Teaching English in Islamic Education: Lecturers’ Narrative Experiences in an Indonesian Islamic Higher Education Context

Abstract

English teaching in Islamic Education programs requires more than the transmission of general language skills because it needs to respond to students’ religious identities, disciplinary orientations, and future roles as Islamic educators. However, English courses in Islamic higher education are often positioned as compulsory general subjects, with limited attention to how lecturers construct their relevance to Islamic scholarship, academic communication, and professional preparation. This study explored EFL lecturers’ narratives of teaching English to students majoring in Islamic Education and examined the pedagogical, cultural, and institutional meanings constructed from their experiences. Using a qualitative narrative inquiry design, the study involved two EFL lecturers from a State Islamic University in Lampung, Indonesia, selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through two rounds of semi-structured narrative interviews and analyzed using narrative thematic analysis. The findings revealed three interrelated narrative themes. First, lecturers negotiated the relevance of English by linking it to Islamic scholarship, academic participation, and students’ future roles as Islamic education teachers or religious educators. Second, lecturers adapted their pedagogy to students’ religious and disciplinary orientations through topic selection, material adaptation, classroom interaction, and contextual support. Third, lecturers constructed professional meaning as language educators, academic facilitators, and cultural mediators within Islamic higher education. These findings suggest that EFL teaching in Islamic Education programs is a contextual, identity-sensitive, and value-responsive pedagogical practice. The study contributes to EFL scholarship by connecting teacher cognition, investment, teacher identity, culturally responsive pedagogy, and narrative inquiry in Islamic higher education contexts.