ULM Language Center Successfully Holds National Language Seminar
Banjarmasin – Wednesday, 11 October 2023, the Language Center of Lambung Mangkurat University (ULM) held a National Seminar on Languages with the theme ‘Rejuvenation of Multicultural and Differentiated Language Teaching’. This seminar presented three professors as resource persons. they are Herlina, Professor at Jakarta State University (UNJ), Fatchul Muin and Rusma Noortyani, Language Teacher from the Department of Language and Arts Education (PBS) ULM. Activities are held from 09.00-15.30 WITA. The seminar is divided into 2 sessions. The first session was presentation and discussion from the speakers, and the second session was presentation and discussion of scientific articles from speakers in parallel sessions. The event was opened by the Head of the ULM Language UPT, Jumariati. Regarding this activity, according to Jumariati, this seminar is an opportunity for teachers, lecturers, researchers and student teachers to broaden their insight into language learning trends, especially multicultural and differentiated language learning. This is very relevant to the current social development of society which allows the presence of a variety of students from across cultures with different characteristics.
One of the speakers, Herlin, in his presentation he explained about learning with a differentiated approach. According to him, the most important thing about this approach is the awareness of each person involved regarding the differences between each person. The principles of the differentiated approach include believing that there are differences in students from multicultural backgrounds, believing that multicultural differences influence the learning process, teachers are responsible for ensuring that all students, even though they are different, will be able to master the learning material, teachers should continuously develop appropriate strategies, teachers adapt methods that suit the characteristics of each student, realizing the importance of flexibility and continuous reflection in every learning process.
Meanwhile, Fatchul Muin explained about multicultural literature. Literature related to two domains, language and literature, when read will introduce readers to diverse cultures, traditions and perspectives that may be different from their own. In classroom learning, talking about multicultural literature will stimulate students’ ability to think critically. Students can explore themes, motifs and symbols in texts and can uncover global issues that may appear in the reading. On the other hand, Rusma Noortyani reviewed cultural response-based learning which is inherent in multicultural learning. He explained that with this approach, teachers’ understanding of students’ cultural backgrounds can be deeper.
Apart from presentations from resource persons, a number of speakers also presented their written work at this seminar. These presenters came from several universities in Banjarmasin including the State Islamic University (UIN) Antasari, the PGRI Banjarmasin Teacher Training and Education College (STKIP), and the host, ULM.
(Dewi Alfianti, S.Pd., M.Pd/Public Relations FKIP ULM)
