The mastery of the writing skills is crucial, not only among the school children, but also to everyone. The use of Cooperative Learning (hereafter, CL) has become increasingly popular in recent years as pedagogy trends worldwide. It has shifted from teacher-centred to learner-centred methods. Among the methods endorsed in teaching writing is the application of CL. This research investigated the effects of CL to improve the writing skill of ninth grade students in a middle school in Kuala Lumpur. This research used the quasi experimental design, with pre-test and posttest of the narrative essays as the instruments. The data were further analysed by employing descriptive and inferential statistics. The students' writing were scored on the five writing components, they are vocabulary, organization, grammatical accuracy and mechanics. The results showed that the students had increased in their writing scores from the pre-test to the post test after the application of CL in the class. Subsequently, the results indicate positive effects of CL in improving the writing skill of students at the school, and they are also discussed in the paper.

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This experimental research aimed to explore the effect of teaching English writing of narrative texts by using Edmodo learning media through blended learning on the tenth-grade students in one of the senior high schools in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. It further looks into the students’ responses on the use of this media in learning English writing of narrative text. To study the development of the students’ writing before and after using Edmodo learning media in the classroom, the writing tests were given to the students. The data were gained quantitatively and qualitatively. The quantitative data were collected from the pre-test, treatments for three class meetings and the post-test, while the qualitative data was collected through the open-ended questionnaire which was distributed to the students after the treatments were done. Statistical formulas were used to calculate the mean, standard deviation, and t-test for the students’ pre-test and post-test scores. The hand coding and computer coding were used to analyze the data from the questionnaire. The results from the analysis of quantitative data showed that there was an improvement in students’ writing of narrative texts; their scores improved from the pre-test to the post-test after treatments with Edmodo were done. Furthermore, the analysis of the questionnaire revealed a majority of positive responses from the students. Those who negatively responded towards the use of this online learning media said that it was due to the necessity of the Internet connection and computers, laptops or mobile phones to operate Edmodo. Not all students have the privilege of possessing such devises and the Internet quota can also be costly. Thus, they recommended the school to provide them with free access to the Internet and computers should learning by using this media is to be continued in the future. Keywords: Blended learning, Edmodo, EFL students, English writing, narrative texts.

Abstract. The change of Indonesia's national curriculum from SchoolBased Curriculum 2006 (hereafter SBC 2006 to Curriculum 2013 (hereafter CR 2013 has caused modifications in the assessment system which requires teachers to use authentic assessment. Many teachers are facing setbacks in the implementation of this assessment, particularly in the attitude aspect. This qualitative research mainly focused on investigating the problems in conducting the attitude assessment faced by teachers in CR 2013. Three English teachers from three junior high schools in Banda Aceh were selected and interviewed with questions adapted from Handayani (2014) and Eliza (2015). The document analysis of attitude assessment was also done to see the reports of students' attitudes. The findings showed that the teachers knew the importance of authentic assessment as a necessity for assessing students' learning outcomes in CR 2013, but they admitted that it was complicated since many categories need to be assessed in detail. They find it impossible to assess all of the students in every school day. When parents do not want to cooperate if their children are in need of attention from both parents and teachers, it is also an obstacle for the teachers to do the assessments. Furthermore, the teachers deemed that self-and peer-assessment were ineffective and the paper further discusses why it is so.

The practicality and limited space of SMS have become features encouraging the emergence of various forms of SMS language. An analysis of SMS from 20 Acehnese female students in the University of Syiah Kuala was therefore carried out to inspect the elements of language employed within the text messages. The data of 110 SMS gathered through a mobile device were thoroughly analyzed and later categorized into linguistics and discoursal features. The result showed that female students tend to write about their psychological conditions in SMS by employing logogram and pictogram. A number of findings on omitted letters and nonstandard spelling were also indicated in their SMS. They rarely used initialism and shortening in writing the text messages because it is believed that these features can diminish intelligibility. These females also wrote complex messages and employed various languages into their text messages, including the national language (Indonesian), the language of their religion (Arabic), the language from media influence (Japanese), and their mother tongue (Acehnese). Their circumstance of being multilingual has expanded their linguistic performance in employing, typing, and inventing lively SMS. It is also interesting to discover that these texters created new symbols that are not generally found in SMS to identify their reciprocal relationship of the same culture and belief.

Purpose of the study: A textbook is a book containing comprehensive teaching-learning materials for a certain subject which is regularly used by both teachers and students at school. Textbooks should not contain unfair content or matters, such as gender bias. This study was conducted to examine the extent to which gender bias appears in the EFL textbook mostly employed in Aceh, Indonesia. Methodology: This research was aimed at investigating the representation levels of gender in English elementary textbooks of Grow with English book 4, book 5, and book 6. A content analysis method was used, for which every page of the textbooks was investigated to explore the five aspects of visibility, priority, feminine/masculine generic construction, activity, and occupation. Main Findings: The result of the investigation shows that every textbook contains gender bias of various representation levels. Males dominated three categories, namely priority, activity, and occupation. Meanwhile, females are only dominant in the visibility category. The results suggest that the EFL textbooks mostly used in Aceh are still not free from gender bias issues. Applications of this study: Indonesia is a country where English is used as a Foreign Language (EFL). Indonesian schools are apt to use textbooks written by Indonesian authors as the major source for English instruction in schools. Therefore, researchers should focus their attention on the content of English textbooks used in schools because they become the guidance for these students in learning. Novelty/Originality of this study: The results of the study suggest that the EFL textbook should be considered for revision to ensure that it is free from unfair content. This is aimed at national textbook designers when they have to produce a textbook for Indonesian learners so that the books they make available to schools are free from gender bias issues in the textbooks.

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The aim of this research was to find out whether English teachers teaching in rural areas in Indonesia are incorporating the Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) approach in their reading classes. The mixed research design included questionnaires, observations and interviews. A questionnaire was administered to 144 teachers in 68 rural high schools in Padang, West Sumatra. Out of these teachers, eight were chosen to be interviewed, and observations were conducted in their classes. Findings of the questionnaire showed that English teachers’ perceptions and attitudes are generally positive towards CLT in teaching reading. However, the results from observations and interviews with the teachers indicated that a majority of teachers still implemented the traditional (teacher-centred) approach in teaching reading compared to the student-centred approach as suggested by CLT. The preferred choice of teaching methods in teaching reading was influenced by several factors; namely, the students’ low proficiency level, their low degree of self-confidence and motivation, large class sizes, limited teaching schedule, and the teachers’ insufficient knowledge on CLT implementation. Finally, this research suggests that if Indonesia expects its policy of learning reform to be successful, intensive and consistent teacher development must be well-organized, and sufficient resources must be allocated so that all schools, especially those in rural areas, can meet the objectives. Keywords: communicative language teaching, English as a foreign language, reading, teachers’ voices, rural areas.