This is a rethinking on General English for Adults.

1. Rethinking General English
for Adults (GEA)
Ideal vs Practical Learning Objectives of General English
Training Program
Ana Zahida

2. How General is General English?
 Definition: English for General Purposes, particularly for communication
in day-to-day real-life situation.
 Scope: Integrated skills: reading, listening, speaking, and writing as well
as two foundation of language: grammar and vocabulary.
 Target: Anyone requiring Basic English Skills for any purposes
 Levels: CEFR A1 (Beginner), A1+ (Elementary), A2 (Pre-Intermediate), B1
(Intermediate), B2 (Upper-Intermediate), C1 (Advanced)

4. Common Subjects of General English
 Introducing yourself
 Small-talk
 Family Life
 Friends
 Hobbies
 Likes and dislikes
 Food
 Shopping
 Travel
 Holidays
 Hometown
 Environment
 Books
 Movies
 Future plans

5. General English Training Program in Pusat Bahasa
UIN Sunan Kalijaga From Time to Time
 2013-2014: General English Kit
 Number of Meetings: 40
 Assessment: Written Assessment: Mid
Term and Final test
 Assigned teachers formulated the
exam questions
 Participants: First-Year Students

6. General English Training Program in Pusat Bahasa
UIN Sunan Kalijaga From Time to Time
2015-2021: TEST OF ENGLISh
COMPETENCE Preparation
Course
 14 Meetings of TOEFL Preparation
covering: Listening, Structure &
Written Expressions, Reading
Comprehension
 Assessment: TOEFL Test

7. General English Training Program in Pusat Bahasa
UIN Sunan Kalijaga From Time to Time
2022- Present: Breakthrough:
General English Course
 General English covering four skills:
Reading, Listening, Speaking, Writing
 Designed for 12 meetings with
Pretest and Post Test in SEB format,
resembling home-grown TOEFL test.

8. Challenges in The Current General Training
 Low Learning Motivation
 Low Level of Participation
 Discrepancy of Skill Level between Learning Materials and Final Test
 Non Alignment between the form of the Final Test and Activity-Based Course
 Unclear University Policy regarding the Status of the Training,
 Unclear Learning Contract,
 Wide Range Level of Student Skills
 Lack of Relevance between Learning Materials and Student Needs
 Lack of materials regarding productive skills: writing and speaking

9. Recommendation
 Building student motivation to keep on learning English by broadening their horizon about the
importance of English in the world of work, leisure, and circle of academia.
 Designing a clear policy about the obligation to take General English Course as part of their stud
 Creating an established system to record student attendance and participation.
 Determining the standard required number of meetings for students’ participation.
 Creating a particular form to include student activity-based performance as part of student
assessment for their final score.
 Allowing teachers to learn about the question form for the post test to get the idea about the
learning direction.
 Labeling the materials and activities into: beginner, intermediate, advanced
 Creating supplementary materials for advanced level of students for enrichment.
 Adding more productive skills, particularly related to the basics of academic writing skill.

10. Group Work: Please work in a group of 2 to
review the materials!
 Label the materials based on: beginner, intermediate, advanced
 Provide the time spent for each activity
 If the chapter is less well-developed, what could be added to enrich the
materials?
 Is there any correction/revision?
 Which chapter/part will you suggest to skip if the whole materials are to
be delivered in 10 meetings?