensus on the definition of language

proficiency.

Four well-known linguistic schools of thoughts

have also contributed to the plurality of the meanings

of language proficiency. The first one is Structuralism

which views language proficiency as a system that

consists of four language skills i.e., listening, reading,

speaking, writing and along with linguistics

components such as phonemes. Morphemes, phrases,

clauses, and sentences (Lado, 1961). In other words,

language proficiency is viewed by structuralisms as a

strategic point because language components and

language skills are separated.

Of course, this model of language proficiency by

structuralisms causes criticisms among other linguists

of generativist who believe that language has the

creative aspects and universal characteristics that are

applied to all language (Chomsky, 1965). Regarding

language proficiency, Chomsky coined the distinctive

use of the terms ‘competence (the speaker-hearer’s

knowledge of his language) and performance (the

actual use of language in the concrete situation)’. His

ideas inform the aspects which constitute language

proficiency (Chomsky, 1965).

The third linguistic school of thought is

cognitivism which emerged during the 1950s in

response to generativism. It is the result of the

disagreement on the separation of language and

cognition (Matsumoto, 2008). According to

cognitivism, language is influenced by human

cognition, perception, categorization, and human

interaction and experiences. These aspects also

influence language development and change

(Fillmore, 1975). In addition, cognitive linguistics

views ‘language as a kind of cognitive activity, and

studies the formation, the meaning, and the rules of

language with cognition as its departure’ (Chen,

2009). Thus, cognitivism sees language learning as

gaining proficiency in the four language skills, i.e.,

listening, speaking, reading and writing, which are

114

Imelwaty, S., Kemal, E., Helda, T. and Yendra, .

Developing English Proﬁciency Model in the Indonesian Context: A Design-based Research Approach.

DOI: 10.5220/0008681001140117

In Improving Educational Quality Toward International Standard (ICED-QA 2018), pages 114-117

ISBN: 978-989-758-392-6

taught sequentially along with related knowledge

components.

The paradigm shift into functionalism creates the

model of language proficiency as Dell Hymes (1972),

a leading anthropological linguist, proposed the

notion of “communicative competence” as a

substitute for language proficiency (Walcott, 2007).

In addition, Hymes enhanced Chomsky’s notion of

competence by including communicative ability

(Kumaravadivelu, 2012). Several other scholars of

functional linguists also enhance the model of

communicative competence which makes the

conceptual framework of language proficiency more

complicated (Canale, and Swain, 1980; Bachman,

2003).

Standard English and World Englishes paradigms

which focus on the English language have also helped

build the meaning of English language proficiency.

For Standard English paradigm, the native-like

proficiency based on native English norms becomes

the appropriate model of English. While for the

World English paradigm, a pluralistic view of English

maintained that non-native varieties of English are

suitable for teaching and learning in local cultural

contexts. Within the World Englishes view,

Canagarajah argues that to be proficient in English,

one needs to have strategies for negotiation and

situated performance, as well as a communicative

repertoire and language awareness. It means that

English language learners need to have multidialectal

competence for the post-modern globalized world

where, he believes, there are no boundaries between

communities or countries because of economic

relationships, technologies, the internet, and the

media (Canagajarah, 2006).

It is clear that there are some models of

proficiency in English language. As confusions arise

regarding which models should be followed among

teachers of English, particularly in the Indonesian

context where English is taught, learned and used as

a foreign language, it is necessary to develop a model

of English proficiency which is appropriate for the

Indonesian context. In addition, a dearth of literature

is found regarding the use of design-based research

for developing a theoretical model such as this one as

this study explore the problems and solutions for

specific educational context. Thus, this article

describes the implementation of the design-based

research for designing a model of English proficiency

which is intended to meet the needs of local learners

Methods

For designing a model of English proficiency in

English which is suitable for the local context, the

design-based research approach is adopted. Design-

based research (DBR) is a ‘‘a systematic, but ﬂexible

methodology aimed to improve educational practices

through iterative analysis, design, development, and

implementation, based on collaboration among

researchers and practitioners in real-world settings,

and leading to contextually-sensitive design

principles and theories’’ (Wang and Hannafin, 2005).

As the primary goal of this study is to improve

educational practices particularly English language

teaching in high schools based on the Indonesian

context, this research design can collaborate with

other teams of researcher and language educators in

real world setting.

This design-based research also comprises

cyclical and iterative processes (Wang and Hannafin,

2005). Moreover, the development of design

principles will undergo a series of testings and

refinement cycles. Data is collected systematically in

order to re-define the problems, possible solutions,

and the principles that might best address them. As

data is re-examined and reflected upon, new designs

are created and implemented to produce a continuous

cycle of design-reflection-design. In other words, the

problems, solutions, methods and the designed

principles are continuously refined, tested and

developed as enhanced knowledge. The process of

this research consists of four main stages i.e. 1) the

analysis of practical problems, 2) the development of

solutions, 3) the evaluation of the solutions in

practice, and 4) the reﬂection to produce design

principles and enhance solution implementation

(Amiel and Reeves, 2008) as seen in Fig.1.

Based on the nature of design-based research, this

is a dynamic and flexible research process. Therefore,

it is important for the researchers to document the

process systematically, the findings and changes to

the initial plans (Wang and Hannafin, 2005). As the

research problems and foci would emerge as soon as

the data is collected and analyzed, it is possible for

the researchers to change the research foci, the

interventions, and the research context if they need to.

Developing English Proﬁciency Model in the Indonesian Context: A Design-based Research Approach

115

Figure 1: Design-based research, based on Amiel and Reeves (2008)

2 THE IMPLEMENTATION OF

DESIGN-BASED RESEARCH

The research process consists of four main stages.

Each of which is described in the following

subsection.

2.1 The analysis of practical problems.

Within this stage, the researchers gather the data from

40 English teachers who serve at senior high schools

in 19 districts of West Sumatra province. During their

classroom practices, these teachers’ activities were

recorded then their utterances were transcribed. They

were also interviewed regarding the meaning of

English proficiency according to their understanding

of the given construct. The interviews were recorded

and transcribed.

Inductive and thematic analysis was employed for

analyzing a the large amount of the qualitative data.

The literature was also reviewed to interpret data

analysis results. At this stage, some attributes of the

meaning of English proficiency were found. The

English teachers’ mental states were also

corroborated with their actual classroom practices in

order to understand the phenomenon and identify the

problems.

2.2 The development of solutions

After practical problems emerged from the analysis

results, the researchers tried to reconstruct the model

of English proficiency based on the English teachers’

conceptualization and their real classroom practices.

The model was then subjected to the expert appraisals

of English language teaching scholars. Their

feedbacks provided further refinement to the model

within which a set of English teaching principles in

the Indonesian context was formulated,

operationalized and explained. That is to say that the

theoretical meanings were turned into practical ones.

It is hoped that the designed model could give

directions to English language teachers at high

schools in the Indonesian context.

2.3 The evaluation research of the

solutions in practice

At this stage, the model will be introduced and

socialized to a small number of high school English

teachers in West Sumatra province, Indonesia. Their

insights and feedbacks will be used to refine the

model and its principles. Some focus group

discussion will be conducted with those English

teachers in order to formulate the suitable model of

proficiency in the local context. The evaluation

process will be conducted to find out the effectiveness

of the model as a solution for directing English

language teaching in the Indonesian context. The

evaluations will also be done several times, iteratively

and documented.

2.4 The reﬂection to produce design

principles and enhance solution

implementation

The last stage is to create final refinements of the

model of proficiency in English after it is tested to a

large number of English teachers in West Sumatra

province. In this case, a new theory which supports

practices in coping with the practical problems of

English proficiency will be formulated. Then, its

effectiveness and acceptance among English teachers

will be documented and shared to inform English

language teaching pedagogy in the Indonesian

context.

3 CONCLUSIONS

Developing the model of English proficiency first

starts with English teachers’ understandings, and then

works with their needs. The design-based research is

accommodating can accommodate all this. Research

teams and English teacher/practitioners worked

ICED-QA 2018 - International Conference On Education Development And Quality Assurance

116

collaboratively, cyclically, and iteratively during the

research process. In the context of educational

research, this design-based research has become an

emerging framework for guiding improved

educational research (Amiel and Reeves, 2008). Even

though some models of English proficiency already

exist, this developed model may be useful in the local

Indonesian context as it may provide guidance and

directions for English language teaching in Indonesia.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This research project was funded by in the Ministry

of Research, Technology and Higher Education of the

Republic of Indonesia in 2018. We also thank the

high school English teachers in West Sumatra who

has participated in the research process and provided

insights that greatly assisted this research.

REFERENCES

Amiel, T., & Reeves, T. C. 2008. Design-based research

and educational technology: Rethinking technology

and the research agenda. Educational Technology &

Society, 11(4), 29-40.

Bachman, L. F. 2003. Fundamental consideration in

language testing (6

ed.). Shanghai: Oxford

University Press.

Canagarajah, S. 2006. Changing communicative needs,

revised assessment objectives: Testing English as an

international language. Language Assessment

Quarterly, 3(3), 229–242.

Canale, M. 1983. From communicative competence to

communicative pedagogy. In: Richards, J. C &

Schmitt, R.W. (Eds): Language and communication.

London: Longman, pp. 2-27.

Canale, M., & Swain, M. 1980. Theoretical bases of

communicative approaches to second language

teaching and testing. Applied Linguistics, 1, 1-47.

Chen, Y. 2009. A Cognitive Linguistic Approach to

Classroom English Vocabulary Instruction for EFL

Learners in Mainland China. English Language

Teaching. Vol 2 no 1, 95-100

Chomsky, N. 1965. Aspects of the Theory of Syntax.

Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.

Fillmore, C. 1975. An alternative to checklist theories of

meaning. BLS 1: 123-131 Berkeley, CA

Harsch, C. 2017. Key concepts in ELT Proficiency. ELT

Journal Volume 71/2 doi:10.1093/elt/ccw067

Hymes, D.H. 1972. On communicative competence. In

Pride, J.B., Holmes, J. (ed.) Sociolinguistics: Selected

readings. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Kumaravadivelu, B. 2012. Language teacher education for

a global society: A modular model for knowing,

analyzing, recognizing, doing, and seeing. New York

and London: Routledge.

Lado, R. 1961. Language testing. New York: Macgrow-

Hill.

Matsumoto, N. 2008. Bridged between Cognitive

linguistics and Second Language Pedagogy: The Case

of Corpora and Their Potential. SKY Journal of

Linguistics. 125-153

Walcott, W. H. 2007. Knowledge, competence and

communication: Chomsky, Freire, Searle, and

communicative language teaching. Montreal, Canada:

Black Rose Books.

Wang, F., & Hannafin, M. J. 2005. Design-based research

and technology-enhanced learning environments.

Educational Technology, Research and Development,

53(4), 5-23.

Developing English Proﬁciency Model in the Indonesian Context: A Design-based Research Approach

117