EFL teachers’expectation and recommendation: Intercultural curriculum implementation

Abstract

This study examines EFL teachers’ expectations and recommendations for the intercultural dimension of Emancipated Curriculum, understood as the curriculum’s emphasis on linking English language learning with local culture, global communication, respect for diversity, student agency, differentiated learning, and project-based tasks. Responding to concerns about uneven curriculum enactment across Indonesian schools, the study used a convergent mixed-methods design. An online questionnaire generated 172 valid responses from secondary English teachers in 11 provinces, while the regional focus was placed on East Java and West Nusa Tenggara because these two provinces contributed the largest survey clusters and all focus group discussion data. FGDs involved 27 teachers in East Java and 32 teachers in West Nusa Tenggara. Open-ended questionnaire responses and FGD transcripts were coded into meaning units, producing 308 coded items: 178 expectations and 130 recommendations. The findings show that teachers generally supported the reform and associated it with improved educational quality, better student futures, critical thinking, creativity, independence, and more contextual learning. However, their support was conditional on clearer operational guidance, practical and sustained teacher training, improved infrastructure, reduced administrative burden, curriculum evaluation, and stronger stakeholder collaboration. Regional and school-type comparisons indicated similar priorities across contexts, but West Nusa Tenggara teachers more often emphasized detailed training and infrastructure support, while East Java teachers more often highlighted administrative alignment and school-level coordination. The study contributes to curriculum implementation research by showing that teachers’ expectations and recommendations provide diagnostic evidence for refining reform. Successful enactment requires not only policy dissemination but also locally responsive professional development, equitable resources, and feedback mechanisms that position teachers as central agents in intercultural EFL curriculum implementation.