IMAS ISTIANI (UNIVERSITAS NEGERI SEMARANG)
SRI SUMARYANI (Universitas Negeri Semarang )

INTRODUCING INTERNATIONAL ISSUES TO ENGLISH LITERATURE STUDENTS THROUGH ENGLISH DEBATE : INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION AND GLOBAL COMPETENCIES

Being aware of international issues for the students of English Literature in Indonesia is important as it becomes one of the competencies that must be acquired by the graduates. However, most students have limited competencies in the issues because the English Literature study program is still perceived as a program that merely focuses on the teaching of English as a foreign language through literary works. As a result, both lecturers and students mostly have difficulty discussing international issues based on the context during the lesson. To solve the problem, debate is chosen to be the medium to introduce the issues to the students. While practicing their speaking skills, the students can also test their critical thinking when analyzing the international issues being debated. To know the effectiveness of the approach, we asked a 5-point Likert scale of 10 closed-ended and 5 open-ended questions about experiences joining an English Debate course to 30 English Literature students at Universitas Negeri Semarang. The quantitative data were analyzed using the t-test. The qualitative data were used to strengthen findings from the quantitative. The results suggested that debate is an effective method to introduce international issues as the students were more aware and understood the backgrounds of issues they often saw in the popular media.

Imas Istiani is a lecturer of English Literature at Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia. Her concerns are on teaching multiculturalisms and global issues through literature.

Sri Sumaryani is an English literature lecturer at Universitas Negeri Semarang, Indonesia.