Can students learn what the textbook says? A Cognitive outlook into an Indonesian EFL textbook
Downloads
Findings from Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research, which offer critical insights into how learners acquire and process language, are often overlooked in the development of curricula and textbooks for early English Language Teaching (ELT). This raises questions about the feasibility of the learning objectives promoted in these materials. To address this gap, this study analyzes a junior high school EFL textbook within the framework of Processability Theory (PT) to examine whether the sequencing of grammatical structures aligns with the teachability hierarchy predicted by PT. The analysis focuses on the grading of grammatical structures and compares their distribution with the stages of acquisition prescribed by PT. The findings reveal only a partial alignment with the PT hierarchy, highlighting a disconnect between textbook design and learners' developmental stages. This misalignment is largely due to the theme-based approach being adopted by the textbook and therefore highlights the need for textbook writers, curriculum developer and English teacher to better integrate SLA research into developing textbooks, particularly in the context of the Kurikulum Merdeka, which emphasizes learner-centered education and learners’ cognitive liberation.
Downloads
Arntzen, R., Hakansson, G., Hjelde, A., & Kefller, J.-U. (2019). Teachability and learnability across languages. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Atar, C. (2021). An analysis of the English textbooks in Turkish primary schools with regard to the processability theory. Shanlax International Journal of Education, 9, pp. 117-125.
Basthomi, Y. (2020). Patterns of the teaching and learning cycle of GBA by EFL teachers in Indonesia. Journal of Education and e-Learning Research, 7(1), pp. 34-41.
Belda-Medina, J. (2021). Enhancing multimodal interaction and communicative competence through task-based language teaching (TBLT) in synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC). Education Sciences, 11(11), 723.
Bettoni, C., & Di Biase, B. (2015). Processability theory: Theoretical bases and universal schedules. Grammatical development in second languages: Exploring the boundaries of Processability Theory, 3.
Clifton, G. J. (2023). Language assessment literacy and formative assessment in Indonesian EFL Education: A study of assessment policy, teaching materials, and teacher practices under Kurikulum Merdeka. University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Damayanti, I. L. (2019). Cerita (Stories): A pedagogical model for teaching story genres to lower secondary school students in Indonesia.
Damayanti, I. L., Febrianti, Y., Nurlaelawati, I., Suharto, P., Fellani, A., & Rahmadhani, R. (2022). English for nusantara. Pusat Perbukuan.
Dyson, B. (2019). Are speech and writing teachable? Teachability and Learnability across Languages, 6, 71.
Dyson, B. P. (2021). Dynamic variation in second language acquisition: A language processing perspective. In Processability ApprYches to Language Acquisition Research and Teaching (Vol. 8, pp. 1-292): John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Dyson, B. P., & Håkansson, G. (2017). Understanding second language processing: A focus on Processability Theory (Vol. 4). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Eguchi, A., & Sugiura, M. (2015). Applicability of processability theory to Japanese adolescent EFL learners: A case study of early L2 syntactic and morphological development. System, 52, 115-126.
Ellis, R. (2015). The importance of focus on form in communicative language teaching. Eurasian Journal of Applied Linguistics (Online), 1(2), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.32601/ejal.460611
Ellis, R. (2016). Focus on form: A critical review. Language teaching research: LTR, 20(3), 405-428. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168816628627
Ellis, R., Skehan, P., Li, S., Shintani, N., & Lambert, C. (2020). Task-based language teaching: Theory and practice. Cambridge University Press.
Emilia, E. (2005). A critical genre-based approach to teaching academic writing in a tertiary EFL context in Indonesia. University of Melbourne, Department of Language, Literacy and Arts Education.
Emilia, E. (2011). Pendekatan genre-based dalam pengajaran bahasa Inggris: Petunjuk untuk guru. Rizqi Prss.
Johnston, M. (1985). 1985: Syntactic and morphological progressions in learner English. Commonwealth Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs.
Kamal, S. (2023). Kurikulum merdeka in two senior high schools: Its implementation in EFL classroom. Global Expert: Jurnal Bahasa dan Sastra, 11(2), 60-63.
Kartika-Ningsih, H., & Gunawan, W. (2019). Recontextualisation of genre-based pedagogy: The case of Indonesian EFL classrooms. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 9(2), 335-347.
KEMENDIKBUD. (2016). Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia [Ministerial Decree of the Minister of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia]. Indonesia: Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan Republik Indonesia.
Kessler, J.-U. (2008). Processability approaches to second language development and second language learning. Cambridge Scholars Press.
Keßler, J. U. (2022). Teaching processability theory in foreign language teacher education: A short report [Article]. Instructed Second Language Acquisition, 6(2), 248-264. https://doi.org/10.1558/isla.21512
Lenzing, A. (2008a). Teachability and learnability: An analysis of primary school textbooks. Processability approaches to second language development and second language learning, 221-241.
Lenzing, A. (2008b). Teachability and learnability: An analysis of primary school textbooks anke lenzing, University of Paderborn. Processability approaches to second language development and second language learning, 221.
Lenzing, A. (2013). Development of the Grammatical system in early second language acquisition: The multiple constraints hypothesis (Vol. 3). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Lenzing, A., Nicholas, H., & Roos, J. (2019). Widening contexts for processability theory: Theories and issues (Vol. 7). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Luo, W.-H. (2024). Investigating English textbooks used in Taiwanese senior high schools from an ELF perspective. Studies in English Language and Education, 11(1), 10-168-187).
Mattsson, A. F. (2022). Rethinking textbook grammar introduction [Article]. Instructed Second Language Acquisition, 6(2), 196-218. https://doi.org/10.1558/isla.21186
Ortega, L. (2005). Methodology, epistemology, and ethics in instructed SLA research: An introduction. The Modern Language Journal, 89(3), 317-327.
Pienemann, M. (1998). Language processing and second language development: Processability theory. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Pienemann, M. (2005). Cross-linguistic aspects of processability theory. John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Pienemann, M., Johnston, M., & Brindley, G. (1988). Constructing an acquisition-based procedure for second language assessment. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 10(2), 217-243. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44488174
Pienemann, M., & Kessler, J. r.-U. (2011). Studying processability theory an introductory textbook. John Benjamins Pub. Co.
Putra, D. A., & Lukmana, I. (2017). Text complexity in senior high school English textbooks: A systemic functional perspective. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(2), 436-444.
Roos, J. (2019). Exploiting the potential of tasks for targeted language learning in the EFL classroom. In A. Lenzing (Ed.), Widening contexts for processability theory : theories and issues (Vol. 7). John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Santi, D. O., & Endarto, I. T. (2024). Evaluating EFL textbooks for vocational high schools in Indonesia: A corpus-informed and lexile-based model. Studies in English Language and Education, 11(3), 1412-1430. https://doi.org/10.24815/siele.v11i3.34976
Siregar, R. A., Sukyadi, D., & Yusuf, F. N. (2024). A critical content analysis of writing materials covered in Indonesian high school English textbooks. Studies in English Language and Education, 11(1), 12.
Spada, N., & Tomita, Y. (2010). Interactions between type of instruction and type of language feature: A meta-analysis. Language Learning, 60(2), 263-308. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9922.2010.00562.x
Syairofi, A., Mujahid, Z., Mustofa, M., Ubaidillah, M. F., & Namaziandost, E. (2023). Emancipating SLA findings to inform efl textbooks: a look at Indonesian school English textbooks. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 32(2), 177-188. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40299-022-00642-9
Tang, X. (2019). Learnability of grammatical sequencing: A processability perspective of textbook evaluation in EFL Settings. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics, 42(2), 236-257.
Yamaguchi, Y., & Kawaguchi, S. (2014). Acquisition of english morphology by a japanese school-aged child: A longitudinal study [Article]. Asian EFL Journal, 16(1), 89-119. https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84896938219&partnerID=40&md5=f85d3e58303b4f97275f0d3e55eb4e7c
Yunus, M., Dalle, M. B., Hudriati, A., & Strid, J. E. (2024). Enhancing paragraph writing proficiency: A study of students' performance post global english textbooks exposure. International Journal of Language Education, 8(1), 127-141.
Zein, S., Sukyadi, D., Hamied, F. A., & Lengkanawati, N. S. (2020). English language education in Indonesia: A review of research (2011–2019). Language Teaching, 53(4), 491-523. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444820000208
Copyright (c) 2025 Rudi Suherman, Nur Fitri Latifah
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Jurnal Cakrawala Pendidikan, Jurnal Ilmiah Pendidikan, with ISSN: 0216-1370, is published by the Institute of Education Development and Quality Assurance (LPPMP UNY). Cakrawala Pendidikan has been recently has been re-accredited by Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture decision Number 230/E/KPT/2022 which is valid for five years since enacted on 30 December 2022.
