Learning Content Subjects through English: Indonesian High School Students Voices

The purpose of the research study reported here was to explore the voices of Indonesian students towards the use of English as a medium of instruction and towards the role of their mother tongue, Bahasa Indonesia, at their high schools. The participants of this study were 20 students of some high schools in Surabaya, Indonesia where English has been intensively introduced as a medium of instruction. The survey was conducted by distributing questionnaires and conducting interviews. The results showed that while the majority of the respondents felt the need to master the English language, they also felt that they faced many linguistic constraints, with some mentioning that they preferred the use of English alongside their mother tongue during the teaching learning process.