Teacher's Anxiety Against Students Who Can't Speak English:

Reflection During Online Learning

Poppi Aprilianti1, Misdi2, Nita Danty Agustina3
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

English Education Department Swadaya Gunung Jati University Cirebon

Abstract: This study identified the anxiety of teachers towards students who have
problems in speaking English during the pandemic period in online learning that was
delivered by teachers in most schools recently. Therefore this study aims to describe the
challenges faced by teachers and Second-grade students in vocational high schools in
implementing English language learning in vocational secondary schools in implementing
online learning. The method used in this study is a qualitative descriptive method. In this
study, the data was collected through the researcher’s experiences during online learning.
According to this study, teachers are worried about students who are unable to speak
English During the online learning in Edmodo, the only learning platform suggested by the
school, SMKN 1 Kadipaten. The results of the study show that teachers feel anxious about
phenomena when students are unable to speak or understand English properly, As a result,
When online learning was held via the learning platform, Edmodo, teachers usually
provide material using two languages, English and Indonesian, as their fist/mother
language.

Keywords: Anxiety, teacher, speaking English, online learning

 
I. Background Problem
Learning English before and after the Covid-19 pandemic shows a very different
processThe previous learning process in Indonesia, face-to-face learning, has turned
into a new one, entitled learning from home or also known as online learning. In
addition, the Ministry of Education and Culture has released Circular Letter
Number 15 of 2020, which contains Guidelines for Learning from Home in relation
to the intensity of increasing the number of residents who are Covid-19 positive.
Based on that guidelines, SMKN 1 Kadipaten conducts online learning during the
covid-19 pandemic by using Edmodo as their online learning platform.
The use of English in the world community as an international communication tool
has grown rapidly. This had a great influence on the teaching of English in schools.
For example in Indonesia, English has become one of the subjects that almost every
school must deliver. English teachers began to apply various teaching techniques to
provide students with basic language skills, including listening skills, speaking skills,
reading skills, and writing skills. However, from the four basic language skills,
learning speaking skills is not as easy as it seems. The ability to speak a foreign
language (speaking) is a complex ability. In speaking English, students could
experience anxiety that is generally caused by several factors. Anxiety can be caused
by individual and social factors. Individual factors involve students' self-confidence
and the social factors involve the teacher's instruction in the teaching and the use of
the material by the teacher.
This study aims to describe the challenges faced by teachers and second-grade
students in vocational high school vocational high schools in implementing online
English learning. In implementing online learning, the teacher feels worried about
students When delivering the learning materials in English Since not all students
have the ability to understand the whole material when using English, which one of
the major problems that the teachers worried about hence the researcher decided to
discuss the problem because It is a very interesting topic based on the observation
that the researcher has made. very interesting and the researcher had made
observations at SMKN 1 Kadipaten.
II. Previous Literature
Advances in technology require teachers to take a closer look at the entire Internet
lifestyle. One is to use an online learning model, especially when teaching English
 as a foreign language. Rasmitadila et al. (2020) explained in detail concerning the
readiness of technology in Indonesia during the Covid-19. It should be consistent
with the national humanist curriculum, and it should have the cooperation and
involvement of all stakeholders, including the government, schools, teachers,
parents, and the community. Technology preparedness necessitated a well-thought-
out teaching plan. Meanwhile, they encountered certain challenges during e-
learning, including a lack of technological skills, infrastructure and facilities,
teachers' instructional strategies, and financial issues. According to Ramij &
Sultana, in a pandemic age in Bangladesh, lack of technology infrastructure,
exorbitant internet costs, and family financial crises were additional difficulties for
instructors during online learning (2020).
Lack of topical knowledge was identified by Tuan and Mai (2015), as well as Kasbi
and Shirvan (2017), as a cause of high speaking anxiety, which caused students to
speak very little, if at all, because they couldn't think of anything to say, and
became unwilling to participate in the speaking classroom. When students are given
input that exceeds their capacity to respond, they are more likely to get worried
(Mouhoubi-Messadh, 2017), which suggests that concern of not understanding the
topic might cause anxiety.
According to the author, online learning is done by adjusting the abilities of each
school. The teacher aims to support the needs of students in the learning process
and guide students to achieve their learning goals. Teachers feel anxious about
students who do not speak English, so they need to improve their strategies for
delivering material so that they can understand the material presented by them.
III.  Methodology
For this study, the researcher used the qualitative research method. As Mackey and
Gass (2005) Stated that “qualitative research is based on descriptive data that does
not use (regular) statistical procedures". Qualitative research is claimed to provide a
rich picture of the phenomenon under study. The data was collected in the form of
researcher’s experiences. The data was taken from a journal that was written during
activities at one of the vocational schools in Majalengka. Journals are usually
written every day as a reflection.
IV.  Findings and Discussions
Data analysis in qualitative research is described as reflection. Researchers
collected data with observations during online learning at the SMKN 1 Kadipaten
in the Kadipaten District, Majalengka Regency; documentation of learning
materials, assignments, and student projects. The result of this study shows that to
conduct online learning when the teacher gave material, it was better to use two
languages, English and Indonesian. Because according to The observation that the
teacher took during the online learning, Unfortunately, not all students be able to
understand the learning materials and instructions given by teachers. So, it would
be better for teachers to consider the use of English and Indonesia, as students’ first
language, in online learning.
"I suggest when giving material through Edmodo if using
PowerPoint to use two languages so that students understand
the material presented, I am worried about students who do not
understand English because of the limited communication
between us as teachers and students, students usually will never
ask if the material isis not understood.”

This finding is confirmed by Nambiar (2020) and Orhan & Beyhan (2020) focusing
that one of the critical areas for teacher and student satisfaction with the online
category is the interaction between them. The teacher is worried about students
who cannot speak English, so the teacher provides material not only using English
but the teacher also translating the material into Indonesian so that all students can
understand the material and instructions given. Some English teachers at SMKN 1
Kadipaten use this strategy to provide material to students during online learning.

V. Conclusion

The coronavirus illness, also known as Covid-19, has been a worldwide pandemic
since March 2020. According to UNESCO, schools are shuttered in nearly 100
countries, including Indonesia, owing to a public health emergency. Teachers are
compelled to change their teaching methods from face-to-face to online learning as
a result of the circumstances. The researcher drew conclusions from the results of
this study that teachers must be able to develop strategies in order to convey the
material so that students can understand it the teacher feels anxiety for students
who cannot speak English, so the teacher delivers material during online learning
during the Covid-19 pandemic by using two languages, English and Indonesian.
Teachers must recognize the characteristics and abilities since students are different
from every individual. Teachers must find out the proper ways or strategies
cleverly to deliver the learning materials, so, students can conceive the material as
they should. The researcher hopes that the findings of this study can be useful for
readers to get more information about teacher anxiety towards students who cannot
speak English.
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