Nita Novianti

Folklore has been linked to national identity formation. In this article, informed by Johann Gottfried Herder’s romantic nationalism and following Alan Dundes’s (1965) method of folklore studies, it is argued that Indonesia has historically followed this trail, and its recent movement of collecting and disseminating Indonesian folk narratives from across the archipelago is a culminating point in this endeavour. Although the move was claimed to support the national literacy and character building movement, the rigorous endeavour of the government in garnering folktales from all 34 provinces can also be read as part of the national political agenda of strengthening the national integrity, promoting unity in diversity and disseminating so-called national values. Examining further the contexts and procedures of how the narratives were collected and selected for publication, the study reveals an effort to inculcate national values targeted at students in formal education, but more partic...

The practice of critical literacy in EFL contexts answers the need for EFL pedagogy that considers the complex social and political dimensions of foreign language learning. Many teachers are still discouraged from practicing critical literacy due to the many challenges they encounter.  In this paper, we outline a practical framework that can help teachers navigate the complexity of practicing critical literacy in EFL contexts.  The framework consists of four resources of critical literacy practice, namely curriculum and standards, students’ experiences and background, local social issues, and text selection.  The classroom activities include text analysis and critique, bridging the word and the world, and social action. Particular issues in EFL pedagogy are addressed with implications for the practice of critical literacy.

Pedagogical competence of university teachers or lecturers has lately gained much attention from researchers; however, no research has specifically examined the pedagogical competence of lecturers with non-education background. Herein, drawing upon Olsson et al. (2010) pedagogical competence development and under the Indonesian legislation of lecturer pedagogical competence, we investigated the efforts made by lecturers with no education background in a large Indonesian university of education to develop their pedagogical competence. As many as 40 lecturers took part in our preliminary survey of lecturer pedagogical development, and 20 of them joined our interviews and focus group discussion. Based on the results of the survey and focus group discussion, we gain a description of the efforts made by the lecturers in developing their pedagogical competence, their perceptions of the extent to which their university has facilitated their pedagogical development, and the perceived challe...

This paper reports preservice teachers’ knowledge and understanding about genre-based pedagogy in the curriculum and its implementation in their EFL classrooms. Six participants who were taking their teaching practicum program in two different state schools took part in the study. Employing a case study design, the data were collected through questionnaire, observations, interviews, and document analysis (lesson plans). The findings show that the preservice teachers had varying degrees of knowledge and understanding of what genre-based pedagogy is and how to apply it in the teaching and learning. All of them, though, believe that genre-based pedagogy is very useful and applicable in EFL teaching and learning. Out of the six participants, four employed the pedagogy in their classroom teaching and learning. There is, however, a gap between what the preservice teachers know and understand about genre-based pedagogy and how they apply it in the classroom. Most of the preservice teachers...

In spite of the large number of female characters who play the major part in the life of the main character in Byron’s Don Juan, it is still the main character himself, Don Juan, who has garnered great attention from the critics. Hence, the present research will focus on the female characters of Byron’s Don Juan and reveal how their sexuality and femininity are represented. It is found that while there are subversion and challenging of femininity and sexuality, such as female unusual sexual prowess exhibited by Gulbeyaz and some other female characters, it is precisely the challenging of feminine conventions and the inability to suppress their sexuality that lead the female characters to their doom. Meanwhile, the female characters who successfully suppress their sexuality have a better ending, or at least, manage to survive. Abstrak: Meskipun terdapat banyak karakter perempuan yang berperan penting dalam kehidupan karakter utama Don Juan karya Byron, tetap saja yang selama ini menj...

Considering the lack of research on character education in higher education, this paper proposes that Bildungsroman, a genre concerned with a protagonist’s development and education from childhood to adulthood, fits perfectly into the recent need of literary works for teaching character education in college. Employing literature review, this paper argues that Bildungsroman satisfies the major requirements for literary works for character education in college drawn from O’Sullivan (2004). Bildungsroman also provides a rich source for cultivation of character traits as stipulated by the Indonesian Department of National Education (2010). Furthermore, the general theme of self-development is highly appropriate to the nature of character education in higher education, namely as a continuation and consolidation of the character developed in college students’ previous education. It is expected that the present study will contribute to the teaching of character education through literature...

Over the years, new theories of literary criticism have invariably emerged as a response, critique to, and development of the earlier criticisms. This paper introduces a relatively new literary theory that can enrich the repertoire of literary criticism in Indonesian context, namely family systems therapy or FST, through a critical analysis of Seize the Day by Saul Bellow, an American author whose works mainly deal with the theme of family and the issues revolving it. Partly a critique to Freud’s psychoanalysis and its variants, family systems therapy holds that one’s identity is a part of a matrix of identity, thereby requiring the analysis of one’s interrelatedness with the others involved in the matrix in order to understand one’s self. The analysis shows that the protagonist of the novel, Wilhelm, is involved in a triangle in his effort to cope with his anxiety. Triangling is also found to be merely one of the many outlets for the protagonist’s anxiety. The paper concludes that ...

Read alouds have long been advocated as a reading practice that is not only appropriate for children but also for adult learners. Empirical evidence shows that reading aloud could be an effective strategy for EFL students’ reading comprehension. However, its practice in EFL literature classrooms has received scarce attention. To fill this practical gap, this article reports on the adoption of read alouds 2.0 in a tertiary EFL literature classroom. The read aloud 2.0 aims to help students make meaning of literary texts. In this practice, blended discussion was carried out through Edmodo as a learning platform for virtual engagement between teacher and students and between students and their peers. The implication of this practice is that both teachers and students maximize their engagement with literary texts both face-to-face and virtually.

A large number of frameworks and models have been created to help translate the highly philosophical theory of critical literacy into practice. How these frameworks have been translated into classroom practice is an area much unexplored. The present study critically reviewed the frameworks of critical literacy applied in the classroom practices of language arts and language education within the last twenty years. Adapting the classification put forward by Luke and Woods (2009), the review divides the frameworks into critical pedagogy, textual, and practical approaches. The application of the frameworks identified in this review defies the rigid divisions between critical and textual approaches because text still plays an important role. The additional category of practical approaches is created to refer to frameworks that combine the critical and textual approaches and include more key tenets of critical literacy with a stronger focus on classroom practices. The more recent framewor...

The national literacy movement must be supported by all parties and implemented comprehensively, not only at school but also at home. Literacy education should be started early from home by parents, especially mothers, because reading activities together between parents and children have been proven to be able to develop children's literacy. Therefore, this Assisted Village Service activity, which focuses on Read Aloud training for mothers, is important to carry out. The Read Aloud training is to train mothers to read children's story books, to produce a deep understanding of the importance of introducing literacy to children from an early age in October 2018. This fostered village service involves several mothers who have toddlers and other women's associations such as people's associations. PAUD parents in the Sariwangi Village area, West Java. This activity trains mothers in selecting stories for children and reading stories to and/or with children. Through this a...

This paper aims to investigate ecriture feminine features in The Selection Series: The One novel written by Kiera Cass (2014). Female writers of dystopian literary works have increased in the past current years. The fact that the story of The Selection Series by Kiera Cass is narrated from a female perspective in a patriarchal country has drawn a connection to feminist study. This research used descriptive qualitative method and textual analysis that employed the theory of Ecriture feminine by Helene Cixous (1976) and patriarchy by Gerda Lerner (1986). It is found that two primary features of ecriture feminine , namely patriarchy and bisexual writing, are depicted in the novel as being interrelated. Patriarchy in the novel is mostly found in public sphere; therefore, a large amount of evidence of bisexual writing is found as responses to the patriarchal system. Three main forms of bisexual writing are found in the novel: negotiation, empowerment, and plurality. It seems that Kiera C...

This study aims to examine the journey to maturity of the main character, Landon Carter, in A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks, by analyzing the literary elements that construct it. Employing a textual analysis method, this study is framed within Allport’s (1961) theory of maturity, and to discuss the analysis, Bean and Moni’s (2003) theory of young adult literature is also employed. The findings show that Landon’s journey to maturity is depicted mostly through the use of one literary element, namely characterization peculiar to Reams’ (2015). Based on Allport’s (1961) general criteria of maturity, throughout the story, Landon shows six types of maturity: (1) extension of the sense of self, (2) warm relatedness of self to others, (3) emotional security, (4) realistic perception of skills, (5) self-insight, and (6) unifying philosophy of life, and three types of immaturity: (1) an ego-centric sense of self, (2) emotional insecurity, and (3) lack of self-insight. Based on the analy...

The need for a more critical approach to EFL teaching and learning is undeniable, yet little has been done to prepare teachers for teaching with this approach. This article reports one of the cycles on my action research study, involving a teacher educator and 35 pre-service English teachers. Together with the teacher educator, a unit on critical literacy was developed using fairy tales as the core text. In the unit, we introduced pre-service teachers to critical  literacy through the critical reading, analysis, and rewriting of fairy tales for social transformation. They were assigned to rewrite a fairy tale as a form of social action and to reflect on the choices made in the rewriting process. The re-written fairy tales and the accompanying reflection essay were analysed using a rubric adapted from the four dimensions of critical literacy (Lewison et al., 2002). The re-written fairy tales and the reflections suggest the pre-service teachers’ growing understanding of the non-neutra...

The paper reports a study on the teaching of character education in higher education using English Bildungsroman, Jane Eyre. The participants were 35 sixth-semester students of English Literature program in an Indonesian state university. Guided by the approach to teaching character education exemplified by Ryan & Bohlin (1999), the teaching was focused on the virtues of the story. To find whether students were able to identify, get involved, and have insights with the virtues contained in the story, a textual analysis drawing upon Parker and Ackerman’s (2007) of the students’ literary response essays was then conducted. The results show that most students have successfully identified the virtues in the novel and can relate to the characters and their events. However, only a few students are able to show their involvement with and insight of the virtues contained in the novel. It can be inferred then that Bildungsromans such as Jane Eyre can help the teaching of character education. Nevertheless, character education should be integrated with all subjects for better results.

This paper reports pre-service teachers’ knowledge and understanding about genre
-based pedagogy in the curriculum and its implementation in their EFL classrooms. Six participants who were taking their teaching practicum program in two different state schools took part in the study. Employing a case study design, the data were collected through questionnaire, observations, interviews, and document analysis (lesson plans). The findings show that the pre-service teachers had varying degrees of knowledge and understanding of what genre-based pedagogy is and how to apply it in the teaching and learning. All of them, though, believe that genre-based pedagogy is very useful and applicable in EFL teaching and learning. Out of the six participants, four employed the pedagogy in their classroom teaching and learning. There is, however, a gap between what the pre-service teachers know and understand about genre-based pedagogy and how they apply it in the classroom. Most of the pre-service teachers skip the most important part in genre-based pedagogy, namely building
knowledge of the field. They also do not give feedback to their students’ writing. These findings have some implications for the English teacher education in Indonesia. Teacher education institutes should pay more attention on pre-service teachers’ practices in the classroom. Cooperation between the teacher supervisor, lecturer, and pre-service teachers is really needed.

Read alouds have long been advocated as a reading practice that is not only appropriate for children but also for adult learners. Empirical evidence shows that reading aloud could be an effective strategy for EFL students’ reading comprehension. However, its practice in EFL literature classrooms has received scarce attention. To fill this practical gap, this article reports on the adoption of read alouds 2.0 in a tertiary EFL literature classroom. The read aloud 2.0 aims to help students make meaning of literary texts. In this practice, blended discussion was carried out through Edmodo as a learning platform for virtual engagement between teacher and students and between students and their peers. The implication of this practice is that both teachers and students maximize their engagement with literary texts both face-to-face and virtually.

Literature has gained an increasingly important place in language learning. Particularly in the EFL context, it has been regarded as beneficial for the improvement of English skills. However, there is not much attention given to the teaching of English literature for the sake of literature, not merely as a tool or technique in language learning, especially in Indonesia. The research therefore aims to investigate the teaching of English literature to EFL students in Indonesian universities. More specifically, it attempts to find how English literature lecturers select literary texts, what problems encountered by lecturers in teaching English literature to EFL students, and how they cope with the problems. A case study to three lecturers teaching three different literature courses in a state university in Indonesia was conducted. The findings show that: First, lengths, levels of language difficulty, canonical status, and the cultural background of the author become the main consideration for selecting the literary texts to teach; Second, the problems encountered are of threefold, namely reading habit, English proficiency, and resources; and Third, some of the strategies to cope with the problems consist of individual reading assignment, reading group, and taking the most advantage of the internet for teaching resources. This research has demonstrated that there are many areas for further studies in the teaching of English literature to EFL students in Indonesia, finding effective teaching models is one of them.

Folklore has increasingly gained its significance as one of the important bases for national identity, as attested to by P. V. Palsala G. Kutty, who claims that “folklore is . . .  the most important and well-acclaimed component of the cultural heritage of a nation” (4). Indeed, the collection of folklore, particularly the transfer of verbal folklore into written forms, such as legends, has been vigorously conducted by the government of Indonesia. Legends in particular are studied and introduced as early as in primary school. They are even made into children books that can be read even to toddlers as bedtime stories. As with every narrative, legends, too, are political. Their collection and dissemination are not without any political bases. As the largest archipelago in the world, with hundredsof ethnic groups with various languages, customs, and traditions, Indonesia as a nation needs to muster all that it can to preserve the unity of the nation, the so-called “bhinneka tunggal ika” or Unity in Diversity. In this regard, legends appear to fulfilljust what the nation needs, a means to disseminate and cultivate a sense of unity despite the diverse backgrounds among Indonesian people. By randomly taking five legends originating from regions of the five big islands in Indonesia—the legends of Tangkuban Parahu Mountain (Java), Lake Toba (Sumatera), Batu Bangkai Mountain (Kalimantan), Batu Bangga (Sulawesi), and Telaga Wekaburi (Papua Barat), this paper will try to demonstrate how the value of sacrifice that makes possible the creation of a natural landscape stands as a conspicuous message for the reader that for the sake of community’s integrity, sacrifice is a must. This translates well into the sacrifice each of ethnic groups in Indonesia should perform in order to be able to stay in unity.

Key terms: Folklore, legend, national identity, sacrifice, unity in diversity.

Even though matrilineal culture has gradually become extinct, some of its values and traditions still persist until today, notwithstanding the ever-encroaching patriarchal culture, ultimately one brought about by colonization. Literature, in this case, plays a significant role in saving its values and traditions from extinction. Many literary works invariably preserve matrilineal culture by portraying, representing, and criticizing its values, beliefs, and practices. To track the traces of matrilineal values and traditions in literature, two works of two writers from different continents will be analyzed in this study, namely “Sang Guru Juki” or “Juki the Teacher” by A. A. Navis and “Uncle Tony’s Goat” by Leslie Marmon Silko. The string that attaches the two works is not only the inclusion of matrilineal values and traditions, but also the writers’ similar background. Both Navis and Silko come from ethnic groups upholding the matrilineal culture: Minangkabau and Pueblo Laguna ethnic groups respectively. Although the two short stories center on different settings, where the former revolves around the life of Juki as a teacher during his involvement in the war and the latter around the “happy” life of a Native American family, both stories offer the same journey into some of the values and traditions of matrilineal culture, such as the bargaining position women have in a society and the close familial kinship with the male relative from mother’s side. Furthermore, the two stories demonstrate that colonization has intervened and shattered the matrilineal culture, causing it to come closer to extinction, and more importantly, pushing women further to the periphery.   
Key terms: Matrilineal Culture, Minangkabau, Pueblo Laguna, Colonization

Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children is one of his most famous works alongside The Satanic Verses, Shame, and some other great works. Midnight’s Children, in particular, has garnered critical acclaim worldwide for its attempts of reclaiming history of India and claiming the nation itself using various symbols and metaphors (cf. Mannone, 2004; Abraham, 2010). One of the most important symbols and metaphors Rushdie employs in the novel is “the Perforated Sheet,” which is also the title for the opening chapter. The perforated sheet has, indeed, generated various interpretations by a large number of interested critics. One of the many interpretations critics offer (see Grace, 2004) reveals that the perforated sheet is a metaphor of veiling, carrying various meanings on how the rhetoric of veiling is used by Rushdie to comment on religious affairs, and, ultimately it is used as a political statement, commentary and a means of finding or asserting an identity. What seems to be missing from the discussion on the perforated sheet is the fact that the perforation can also be interpreted as a means of unveiling India. If Naseem Ghani’s body—the body that is unveiled through the perforated sheet by Doctor Aadam Aziz—is the metaphorical India, the perforation or the hole of the sheet is a “peep-hole,” a lens through which India can be seen, understood and loved. With a big question of how Rushdie identifies India with Naseem’s body and a perforation on a sheet, this paper attempts at revealing Rushdie’s representation of India and his efforts of claiming what constitutes “India.” A close reading of the text reveals that the fragmented body of Naseem, as unveiled through the perforation of the sheet, represents India as a fragmented nation, both literally and metaphorically. In addition, the perforation offers a way of looking at India, not as a wholesome unity, but in parts—in fragments. Just like Doctor Aziz who loves Naseem (and her body) in fragments but not in her wholesomeness, it is safe to say that loving the diversity of a nation is dissimilar to loving the nation as a unity. Furthermore, the perforated sheet unveils women’s position in the narration of the nation and in the nation itself. The way Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children unveils India and represents the nation through “imagined midnight’s children” can be read as Rushdie’s way of using the narrative to (re)claim his (imagined) India.