TEACHER PERCEPTION TOWARDS NATIONAL CURRICULUM IN ENGLISH LEARNING AT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL; CHALLENGING OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING IN RURAL AREA

ABSTRACTShifting curriculum continously has some consequences in English teaching in Elementary School (ES). English presenting as local content or elective subject considered by certain groups ignored the urgency of need to teach foreign language skills as a second or third language among ES students, considering elementary age range is crucial age in teaching language mastery skills. Since the beginning of national curriculum started, its implementation in rural area pose difficulties due to some essential services including human resources and unsufficient facillities for supporting English teaching. The aim of this research was to examine how was the perception of English teachers toward national curriculum and challegings happened in English teaching learning in rural ES. This research adopted a qualitative approach. Respondents of this research were 8 English teachers from 5 ES in Baubau. The Data collection technique was carried out through observation, interview and documentation. The data was analyzed and interpreted by relying on the data gained from the field of research. The results of this reserach indicated that the urgency of teaching English in ES already recognized by teachers, however most of teachers were experiencing many challegings in implementing National curriculum due to standart of human research in organizing socialization and trainings for schools and teachers. In fact, there was no teacher take any trainings at all. In addition, teachers still rely on internet to gain learning source without revising it. Besides, unadequate facilities and financial supports also become the majority challenges experiencing by many teachers in rural ES.