The Importance Of Teaching English In Indonesia

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

The chapter gives a brief description of the whole content of the research, including background, reason for choosing the topic, research question, objective of the study, significance of the study, hypothesis of the study, definition of key terms, and outlines.

1.1 Background of the Study Learning a language is an interesting and attracting thing to do. English language is one of the subjects that is taught at schools. In Indonesia, English has an important role especially in education (Ramelan, 1992: 3). That is the reason why the Indonesian government chooses English as the first foreign language to be taught in schools. By putting it as one of the subjects in the curriculum, hopefully students will have an ability to use English in the international community. As the first foreign language in Indonesia, English is considered as the compulsory subject in Junior High School and Senior High School. Nowadays, English is taught in Elementary School and Kindergarten as local content. As we know that English is not our native language; therefore it is difficult for Indonesian students to learn it. In line with the difficulties of learning English, English teaching is also difficult. English teachers have to try hard to pay attention on developing their own mastery of English, their students’ competence in English and the technique of teaching English. Teaching English in Indonesia is based on the system which is called curriculum. Since 2006, the