Exploring Banjar Traditional Cuisines as a Media for English Language Teaching

Local culture played an important role in creating meaningful and contextual English language learning, particularly in culturally diverse settings such as Indonesia. However, English instruction in Indonesian schools had often emphasized grammatical structures rather than integrating students’ cultural backgrounds into communicative learning. This study aimed to explore students’ perceptions of traditional Banjar cuisine, particularly Tapai Lakatan, as a medium for English language learning and to examine its contribution to vocabulary, speaking skills, cultural understanding, motivation, and engagement. A qualitative descriptive approach was employed, with data collected through semi-structured interviews involving five high school students in South Kalimantan. The findings indicated that cooking activities using Tapai Lakatan enriched students’ culinary vocabulary, increased their confidence in speaking English, strengthened cultural understanding, and encouraged greater motivation and classroom engagement. The study concluded that integrating traditional cuisine into English instruction provided a contextual and culturally responsive learning experience while supporting language development and cultural preservation.