IN HOUSE TRAINING (IHT) MODEL TO IMPROVE THE ABILITIES OF ENGLISH TEACHERS IN DEVELOPING TEACHING MATERIALS

The Ministerial Regulation Number 16 of the year 2007 on academic qualification standards and teacher competencies requires teachers to demonstrate four competencies: personal, social, pedagogical, and professional. However, there are two competencies (pedagogical and professional) which become the stumbling obstacles for teachers of English in their professional involvement. Therefore, this study involving teachers in four districts in West Java was designed to aim at: (1) gathering background information and creating a conceptual framework for enhancing teachers' capabilities in developing and implementing teaching materials; and (2) designing a model of IHT to improve the ability of teachers to develop and implement the use of teaching materials. The method used in the data analysis adopted a qualitative design with reference especially to the theory of the development of teaching materials and the design of IHT. The results showed that most respondents tended to resort to the textbook as the primary source for students' learning activities, with some enrichment materials obtained from the Internet and other sources. Nevertheless most of the teachers were still found to encounter quite a few hindrances in developing their teaching-learning materials, appropriate to the topics as indicated in the syllabus and to the student characteristics. To alleviate this hurdle, the IHT model developed here for incorporation in a teacher training program could be an effective alternative to improve the ability of the teachers in developing their English teaching-learning materials.

Academic qualifications and competency standards require teachers to possess four competencies, namely pedagogical, personal, social, and professional.Pedagogical and professional competencies are still problematic for teachers because the two domains reflect the substance of knowledge to teach and the ability of teachers in teaching.Results of Teacher Competency Test (UKG) officially administered to the teachers and also results of the observations by the supervisor and training instructor have indicated that most teachers did not demonstrate adequate mastery of these competencies.
As regards pedagogical and professional competencies, English teachers often receive criticism in terms of their English language skills and in their capacity in developing teaching-learning materials for their classes.Inability to develop learning materials has become one of the teachers' weak points, closely related to many other instructional aspects, such as planning ability, mastery of the teaching materials, media development, and preparation of the evaluation tools.Classroom observations have revealed the fact that there are many teachers who have a high dependence on the use of textbooks and worksheets as the only source in their material selection for their teaching-learning process.
With reference to the conditions above, this study aims to (1) develop the ability of teachers to map out and implement the teaching materials in class; and (2) design a model of In-House Training (IHT) to improve teachers' competencies in developing English language learning materials.

THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS
According to Brown (1995), teaching materials could be defined as technical description and excercises systematically planned for classroom activities.In a somewhat broader perspective, teaching materials could include anything that could be utilized to facilitate the language learning process in the classroom (Tomlinson, 2001).Gebhard (2006) categorizes teaching materials on the basis of whether the materials are commercial, authentic in nature, and of the role of technology in their implementation.As regards ways of developing the teaching materials, Brown (1995) puts forward three ways: adopting, developing, and adapting the teaching materials.
In selecting and preparing effective language learning materials, Crowford (2002) reveals some important principles: (1) learning materials should serve as language in context, (2) learning materials should be a complete text and used directly with a focus on meaning, (3) the language used in teaching materials should as Lengkanawati, Setyarini, Sari, and Moecharam, In House Training (IHT) model to Improve the abilities... Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, Vol. 5 No. 1, July 2015, pp. 37 -43 much as possible be realistic and authentic, (4) audio-visuals should be used in presenting learning materials in class, (5) the preparation of learning materials should be balanced to include writing and oral activities proportionally, (6) effective learning materials could encourage learner autonomy, (7) learning materials should be flexible to accommodate individual and contextual differences in the learning process, and (8) content-wise, learning materials could strengthen involvement of the learners to relate their personal experience with what is being taught.
As regards designing and implementing the teaching materials, Hedge (2000) introduces such important stages as considering learner condition and learning contexts, setting up objectives, designing lesson plans, designing teaching materials, conducting the teaching learning process, and evaluating.In the context of placing the teaching materials within the teachinglearning context, Moon (2008) suggested a framework abbreviated into TALFSS, which stands for topic, activities, language, focus, situation, and sequencing.
In the context of English language teaching in Indonesia, too much dependence upon textbooks may affect the performance of teachers in developing teaching materials.This is especially true when the textbook is deemed capable of promising success in national exams better than the materials from other sources.Teachers tended to consider the textbook as a complete resource, as it was thought to cover all the teaching-learning items as required in the content standards and graduation standards set by the government.As to the question of why textbooks are preferably selected by most teachers as the first source for developing teaching materials, Tomlinson (2001) indicates that textbooks are seen by their users as the most comfortable resource that, other than their accessibility, commonly shows structuredness in terms of how items are presented and sustainability as regards how materials are designed to flow from simple to more complicated items.This is also in line with Harmer (2001) who says that use of a textbook has its advantage of availability of relatively complete teaching materials and easy accessibility to enrichment materials commonly covered in it.
Approaches to teacher training and education have been changing from time to time.In this respect, Grenfell (1998:1) has this to say "early common-sense notions of teaching by doing have been replaced with more descriptive techniques of 'how to teach' in line with present methodological trends."Teacher training programs are therefore expected to rectify the false perceptions most teachers have regarding the status of the textbook and to reinforce the teachers' capacity in developing teaching-learning materials themselves to complement what has been covered in the textbook.
A teacher training, according to Wallace (1993), can be set up in any of the three models: the craft model, the applied science model, or the reflective model.In the craft model, the trainees learn by observing and trying out the examples given by the master trainer through an apprenticeship mechanism, plus accumulation of various experiences.The second model, the applied science model, provides an opportunity for the trainees to be exposed to theoretical materials.For example, the teacher trainees are taught about a particular theory in applied linguistics or in any other related science, then the theory is applied to teaching and learning activities in their classroom.While the third model, the reflective model, provides the trainees with an opportunity to teach and/or observe a lesson, or to recall their past experiences, and then reflect on them individually and in group discussions, in order for them to be able to try out all that they have reflected on in classroom practices.The third model seems to be more suitable than any of the othe two models for the development of the in-house training model.In this model, the master trainer plays a role as a facilitator or as a developer, in the spirit of encouraging trainees to develop a body of knowledge on their own.
The roles of the master trainer in the reflective model are in line with what isdescribed by Ur (1991Ur ( , 2009: 8) : 8) as follows: • To encourage trainees to articulate what they know and put forward new ideas of their own; • To provide input and to make available further sources of relevant information; • To get trainees to acquire the habit of processing input from either sorce through using their own experience and critical faculty, so that they eventually feel a personal 'ownership' of the the resulting knowledge.

METHODS
This research report constitutes the first phase of a longitudinal research undertaking, carried out in four districts in West Java, adopting a qualitative design using the techniques of interviewing, observation and data collection through fieldwork (Malik & Hamied, 2014).The purposive sampling technique was used in determining the subjects of the research.The data were collected utilizing the following instruments: questionnaires, classroom observations, and interviews.Data analysis was performed through three stages: first, the identification of specific aspects as perceived by the English teachers (the subjects of the research) as they were relevant to the teachers' capacity in developing and implementing teaching materials in their classes.Second, data reduction, as suggested by Creswell (1998:140), was performed to select the information obtained in accordance with the purpose of the research, i.e. the development of IHT model.Third was the mapping of the patterns and relationships of each element as found in the previous two stages.

FINDINGS
There are three instruments used in data collection, namely: questionnaires, classroom observation and interviews.These instruments were intended to collect data on the perceptions of teachers regarding the textbook, teaching materials, and the urgency of In-House Training (IHT), and how these perceptions were reflected in classroom practices.
From the Questionnaires According to the teachers, textbooks were considered as one of the essential resources for learning; therefore, the content of a textbook must be in accordance with the characteristics of the intended learners.In selecting textbooks, the majority of the teachers thought that textbooks should match the characteristics of the learners.Nevertheless, the majority of the teachers believed that using additional materials was a must.
In general, the teachers had a good understanding about the importance of teaching media and of their use in the classroom.They admitted that their competence was limited not only in material development but also in improving students' motivation in learning.Furthermore, they also agreed that high dependence on textbooks without creative development was not only bad for students, but also had the potential to decrease the passion and creativity of the teachers in developing teaching materials.In more detail, it was also revealed that most teachers felt the importance of the use of technology in the development of teaching materials, especially for evaluation of ongoing review of the quality of the materials developed.
As to the teachers' perceptions regarding teaching materials, it was found that the majority of the teachers perceived teaching materials as an important element in the teaching-learning process.When asked about how teaching materials could be defined, most teachers agreed that teaching materials referred to technical description and forms of exercises systematically designed for classroom learning activities.They believed that anything that could facilitate the language learning process could be categorized as teaching materials, which could be in the forms of linguistic, audio, and visual inputs such as printed materials, direct language performances, CD/DVD/cassette materials, and various internet-based resources.They also considered available, commercial teaching materials adequate to facilitate teachers in their classes.
During the interviews, many of the teachers showed concern regarding their lack of confidence as to which teaching techniques to take in implementing and which teaching materials to present.Besides, their lack of exposure to various technologies was admitted by most teachers to hinder their efforts in finding appropriate materials to incorporate in their teaching activities.Therefore, the majority of the teachers revealed the same perception regarding the importance of organizing a training that could empower teachers to be professionally capable of designing and implementing instructional materials and media in the classroom.

From Observations
The observations were carried out to capture the ability of the English teachers in the selected junior high schools in West Java in developing and implementing teaching materials in the classroom.In particular, the indicators in this classroom observation were focused on media use by teachers in the teaching-learning process, which included media designing, forms of presentation (teacher attitudes at the time of material presentation), and the emphasis on idea and logical development.
Almost all teachers observed designed the media by taking into consideration the needs of students of grades 7, 8, and 9 with a variety of topics.Three of the teachers designed media in the form of flash cards and powerpoint presentation in support of their teaching-learning activities.The observation data carried out in West Bandung indicated the design of the media used in the class was adequate, but still needed improving.
Two other teachers from Cimahi and Lembang district used interesting image media with powerful messages, so that the students' motivation grew by itself.But the media display with bright colors had distracted the students, because they paid more attention to the interesting pictures than to the teacher's explanation.Teachers from Subang were highly skillfull, and creative in developing media.On the video, it was clearly seen that teachers used photographs of famous people uploaded from the internet.In addition, in teaching the pronunciation of selected vocabulary items, the teacher used a dictionary in his laptop that demonstrated audio pronunciation of the selected words so that the students could hear native speaker pronunciation models clearly and accurately.
The focus of attention during the observation was once in a while switched to the attitudes of the teachers at the time of presenting the media in the classroom.It was reported that all teachers involved were capable of presenting the media well, including avoiding reading the display media content, while maintaining eye contact with the students to ensure students' response to the teacher's explanation.So it can be concluded that all the teachers had presented their media with adequate confidence.All the teachers involved in this observation had demonstrated that they were able to put great emphasis on idea and logical development.However, most teachers had not been able to show evidence that supported the main objective of using the media.This was evident from the observation report stating that the indicators did take place as observed, but improvement was still needed.

From interviews
On developing teaching materials Ability of the teachers, as respondents in the study, to develop teaching materials was portrayed in the results of the recorded and then transcribed interviews, the data of which were inductively reduced by selecting responses or parts of the responses which were deemed to be relevant to the purposes of this study.Each of the analyzed responses raised the construct, i.e. the principal thought contained in the response, and then the main concept extracted from this construct, and the topic which becomes part of the discussion of the findings in the study.
Respondent 1 reported that he used the textbook as a primary source for developing his teaching materials.As for the development of enrichment materials, he took into consideration the circumstances that commonly took place in his class, with himself occasionally developing or selecting appropriate learning media.He believed that "to develop teaching materials we still need to refer to the textbook, it's just a (primary) tool and the materials should be more varied."In addition, he argued that "new ideas are needed to be explored" in the development of materials, and for the new ideas to come up in the development of materials, "we need to cautiously see the students' interest in learning and their purposes of attending classes."The difficulty to find new ideas to make a solid pattern for developing teaching materials was one of the difficulties faced by the teachers in carrying out this particular professional task.The very constructs from this teacher include beliefs that the textbook is the main resource, that enrichment materials would depend upon existing class circumstances, that teaching materials should vary, and that new ideas should be searched and discovered to bring about fresh teaching materials.
Respondent 2 argued that the textbook as teaching materials was very important and it should be used as a reference.The textbook had to serve as a guide for teachers to help students gain their learning achievement during the school year.Respondent 2 saw the development of teaching materials as "an effort made by teachers in providing a range of alternative materials that must be mastered by the learners."Respondent 2 hoped that "learners can think broadly and deeply as regards the materials being learnt," and he was convinced that the development of the materials carried out by teachers can be adapted to the characteristics and needs of the learners.It was also is recognized by the respondent that there were difficulties in developing teaching materials, particularly in terms of finding references and resources.In addition, it was also believed that the teacher should know the types of learners such as auditory, kinesthetic, and visual types of learners.The respondent also observed that most teachers still encountered difficulties, mainly because teachers were still limited in their ability to access teaching-learning sources so that they still needed necessary assistance in gaining and enriching their teaching materials accordingly.Another thing that is fundamental according to the respondent is that the development of teaching materials requires teachers to have solid professional and pedagogical competencies.The constructs coming out of this respondent include the status of teaching materials as alternatives of concepts to be learnt, the learner characteristics, including types of learning styles, as the basis for the development of teaching-learning materials, and teacher competencies as a determinant in successful development of teaching materials.
Respondents 3 admitted that he frequently developed enrichment materials because in his view "the textbook functions only as a basis for the learning process to take off."In addition, he took benefit out of various software technologies, such as Skype and Edmodo.Therefore, the Internet is an important source for him in the development of teaching materials, in addition to materials developed by himself.The use of the Internet helped this respondent a lot as teachers had "a lot of documents that must be handle in their daily routines," which made the development of teaching materials rather neglected.He argued also that the textbook should not be treated as the only source for materials development, because "if the teacher continues to rely only on the textbook, students will be bored and the teacher does not professionally develop."In addition, this respondent also believed that the textbook had also limited coverage and "will run out before the semester ends when not modified and enriched."Contructs come out of what this respondent include the status of the textbook as a guiding reference in developing enrichment materials, materials development as part of teacher professional development, and professional and pedagogical competencies of the teacher as a key to developing and using teaching materials.
"Sources for the development of teaching materials varies," according to Respondent 4, which could include "the textbook and its enrichment ... sometimes develop it on my own, sometimes from the Internet as well, as appropriate."He added that "the choice of resources is also determined by the time available, since this teaching material development activities takes time as well."The respondent also argued about the importance of varying types of activities that will be used in the teachinglearning process, so that "the students are happy and understand the materials better, one of them with use of an attractive media."If Respondent 4 faced difficulties in the development of teaching materials, he usually asked his colleagues, or exchanged ideas during a meeting at MGMP (Community of Same-Subject Teachers).The results of the interview with Respondent 4 brings about the following constructs: types of activities and learner capacity as determinant for material development, attractiveness of varied types of learning activities, and importance of sharing ideas among teachers.
In developing teaching materials, Respondents 5 took the materials from the textbook and the teaching materials were then "equipped with materials from the Internet as well as (from other) learning media."Respondent 5 frequently used ready-made teaching materials, and occasionally added teaching materials developed on his own, making them more contextuallybased.The reason for the development of the materials on his own was the fact that the textbook was considered by this respondent "sometimes not in accordance with the characteristics of students."The selection of teaching materials from the Internet was based on two things: suitability for the existing topics, and an update on current issues and development.When this respondent faced difficulties in developing the materials to teach, he would try to find the right references, which he admitted that he could do it with "no difficulty."Respondent 6, just like all other respondents, developed enrichment materials to supplement the textbook.The teaching materials were basically taken from the textbook and enriched with other materials from the Internet and other learning media.The respondent argued that the teaching materials developed on his own "can enhance creativity and make the class more lively so that the students become more interested in learning."He also had difficulties "in adjusting teaching materials with the characteristics of the students."He overcame the suitability of the materials for his students with an assessment of the outcomes as achieved by the students.He also suggested that teachers improve their creativity and exposed themselves more to new technologies, and that school principals and relevant authorities pay more attention to facilities for students and teachers in teaching and learning.The constructs that could be taken from the inteview with this respondent include the enhancement of material development activities on teachers' creativity, the significance of the match of learner characteristics with teaching materials, and the importance of ITC literacy for teachers.

On using teaching materials
The ability in terms of using and implementing their teaching materials in their classes, the teachers was investigated through interviews, and then the recorded data collected were inductively reduced to find the gists relevant to the research questions.Respondent 1 used the main textbook and enrichment materials that matched the teaching items as outlined in the syllabus.This respondent, in addition to the textbook, also used other sources.In addressing the question of students whose answer was not available in the textbook, he used his own available knowledge, of which at times he was not sure about the validity of the answer.This is the type of constraint faced by teachers in the implementation of teaching materials.
In implementing the teaching materials, Respondent 2 used the textbook complemented with other materials adapted.He argued that the development of enrichment teaching materials was necessary as the materials in the textbook based on the 2013 curriculum were much more limited and simpler than those in the previous curriculum.Therefore, it was indeed necessary that additional materials tailored to the characteristics and needs of the students be made available.He believed that both main and enrichment teaching materials should be assessed for their effectiveness after implementation in classes.Obstacles in the classroom which he had experience commonly involve technicalities such as LCD that did not work, jammed or improper internet connection, and power outage.
Respondent 3 in the implementation of his teaching materials in the class used varied instructional materials consisting of textbooks, electronic media and IT resources.In this way, it was expected that the students could be well-motivated in learning, and more creative in their learning activities.These materials were adapted to the lesson plan in their implementation and to be monitored by the teacher for optimal results.Enrichment in the form of video and on-line teaching was adopted as a authentic model; however, use of the Internet was very often constrained by network disruption and also by the time difference between Indonesia and the other broadcasting countries.
Respondent 4 believed that modification of teaching materials was a necessity; therefore, he taught by using technology-based teaching materials, adapted to still cater to the demand outlined in the 2013 curriculum.He blended texts, technologies and practices so that the students did not get bored easily and could understand the teaching materials better.His classroom practices included bringing ingredients needed to cook a particular food through teaching procedure texts in his classes.He reported that the materials used for enrichment were downloaded from the Internet.However, the learning process was often constrained by the unavailability of funds and of IT-skilled teachers.
Respondents 5 used easily accessible materials, including those from the textbook and the Internet.Materials from the Internet were believed to be contextual in nature and quite adaptable to classroom activities.Practices in the classroom were considered important to gain optimal results in teaching as these were the only venue for the students to use the target language, i.e.English, which is not used in daily life.The respondent admitted that finding enrichment materials in the Internet was not an easy task, as it was not easy to find materials in the Internet which were closely linked to the teaching points as displayed in the syllabus.
Respondent 6 used the textbook and other sources to select his teaching materials.Basically, he would take benefit out of ready made and user-friendly materials for his teaching activities.Use of ready-made materials was considered much more practical and still effective to reach the goals of teaching as long as it was complemented with the teacher's own developed materials.Developing his own teaching materials was expected to sharpen his own creativity in particular and strengthen his own professional capacity in general.On a different angle, the respondent admitted that developing teaching materials that matched the characteristics of the students was a difficult task.Another obstacle to efforts in developing good teaching materials was admitted by the repondent to be the lack of mastery of and exposure to relevant technologies.

DISCUSSION
The teachers involved in the study showed an awareness of the importance of teachers' efforts to improve their competence in developing materials to enhance student motivation in learning English.The teachers also believed the importance of using technology in developing teaching materials.The respondents revealed two important components to be taken into account when they developed materials.First, the development should prioritize students' needs as the basis.Second, materials design must comply with the lesson plan, competency standard and basic competencies as well as as well as teaching-learning objectives, while in many respects by taking into account existing local wisdom.
Data gathered from observations indicate that most of the teachers paid attention to characteristics of the students when they designed and presented the materials.They did not only use the media in the form of flash cards, but also prepared power-point slides.In addition, they also used photos taken from the Internet to support the teaching-learning process.This potential needs to be supported by adequate infrastructure because they recognized that the learning process was often hampered by lack of supporting technicalities.
The ability of developing teaching materials seemed to be very closely related to the teachers' perception of the importance of teaching materials.Data from the questionnaires, observations, and interviews indicated that teachers tended to develop their first materials in accordance with the objectives laid down in the lesson plan, standards of competencies and basic competencies, as well as learning objectives, student characteristics and learning conditions.
Data from the interviews showed that almost all of the respondents argued that the development of teaching materials constituted an effort of teachers in providing a range of alternative concepts that had to be mastered by the learners so that they could think comprehensively and in depth.They also contended that the material enrichment was necessary because the main materials in the textbook should be looked at merely as a guide.Therefore, they used various software programs such as Skype and Edmodo.They strongly believes that the Internet can become one of the sources in developing teaching materials.Yet, this idealism seems not to be fully implementable especially due to the common work loads on the teachers' shoulders, such as too many classes to teach and quite a few teaching hours allocated.
The teachers participating in the research showed good communication with students.All the teachers presented their media with confidence, although most teachers were unsure of the main objectives of the media use.However, some problems arose in regard to IT use in the classroom, which may require further research.
Based on the findings in this study, it can be concluded that in-house training is a necessity for teachers who are already serving for years in the field.The teachers who were respondents in this study underscored the importance of training for the development and implementation of teaching materials.A variety of efforts in up-dating new methods in the development of teaching materials was expected to primarily be associated with the implementation of the new 2013 curriculum.Any in-house or in-service training, according to the teachers, would be beneficial, Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, Vol. 5 No. 1, July 2015, pp. 37 -43 not only to acquire new information (basic knowledge), but also as an opportunity to share and interact with other fellow teachers who of course will expand their knowledge and improve their professional competence.The data we have collected in this study have indicated the concern of most teachers regarding their lack of confidence in which techniques to use in developing the teaching materials and which teaching methods to implement them in their classes (materials development).Therefore, many of the teachers argued that the training should be more oriented to how to apply theories and findings in teaching and learning activities in the classroom.
The training should focus on how to enrich teaching materials by taking into account many factors, including the diversity of students' basic abilities and their interest in the English language and the existing ability of the teachers.It should also be designed based on concrete experiences that teachers had gone through and also based on experiences in the training activities (on-service activities), which should be then followed by critical analysis of what and how of the materials development in the form of focus-group discussion (critical tasks).Thus, with all these findings in this study and their analysis as regards interaction of many factors involved in materials development activities, the In-House Training Model was then set up and designed as can be seen in the following chart:

CONCLUSION
As regards the ability of the teachers to develop teaching materials, they completely understand the importance of this needed capacity especially to develop enrichment teaching materials to support the existing main materials as commonly covered in the textbook.In addition, the creativity of teachers is necessary for the development of materials in such a way that the materials could foster motivation and thinking ability of the students.Moreover, in developing the teaching materials, teachers should consider their students' characteristics and their existing values of local wisdom in their surrounding areas.The teachers observed in the selected West Java regions indicated their ability both in developing and implementing teaching materials in the form of printed media and electronic media.To perform at their best, teachers must possess IT literacy in developing teaching materials such as using Edmodo and on-line learning programs.However, obstacles in the schools' IT infrastructures such as availability of IT needed softwares and hardwares as well as skilled IT technicians require wholehearted commitment on the part of the government as well as school administrators.