Abstrak— Kajian ini hendak mencoba menelaah secara kritis praktek-praktek pembelajaran bahasa asing khususnya Bahasa Inggris yang umumnya kurang memperhatikan aspek akulturasi budaya yang menyertainya dan juga mencari alternatif solusi pemecahannya demi mendukung tercapainya pendidikan yang berbasis

This study attempts to critically analyze the practices of foreign language teaching particularly English which commonly pay less attention to the accompanying intercultural communication and also to propose an alternative solution to support and promote the character education in this country. It is commonly believed that the practices of the English language teaching are always accompanied by the insertion of foreign cultural values which are not always in harmony with our own values. In line with the national education goals, it seems that the most possible way to overcome this problem is by integrating the Indonesian local cultural values in the practices of the English language teaching to promote character education, which is commonly believed to play important roles in encouraging, improving, and maintaining the spirit of nationalism of our future generation Keywords— local culture, teaching and learning, English, character education Abstrak— Kajian ini hendak mencoba menelaah secara kritis praktek-praktek pembelajaran bahasa asing khususnya Bahasa Inggris yang umumnya kurang memperhatikan aspek akulturasi budaya yang menyertainya dan juga mencari alternatif solusi pemecahannya demi mendukung tercapainya pendidikan yang berbasis character building di negara ini. Pada kenyataannya, praktek pengajaran bahasa Inggris senantiasa menyediakan ruang adanya insersi nilai-nilai budaya asing masyarakat penuturnya yang belum tentu sejalan dengan nilai-nilai budaya masyarakata kita. Sejalan dengan tujuan pendidikan nasional, nampaknya salah satu upaya yang bisa dilakukan untuk mengantisipasi dampak insersi budaya asing tersebut adalah dengan mengintegrasikan nilai-nilai budaya lokal Indonesia pada pembelajaran bahasa Inggris sebagai alternatif cara guna mendukung upaya pemerintah dalam menggalakkan pendidikan berbasis karakter yang diyakini sangat penting untuk menumbuhkan, meningkatkan dan memelihara semangat nasionalisme generasi penerus bangsa ini Kata Kunci— budaya lokal, pembelajaran, bahasa Inggris, pendidikan karakter ——————————  —————————— BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY t is commonly believed that education plays the most significant role in the development of a nation. Education may be regarded as an investment in human capital formation that lays the foundation for future economic growth and development of a country not to mention our country, Indonesia. Our government even has given explicitly the definition of the term education in the Act of Republic Indonesia on National Educational System that may be considered as conscious and well planned effort in creating a learning environment and learning process so that learners will be able to develop their full potential for acquiring spiritual and religious strengths, develop self-control, personality, intelligence, 46 Jurnal Pendidikan Karakter, Tahun II, Nomor 1, Februari 2012 morals and noble character and skills that one needs for him/herself, for the community, for the nation, and for the State. National education means education based on Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution, and is rooted in the religious values, national cultures of Indonesia, and one that is responsive to the needs of the everchanging era. (Act Of Republic Indonesia on National Educational System (Chapter 1 Article 1 and 2). In line with this definition, education has also often been defined in terms of practices that schools and teachers use to influence student learning and development (Nucci and Narvaéz, 2008:5). Therefore, it seems very important to pay great attention to the practices of our educational system in our country, considering the fact that it would be impossible to reach the goals of our national educational system without involving all aspects determining the success of educational practices. Those are parents, schools’ I