Journal of English Education and Teaching

Bridging Vocational Students’ Needs and Industry Demands: Designing Authentic English Learning Materials for Hotel Services

2025-12-15T07:06:56+00:00

The hotel industry’s demands on graduates from the hotel department in vocational school are high. However, graduates’ communication skills using English are still low because imbalance between English learning materials and workplace realities. This study aims to identify the needs of authentic English learning materials that align with industry language expectations. This explanatory sequential mixed-method design involved 62 hotel department students, 5 English teachers, and five hotel stakeholders in Padang, Indonesia. Questionnaires, interview guidelines, and focus group discussions (FGDs) were used to gather the quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, while the thematic analysis was used for qualitative data. The results of this study indicate that both oral (e.g., greeting guests, managing complaints, and handling reservations) and written communication (e.g., confirmation emails and service reports) were highly prioritized for the hotel industry. Additionally, the vital authentic resources needed to be learned by students included reservation forms, brochures, guest service videos, and business emails. These findings highlight that teachers need to foster student engagement and professional competence by shifting from textbook-based to real-task-driven approaches to teach English in the hotel department of vocational schools.

EFL Practicum Realities: Challenges Shaping Preservice Teachers' Professional Development

2025-12-17T04:02:17+00:00

This research aims to discover the experiences of preservice English teachers during their teaching practice in Islamic state universities in West Sumatera Province, Indonesia and the unique difficulties they face. Using a descriptive quantitative design, the researchers gathered data from 150 respondents through the questionnaires in five primary areas: linguistic challenges, teaching difficulties, mentorship and supervision, school support, and school culture. Evidence collected during the research detailed that participants 72% could not explain their lessons in English, and classroom talk was identified to be a significant barrier 68%. Students also experienced difficulties in pedagogy, with respondents reporting low confidence in the use of diverse teaching strategies 61% and a lack of confidence 66% in the use of technology in teaching. In terms of supervision, 70% of respondents did not receive sufficient feedback from their mentors, and 63% of respondents described the lack of dialogues and discussions on teaching and learning strategies. Respondents also described their school as having little support and supervision. Other challenges respondents described included lack of internet 75% and their school was also described as remote (62%). In the area of organizational culture, respondents 78% remarked that the teaching practice was too brief to establish relationships with the teachers, and 67% described the work environment as having little to no participation. These findings highlight significant gaps in language proficiency, pedagogical preparedness, quality of mentoring and institutional coordination which significantly impact the professional growth of preservice teachers.

Role of Peer and Self-Assessment Practices for Enhancing Critical Writing in EFL High School

2025-12-23T05:08:31+00:00

This study examines the effect of peer and self – assessment practices on high school students’ critical writing in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. A quasi-experimental design with two groups was employed with the intervention lasting six weeks. The participants were 60 students of the eleventh grade from a private high school in Medan. Peer and self-assessment using analytic rubrics were implemented in the experimental group, while the conventional teacher feedback was applied in the control group. The students’ writing performance was measured through pretest and posttest. In addition, qualitative data were collected using open-ended questionnaires to explore the students’ perception in implementing peer and self-assessment. The findings revealed a significant improvement in the experimental group especially in the aspect of argument development and critical reflection, compared to the control group. The findings also indicated the students’ awareness of writing and confidence increase after the implementation of peer and self-assessment in the experimental group. Overall, peer and self-assessment encouraged active engangement in the writing process and supported the development of critical thinking skills. It can be concluded that peer and self-assessment are effective in enhancing critical writing among high school EFL students.

From Comprehension Struggles to Reflective Growth: An Exploratory Study of Vodcast Use in Self-Directed Listening among Beginner EFL Learners

2025-12-23T08:14:31+00:00

This qualitative study investigated the experiences of beginner English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners utilizing English vodcasts for self-directed listening and metacognitive reflection. During a six-week intervention, 25 university students in West Sumatera, Indonesia, interacted with authentic spoken English input, supported by structured reflection. Data from Vodcast Analysis Templates and Oral Recordings documented comprehension processes, strategic responses, metacognitive insights, and affective engagement. Thematic analysis revealed four interconnected themes: challenges in listening comprehension, strategic responses to difficulties, metacognitive reflection and awareness, and affective engagement and motivation. Students often encountered difficulties with fast speech, unfamiliar accents, idiomatic expressions, and complex content, and they addressed these challenges through repetition, note-taking, and the use of subtitles. The templates facilitated learners in articulating breakdowns, evaluating listening behaviors, and recognizing growth. Overreliance on subtitles and repetition occasionally promoted superficial processing; some learners focused on vocabulary without incorporating it into discourse comprehension; and inconsistent oral responses indicated variable spoken fluency. The findings indicate that vodcasts can enhance autonomy, strategy use, and reflective learning, while also identifying areas that need instructional improvement.

The Influence of Self-Regulated Learning and Social Support on Academic Resilience in Full-Time Students Compared to Working Students: An Explanatory Survey

2025-12-18T04:00:30+00:00

Today's complex academic demands require full-time and working students to use self-regulated learning skills, social support, and academic resilience to manage learning pressures. This study aims to investigate the influence of self-regulated learning and social support on academic resilience among full-time and working English students in Bengkulu. Specifically, it compares academic resilience between these two groups, providing insights into how these characteristics interact with different student commitments. Using an explanatory survey design, this study investigated the causal relationships between self-regulated learning (X1), social support (X2), and academic resilience (Y) among English students who were full-time and working in Bengkulu. Questionnaires were used to collect the data. The samples were selected randomly consisting of 100 respondents—65 full-time and 35 working students. The data were analysed using multiple regression analysis to identify significant and dominant factors (whether X1 or X2) influencing Y. The research findings found proof that both factors significantly influenced academic resilience, but with different dominant patterns in each student group. Independent learning was the most dominant factor for full-time students (R² = 0.788), since it reflected its strong role in an academic environment. Conversely, social support was the dominant factor for working students (R² = 0.756), indicating the important role of support from the social environment in helping students cope with time and energy constraints. These findings revealed the significance of adjusting pedagogical strategies to students' levels and needs in English language learning in higher education, thereby building their academic resilience.

Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation as Predictors of Academic English Reading Performance among Multidisciplinary University Students

2025-12-16T06:57:29+00:00

Numerous studies in the last decade have predominantly examined reading motivation among English major students, leaving limited evidence from multidisciplinary non-English majors in social sciences and humanities. This present study aims to examine the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation levels and their relationship with academic reading performance among 150 undergraduate students from five non-English majors at two private universities in Bukittinggi, Indonesia. This quantitative correlational research design collected the data through a reading motivation questionnaire comprising intrinsic and extrinsic dimensions, and an academic English reading test. The data were analyzed descriptively (mean and standard deviation) and inferentially using Pearson correlation analysis. The results revealed that students’ academic reading ability was at a moderate-to-high level (M = 78.4, SD = 7.6). Students have better academic reading performance in literal comprehension than in inferential and evaluative comprehension. Additionally, the statistical analysis results show that there is a significant correlation between students’ intrinsic motivation and their reading performance (r = 0.47, p < 0.001). In contrast, the correlation between students’ intrinsic motivation and reading performance was lower (r = 0.21, p. < 0.005). These findings suggest that the most influential factor to foster students’ ability in academic reading was intrinsic motivation.

English Teachers’ Challenges and Strategies in Teaching Deaf Students in Bengkulu City

2025-12-29T04:30:36+00:00

English teachers can have unique challenges in teaching English to deaf students. They need to utilize special strategies and resources. Gaining insight about the teachers’ challenges and strategies in teaching English for deaf students is important to enhance English language education for deaf learners. This research is intended to find the challenges of English teachers in teaching deaf students, besides to find out the strategies practiced by English teachers to overcome the challenges. The design was a qualitative research design. The data for this study were obtained from classroom observations and interviews conducted in-depth with two English teachers from two special schools (SLBN) located in Bengkulu City. The instruments were an observation sheet and an interview guidance. The results also show that teachers faced various challenges, including adapting the teaching material, encountering communication barriers and maintaining the motivation of the students. They used visual aids, interactive media, clear nonverbal communication, and student-centered approaches to overcome these challenges. The study also highlighted that resource limitation and the variety of sign language systems impacted the effectiveness of teaching. Deaf students face great challenges and English teachers use a wide range of effective strategies to overcome them. The outcome underscores the value of visual, interactive and relational pedagogies. It is important to better understand these issues in other contexts and with a greater diversity of disability.

Factors Influencing Students’ Speaking Anxiety in Class Presentation of Undergraduate English Majors at The University of Bengkulu

2025-12-18T06:21:35+00:00

Speaking anxiety refers to feelings of worry, tension, and nervousness related to one’s ability to speak in front of an audience. Class presentations, a common speaking activity in academic settings, often trigger this anxiety among students. This research aims to investigate the levels and factors influencing students’ speaking anxiety during class presentations. To achieve these aims, a mixed-method approach was used. Data were collected through a questionnaire adapted from the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) by Horwitz et al. (1986), along with follow-up interviews. The participants were 178 students from the English Education Study Program at the University of Bengkulu. Additionally, five students were interviewed to gain deeper insights into the factors causing anxiety. The results showed that 19 students (10%) were in the “very relaxed” category, 46 students (26%) in the “relaxed,” 65 students (37%) in the “mildly anxious,” 25 students (14%) in the “anxious,” and 23 students (13%) in the “very anxious” category. Most students experienced a mildly anxious level. The study also identified three main factors that significantly contribute to students’ anxiety: communication apprehension, test anxiety, and fear of evaluation. These findings highlight that speaking anxiety is common among students, especially during class presentations. Also, provide lecturers with valuable insights for developing strategies to help students improve their speaking confidence and performance.