The Integration of the Teaching of English with the Islamic Values at SMP Islam Al-Azhar 15 Cilacap

Oleh Nur Khamdan*

Abstract. Undang-undang Republik Indonesia No. 20 Year 2003, Article II Clause 3 states that the goal of the national education is to develop the potential of education participants to be the people who have balanced mastery of science and technology in addition to have faith and righteousness. Therefore, the process of teaching and learning in Indonesia must be integrated with the values of faith and righteousness to the Only One Supreme God (IMTAQ). This study was conducted in such a context.

The study is a descriptive case study with a qualitative research design. The subject of the study was an English teacher of SMP Islam Al-Azhar 15 Cilacap. Five techniques of qualitative data collection were applied, namely observations, field notes, recording, documentation, and interviews

The study is focused on identifying and describing the phenomena of the integration of the teaching of English with the Islamic values at SMP Islam Al-Azhar 15 Cilacap. It included how the English teacher designed the lesson plan, how the English teacher selected the instructional materials, how the English teacher integrated the instructional activities with the Islamic values, and the way the English teacher assessed the students’ achievement.

The result of the study showed that the Islamic values were integrated in the lesson plans, the instructional materials, the instructional activities, and the assessment.

Key words: the integration, the teaching of English, the Islamic values, SMP Islam Al-Azhar 15 Cilacap

In today’s globalization era, interaction with other nations in the world is unavoidable. It happens every day.  However, it is difficult to interact with other nations without understanding the language they use for the nations in the world use different languages. Therefore, the mastery of foreign language (the language of other nations) is very necessary. As a matter of fact, the language most widely used in the world is English.

Realizing the importance of English mastery in improving the quality of Indonesian human resources, the government of Indonesia through the Minister of National Education has decided that English is one of the compulsory subjects especially for junior and senior high school students (Nur, 2004:181-182).

The practice of education in Indonesia at present is regulated by Undang-undang R.I No. 20 Year 2003 about the system of National Education. Based on this law, the goal of the national education is to develop the potential of education participants to be the people who believe and devote themselves to the Only One Supreme God, people who have glorious morals (akhlaq), knowledge and skills, who are physically and spiritually healthy, and who are independent and become democratic and responsible citizens. This fact indicates that Indonesia is a religious nation. It is not a secular one.

On the basis of the goal of national education above, Hanafiah (2007:4) states that among the three domains of education i.e. cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains, the affective domain should become the shelter of the other ones. It means the knowledge and skills developed by the participants of education must be integrated with the glorious values followed by the nation. Among the glorious values are having faith to the Only Supreme God, having glorious conduct (akhlaqul karimah) and doing the righteous deeds which are taken from religious teaching.

Because Indonesia is a religious nation, it is very important from very early beginning to integrate all the subjects given, especially at the Islamic schools, with Islamic values in term of embedding those values in the materials taught and/or in the process of teaching and learning. This is because every Moslem believes that the teaching of their religion covers any aspect of their life.

The Islamic teaching guides Moslems in doing any activity from the time they wake up to the time they sleep. It not only regulates the relationship between Moslems and God but also between Moslems and other creatures. By doing so, it is expected that the output of the Indonesian education will be the truly Moslems namely the people who have balanced mastery of science and technology in addition to have faith and righteousness (YPI Al-Azhar, 2001:2).

Based on the explanation above, it is clear that Moslem English teachers teaching at Islamic schools should be able to conduct the process of teaching and learning English integrated with Islamic values. This is in line with the vision and the mission of national education which states that the process of teaching and learning must be directed to give more roles to the learners to develop their potential and creativity in order to establish human being having religious and spiritual power, an exalted standard of character (akhlaqul karimah), good personality, multiple intelligence, healthy body and soul as well as having skills needed by themselves, by their society, and by their nation and country (Depdiknas, 2005:74).

Nevertheless, on the basis of the writer’s experience, when an English teacher teaching in an Islamic school tries to integrate the teaching of English with the Islamic values, especially by presenting verses from the Holy Qur’an, the students regard that way as a strange thing. This is because there is still a dichotomy separating knowledge or subjects into religious and non-religious ones. English is regarded as non-religious subject. The dichotomy separating science and religion followed by the dichotomy classifying knowledge into religious and non-religious one coming to the practice of education tends to result negative impact than positive one, especially toward Moslems (Nata at al., 2005:6). Such paradigm bears ambivalence among Moslems. They act and behave as Moslems only when they are in the mosques or when they are doing routine prayer. While when they are doing other activities they think and act as if their activities had no relationship with their religion.

It is the fact that the teachers of English rarely relate their teaching-learning process with the Islamic values even though they are Moslem teachers teaching at Islamic schools. This situation happens due to some factors. First, there are a lot of Moslem English teachers having lack of understanding about the Islamic teaching. Second, the classification of knowledge into religious and non-religious knowledge implies that English belongs to non-religious subject and as if studying English were not related to Islam. Third, there is no strict policy from the ‘stakeholder’ stressing the necessity of integrating knowledge with the Islamic values. Fourth, there is minimum availability of model or guideline that can be used to implement such integration in the process of teaching and learning.

Based on the background above, it is necessary to conduct research on the integration of the teaching of English with the Islamic values. The research was conducted at SMP Islam Al-Azhar 15 Cilacap. This school has been implementing such integration since it is founded. It was also chosen as the setting of the study under some other considerations. First, this school shows the seriousness in implementing the integration of the teaching of English and other subjects with the Islamic values. The seriousness of this policy is reflected in the daily school activities which are started at 6.55 a.m.  After the bell rings, the learning-teaching is started by reciting the testimony (ikrar) and then continued by reading verses of the Holy Qur’an for about five minutes. At the first break, all students are told to perform “duha prayer” lead by the head master or a teacher. At the second break, again the students and teachers perform “zhuhur prayer” together. There is also a periodic study conducted by the teachers to deepen their understanding about the Islamic teaching. Second, this school is under the license and supervision of Al-Azhar Islamic Pesantren Foundation Jakarta which has commitment to integrate and internalize the Islamic teaching in all levels of education. Third, in terms of quality, it has good achievement in English and other subjects as it is shown in the report of the national examination (UN) of the academic year 2005/2006 and 2006/2007. In the academic year 2005/2006 the average score of English is 8.71, the lowest score is 6.40 and the highest one is 10.00 while in the academic year 2006/2007 the average score of English is 8.99, the lowest score is 7.60 and the highest one is 10.00. Fourth, in recruiting teachers, one requirement that cannot be bargained is that the candidate must be able to read the Holy Qur’an besides mastering the subject he/she teaches.

The research was focused on identifying and describing the phenomena of the integration of the teaching of English with the Islamic values at SMP Islam Al-Azhar 15 Cilacap. It included how English teacher designed the lesson plan, how the English teacher selected the instructional materials, how the English teacher integrated the instructional activities with the Islamic values, and the way the English teacher assessed the students’ achievement.

It is expected that the result of the research will give contribution to several individuals about the way of integrating the teaching of English with the Islamic values. The contribution will hopefully be the description of what, when, and how to integrate the teaching of English with the Islamic values.

To the English teachers of SMP Islam Al-Azhar 15 Cilacap, the findings of the research will hopefully give valuable input that can be used as the basis for increasing the quality of the implementation of integrating the teaching of English with the Islamic values.

To the other Moslem English teachers teaching Moslem students or at the Islamic schools, it is expected that the findings will give them models of integrating the teaching of English with the Islamic values to be implemented in their conducting the process of teaching and learning English.

To the Department of Religious Affairs and other policy makers such as the school principals and supervisors, the findings will hopefully be valuable information that can be used as the basis for the improvement of the Islamic educational institutions. Besides, the findings will encourage them to make a policy dealing with the necessity of integrating the Islamic values with other school subjects.

To the textbook writers, the findings will hopefully inspire them to write the Islamic English textbooks that are specifically designed for the integration of the teaching of English with the Islamic values as the content of the lesson and that are in accordance with the standard of competence that should be achieved by students.

In addition, for other researchers, the findings of the present study can be used as an inspiration to conduct further studies, especially on developing materials for the teaching of English which is integrated with the Islamic values.

METHOD

The present research employed a descriptive case study with a qualitative research design. The subject of the study was an English teacher of SMP Islam Al-Azhar 15 Cilacap.

The data of the study were the description of the implementation of the teaching of English which was integrated with the Islamic values covering the lesson plan designed by the English teacher, the instructional materials used by the English teacher, the instructional activities conducted by the English teacher, and the way the English teacher assessed the students’ achievement. The source of the data was an English teacher who integrated the teaching of English with the Islamic values in her English classroom. Other sources of the data were taken from written materials, such as the textbooks and other material resources used by the teacher. Some documents such as curriculums, syllabus, lesson plans, and the list of students’ grades, teacher guidance books which are related to the implementation of integrating the teaching of English with the Islamic values in the classroom were considered useful for the researcher to describe the data and discuss the findings.

Those data were gained from interview, observation, recording, and documents. The interview was conducted at the beginning of the research and after the English class was over based on the agreement with the teacher in order not to disturb her main duty. The interview conducted after the English class was intended to complete the data obtained from the observation, especially when the data from observation was considered not clear or insufficient. The questions prepared were based on the research questions but the sequence and the wording of the questions were entirely in the hand of the interviewer. On the basis of this fact, the interview was conducted in a flexible way. This means that the questions were sometimes rephrased, added, and clarified in order to ensure effective communication between the interviewer and the respondent.

Observation was the main technique used in the data collection about the process of learning-teaching activities. The aspect being observed was the objective condition of the English class. The observation dealt with the teacher’s activities in conducting the learning-teaching process that included topic/sub topic taught, the instructional resources and media used, the Islamic values integrated, as well as task and activities given to the students.

During the observation, the researcher used an observation format to write everything he found in the classroom, took notes/recorded  about the topics/sub topics discuss in every visit, the textbooks used by the teacher and other materials which were not taken from the text book, the Islamic values integrated into the learning-teaching process, task and activities done by the students in the class and tasks given as homework, the teacher’s verbal and non-verbal behavior when she interacted with the students during teaching-learning process, the methods and techniques or strategies used by the teacher, the assessment, and students’ interaction in joining the class. The observation was conducted from January 1 to March 15, 2008. This was considered enough to see the repeated information as the pattern of teaching.

Recording was used to obtain data of the teacher and the students’ activities during the teaching-learning activities and data from the interview. The verbal interaction going on the teaching-learning activities was usually very fast and complex. Therefore, the observation was hard to do without using a recording device. During the learning-teaching activity, the recording device was put in the pocket of the being observed teacher so that every utterance expressed both by teacher and students could be captured. In this study, the researcher used a sound recorder. The data obtained from recording were then transcribed into written form to facilitate the researcher in analyzing them.

The documents such as curriculum, the syllabus, the lesson plans, the English textbooks used by the teacher, the result of assessment and evaluation, and other written sources necessary for the study were reviewed. They were used to help the researcher understand the application of the content of the documents. They were also necessary to help the researcher interpret some of the teacher’s comment during the interview.

All data obtained from the interview, observation, field-notes, recording, and review of documents were analyzed. Before being analyzed, the data obtained were classified on the basis of the instrument used and coded on the basis of the research problems.

There were two phases of data analysis applied in the study. First, the data analysis was done during the activities of data collection. This analysis was aimed at anticipating the possibilities of data exaggeration. This analysis was also applied by considering some factors, such as a sudden idea, the limited memory of the researcher, and the like. It also helped the researcher to analyze the data step by step. Second, the data analysis was conducted after the data had been collected in the field. After data collection in the field was conducted completely, then the procedure to analyze the data was determined. The procedure of data analysis applied in this study follows the one proposed by Miles and Huberman (1994:10-11) consisting of data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing.

Data reduction is a form of analysis that sharpens, sorts, focuses, discards, and organizes data in such a way that “final” conclusion can be drawn and verified. In this phase, the obtained data were sorted out and classified based on the research problems. Not all data collected were displayed in the report. Only the relevant and appropriate data to answer the research problems were chosen to display.

Data display refers to the activity of assembling organized information into an immediately accessible compact form so that the analyst can see what is happening and either draw justified conclusions or move on to the next step of analysis. In this phase all sorted data which were related to the research problems were put on the same table to help the researcher find and/or examine the similarities and differences and also the regularity of the pattern shared among the data from the first observation till the end.

Conclusion drawing was the last step of data analysis. The above steps, starting from data collection to displaying data, were applied each time the researcher obtained data from the first meeting till he could find a pattern used by the teacher in her conducting English learning-teaching process which is integrated with the Islamic values. Based on these activities, the researcher made a temporal conclusion which was needed to come to a more focused attention in the next data collection.

These three types of analysis activity and the activity of data collection formed an interactive cyclical process. The researcher steadily moved among these four activities during data collection and then shuttled among data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing for the reminder of the study.

After all processes of data analysis were conducted and the researcher found the fix regularity or pattern dealing with the teaching of English integrated with the Islamic values, the researcher then came to the explanation of the findings of the study by describing and interpreting the data and made conclusion of the implementation of the teaching of English at SMP Islam Al-Azhar 15 Cilacap.

Meanwhile, to check the trustworthiness of the data collected, the triangulation technique was applied. Triangulation can be defined as the use of two or more methods of data collection in the study of some aspects of human behaviors (Miles & Hubberman, 1999:267). In relation to the study, the triangulation was done by intersecting and comparing the data obtained from interview, observation, field notes, recording, and documentary study. Besides it was also conducted by looking at the collected data repeatedly to arrive at a conclusion on the phenomena observed.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The data obtained from observation, field-notes, interview, and recording showed that the integration of the teaching of English with the Islamic values at SMP Islam Al-Azhar 15 Cilacap was done in the lesson plan, the instructional materials, the instructional activities, and the assessment. The description of the integration in each part is presented in the following sections.

How the English Teacher Designs the Lesson Plan for the Teaching of

English which is integrated with the Islamic Values

Based on the documentations of the lesson plans made by the English teacher, it was found that the lesson plans were based on the Standar Isi issued by the government. In designing the lesson plans, the teacher referred to the syllabus developed by the Body of National Standard of Education (BNSP). The components of lesson plan were the standard of competence, the basic competence, the indicators, the instructional objectives, the instructional materials, the teaching-learning activities, the source of material and media, the method/technique used, and the assessment process.

The lesson plans made by the English teacher were integrated with the Islamic values. The integration of the Islamic values in the lesson plans made by the English teacher was done in the section of the instructional materials and the instructional activities. In the section of the instructional materials of the lesson plans, the teacher wrote the main materials based on the pre-determined instructional objectives which are formulated based on the indicators and the basic competences taken from the syllabus. The main instructional materials written by the teacher consist of kinds of texts, language components related to the topics that would be taught, and the Islamic values that would be integrated. The material of the Islamic values integrated in the lesson plans was in the form of quotation from verses of Al-Qur’an and/or Al-Hadits relevant to the topics that would be presented in the learning-teaching activities. For example, the topic “natural disaster” was integrated with Surah Ar-Ruum (30): 41. This verse of Al-Qur’an tells us that some natural disasters, like flood, landslide, and famine, happening on the land and in the sea are because of destruction made by human beings. Human beings will feel the effects of their destructive actions.

Meanwhile, in the section of the instructional activities in the lesson plans, the integration of the Islamic values was done by making lists of the activities reflecting the Islamic values that would be conducted during the learning-teaching process. For example: (1) greeting students with the Islamic greeting as well as the English greeting; (2) letting students say “basmalah” to begin the lesson; (3) relating the topic discussed to the relevant Islamic values; (4) giving exercises reflecting the Islamic values such as asking students to write a procedure text on “wudlu” and telling them to retell a story on a “Shahabat of the Prophet”; and (5) Closing the lesson by saying “hamdalah”.

In the point of view of Moslems, saying “basmalah” before starting an activity is very essential Islamic value because any activity which is not begun by “basmalah” will be cut from Allah’s blessing as it is stated in Al-Hadits

ﻜﻞﺃﻤﺮﺬﯼﺒﺎﻞﻻﻴﺒﺪﺃﻔﻴﻪﺒﺒﺴﻡﺍﷲﺍﻠﺮﺤﻤﻦﺍﻠﺮﺤﻴﻢﻔﻬﻮﺃﻘﻂﻊ

Every activity which is not begun by bismillahirrahmanirrahim

is cut from Allah’s blessing

Based on the description of the findings above, it was found that the lesson plans designed by the English teacher were based on the Standar Isi issued by the government. The 2006 Standar Isi contains the coverage of the minimum materials and minimum level of competence that must be mastered by the students to achieve the minimum requirement of the graduation (Mulyasa, 2006:45).

According to Mulyasa (2006:209), based on the Standar Isi, the teachers are given freedom to develop a syllabus. However, they are still allowed to refer to the syllabus developed by the government.

Planning is a way the teacher is going to conduct the teaching in order to achieve the objectives effectively and efficiently. Specifying objectives is important to do before conducting the teaching activity because it directs the teacher to achieve the expected result from her teaching plan. The use of instructional objectives helps the teacher focus on what students should know at the end of the program and helps students know what is expected from them. In other words, instructional objective serve as a map or guideline for both teacher and students. So without planning, the teacher may conduct her teaching effectively but not efficiently, or she can conduct it efficiently but not effectively.

According to Burden and Byrd (1999:51) a comprehensive planning preparation is needed for effective teaching in all grade levels. He further states that planning is a critical function to ensure student learning, and it was taken from two reasons: (1) the planning process helps the teacher to organize the content of the curriculum and to address the complex classroom variables. The variables are instructional objectives, time, appropriate teaching strategies, available materials, media, and so forth, (2) the planning process provides the teacher with a sense of direction and feeling of confidence and security. Therefore, Harmer (2002:308) suggests that before making a lesson plan a teacher needs considering a number of crucial factors such as the language level of the students, their educational and cultural background, their likely level of motivation, and their different learning style.

How the English Teacher Selects the Instructional Materials for the Teaching of English which is Integrated with the Islamic Values

The instructional materials used by the English teacher in the teaching and learning process were in the forms of printed materials and non-printed ones. She used printed materials in the forms of textbooks, handouts or worksheets, and non-printed materials in the forms of cassettes (audio materials) and video materials. Richard (2002: 66) states that English instructional material may take forms of printed, non-printed material, and materials that comprise both printed and non-printed material.

The English teacher used two textbooks as the main instructional material: “English on Sky” published by Erlangga and “Let’t Talk” published by Pakaraya. Both textbooks used are able to fulfill the need of the teacher and students to develop the language skills and language components. This is because of the following reasons. First, the textbooks are based on KTSP 2006 referring to the Standar Isi issued by the government. Second, in terms of quality, both textbooks used are good since the content covers all language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) and language components (grammar and vocabulary). Finally, from the financial consideration, the price of the books is reasonable.

Richard and Renandya (2002: 66), referring to Crawford’s (1994) discussion, points out that the use of textbooks as the main instructional material could bring some advantages. In the first place, textbooks help standardize instruction since they can ensure that the students in different classes receive similar content and therefore can be tested in the same way. Secondly, the textbooks are efficient in terms of saving the teacher’s time since the teacher may devote the time to teaching rather than materials production if they should make their own teaching materials. Third, textbooks are visually appealing since commercial textbooks usually have high standards of design and production and hence are appealing to learners and teachers. Finally, the content of the textbooks have usually been tried out and tested based on sound learning principles and paced appropriately, therefore, they can maintain quality.

In the case of the supplementary instructional materials used in presenting the lesson, the teacher stated that the materials are interesting. This is important to arouse the student’s motivation. Besides, they are in accordance with the determined instructional objectives. The supplementary materials in the forms of students’ workbooks, audio and video materials, handouts or worksheets, and reference materials are selected by the teacher individually to meet their students’ need. The supplementary materials as selected by the teacher were needed to overcome the disadvantages and the shortcomings of the textbooks as the main instructional materials

The integration of the Islamic values in the instructional activities was done through several ways: (1) by adding the exercises reflecting the Islamic values to the topic presented. For example, the teacher added the exercise of making procedure text on “wudlu” and “shalat” to the topic “procedure text”. Another example is the teacher added exercise assigning students to make an announcement of praying “Idul Fitri” to the topic of the functional text “announcement”. This is because the topics presented in the main materials and supplementary materials available are designed by the writers for the teaching of English at any school without regarding the religious aspect of the students. Therefore, the English teacher added the exercises reflecting the Islamic values which are actually very familiar with the students’ daily life; (2) by inserting the Islamic names of person like “Ahmad” and “Fatima”, names of place like “mosque” and “madrasah”, and names of events like “celebration of Idul Fitri day”, and the like to the exercises added. The Islamic names of person, place, and event like “Ahmad”, “madrasah”, and “Idul Fitri day” are the names accepted internationally. Naming person with the Islamic name is a very important Islamic teaching; even it is the right of any child that should be fulfilled by their parents as stated in Al-Hadits:

ﺤﻖﺍﻟﻮﻟﺪﻋﻟﻰﻮﺍﻟﺪﻩﺃﻦﻴﺤﺳﻦﺍﺳﻤﻪﻮﻴﺤﺳﻦﺃﺪﺒﻪ

The right of a child from his parents is to be named with good name

and to be educated with good education.

In the point of view of Islam, a good name is the one containing a compliment or service to Allah as stated in Al-Hadits:

ﺨﻴﺮﺍﻷﺳﻤﺍﺀﻤﺎﺤﻤﺪﺃﻮﻋﺒﺪ

The best name is the one that is complimented or served to Allah.

(3) by embedding the verses of Al-Qur’an and/or Al-Hadits which are relevant to the topics presented in the main materials. For example, the verse of Surah Al-Baqarah (2):216 was embedded to the topic of expressing like and dislike. Surah Al-Baqarah (2):216 tells us that what we like is not always good for us and it can happen that we dislike someone or something that are actually bad for us. Therefore, by embedding this verse to topic of expressing like and dislike the students will be exposed to the Islamic value of how to behave toward someone or something they like or dislike ; (4) by adding the Islamic expressions like “subhanallah”, “innalillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun”, and the like to the relevant English expressions within the main materials. For example, “subhanallah” was added to the expression of admiration, “innalillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun” was added to the expression of sympathy. Islam teaches Moslems that when they admire someone or something, they should remember that actually Allah, the one and only, who makes someone or something admirable. The Islamic expression used to admire is “subhanallah”. Therefore, in teaching the expression of admiration, the teacher can mix this expression with the English expression like “Subhanallah, what beautiful scenery it is!”

How the English Teacher integrates the Instructional Activities with the Islamic Values

Based on the findings, it was revealed that the English teacher at SMP Islam Al-Azhar 15 Cilacap integrates the instructional activities with the Islamic values. The English teacher’s integrating the instructional activities with the Islamic values during the learning-teaching process was done in several ways. First, the teacher conducted code-switching and code-mixing between English and Islamic expressions that are usually expressed in Arabic language such as Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi waarakatuh, bismillahirrahmanirrahim, alhamdulillahirabbil ‘alamin, and subhanallah based on the situational context.  In greeting the students, the teacher used the Islamic greeting “Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh” as well as the English greeting. In the point of the Islamic value, Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh is not only expression used to open and close a conversation, it is not only a greeting either but it also functions as the way to respect other Moslems as well as a prayer for someone greeted. This greeting is the best greeting in the world because it contains three things that are needed by any human being namely safety or peace, mercy, and blessing. This greeting means “Peace is upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessing as well”, may Allah give you peace, mercy, and blessing anywhere and anytime, without limitation of time, place, and condition. Therefore, Islam teaches Moslems to spread this greeting whenever they meet or leave each other and before and after doing conversation as stated in Al-Hadits

ﺃﻔﺸﻭﺍﺍﻠﺳﻼﻡ ﻮﺃﻄﻌﻣﻮﺍﺍﻠﻄﻌﺎﻡ ﻮﻜﻭﻨﻭﺍﻋﺑﺎﺪﺍﷲ ﺇﺨﻭﺍﻨﺎ‹ﺮﻮﺍﻩﺇﺒﻥﻤﺎﺠﻪ›

Spread the greeting, give the food, and be the worshiper of Allah

in brotherhood!

Alhamdulillahi rabbil’alamin is also a very important expression in Islam. Moslems should recite this expression every time they finish doing any activity or when they get a grant from Allah or save from a danger. This is also the case with the other Islamic expressions. They have important meanings toward the shaping of good Moslems’ personality and character. Second, the teacher linked the topic discussed to the relevant Islamic teaching. This is done either by quoting the verses of Al-Qur’an and/or Al-Hadits, or by explaining the relevant Islamic teaching. As it has been discussed in the background this study, the Islamic teaching covers any aspect of human being from the time they wake up until the time they sleep; even Islam teaches Moslems how to say a prayer before and after going to the rest room. In fact, praying is the core of worshiping Allah as stated in Al-Hadits

ﺍﻟﺪﻋﺎﺀﻤﺦﺍﻟﻌﺑﺎﺪﺓ

Saying a prayer is the core of worship

People who are not willing to pray is regarded arrogant before Allah as stated in Al-Qur’an surah Al-Mu’min (40): 60

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And your Lord says: “Call on Me; I will answer your (Prayer):

but those who are too arrogant to serve Me will surely find themselves

in Hell – in humiliation!” (Ali, 1989: 1221)

Therefore, by linking the topic discussed with the relevant Islamic teaching, the students will realize that what they learn is a kind of worshiping Allah. Third, the teacher used the Islamic names for person, place, and events in making the example of sentences or dialog script. In the Islamic point of view, names –especially of person– is very important. It does not only function as an identity but also as the prayer for someone whose name is called. Therefore, Islam teaches Moslems to name their children with good names. Forth, the teacher gave students assignment to write a kind of text related to the Islamic values such as writing a procedure text on “wudhu”, or find the recount text about “shahabat Nabi”.

The teacher’s integrating the Islamic values in the instructional activities will make the student engaged to Allah during the process of learning and teaching. This is in line with what is stated in Al-Qur’an surah An-Nisa (4): 10 telling Moslems to remember Allah whenever and wherever they are:

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When ye pass (Congregational) prayers, celebrate Allah’s praises, standing, sitting down, or lying down on your sides (Ali, 1989:219)

The teacher’s integrating the Islamic values in the instructional activities discussed above is in line with what is stated by Alwasilah at al., (1997:7) that the Islamic values with which the teaching of English is integrated can be adapted into the material of teaching and/or embedded into the process of teaching and learning. It can be implemented in teaching all language skills, namely listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The following description shows the teacher’s activities in the learning-teaching process. First, in the beginning of the lesson the teachers always greeted students by using the Islamic greeting as well as the English greeting. Next, she checked the students’ attendance. Here, in case there was absent student because of sickness, she let the students pray for him/her by reciting surah Al-Fatihah. After that, she let the students say “basmalah” to open the lesson.

The teacher’s integrating the Islamic values conducted in the middle of learning-teaching process, can be classified into unplanned and planned activities. The unplanned activities refer to the activities which are not stated in the lesson plan. Such activities were done by the teacher to respond to the students’ behavior which needs to be linked to the Islamic values. The example of such activities is when a student sneezed while he/she did not say anything. Finding such condition, the teacher reminded students about what to say when a Moslem sneezes and what to do when we hear what someone sneezing says. She explained that when a Moslem sneezes, he/she should say “Alhamdulillah” because it is a kind of Allah’s blessing, while the other Moslem who hears someone sneezing said “alhamdulillah” should pray for him/her by saying “yarhamukallah”. Being prayed by his brother/sister, the sneezing person should say “yahdikumullah”. Another example is when a student coming to the classroom did not say “Assalamu’alaikum”, the teacher at once told him/her to say “Assalamu’alaikum” first. Meanwhile, the planned activities refer to the teacher’s integrating the Islamic values which are related to the topic being discussed and stated in the lesson plan. The example of these activities is the teacher’s explanation saying that how to take ablution or “wudhu” before performing the routine prayers (shalat) is a kind of procedure text and then the teacher assigned the students to write a procedure text on taking ablution.

While the teacher’s integrating the Islamic values conducted at the end of the learning-teaching process is asking the students to say “hamdalah” together to end the lesson, and then she said “Wassalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh” before leaving the classroom.

How the English Teacher Assesses the Students’ Achievement in the Teaching of English which is Integrated with the Islamic Values.

The ways the teacher used can be classified into two categories: informal and formal assessment.  In the case of informal assessment, the teacher assessed the students’ participation in the learning-teaching process. Here the teacher used four ways of assessments: oral questions, teacher observations, giving assignments, and reading aloud.

Oral questions were used in order to know whether or not the students understand the lesson being explained. In this case, if the students could perceive the explanation, the teachers keep explaining, but if they did not perceive it, the teachers repeated it to make the explanation clearer. The material of the questions asked by the teacher covered the Islamic values integrated.

The questions asked by the teacher sometimes were addressed to the class generally and students were supposed to answer voluntarily, but some other time the teacher addressed the question to individual student. Here she chose some students randomly to answer to the question.

Teacher observation was used to monitor the students’ active participation in following the learning-teaching activities. Through the observation the teacher noticed the students’ behavior related to the Islamic values. The teacher observed whether or not the Islamic values integrated were understood and implemented by the students. In case there was a student whose behavior was not Islamic, the teacher reminded him/her. For example when a student teased his/her friend because of his/her black skin, the teacher explained that Allah forbids Moslems to do such a thing. Actually, this Islamic value had been taught to the students when discussing the topic “introduction”.

Assignment was used to know the students’ understanding about the topic presented in each meeting which includes the four language skills and language components. The assignments given to the students during the learning teaching process were usually given in group activity. For example, the students in groups were assigned to write a procedure text on “wudhu” and to find a recount text on “shahabat”.

Meanwhile, reading aloud was conducted to assess the students’ mastery of pronunciation, stress, and intonation. In conducting this kind of assessment, the teacher usually asked students one by one, in turns, to read one or two sentences, or even one paragraph loudly. For example, each member of the groups was asked to read one different step of doing a “wudlu” loudly.

In the case of formal assessment, the English teacher used test which was usually conducted orally and/or in a written form.  There were two kinds of test conducted by the English teacher: daily test and summative test. The daily test can be oral only, written only or both spoken and written. Based on the data gained, the teacher used both spoken and written tests for the daily test and the test after finishing one unit. The items of the daily test covered the integration of the Islamic values. For example, in one oral daily test on the topic of “procedure text”, the teacher asked the students one by one to tell a monolog procedure text on “tayammum”. –“Tayammum” is the substitution of “wudlu” that has to be done by Moslem before performing routine prayers because he/she cannot find water to do a “wudlu” or because of sickness–. In administering this test, each student told the goal, the material, and the steps of doing “tayammum” orally in front of the teacher. The other example is about the written daily test. In one written daily test about the simple past tense on the topic of recount text, the teacher asked students to transform positive sentences into negative and interrogative ones. The sentences given by the teacher reflected the Islamic values. For example, I read two pages of Al-Qur’an this morning, My father prayed “tahajud” last night, Mr. Hasan celebrated “Idul Fitri” day in Jakarta last year. My parents performed “hajji” to Mecca two years ago.  Meanwhile, the summative test was conducted in order to evaluate students’ progress during certain period. This kind of test was conducted in the mid of semester and in the end of semester period.

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the findings and discussions about the integration of the teaching of English at SMP Islam Al-Azhar 15 Cilacap, it can be concluded that the integration was found in the lesson plans, in the instructional materials, in the instructional activities, and in the assessment.

The integration of the Islamic values in the lesson plans was done in the section of the Instructional materials and in the instructional activities of the lesson plans. In the section of the instructional materials of the lesson plans, the integration was done by embedding the Islamic values supported by verses of Al-Qur’an and/or Al-Hadits which are relevant to the main materials selected based on predetermined instructional objectives. Meanwhile, in the section of the instructional activities of the lesson plans, the integration was done by making lists of the activities reflecting the Islamic values that would be conducted during the learning-teaching process.

In the Instructional materials, the integration of the Islamic values was

done through several ways i.e. (1) by adding the exercises reflecting the Islamic

values to the topic presented; (2) by inserting the Islamic names of person, place, and event to the exercises added; (3) by embedding the verses of Al-Qur’an and/or Al-Hadits which are relevant to the topics presented in the main materials; and (4) by mixing the Islamic expressions with the relevant English expressions within the main materials.

In the instructional activities, the integration of the Islamic values was done in several ways i.e. (1) by conducting code-mixing and code-switching between English and the Islamic expressions based on the situational context; (2) by linking the topic discussed to the relevant Islamic teaching which is done either by quoting the verses of Al-Qur’an and/or Al-Hadits, or by explaining the relevant Islamic teaching; (3) by using the Islamic names for person in making the example of sentences or dialogue scripts; (4) by giving students assignment to write a kind of text related to the Islamic values relevant to the topic discussed.

Meanwhile, the integration of the Islamic value in the assessment was done through informal assessment consisting of oral questions, teacher observations, giving assignments, and reading aloud. In addition, the integration of the Islamic values in the assessment was also done through the daily tests in the forms of oral as well as written test. The materials of the assessment covered the Islamic values integrated.

The degree of integration of the teaching of English with the Islamic values at SMP Islam Al-Azhar 15 Cilacap can be categorized as partial integration because of the following indicators: (1) the syllabus referred to was not specifically designed for such integration; (2) the topics within the main instructional materials and media used were not selected based on the Islamic values. In this case, the Islamic values were added to the existing materials; (3) there were only most of the instructional activities conducted (not entirely) that combined the point of view of the Islamic values and the language teaching perspective during the learning-teaching process; (4) the Islamic values presented function as the enrichment to the content of the lesson, not as content of the lesson.

To follow up the findings of the study, some recommendations are formulated. The recommendations are especially addressed to the Moslem English teachers teaching Moslem students, the policy makers, the textbooks writers, and the future researchers.

To the Moslems English teachers, especially who teach Moslem students or at the Islamic schools, it is recommended to integrate the teaching of English with the Islamic values. By doing so, it is expected that there will be no dichotomy anymore between into “religious” and “non-religious” knowledge because both religion and knowledge relate to the human life.

To the policy makers such as the Minister of Religious Affairs, school principals, and supervisors, it is recommended that they make a policy stressing the necessity of integrating the teaching of English, as well as the other subjects, with the Islamic values. Besides, it is recommended that they make a guideline for such a thing so that the teachers will get adequate easiness in implementing the policy.

It is recommended that English textbook writers write English textbooks specifically designed for the integration of the teaching English with the Islamic values as the content of the lesson for such a book is really needed by the Moslem English teacher and students of Islamic schools. By doing so, the Moslem English teachers and Moslem students will get easiness to find the Islamic English textbooks to be used in the learning-teaching process.

As the present study is aimed to identify the overall phenomena of the integration of the teaching of English with the Islamic values at the SMP level, it is recommended that future researchers interested in conducting a replication study conduct the research on the same topic at different settings. By doing so, it is expected that the findings will be more comprehensive to strengthen, enrich, and complement each other on information dealing with the implementation of the integration of the teaching of English with the Islamic values. Furthermore, it is recommended that the future researchers conduct further study, especially on developing instructional materials for the teaching of English which is integrated with the Islamic values.

REFERENCES

 

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