LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/2 April 2013 75 INTEGRATING LIFE SKILLS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING (ELT): STRATEGIES, PROBLEMS AND THEIR POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS Sajidin Sunan Gunung Djati State Islamic University Bandung e-mail: sajidin.uin@gmail.com Joko Nurkamto Surakarta State University Mursid Saleh Semarang State University Retmono Sultan Agung Islamic University ABSTRACT The integration of life skills in English language teaching has to be managed properly to achieve an optimal result. The exploration to the fields reveals some problems on their implementation: (1) classroom management, (2) selection of learning materials, (3) learning assessment, and (4) selection of learning methods. In addition, most teachers were fully satisfied with the existing model due to the following reasons: (1) requiring an extra preparation and teaching media, (2) incomplete communication task executions, and (3) inflexibility of model to apply in any class. To make the model of implementation better some recommendation are made: (1) incorporating materials reflecting life skills, (2) providing more comprehensible inputs, (3) developing a representative assessments, and (4) selecting a learning method that guide teacher to gradually develop communicative competence and simultaneously develop life skills. Key words: ELT, Life Skills, Integration, Strategies, Problems, Solution INTRODUCTION The integration of life skills in the teaching of subjects is officially recommended by the government through a policy numbered 19 in 2005. Currently, a similar policy is made using a different label, the integration of character education in national curriculum 1 . The policies seem 1 In fact, character values are a part of life skills, identical with soft skills. The 18 – state - selected characters fall under the four-state- promoted life skills: (1) Personal skills (such as: religious, honesty, self-esteem, self- awareness, self-relience, hard working, and crucial to be made regarding the present social problems prevalent in the country, such as: unemployment (Badan Pusat Statistik Indonesia, 2012; low competitive labor forces (UNDP, 2012) and violence among students. eager to learn, ), (2) Academic skills ( that is, logical, critical, creative, and innovative thinking, and curiousity), (3) Social skills (that is, responsibility, healthy living, discipline, obidience to social norms, appreciating other people work and achievements, politiness, democrativeness, nationalism, respecting people‘s differences), (4) vocational skills--, that is entrepeneurship). mailto:sajidin.uin@gmail.com 76 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/2 April 2013 All social problems above challenge us to seek their solution. One of strategic solutions is to develop life skill, for example, by integrating them in the teaching of subjects as recommended by the government. According to Francis (2010), developing life skills is believed to produce the following effects: lessened violent behavior; increased pro-social behavior and decreased negative, self- destructive behavior; increased the ability to plan ahead and choose effective solutions to problems; improved self- image, self-awareness, social and emotional adjustment; increased acquisition of knowledge; improved classroom behavior; gains in self control and sociability; better handling of interpersonal problems and coping with anxiety; and improved constructive conflict resolution with peers, impulse control and popularity. Further, it is claimed that life skills help people to encounter their life situation at home, school, work, and any other context in which they find themselves (Manglallan and Raskauskas, 2003; UNESCO, 2010). Life skills education has been a great concern among researchers and project developers. Therefore, a number of studies and projects have been carried out to find the best way to develop life skills, particularly, on the part of students (see for example, Information Synergy Incorporat- ion, 1989; Elias and Kress, 1994; Alcantara, 1994; Wendie, 1996; Cascini and Rich, 2007; Awbery, 2008; and Peet et al, 2009). However, the findings reveal that the projects were not always successful. A good claim was made by USAID (2008) that the projects involving 773 schools at 22 districts in five provinces: West Java, Central Java, East Java, North Sumatra, and South Sulawesi in the country was successfully implemented. Among 22 districts, only one district, that is Purba- lingga was found less successful. This paper is going to present how the project is implemented in the EFL classroom settings and how it is responded by the teachers, the school principles, and the students. The identified problems and their suggested solution will be presented after an ideal implementation is explored. To begin with the paper is going to present related literatures, followed with method of study, and terminated with the conclusion after presenting findings of the study. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Three major relevant concepts will be discussed in this part: (1) the basic concept of English language teaching, (2) definition and coverage of life skills, and (3) strategies of integration. To the last concept, a specific account is presented. Brown (1994:7) defines teaching as ―showing or helping someone to learn how to do something, giving instructions, guiding in the study of something, providing with knowledge, causing to know or to understand.‖ Meanwhile, Moore (2007: 5) defines it as ―the action of a person imparting skill or knowledge or LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/2 April 2013 77 giving instruction; the job of a person who teaches.‖ From the definition above, we may infer that language teaching is helping language learners to learn how to do something using language. Similar opinion is put forward by (Richard & Rodgers, 2001:157) that: ―language teaching is to help learners in any way that motivates them to work with language.‖ Using or working with language is very central in language teaching. This implies that language teaching is not only transferring or imparting language knowledge on the part of learners but also it is developing language skills. Language skills can be acquired through a practice using language. Therefore, PPP, Audio- lingual Method, Grammar Translation Method, Communicative Language Teaching — all these methods will be discussed latter—have been designed to provide a room for language practices with different terms. For example, the element of practice in PPP is represented by the last P, a short for Production. In Audio- lingual Method, it is represented with Repeat after Me; meanwhile, in Communicative Language Teaching, it is represented with Communicative Activities. Language knowledge is another important element of language teaching. It supports people to use language which is grammatically correct and socio- linguistically appropriate. Related to this, experts are different in terms of their approach to teaching language knowledge. Some tend to recommend explicit teaching; while, some others are more likely to propose implicit teaching. The proponents of implicit teaching argue that one can speak a language (commonly referring to first language) without teaching the knowledge of grammar. By providing an enough exposure and context, they will be able to communicate and grasp the meaning. Meanwhile, the proponents of explicit teaching argue that explicit teaching helps language learners (particularly adults) acquire language knowledge (i.e. grammar) effectively. The fist argument has led to a language teaching strategy under the label ‗focus on meaning or function‘; while; the second has led to language teaching paradigm which is popular with ‗focus on form‘. The aim of language teaching may vary from time to time and from one place to another place. Even, it may vary from country to another country. However, there has been a widely accepted belief that the aim of language teaching is for communication (Allwright, 1979). In other words, the aim of language teaching is to develop communicative competence. ―The goal of language teaching is to develop what Hymes (1972, in Richard, 2001: 159) referred to as ―communicative compet- ence.‖ Similar opinion is put forward by Leotiev (1981) that the aim of foreign language learning is to develop knowledge and skills needed to understand and participate in a wide range of intellectual and practical communicative activities realized through the target language. 78 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/2 April 2013 The components of communicative competence have been differently defined and have evolved over the time. Canale and Merrill Swain (1980, in Brown, 2007) assume that there are four different components that build communicative competence: (1) Grammatical compet- ence; (2) Discourse competence, (3) Sociolinguistics Competence, (4) Strategic Competence, and (5) Actional Compet- ence. Life skills are defined differently by one expert to another, even by an institution to another. However, they come with the same definition in common that life skills are essential skills for people life (see Francis, 2010; Depdiknas, 2007; USAID, 2008, Junge, Manglallan, and Raskaukasm 2003, and; UNESCO, 2010). Although life skills are a complex concept, some experts and institutions have developed their scope and categories. UNICEF (2005) for exmple divides life skills into 28 kinds which are classified into ten sub categories, while Hurd, Paul DeHart (2000) divides life skills into 35 life skills as follows. In addition, Iowa State University Extension (2010) divides life skills into 4 H (Heart, Head, Hands, and Health). Indonesian Ministry of National Education (in Power, 2009) formulates life skills into following scope and categories: (1) Personal Skills, that cover devotion to the one and only God, having noble morals, understanding oneself, believing in oneself, self-study skills, rational thinking, respecting oneself, becoming a human who reflects the morals of God, and reaching individual optimal potential; (2) Social Skills, that comprise of working in a group, demonstrating social responsibility, being responsible, managing emotions, interacting with the community, participating in local and global culture, developing physical potential, sportsmanship, discipline, co- operation, and healthy living; (3) Academic skills that cover having knowledge, using scientific skills, scientific attitude, scientific thinking, thinking strategically, life-long learning skills, communication skills, scientific and technological skills, critical, creative and independent thinking, decision making, problem solving, skills of research and exploration, and ability to use technology; (4) Vocational Skills that consist of skills connected to a profession which link with one specific area such as sewing, farming, raising animals, automotive, business skills, ICT skills, industry, and good attitude for the work environment. In addition, the following life skills are frequently mentioned in some literatures (see for example, Wilhelm 2002; Nicolaides, 2002; Snell, Snell-Siddle, and Whitehouse, 2002; Hasbullah & Sulaiman, 2002; Coates, 2006; Murray, et al. 2005; Hernández-March, del Peso and Leguey. 2009; and WHO, 1997): (1) communication skills, (2) Interpersonal skills, (3) Life- long learning, (4) Problem Solving, (5) Creative Thinking, (6) Leadership, and (7) Empathy. http://www.extension.iastate.edu/ http://www.extension.iastate.edu/ LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/2 April 2013 79 Integration means ―combining (parts) into a whole‖ or ―completing (something that is imperfect or incomplete) by adding parts‖ (Hornby, 1988: 444). Referring to the definition, integration means adding components to them. In the context of ELT curriculum, the integration of life skills tends to develop communicative competence on the part of English language learners. The acquisition of life skills occurs simultaneously with that of language skills. The assumption is relevant to principles of integration as suggested by the government (Depdiknas, 2007) that the integration of life skills into the subjects of teaching (including English) should among other things be implemented to follow the four pillars of learning: (a) learning to know, (b) learning to do, (c) learning to be, and (e) learning to live together. Theoretically, life skills can be integrated to all elements of teaching, simply called 5 Ms: Materials, Methods, Media, Measures, and Management. In this case, learning materials (content) are selected to reflect the targeted life skills; Methods (including techniques, and learning activities) are developed to meet the goal of life skills; Media reflects kinds of selected life skills; Measurements (interchangeable with assessment, and evaluation) is designed to measure the targeted life skill; Classroom managements are create to support the acquisition of both life skills and language skills. It is also possible that life skills are integrated to another M (Man) as a role model. In language teaching, however, the first two Ms are more popular. In other words, the integration of life skills is carried out through content and process (Power, 2006:7; Hopson & Sally, 1981). The integration of life skills through content is well documented in English language teaching tradition under the heading, Content-Based Language Teaching (TBLT). The approach has developed into several types to meet the goal of language learning: (1) Theme- based language instruction, (2) Sheltered content instruction, (3) Adjunct language instruction, (4) Skill-based instruction, and (5) Team-teach approach (Richard & Rogers, 2001; Celce-Murcia, 2001). One of obvious characteristics of CBLT is that learning materials are selected to reflect targeted life skills. The main goal is that language learners acquire skills or knowledge other than language skills. The extent to which they acquire both skills depends on the formulated goal. However, it seems safe to say that in Indonesian context, the language skills are primary goal; meanwhile, non language skills (including life skills or character values) are secondary (see Depdiknas, 2007). To select learning materials for content-based language teaching is based on the kind of contents being taught. It is particularly true that if we teach students about ‗responsibility‘, the material should reflect ‗responsibility‘ in terms of its topic or 80 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/2 April 2013 its language content. Otherwise, teachers create their own learning materials related to it. In addition to the basic principle above, to select learning materials for content-based language teaching (including life skills content), a few literatures (see for example, Callahan & Motta, 2001; Power, 2008; Depdiknas, 2007; UNICEF, 2005; and Postma, Getkate, and van Wijk, 2004) provide their guide line to follow. It is generally suggested that the content should share the following criteria: (1) appropriate with students‘ physical, cognitive, emotional development, (2) relevant to their need, (3) appropriate with the existing time and resources, (4) relevant to students‘ culture. By process, it means practicing life skills in classroom settings during teaching-learning process. For example, to develop interpersonal skills, the students are grouped to work together among their peers. They are not directly taught with these skills, but they engage in a structured learning experience designed by a teacher. The students may subconsciously learn interpersonal skills since the materials they study are content subjects, such as reading for comprehension, or writing a letter. The process of teaching and learning relevant to life skills education varies from one expert to another, but they shares some characteristics in common (see Francis, 2007; WHO,1997; UNICEF, 2005; UNICEF, 2007; Ferrari et al, 2005; UNESCO, 2006; Postma, Getkate,and van Wijk, 2004; and, Mangrulkan, Whitman, and Pasner, 2001). They are grouped in the following criteria: (1) An activity-based teaching, (2) Interaction or participation, (3) Reinforcement, (4) Experiential learning In line with the criteria above, some techniques of life skills instruction are identified: (1) Brainstorming (see WHO,1997), (2) Role-playing (see WHO,1997; WHO, 2002; UNESCO, 2006; Callahan, 2001; Mangrulkan, Whitman, Posner, 2001), (3) Debating (see Mangrulkan, Whitman, Posner, 2001), (4) Group work and discussion (see UNESCO, 2006; Mangrulkar, Whitman, Posner, 2001; Postma, Getkate and van Wijk, 2004:6; Callahan, 2001; WHO, 1999), (5) Storytelling (see WHO, 1999; ), (6) Games (see UNESCO, 2006; Postma, Getkate and van Wijk, 2004; Callahan, 2001; Mangrulkan, Whitman, Posner, 2001), and (7) Literature content analysis (see Mangrulkan, Whitman, Posner, 200), (8) Decision mapping or problem trees (see Mangrulkan, Whitman, Posner, 2001), and (9) Story or situation analysis (see UNESCO, 2006; Mangrulkan, Whitman, Posner, 2001). The integration of life skills through media is indicated with the emergence of targeted life skills within a medium or media. For example, to integrate ‗discipline‘ in English language teaching, a teacher prepares or displays people who work with a good discipline, such as: LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/2 April 2013 81 coming on time, wearing official dress, or leaving the office as scheduled. Classroom management in a broad term refers to any effort to make teaching and learning successful. It ranges from seeking self discipline to preventing mis- behavior (Cumming, 2001) or from reducing class of friction to providing students with rewards and punishment (Smith & Laslet, 1993). The integration of life skills through classroom management is reflected in seating arrangement, rewards and punishment, students‘ stress reduction. U-shape seating arrangement and a circle are central in developing social as well personal skills; similarly, rewards and punishments are important classroom managements to develop several personal skills, such as: confidence, discipline, and self-esteem. A basic indicator of the integration through learning assessment is the availability of learning measurement for both language leaning and life skills development. Further exploration should be made how effective the learning assessment measures students‘ language skills and life skills. To identify its effectiveness, two main criteria are quite central: reliable and valid. The former refers to the consistence of assessment for different subject and different time; meanwhile, the latter deals with the extent to which the assessment reflects what is ought to measure. METHOD This study was carried out in natural settings, without any intervention from the researcher. The researcher played as a research instrument, in which his role was to explore the existing phenomenon. The research design appropriate for this, therefore, is qualitative research. The research was carried out in five districts in Central Java implementing the integration of life skills in the teaching of subject (including English Language Teaching). Central Java has been chosen as a research activity since it is the province where the researcher studied and had an ample opportunity to have a direct access to data resources. The total population of the research are 29 districts; meanwhile, there 9 districts selected as a pilot project implementing the integration of life skills in the teaching of subjects by the government. Of 9 districts, there are 44 schools used as pilot projects implementing the integration life skills into the teaching of subjects, including English Language teaching (ELT). They are subdivided into two cohorts; cohort I involving 24 schools and cohort II involving 29 schools. Among 24 schools, there are 1335 teachers (English teachers and non- English teachers) participating in the project. However, there are no specific data dealing with the number of English teachers participating in the project. 82 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/2 April 2013 There are 20 schools implementing the project. However, five districts have been purposively selected as a sample since they had implemented the pilot project longer than the other districts among the districts in Central Java. It is believed that the longer their engagement with the projects the more knowledgeable they are. Moreover, only 9 schools are purposively selected as a core sample; they are the schools under the full management of the government. In other words, they are state- owned schools fully funded and controlled by the government. Data were drawn from 21 English teachers and 26 students. Their opinion was elicited to conceptually explore the classroom implementation, and their perception toward the project. The respondents were selected on the basis on their readiness to be elicited. There was no specific information regarding the number of English teachers participating in the project. Therefore, the sampling method employed was a snow ball; it began from a small unit and its number got bigger along the run. The research employed three techniques of data collection: interview, document analysis, and observation. The main purpose of interview is to explore the teachers, school principals, and students‘ perception to the project. To the teacher, the interviews were specifically conducted to know their opinion dealing with: (1) the kinds of life skills integrated in ELT, (2) the strategy to integrate life skills into ELT, and (3) the kinds of problem, if any, encountered during the implementation. The observation was conducted as much as nine times from EFL classroom settings. The activity was terminated when general patterns had been conceptually formulated. In other words, there was a no longer new pattern emerging from the field. Document analysis was carried out to know the kinds of life skills integrated into ELT, kinds of teaching materials, form of assessment, teaching media, and general steps of teaching. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The kind of life skills integrated into ELT The kind of life skills integrated in ELT varies from one to another resource. An exploration to 15 lesson plans made by the teachers reveals that there are 17 life skills in common; meanwhile, the data elicited from the interviews report that there are 11 kind of life skills commonly integrated. Moreover, the data from classroom observation 7 kinds of life skills potentially develop. Table 1 represents the kinds of life skills integrated in ELT from different resources. From Table 1, there are two life skills frequently integrated in ELT: Collaborative working and Communication Skills. They are conceptually integrated in their lesson plans and empirically evident during classroom sessions. Most life skills are conceptually integrated in ELT; meanwhile, there are only a few life skills integrated in ELT. LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/2 April 2013 83 Table 1 Kinds of Life Skills Integrated in ELT. No Kinds of life skills Lesson Plan Interviews Classroom Observation  f F f 1 Trustworthiness 2 2 1 5 2 Respect 2 - - 2 3 Diligence 2 - - 2 4 Courage 1 1 3 5 5 Responsibility 1 1 - 2 6 Religiosity 2 2 2 6 7 Discipline 1 1 2 5 8 Creative thinking 1 - - 1 9 Curiosity 2 - - 2 10 Hard working 1 - - 1 11 Self-reliance 1 1 - 2 12 Collaborative working 1 3 11 15 13 Problem Solving 1 2 - 3 14 Critical thinking 2 2 - 4 15 Communication skills 1 11 12 16 Self Confidence 2 2 - 4 17 Caring 1 - - 1 18 Decision making - 3 3 6 The Strategies of Integration The English teachers at the target schools employed different ways to integrate life skills into the teaching of their subject. However, there is a tendency among English teachers that the commonest way to integrate them is by developing activities relevant to the life skills being developed. In other words, they integrated them by process. Conversely, only few teachers, as they claimed, integrate them by content. However, analysis on documents and observation during classroom sessions do not approve at all. Table 2 represents the teachers‘ strategy to integrate life skills into English Language Teaching as it is evident from interview, classroom observation, and document analysis. Table 2 The Strategies to Integrate Life Skills. No Strategies Never Some- times Often Very often Always 1 Methods √ 2 Materials √ 3 Media √ 4 Management of Classroom √ 5 Measurement √ 84 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/2 April 2013 The integration through method The integration through method (techniques and learning activities) was claimed by 12 of 17 respondents. The exploration to the classroom sessions strengthens their claims. They teachers integrated life skills by developing group discussion (8 of 12 classroom sessions), pair works (2 of 12 classroom sessions), students‘ reflection (1 0f 12 classroom sessions), and students‘ presentation (1 of 12 classroom sessions). Taking into account the data above, it seems safe to say that the strategy is very often carried out by the teachers. Theoretically, group discussion is strongly recommended to employ (Texas Education Agency. 1991). It can be employed to develop social as well as academic skills. Nevertheless, other techniques are also suggested to employ. Dillon (2004), for example, suggests that personal skills (living virtue) use a variety of techniques, such as: lecture, exercise in logic, exercise in dialectic and rhetoric, association, exemplification, and imitation. Other life skills can be developed through the following techniques: presentation, demonstration, and think-pare share (Texas Education Agency, 1991). The integration through materials Teaching materials are selected to meet teaching goals. The kind of teaching materials for life skills are suggested to reflect the kind of life skills to be developed. This means that the integration of life skills as approached from content. Exploration to the collected lesson plans reveals that the titles selected do not reflect the kind of life skills to be developed. For example, the kind of life skills to be developed in Lesson Plan (LP) #3 is respect and religious; meanwhile, the title selected is Yuni’s Holiday. Likewise, the kind of life skills as presented in LP #6 is self confidence; whereas, the title selected is Koala Bears. The analysis to their content as well as teachers‘ questioning does not reflect the kinds of life skills being developed. The integration through media Pictures are the most frequently used teaching media during classroom sessions. Card is another teaching used by the teacher. An exploration to the existing media, however, does not reflect the kind of life skills being developed. Therefore, during classroom sessions the teachers never integrate life skills through teaching media. The integration through management of classrooms There is no specific effort from the teachers, as they claimed from the interviews, to integrate life skills through management of the classroom. However, there are a lot of the teachers‘ spontaneous activities that lead the students to acquire particular life skills. Among other things can be seen in Table 3. LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/2 April 2013 85 Table 3 The integration through management of classrooms. No Management of classroom Potential life skills Classroom Observation Total 1 Structuring classroom Communication skills Interpersonal skills, leadership CO #01, CO #03, CO #04, CO #05, CO #06, CO #07, CO #09, CO #10, CO #11 9 2 Reminding jury time Discipline CO #01, CO #06, CO #09, CO #11 4 3 Appreciating students‘ work/performance Self-confidence CO #01, CO #05,CO #0 6, CO #07, CO #11, CO #12 6 4 Encouraging students to come forward Confidence, courage CO #04 1 Seen from the table above, the teachers very often integrated life skills through management of classroom. The integration through measurement Of the documents above, there is no single document identifying specific life skills to be developed and how they are assessed. Instead of giving more specific life skills, life skills formulation was indentified in more general ones: (such as social skills, academic skills, and personal skills. The lack of clarity seems to lead teachers to develop the skills ineffectively. Likewise, there is no specific activity how life skills were evaluated in the classroom. Analysis carried out toward observation sheets did not identify how the evaluation was developed. Form of assessment is also identified in lesson plans but it is limited to language skills. Thus, life skills assessment is missing from both teachers‘ activities and their lesson plan. The absence of life skills assessment might lead us to assume that teachers have no specific target to develop life skills. To carefully develop life skills, a specific procedure of life skills assessment is required. This might help teachers to evaluate their teaching result. In addition, the student learning progress on the targeted life skills can be evaluated over the time. Literatures on life skills assessment suggest that life skills are assessed through a variety of modes. The followings are popular techniques to assess life skills: observation, journal logs, performance test, paper-pencil tests, checklist, etc. (see UNESCO, 2008). Problems of Implementation and Their Possible Solution The integration of life skills in English language teaching as implemented in the pilot project commonly works as planned by the teachers. However, some problems emerged during the implementation. The exploration to 9 classroom sessions reveals the following findings: 86 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/2 April 2013 Table 4 The Problems evident during the Implementations. No Type of Problems Classroom Observation (CO) # Total 1 Incomplete communication task executions CO#01, CO#2, CO#3, CO#5, CO#6, CO#7, CO#09, CO#11 8 2 Low monitoring CO #01, CO #07, CO #05, CO #09, 4 3 Incomprehensible input CO #03, CO #04, CO #05 3 4 Life skill negligence CO #01, CO #06, CO #08 3 5 Unclear instruction CO #06, CO #07 2 6 Poor time management CO #03 1 As we may notice from Table 4, incomplete communication tasks execution is the greatest problem among the six identified problems. The solution to the problem is that the teachers should have an obvious teaching goal and continue the teaching up to the acquisition of language skills and life skills. The acquisition of language skills is indicated with the ability to create a text (in a broader term). In this case, genre-based instruction cycles is strongly recommended since the instruction gradually guides a teacher to develop students communicative competence through the creation of different texts (see Hammond et.al., 1992; Derewianka, 1990, and Feeze & Joyce, 1998). The solution is also applicable for the fourth problem. The second problem is simply stated that the monitoring should be intensified by approaching an individual student or group during task execution. In respect to the third problem, the solution is the same as the problem put forward by the teachers above. In respect to the fifth problem is that the teacher developed a written instruction in addition to spoken instruction. Last but not least, the teachers appoint a time keeper to remind their teaching sessions. Furthermore, the integration of life skills in English language teaching in the existing model was positively claimed by the students. Most of the students (21 of 26 respondents) claimed that the model facilitated them to work collaboratively; almost half of them (11 of 26 respondents) perceived that the model help to express their ideas; several of them (7 of 26 respondents) felt more confidence in learning English; few students (1 of 26 respondents) respectively were able to build togetherness, to learn from others, and to be more responsible. It was also positively claimed by some teachers (5 of 21 respondents). However, most of them (8 of 21 respondents) are not satisfied with the existing model. Their dissatisfaction with the existing model can be seen in Table 5 in which the greatest source of LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/2 April 2013 87 dissatisfaction is that the model requires more facilities. They also perceive that the implementation requires an extra pre- paration. Table 5 The Teachers‘ Satisfaction with the Existing Model. No Type of Problems Respondent # Total 1 Requiring more facilities R#01, R#07, R# 08, R#0 9, R# 11, R# 17, 8 2 Requiring an extra preparation R#09, R# 10, R# 13, R# 17, R# 10, 5 3 Conflicting with teachers‘ teaching target (Standard Competence) R#01, R# 12, R# 13, R# 16, 4 4 Inappropriate with students‘ local condition R#12, R# 13, R# 17 3 Conflicting with their teaching target and inappropriate with students‘ local condition are problems which are considered minor. The solution to the first problem is that teachers should build communication with the local school principals to provide a specific budget for them. Otherwise, they have to make any kinds of facilities available when the teachers needed them spontaneously. With regard to the second problem, it is imperative that the teachers select academic works with clerical works. The teachers only hand over academic works; meanwhile, the clerical works can be shared with others. Regarding to the third problems, the teachers have to identify the kind of life skills possibly integrated in their lesson plans. As the government suggests, the teachers have to analyze English Competence Standard and Basic Competence and integrated life skills when they are possible (see Depdiknas, 2007). By so doing, the target of language teaching and life skills integration is fully realized. In respect to the last problems, they teachers have to select appropriate teaching materials and tasks with their current abilities. It is generally assumed that a good level of teaching material and tasks are one level above their current ability (see Krashen, 1984). CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION There are 18 kinds of life skills intentionally integrated in English language teaching. However, there are only 7 kinds of life skills empirically integrated in EFL classroom sessions: Trustworthiness, Courage, Religiosity, Discipline, Collaborative working, Decision Making, and Communication skills. Moreover, there are 4 kinds of life skills unintentionally integrated in ELT. Yet, they potentially develop on the part of students during their engagement in the classroom sessions. The integration of life skills in ELT as piloted by USAID in five districts in Central 88 LANGUAGE CIRCLE Journal of Language and Literature Vol. VII/2 April 2013 Java was carried out through various modes. However, there is a tendency among the teachers that they integrated life skills in ELT through process (or method, that is, the selection of teaching techniques, and students‘ tasks). The most frequent technique employed is group discussion, another label for group work or cooperative learning. The technique was selected to develop communication skills, interpersonal skills, and other social skills. There are several problems frequently encountered by the teachers during the implementation. It is generally claimed that the implementation in the existing model (1) requires more facilities, (2) needs an extra preparation, (3) conflicts with teachers‘ teaching target (Standard Competence), and (4) inappropriate with students‘ local condition. Besides, there are other problems as commonly identified during classroom sessions: (5) Incomplete communication task executions, (6) Low monitoring, (7) Incomprehensible input, (8) Life skill negligence, (9) Unclear instruction and (10) poor time management. The solution to the problems is respectively given below: (1) building communication and coordination with the school principals as well as administrative staffs, (2) sharing works with other school parties, (3) selecting particular life skills to fit with the Standard Competence, (4) selecting more comprehensible teaching materials by modifying or adapting them, (5) setting up a clear teaching goal and employing a more structural step of teaching to develop communicative activities, (6) intensifying monitoring during task execution, (7) selection more comprehensible teaching materials and developing negotiation of meaning, (8) setting up clear goal of language skills, and developing life skills instrument, (9) developing written instructions in addition to spoken instructions, (10) appointing a classroom time keeper. 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