The Problems of Applying Student Centered Syllabus of English in Vocational High Schools in Kendal Regency

This study was descriptive qualitative study aimed to investigate the problems of applying student centered syllabus in vocational high schools in Kendal regency, Central Java, Indonesia. The subjects of the study were twenty English teacher in vocational high schools in Kendal. The data were collected through observations, questionnaires, and interviews. The collected data further were analyzed using inductive analysis in which the researchers looked for the pattern of the data and the meaning of the data. Based on the data, there are three points concluded. The first was the English teaching and learning process in vocational high schools in Kendal had applied the student-centered syllabus. The second, in designing the students-centered syllabus the teachers found difficulties in having a model of the student-centered syllabus as a guideline in adapting and designing their own syllabus, describing the learning indicators, and formulating learning activities alligned with the student-centered learning. The third, the teachers faced difficulties in terms of encouraging their students to participate actively during the teaching and learning, and requiring a lot of time in implementing the student-centered syllabus. Thus, even though the teachers had already applied the student-centered syllabus in their teaching, they still found difficulties in implementing it. In conclusion, they need a model of student-centered syllabus for being a guideline in designing their syllabus and workshops to train them the ways to implement the student-centered syllabus successfully in their teaching.