The Correlation Between Local Cultural and Students’ Negative Attitude in Rural English Classroom

Abstract

Students’ low quality in English subjects at the Senior High School level in Indonesia especially in rural areas proves that there are still problems that hinder the English learning process. The issues that inhibit English classrooms are the local cultural context and students’ negative attitudes. This study aims to describe the correlation between students’ and teachers’ experiences in dealing with those aspects in ELT classrooms in rural areas. The qualitative approach and the case study were used in the study with the interview and observation as the instruments of the research. The participants were 26 students, and 3 teachers of SMA Negeri Benlutu So’e - East Nusa Tenggara.  The study results indicated that students and teachers found it difficult to learn English in rural areas since there was a strong correlation between the local cultural influences and students’ negative attitudes in ELT classrooms. This can be seen from the results that the rural environment left the students behind in their English education background and lack of learning resources and facilities. The local cultural factor affected the student's ability to use the local language more often. Besides that, students’ negative attitudes also caused them students not motivated to participate in English class. The study concluded that the schools and governments should review their policies in applying English learning in rural schools. It is expected that teachers and students can get the solution to avoid the problems in learning English to achieve the main goal of learning.