Decolonizing ELT: Rethinking English Teaching in Multicultural Classroom Through Legendary Story

Abstract

English Language Teaching (ELT) has become an essential area of study and practice due to the global prominence of English. ELT is not only teaching language but also culture. Most English language materials at the high school level still rely heavily on Western-oriented (Eurocentric) textbooks. The use of local legends and other culturally embedded texts remains significantly underutilized in EFL in Indonesia. The aim of this study is to investigate the implementation decolonization strategy in English language teaching in multicultural classroom through legendary story. The research was conducted at SMA N 1 Ungaran. It was on class XI students. The study used qualitative research. Collecting data was interview, observation and documentation. Data validation for this study performed by triangulation. The result of the study is before learning; the teacher has prepared a learning plan using materials from local sources. In teaching process, teacher use strategies; brainstorming, mind-mapping of legendary story, drafting the use of local terms in English text, peer review and publishing. Through these strategies, students are more active and enthusiastic in learning English. By writing and telling narrative texts based on the legends of their respective villages, they understand English better and remember it more easily. Students are prouder of their local culture.