The Impact of Extended Studying Time in the Full-Day School Program on Students’ EFL Learning Concentration

Abstract

There has been a long-standing debate about the significance of extending school hours in many parts of the world. In Indonesia, an extended school time up to ten hours a day, the so-called Full-Day School (FDS), has been executed by the government for the last few years. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of the program particularly on students’ learning concentration. A survey study with the causal comparative design was adopted for this purpose. The study randomly recruited a 15-percent sample of students from two schools (one FDS and one non-FDS), while four teachers of English working at the FDS voluntarily participated in the study. Data were gathered through questionnaire and interview. A five-point Likert scale questionnaire was administered to student respondents to collect data on their learning concentration. A semi-structured interview with teachers was conducted to elicit data on their perspective on students’ learning concentration in classroom. Result of questionnaire data analysis has shown that the extended school time in FDS program brings no impact on students’ learning concentration, it has diminished students’ learning concentration instead. Teachers’ pros and cons and two-folded views of FDS program and their students’ learning concentration neither support nor oppose the program with its impact. Thus, the implementation of FDS can be considered fruitless and, therefore, not recommended. However, further studies with larger sample and that utilize observations are encouraged to see consistency of this research finding.