TEACHER’S LANGUAGE OF INSTRUCTION AND STUDENT’S SECOND LANGUAGE ACQUISITION

Abstract

In 2006 - 2012 there was a new trend at Junior and Senior High Schools in Indonesian to conduct classes labeled an International Class based on the government decree for Educational Quality Enhancement. “Sekolah Menengah Atas Negeri I Jember” executed this regulation by designing “Kelas Rintisan”(a Pioneering Class) where the instruction of English and Science subjects was done in English by the expert teachers. The teacher’s language of instruction was intended to design an artificial classroom English “learning environment” which could stimulate the students using their English consciously and unconsciously whiles they aimed to understand the content subjects and communicate with teacher and classmates. The communicative interaction might happen when language was modified to fit the students’ level of difficulty. Thus the students could involve actively in using English. Classroom interactions could give direct help to students solve the breakdown in a communication through verbal and nonverbal strategic competence. This paper is aimed to prove that the English atmosphere in the class made input more comprehensible, facilitate the students acquire and learn English as students’ second language actively.