Levels of Linguistic Understanding of Foreign Language Lecturers in Indonesia

Abstract:
Background:In teaching a foreign language, lecturers are required not only to become proficient in the foreign
language they teach, but also to be able to explain linguistic phenomena of the foreign language during the
learning process. Linguistic competence possessed by learners can aid them learn a language. This study aims
to investigate the English lecturers’ levels of understanding of linguistics. The understanding of linguistics encompasses the knowledge of phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics. Materials and Methods: The research participants were 50 English lecturers from various universities. A survey was conducted to collect the data, assisted with the use of the four-fold Likert scale. Data were analyzed using a descriptive statistic method with categorization technique Results: The results of the study show that 50% and 42% of the participants have low and moderate levels of understanding of linguistics respectively. These results suggest that most lecturers do not understand or are not able to explain linguistic phenomena of the foreign language they teach. The results of interviews with the lecturers also show the same finding that most lecturers highly focus on the grammar of the foreign language structurally, but are not able to explain the all-grammatical processes linguistically Conclusion: These results indicate that the majority of lecturers do not understand or unable to explain linguistic phenomena of the foreign language they teach.