Preservice English teachers’ perceptions of English as an international language in Indonesia and Korea

ABSTRACT

Preservice English teachers’ perceptions about English as an international language (EIL) have not been adequately examined in different cross-cultural contexts. To fill that void, a total of 590 preservice English teachers from Indonesia (n = 344) and South Korea (n = 246) completed an EIL perception questionnaire. Subsequently, an independent samples t-test was conducted to examine differences between Indonesian and Korean preservice teachers with regard to their EIL perceptions. Three major findings were identified: first, Indonesian preservice teachers reported a higher level of perceived capacity to employ effective cross-cultural communicative strategies in comparison to their Korean counterparts. Second, although Korean preservice teachers acknowledged the existence of non-native varieties of English, they seemed hesitant to include non-native English accents in ELT listening materials. Intriguingly, the same phenomenon was not observed with the Indonesian group. Third, Indonesian preservice teachers were perceived to have a higher degree of ownership over their own English accents in contrast to the Korean group. These results are discussed with consideration of geographic, sociocultural and educational contexts of both countries that might have influenced shaping preservice English teachers’ language perceptions. Lastly, three pedagogical suggestions (i.e. Exposure and Critical Reflection, EIL Pedagogy Implementation, and Reality Check) will be offered.

KEYWORDS:

• English as an international language
• comparative study
• Indonesia
• South Korea
• preservice English teacher

Acknowledgements

We would like to acknowledge four anonymous reviewers, whose valuable comments and suggestions have significantly improved this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Availability of data

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Notes on contributors

Ju Seong Lee received his Ph.D. in May 2018 and now is a postdoctoral researcher in Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. His research interest includes English as an international language, informal digital learning of English and affect in second language learning.

Kilryoung Lee is a professor of English education at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, South Korea. He is a past president of Applied Linguistics Association of Korea (ALAK). He is the executive director of Asia TEFL. His research interests include Teacher education, reflective teaching and classroom dynamics.

Nur Arifah Drajati currently teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Universitas Sebelas Maret, Indonesia. Her research interests include technology in language learning, literacy, and writing.

Notes

1. Bolton (2012) described them as ‘English studies, corpus linguistics, the sociology of language, features-based and dialectological studies, pidgin and creole research, Kachruvian linguistics, lexicographical approaches, popular accounts, critical linguistics, futurological approaches’ (15).

2. It is a flagship public university in Central Java with 36,000 students from 34 provinces across Indonesia. Bahasa Indonesia is used in a formal setting (e.g. lecture), while Javanese is used among students in most informal situations (e.g. outdoors).

3. The sample used in both reports may not be representative of Indonesia and Korea.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Research Fund in 2018.