TEACHER-CENTERED OR STUDENT-CENTERED? TACKLING THE CONFUSION ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES TEACHERS ARE FACING

Abstract

Debate on teacher-centered versus student-centered teaching in teaching English, especially English as Foreign Language (EFL) has long been evolving in literature of teaching, including TEFL. Indonesian teachers are clearly in a dilemma over how to take a certain side in the debate. On one hand, teachers need to transform their way of teaching into a more modern one (student-centered); whereas looking at the situation Indonesian teachers are facing, it turns out to be hard to apply. This article tries to unveil the phenomenon by investigating two groups of students taught using different strategies; one was using direct-instruction strategy (teacher-centered), the other was using cooperative learning strategy (student-centered). Akomodasi Perhotelan (Hotel Industry) students were chosen due to their crucial goal in learning English as Foreign Language (EFL). The use of digital media was implemented by delivering lesson through blog and online quizzes such as ProProfs and Hot Potatoes. The research was done through a quasi-experimental design in which both the students pre-test and post-test were analysed by using SPSS 16.0. The result of the study revealed that using cooperative learning strategy is more effective than using direct instruction strategy. It is likely, then, to be beneficial to apply cooperative learning strategy (student-centered) in teaching and learning process especially to teach English for Specific Purposes for Hotel Industry students.