Designing Culturally-Responsive ELT Materials: A Framework For Integrating Local Wisdom While Maintaining CEFR Standards
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15642/ijet2.2025.14.2.241-256Keywords:
culturally-responsive teaching, ELT materials development, local wisdom, Javanese culture, design frameworkAbstract
The dominance of Western-centered materials for English Language Teaching (ELT) in Indonesia leads to the disconnection between language instruction and students' cultural identity, which may pose a threat to their motivation and cultural heritage. This Design-Based Research is aimed at the development and evaluation of a framework for creation of culturally responsive materials for ELT that incorporate local wisdom of Java and meet CEFR requirements for Grade 10 students. A teaching unit on Hamemayu Hayuning Bawana (Javanese environmental philosophy) was developed through multiple iterations of expert validation, teachers' consultations, and modification of the framework. The materials were evaluated by three experts in materials development and three experts in local culture through rubrics modified from Tomlinson (2013) and Banks and Banks (2010). The results revealed the high level of pedagogical quality (87.6%) and cultural authenticity (91.9%) of the materials and their full correspondence to Gay's (2010) frameworks of culturally responsive teaching and CEFR A2-B1 descriptors. Five design principles were established: Authentic Integration, Progressive Scaffolding, Balanced Representation, Student Agency, and Standards Alignment. It is shown that local wisdom and CEFR standards do not have to be considered as contradictory concepts and can be effectively combined. The proposed validated framework is intended for use by materials developers in creation of culturally sustainable ELT materials.
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