Maximizing SFL Contribution to ELT in Indonesia

Since the use of Competency-Based Curriculum, Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) has gained its reputable position in the context of English Language Teaching in Indonesia. The syllabus for English lesson at the levels of Junior Senior High School and Senior High School is now adopting the concept originated from this theory. The adoption, however, is still partial in terms that the materials are designed in such a way to meet the features of the genres. Moreover, the genre-based materials are only for the reading and writing skills only.

This paper discusses the results of a critical review on two English course books approved by Pusat Perbukuan (Pusbuk – Depdiknas) as the core materials for Year VII students of Senior High School. The discussion also covers how the books can be revised so that learners are aware of the context of culture and context of situation where they use the language. To discuss this, the importance of introducing the ideational, interpersonal, and textual meaning of a text is also elaborated. In addition, how the English grammar should be incorporated to the materials is also offered. This paper will benefit English teachers as well as English learning material developers.

Key word: context of situation, field, tenor, mode, genre-based approach, scaffolding

The full paper is available here.