Intercultural Dynamics in English Language Learning at Islamic Schools: Impacts on Student Islamic Identity Construction in a Culturally Pluralistic Context
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23887/jpbi.v12i2.85011Keywords:
English language learning, Islamic identity construction, Culturally pluralistic context, Intercultural dynamics, Cultural and religious identityAbstract
The dynamics of intercultural communication and language acquisition are very important in Islamic schools, where English language learning intersects with the formation of students' Islamic identity. This study aims to analyze the intercultural dynamics in English language learning in Islamic schools and its impact on the construction of students' Islamic identity in a pluralistic cultural context. This study uses a qualitative approach with a case study method. The subjects of this study were students in grades X, XI, and XII in four selected schools, as well as English teachers who teach in these classes. Then, for in-depth interviews, subjects were selected purposively. The data for this study were collected through in-depth interviews and questionnaires. The research data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The results of the thematic analysis of the data indicate that students face significant intercultural challenges, including linguistic barriers, cultural misunderstandings, and limited exposure to English outside the classroom. These challenges often create tensions as students try to balance the pressure to adopt a global identity and maintain their local cultural and religious values. The findings of this study indicate that although most students considered the impact of English language learning on their Islamic identity to be neutral (having neither positive nor negative effects), a number of students experienced positive reinforcement or potential conflict in their identity construction.
References
Agustina Sari, Y., Latief, S., & Al Faruq Hasyim, U. A. (2021). Investigasi Kesulitan Mahasiswa pada Structure and Written Expression Section of TOEFL di Perguruan Tinggi Kota Metro. Curricula: Journal of Teaching and Learning, 6(1), 2021. https://doi.org/10.22216/jcc.2021.v6i1.122.
Alfian, A., Yusuf, M., & Nafiah, U. (2021). Integrating Islamic values in teaching English: Lessons learned from an integrated Islamic school. Elsya : Journal of English Language Studies, 4(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.31849/elsya.v4i1.7322.
Alharbi, H. A. (2015). Improving students’ English speaking proficiency in Saudi public schools. International Journal of Instruction, 8(1), 105–116. https://doi.org/10.12973/iji.2015.818a.
Ali, F. M., & Bagley, C. (2015). Islamic education in a multicultural society: The case of a muslim school in Canada. Canadian Journal of Education, 38(4), 1–26. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/canajeducrevucan.38.4.10.pdf.
Alkouatli, C., Memon, N., Chown, D., & Sai, Y. (2023). Something more beautiful: educational and epistemic integrations beyond inequities in Muslim-minority contexts. Journal for Multicultural Education, 17(4), 406–418. https://doi.org/10.1108/JME-05-2022-0062.
Azmi, M. N. L., Hassan, I., Ali, E. M. T. E., Abdullah, A. T. H., YahaAlias, M. H. bin, Anas, M. bin, & Suhaimi, N. I. (2021). Islamic self-identity formation through language learning: A study of religious secondary school students in Malaysia. English Language and Literature Studies, 11(1), 38. https://doi.org/10.5539/ells.v11n1p38.
Azmi, M. N. L., Hassan, I., Engku Ali, E. M. T., Abdullah, A. T. H., Anas, M., & Suhaimi, N. I. (2020). Teachers’ perceptions of Islamic self-identity formation through language learning among students in selected religious secondary schools. International Journal of Society, Culture, and Language. https://doi.org/10.5539/ELLS.V11N1P38.
Baškarada, S. (2014). Qualitative Case Study Guidelines. The Qualitative Report, 19(40), 1–18. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2559424.
Baum, M. T. (2014). ‘The aspect of the heart’: English and self-identity in the experience of preservice teachers. Language and Intercultural Communication, 14(4), 407–422. https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2014.934379.
Bleiler-Baxter, S. K., Kirby, J. E., & Reed, S. D. (2023). Understanding authority in small-group co-constructions of mathematical proof. Journal of Mathematical Behavior, 70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmathb.2022.101015.
Boonsuk, Y., & Ambele, E. A. (2022). Developing an Islamic teacher. In Supporting Modern Teaching in Islamic Schools.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.
Dam, M., Ottenhof, K., Van Boxtel, C., & Janssen, F. (2019). Understanding cellular respiration through simulation using lego as a concrete dynamic model. Education Sciences, 9(2), 72. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9020072.
Diallo, I. (2014). Emirati students encounter Western teachers: tensions and identity resistance. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Gulf Perspectives. Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Gulf Perspectives, 11(2), 46–59. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.18538/lthe.v11.n2.158/full/html.
Fajriani, S. W., & Sugandi, Y. S. (2019). Hijrah Islami milenial berdasarkan paradigma berorientasi identitas. SOSIOGLOBAL : Jurnal Pemikiran Dan Penelitian Sosiologi, 3(5), 77–88. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/295543174.pdf.
Fatimah, A. S., & Santiana, S. (2017). Teaching in 21St Century: Students-Teachers’ Perceptions of Technology Use in the Classroom. Script Journal: Journal of Linguistic and English Teaching, 2(2), 125. https://doi.org/10.24903/sj.v2i2.132.
Hussain, S., & Read, J. G. (2015). Islamic schools in the United States and England: Implications for integration and social cohesion. Social Compass, 62(4), 556–569. https://doi.org/10.1177/0037768615602149.
Inawati, A. (2017). Strategi Pengembangan Moral dan Nilai Agama Untuk Anak Usia Dini Asti Inawati. Jurnal Pendidikan Anak, 3(1). https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/230724555.pdf.
Jailani, A. I., Halim, N. binti A., & Narasuman, S. (2020). The perceived influence of English language on Islamic identity and value of students enrolled in an Islamic-oriented human resource education programme. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 10(6), 506–521. https://doi.org/10.6007/ijarbss/v10-i6/7329.
Jick, T. D. (1979). Mixing qualitative and quantitative methods: Triangulation in action. Administrative Science Quarterly, 24(4), 602–611. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2392366.
Kidwell, T. (2019). A cultural balancing act: The learning, practices, and beliefs of novice Indonesian teachers of English. AERA: American Educational Research Association 2019.
Kim, T. P. (2023). Reviewing the significance of practice in learning English as a second language. Journal of Knowledge Learning and Science Technology ISSN: 2959-6386 (Online), 2(2), 62–67. https://doi.org/10.60087/jklst.vol2.n2.p.67.
Kustati, M., Deswila, N., Besral, B., & Zulfikar, T. (2023). Cross-cultural awareness: EFL learners’ barriers to learning English. Journal of Innovation in Educational and Cultural Research, 4(1), 98–108. https://doi.org/10.46843/jiecr.v4i1.517.
Leung, C. (2022). Language proficiency: from description to prescription and back? Educational Linguistics, 1(1), 56–81. https://doi.org/10.1515/eduling-2021-0006.
Madkur, A., & As’ad, M. S. (2024). Negotiating the complexities of English language teaching in a religiously rooted environment: Indonesian pesantren teachers’ perspectives. Eralingua: Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Asing Dan Sastra, 8(1), 201. https://doi.org/10.26858/eralingua.v8i1.58639.
Miharja, D., Mulyana, M., & Izzan, A. (2019). Islam, ethnicity and cultural politics of identity: The religiousity of Betawi Muslim in Jakarta. Wawasan: Jurnal Ilmiah Agama Dan Sosial Budaya, 4(2), 132–143. https://doi.org/10.15575/jw.v4i2.4718.
Munandar, M. I. (2022). Interculturality and Islam in Indonesia’s high-school EFL Classrooms. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 62(2), 301–323. https://doi.org/10.1515/iral-2021-0200
Pahlevi, T., Rosy, B., & Elizabeth Ranu, M. (2018). A Scientific Approach Based on Portfolio Assessment for Autonom Problem Solving. International Journal of Educational Research Review, 3(2), 29–36. https://doi.org/10.24331/ijere.406124.
Richards, J. C. (2015). The changing face of language learning: Learning beyond the classroom. RELC Journal, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688214561621.
Rosalina, I. (2021). The negotiation of English teachers’ identity representation in EFL classroom. Nuris Journal of Education and Islamic Studies, 1(1), 31–39. https://doi.org/10.52620/jeis.v1i1.3.
Rosida, I., & Azwar, M. (2021). YouTube as a new culture in Indonesia: The construction of gender role in the lens of the circuit of culture. International Journal of Media and Information Literacy, 6(1), 182–192. https://doi.org/10.13187/IJMIL.2021.1.182.
Sabiq, A. H. A., Roqib, M., Sarah, S., & Ma’ruf, A. (2022). Pesantren students’ religious beliefs and attitudes toward learning English in Indonesia. 3L: Language, Linguistics, Literature, 28(1), 60–74. https://doi.org/10.17576/3L-2022-2801-05.
Saikat, S., Dhillon, J. S., Ahmad, W. F. W., & Jamaluddin, R. A. (2021). A systematic review of the benefits and challenges of mobile learning during the covid-19 pandemic. In Education Sciences (Vol. 11, Issue 9). https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11090459.
Sofyan, S., Widyantoro, A., & Adoma, P. O. (2023). Analysis of students’ difficulties in learning English skills at boarding Islamic schools. International Journal of Contemporary Studies in Education (IJ-CSE), 2(3), 223–241. https://doi.org/10.56855/ijcse.v2i3.766.
Stubbs, B. B., & Sallee, M. W. (2013). Muslim, too: Navigating multiple identities at an American university. Equity and Excellence in Education, 46(4), 451–467. https://doi.org/10.1080/10665684.2013.838129.
Suhaimi, N. I. (2019). Influence of the English language in shaping Islamic identity among religious secondary school students. KnE Social Sciences.
Sung, C. C. M. (2014). Global, local or glocal? Identities of L2 learners in English as a Lingua Franca communication. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 27(1), 43–57. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2014.890210.
Suryanto. (2014). Issues in teaching English in a cultural context: A case of Indonesia. The Journal of English Literacy Education: The Teaching and Learning of English as a Foreign Language, 1(2), 75–82. https://ejournal.unsri.ac.id/index.php/jenglish/article/view/2075.
Susilo, M. J., Dewantoro, M. H., & Yuningsih, Y. (2022). Character education trend in Indonesia. Journal of Education and Learning (EduLearn), 16(2), 180–188. https://doi.org/10.11591/edulearn.v16i2.20411.
Suyatno, S. (2013). Sekolah Islam terpadu; Filsafat, ideologi, dan tren baru pendidikan Islam di Indonesia. Jurnal Pendidikan Islam, 2(2), 355–377. https://doi.org/10.14421/jpi.2013.22.355-377.
Taufik, M., & Taufik, A. (2020). Hijrah and Pop culture: Hijab and other muslim fashions among students in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara. Teosofia: Indonesian Journal of Islamic Mysticism, 8(2), 97–116. https://doi.org/10.21580/tos.v8i2.5305.
Yin, R. K. (2003). Case study research: Design and Methods (3rd ed.). Sage Publications.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 M. Ali Ghufron, Ahmad Taufiq, Ali Usman Firdaus
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with the Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Undiksha agree to the following terms:- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-SA 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work. (See The Effect of Open Access)
