The problems of English Language Teaching in Indonesia (PART 2)

2. Students motivation

Every student needs a motivation to push herself/himself to study or do some important thing in her/his life. Ruesch (2009) stated that “motivation is tied to individuals’ personal, scholastic, and professional goals, as well as to their self-concept and identities, both imagined and real”. Students’ environment influences the students’ motivation towards their learning in second or foreign language context (Yulia, 2013, p. 3). Some of the students in Indonesia still lack of motivation, so that impact on social nature of the learners. The lack of students motivation, poor attitude of students in learning English and fell short of teachers with sufficient English language competence are the contributors of the low ability in English (Dardjowidjojo, 1996, cited in Kam, 2004).  Motivation is one the most important factors in language learning and is a key determinant of frequency and type of strategy (Mattarima &  Hamdan, 2011, p. 106). So, motivation effects how hard learners are willing to work on a language activity, and how much they will persevere when they are challenged. In brief, when student motivation is good, the learning achievement can be good as well. Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation have been used to explain the success or failure to fulfill any task. In the junior high school context in Indonesia, students’ motivation could vary depending on students’ perceptions and intention of learning a foreign language. English for example is one of the compulsory subjects to be taught at all levels of education. In junior high school, if the students are not good at English for the national examination, then it is difficult for them to continue their studies to senior high school, though the students’ grades are based on both the national examination (60 %) and the school examination (40 %) (Yulia, 2013,  p. 4).