Sex-based Learning Approach: Innovation in Teaching English Pragmatics in Single-sex Education

English Education Study Program, University of Mataram, Mataram, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: arifuddin@unram.ac.id

Abstract

What approach is applied in teaching English in single-sex education (SSE) and Islamic boarding schools in particular? Some studies report that the language proficiency of Islamic Boarding School students remains unimproved. Although it is apparent that SSE makes teachers apply instructional strategies more readily and effectively than in mixed-sex groupings, the suitability of approaches or methods applied by English language teachers in Islamic Boarding Schools remains unanswered. The order of the male’s factors affecting listening difficulties: Speaker, Content, and Listener (Potential for Men’s Islamic Boarding Schools), and female; Listener, Speaker, and Content (Potential for Women’s Islamic Boarding Schools) (Potential for Women’s Islamic Boarding School), and mixedsexes or co-education (Speaker, Listener, and Content) (Potential for Public Schools) potentially answers the phenomenon. Pedagogically, the orders of sex-based factors affecting listening difficulties are potentially applied as an innovative approach to the pragmatics of pedagogy in SSE, particularly in Islamic religious schools in which socio-cultural and religious content are the priority. Lack of direct communicative interactions with different sexes and limited exposure to the real situation of language use might lead to difficulty in pragmatic understanding. A preliminary prospective solution is available. The santri or santriwati need not visit hotels or tourist objects to improve their auditory pragmatic understanding. As another alternative, the students may read “Pragmatics-based Listening for the TOEFL: Innovation in Independent Learning.” English teachers are suggested to try to apply a gender-based listening approach in English language teaching. Finally, a moral message, “Do not let Islamic boarding schools think alone!”.