INTEGRATION OF THE LOCAL CULTURES IN ENGLISH SYLLABUS DESIGN FOR EIGHT GRADERS OF ISLAMIC JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL (IJHS) MIFTAHUSSALAM DEMAK

Abstract

This research aims at integrating the topics of local cultures (Hasselgreen, 2003) in English syllabus design for the students of eighth grades. Furthermore, this study outlines a framework from Nation and Macalister on language curriculum design (2010) in designing syllabus. The subjects of this research were 75 students of eighth grades in Islamic Junior High School (IJHS) Miftahussalam Demak, 5 English teachers, and 3 stakeholders. The data were collected through questionnaire, interview, observation, and document review. This study reveals that the published English textbooks dominantly contain 55, 2 % of international cultures but only 44, 8 % of local cultures. It means that English textbooks neglect the students’ native culture as potential source. They actually need topic of local cultures that are able to increase their motivation and cultural awareness in learning a foreign language. In final section, the designed English syllabus meets the goals of teaching and learning and the students’ need, and it is effective for teaching the students of IJHS Miftahussalam because t-test score is higher than t-table (2.458 > 1.692).