Inserting Local Wisdom in English Language Teaching-Learning: A Lens of Developing EFL Learners’ Communicative Competences

Abstract

Integrating local wisdom into English language teaching offers a culturally relevant way to connect language learning with learners’ lived experiences. However, limited attention has been given to how locally grounded instruction supports multiple dimensions of communicative competence in Indonesian EFL speaking classrooms. This study aimed to examine how local wisdom was integrated into English learning activities to facilitate meaningful communication and how local-wisdom-based instruction contributed to learners’ communicative competence. The study employed a qualitative classroom-based design involving 35 Indonesian EFL learners enrolled in Fundamental Speaking classes at a higher education institution in West Nusa Tenggara. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and classroom observations and were analyzed thematically through familiarization, coding, categorization, theme development, and interpretation. The findings revealed that local wisdom was incorporated through storytelling, cultural presentations, interviews, role-plays, group discussions, and community-oriented projects. These activities enabled learners to describe traditions, explain cultural practices, compare customs, respond to questions, and negotiate culturally specific meanings in English. Local-wisdom-based instruction contributed to grammatical and lexical development, discourse organization, sociolinguistic awareness, strategic competence, speaking confidence, and intercultural communicative competence. Familiar cultural content also supported idea generation and reduced learners’ difficulty in initiating communication. Nevertheless, linguistic errors, pronunciation anxiety, and limited vocabulary remained evident, indicating that cultural familiarity must be accompanied by explicit language support, scaffolding, feedback, and repeated practice. The study concludes that local wisdom can serve as an effective communicative resource when transformed into interaction-rich tasks rather than used as decorative cultural content. These findings imply that Indonesian EFL teachers should design culturally grounded speaking activities with clear communicative purposes and appropriate linguistic support.