Factors Influencing Classroom Acoustic Design in North Sumatra: Bahasa Indonesia as the Language of Instruction
Article Sidebar
Published:
Jan 31, 2026
Keywords:
classroom acoustics, Indonesian, reverberation time, sound insulation, speech intelligibility akustik kelas, Bahasa Indonesia, isolasi suara, kejelasan ucapan, waktu reverberasi
Main Article Content
Abstract
Classrooms with optimal acoustic design can directly improve students' listening. Studies have shown that providing a good communication environment for classroom instructors is crucial for students to achieve good grades. Some students who receive poor grades find it difficult to concentrate when speech intelligibility is inadequate or because of excessive noise. However, these studies are based on English as the teaching medium. Indonesia is a developing country with a global population ranking number 4. The Indonesian Ministry of Education anticipates more educational facilities to be built under its mission to realize relevant education of high quality, equitable and sustainable, supported by infrastructure and technology. Will education with Indonesian as the primary language also follow the classroom architecture and acoustics design element? Thus, this study aims to explore views from the relevant important classroom architecture and acoustics design elements. Classroom facilities can support the educating and instructing process. Acoustic factors in the classroom can affect students' and instructors' concentration and comfort. A questionnaire was distributed among Indonesian respondents who work as acoustic engineers, architects, and educators to gain their views about classroom acoustics design factors. Thirty individuals responded to the questionnaire – ten persons in each group. The importance of the acoustics design aspects from each occupation group was measured through statistical analysis of questionnaire results. According to acoustic engineers, Reverberation Times and Sound Insulation are essential to designing classroom acoustics. The architect group assessed Reverberation Times as a less important aspect. However, according to architects and educators, Speech Intelligibility is regarded as the most crucial factor in an Indonesian-language classroom. In short, an evaluation of Indonesian classroom architectural and acoustics features are conducted to make improvements. The school education board, architects, and acoustic engineers could use the results to make better design decisions.
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
Article Details
How to Cite
Siregar, H. A. (2026). Factors Influencing Classroom Acoustic Design in North Sumatra: Bahasa Indonesia as the Language of Instruction. Serat Rupa: Journal of Design, 10(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.28932/srjd.v10i1.11034
Section
Articles
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
References
Abdou, A., & Guy, R. W. (1996). Spatial information of sound fields for room‐acoustics evaluation and diagnosis. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 100, 3215-3226. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1121/1.417205
Bistafa, S. R., & Bradley, J. S. (2000). Reverberation time and maximum background-noise level for classrooms from a comparative study of speech intelligibility metrics. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 107, 861-875. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1121/1.428268
Bradley, J. S. (1986). Speech intelligibility studies in classrooms. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 80(3), 846-854. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.393908
Bradlow, A. R. (1995). A comparative acoustic study of English and Spanish vowels. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 97(3), 1916-1924. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1121/1.412064
Choi, C. Y., & McPherson, B. (2005). Noise Levels in Hong Kong Primary Schools: Implications for classroom listening. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 52(4), 345-360. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/10349120500348714
Choi, S., Guerin, D. A., Kim, H.-Y., Brigham, J. K., & Bauer, T. (2013). Indoor environmental quality of classrooms and student outcomes: A path analysis approach. Journal of Learning Spaces, 2(2).
Crandell, C. C., & Smaldino, J. J. (2000). Classroom acoustics for children with normal hearing and hearing impairment. Language, speech, and hearing services in schools, 31(362-370). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1044/0161-1461.3104.362.
Dada, S., Flores, C., Bastable, K., & Schlosser, R. W. (2021). The effects of augmentative and alternative communication interventions on the receptive language skills of children with developmental disabilities: A scoping review. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 23(3), 247-257. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2020.1797165
Dockrell, J. E., & Shield, B. M. (2006). Acoustical barriers in classrooms: The impact of noise on performance in the classroom. British Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 509-525. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/01411920600635494
Earthman, G. I. (2004). Prioritization of 31 criteria for school building adequacy.
Garcia, D. P., Rasmussen, B., & Brunskog, J. (2014). Classroom acoustics design for speakers’ comfort and speech intelligibility: a European perspective. Forum Acusticum 2014, Krakow. (Original Publication)
Gheller, F., Lovo, E., Arsie, A., & Bovo, R. (2019). Classroom acoustics: Listening problems in children. Building Acoustics, 27(1), 47-59. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/1351010X19886035
Goldsworthy, R. L., & Greenberg, J. E. (2004). Analysis of speech-based Speech Transmission Index methods with implications for nonlinear operations. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 116(6), 3679-3689. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.1804628
Guardino, C., & Antia, S. D. (2012). Modifying the Classroom Environment to Increase Engagement and Decrease Disruption with Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 17(4), 518-533. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/deafed/ens026
Harrington, J., Palethorpe, S., & Watson, C. (2000). Monophthongal vowel changes in Received Pronunciation: an acoustic analysis of the Queen's Christmas broadcasts. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 30(1), 63-78.
Hasbullah, A., Zahari, W. Y. W., Ismail, M., & Vitasari, P. (2011). A framework study of school facilities performance in public primary school of Batubara district in Indonesia. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15, 3708-3712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.04.360
Hodgson, M., & Nosal, E.-M. (2002). Effect of noise and occupancy on optimal reverberation times for speech intelligibility in classrooms. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 111(2), 931-939. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1121/1.1428264
Hongisto, V., Saarinen, P., Alakoivu, R., & Hakala, J. (2022). Acoustic properties of commercially available thermal insulators − An experimental study. Journal of Building Engineering, 54. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2022.104588
Hopkins, C. P. (2003). Vibration transmission between coupled plates using finite element methods and statistical energy analysis. Part 2: The effect of window apertures in masonry flanking walls. Applied Acoustics, 6(10), 975-997. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003-682X(03)00063-X
James, D., Stead, M., Clifton-Brown, D., & Scott, D. (2012). A cost benefit analysis of providing a ‘sound’ environment in educational facilities. Acoustics 2012, Fremantle, Australia. (Original Publication)
Jenkins, A., & Mostafa, T. (2015). The effects of learning on wellbeing for older adults in England. Ageing & Society, 35(10), 2053-2070. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X14000762
Jo, b. A.-H., Park, C.-J., & Haan, C.-H. (2022). Investigation of the Appropriate Reverberation Time for Lower-Grade Elementary School Classrooms Using Speech Intelligibility Tests. Buildings, 12(6), 808. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12060808
Kolarik, A. J., Raman, R., Moore, B. C. J., Cirstea, S., Gopalakrishnan, S., & Pardhan, S. (2020). The accuracy of auditory spatial judgments in the visually impaired is dependent on sound source distance. Scientific Reports, 28(10), 7169. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-64306-8
Kuttruff, H. (2016). Room Acoustics. CRC Press. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1201/9781315372150
Levi, S. V., Winters, S. J., & Pisoni, D. B. (2007). Speaker-independent factors affecting the perception of foreign accent in a second language. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 121(4), 2327-2338. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1121/1.2537345
Maekawa, Z. Noise reduction by distance from sources of various shapes. Applied Acoustics, 3(3), 225-238. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/0003-682X(70)90027-7
Mealings, K. (2022). Classroom acoustics and cognition: A review of the effects of noise and reverberation on primary school children’s attention and memory. Building Acoustics, 29(3), 401-431. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/1351010X221104892
Mikulski, W., & Radosz, J. (2011). Acoustics of Classrooms in Primary Schools – Results of the Reverberation Time and the Speech Transmission Index Assessments in Selected Buildings. Archives of Acoustics, 36(4), 777-793.
Morris, R. F. (2003). The relationships among school facility characteristics, student achievement, and job satisfaction levels among teachers University of Georgia]. Athens, Georgia.
Napoli, M., Krech, P. R., & Holley, L. C. (2008). Mindfulness Training for Elementary School Students: The Attention Academy. Journal of Applied School Psychology, 21(1), 99-125. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1300/J370v21n01_05
Pasamurti, T., & Iyati, W. (2018). Rekayasa Desain Akustik Ruang Kelas SDN Kauffman 1 Malang Universitas Brawijaya]. Malang.
Prasetiyo, I., Desendra, G., Hermanto, M. N., & Adhika, D. R. (2018). On Woven Fabric Sound Absorption Prediction. Archives of Acoustics(4), 707-715. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.24425/aoa.2018.125164
Proshansky, H. M., Fabian, A. K., & Kaminoff, R. (1983). Place-identity: Physical world socialization of the self Journal of Environmental Psychology, 3(1), 57-83. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-4944(83)80021-8
Rabiyantia, Rahmaniar, I., & Putra, J. C. P. (2017). Effect of acoustic and thermal comfort to support learning process in a university [Engineering Physics International Conference, EPIC 2016]. Procedia Engineering, 170, 280-285. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2017.03.027
Russo, D., & Ruggiero, A. (2019). Choice of the optimal acoustic design of a school classroom and experimental verification. Applied Acoustics, 146, 280-287. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2018.11.019
Sabtalistia, Y. A. (2020). Perbaikan waktu dengung ruang kuliah dengan optimalisasi model ruangan dan jenis material. Pawon: Jurnal Arsitektur, 4(1), 65-76. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.36040/pawon.v4i01.2347
Sarrico, C., Tice, J., & Rodrigues, C. (2004). Managing performance in a Portuguese secondary school using the balanced scorecard. Performance Measurement and Management, Edinburgh, UK. (Original Publication)
Schiavetti, N. (1992). Scaling procedures for the measurement of speech intelligibility In R. D. Kent (Ed.), Intelligibility in Speech Disorders. Theory Measurement and Management.
Shams, S., & Ramakrishnan, R. (2012). Acoustic metrics for classroom performance- A literature revie. Canadian Acoustics, 40(3), 100-102. https://jcaa.caa-aca.ca/index.php/jcaa/article/view/2559
Shield, B., Conetta, R., Dockrell, J., Connolly, D., Cox, T., & Mydlarz, C. (2015). A survey of acoustic conditions and noise levels in secondary school classrooms in England. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 137(1), 177-188. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1121/1.4904528
Sivanantham, G., Thyla, P., Loganathan, P., & S, S. (2019). Measuring methods of acoustic properties and influence of physical parameters on natural fibers: A review. April 2019Journal of Natural Fibers, 17(8), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/15440478.2019.1598913
Suleman, Q. (2014). Effects of Classroom Physical Environment on the Academic Achievement Scores of Secondary School Students in Kohat Division, Pakistan. International Journal of Learning & Development, 4(1), 71-82. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.5296/ijld.v4i1.5174
Titze, R. (2001). Acoustic interpretation of resonant voice. Journal of voice, 15(4), 519-528. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/S0892-1997(01)00052-2
Yang, Z., Becerik-Gerber, B., & Mino, L. (2013). A study on student perceptions of higher education classrooms: Impact of classroom attributes on student satisfaction and performance. Building and Environment, 70. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2013.08.030
Bistafa, S. R., & Bradley, J. S. (2000). Reverberation time and maximum background-noise level for classrooms from a comparative study of speech intelligibility metrics. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 107, 861-875. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1121/1.428268
Bradley, J. S. (1986). Speech intelligibility studies in classrooms. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 80(3), 846-854. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.393908
Bradlow, A. R. (1995). A comparative acoustic study of English and Spanish vowels. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 97(3), 1916-1924. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1121/1.412064
Choi, C. Y., & McPherson, B. (2005). Noise Levels in Hong Kong Primary Schools: Implications for classroom listening. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 52(4), 345-360. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/10349120500348714
Choi, S., Guerin, D. A., Kim, H.-Y., Brigham, J. K., & Bauer, T. (2013). Indoor environmental quality of classrooms and student outcomes: A path analysis approach. Journal of Learning Spaces, 2(2).
Crandell, C. C., & Smaldino, J. J. (2000). Classroom acoustics for children with normal hearing and hearing impairment. Language, speech, and hearing services in schools, 31(362-370). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1044/0161-1461.3104.362.
Dada, S., Flores, C., Bastable, K., & Schlosser, R. W. (2021). The effects of augmentative and alternative communication interventions on the receptive language skills of children with developmental disabilities: A scoping review. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 23(3), 247-257. https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2020.1797165
Dockrell, J. E., & Shield, B. M. (2006). Acoustical barriers in classrooms: The impact of noise on performance in the classroom. British Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 509-525. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1080/01411920600635494
Earthman, G. I. (2004). Prioritization of 31 criteria for school building adequacy.
Garcia, D. P., Rasmussen, B., & Brunskog, J. (2014). Classroom acoustics design for speakers’ comfort and speech intelligibility: a European perspective. Forum Acusticum 2014, Krakow. (Original Publication)
Gheller, F., Lovo, E., Arsie, A., & Bovo, R. (2019). Classroom acoustics: Listening problems in children. Building Acoustics, 27(1), 47-59. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/1351010X19886035
Goldsworthy, R. L., & Greenberg, J. E. (2004). Analysis of speech-based Speech Transmission Index methods with implications for nonlinear operations. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 116(6), 3679-3689. https://doi.org/10.1121/1.1804628
Guardino, C., & Antia, S. D. (2012). Modifying the Classroom Environment to Increase Engagement and Decrease Disruption with Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 17(4), 518-533. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/deafed/ens026
Harrington, J., Palethorpe, S., & Watson, C. (2000). Monophthongal vowel changes in Received Pronunciation: an acoustic analysis of the Queen's Christmas broadcasts. Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 30(1), 63-78.
Hasbullah, A., Zahari, W. Y. W., Ismail, M., & Vitasari, P. (2011). A framework study of school facilities performance in public primary school of Batubara district in Indonesia. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15, 3708-3712. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.04.360
Hodgson, M., & Nosal, E.-M. (2002). Effect of noise and occupancy on optimal reverberation times for speech intelligibility in classrooms. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 111(2), 931-939. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1121/1.1428264
Hongisto, V., Saarinen, P., Alakoivu, R., & Hakala, J. (2022). Acoustic properties of commercially available thermal insulators − An experimental study. Journal of Building Engineering, 54. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2022.104588
Hopkins, C. P. (2003). Vibration transmission between coupled plates using finite element methods and statistical energy analysis. Part 2: The effect of window apertures in masonry flanking walls. Applied Acoustics, 6(10), 975-997. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/S0003-682X(03)00063-X
James, D., Stead, M., Clifton-Brown, D., & Scott, D. (2012). A cost benefit analysis of providing a ‘sound’ environment in educational facilities. Acoustics 2012, Fremantle, Australia. (Original Publication)
Jenkins, A., & Mostafa, T. (2015). The effects of learning on wellbeing for older adults in England. Ageing & Society, 35(10), 2053-2070. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X14000762
Jo, b. A.-H., Park, C.-J., & Haan, C.-H. (2022). Investigation of the Appropriate Reverberation Time for Lower-Grade Elementary School Classrooms Using Speech Intelligibility Tests. Buildings, 12(6), 808. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12060808
Kolarik, A. J., Raman, R., Moore, B. C. J., Cirstea, S., Gopalakrishnan, S., & Pardhan, S. (2020). The accuracy of auditory spatial judgments in the visually impaired is dependent on sound source distance. Scientific Reports, 28(10), 7169. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-64306-8
Kuttruff, H. (2016). Room Acoustics. CRC Press. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1201/9781315372150
Levi, S. V., Winters, S. J., & Pisoni, D. B. (2007). Speaker-independent factors affecting the perception of foreign accent in a second language. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 121(4), 2327-2338. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1121/1.2537345
Maekawa, Z. Noise reduction by distance from sources of various shapes. Applied Acoustics, 3(3), 225-238. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/0003-682X(70)90027-7
Mealings, K. (2022). Classroom acoustics and cognition: A review of the effects of noise and reverberation on primary school children’s attention and memory. Building Acoustics, 29(3), 401-431. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/1351010X221104892
Mikulski, W., & Radosz, J. (2011). Acoustics of Classrooms in Primary Schools – Results of the Reverberation Time and the Speech Transmission Index Assessments in Selected Buildings. Archives of Acoustics, 36(4), 777-793.
Morris, R. F. (2003). The relationships among school facility characteristics, student achievement, and job satisfaction levels among teachers University of Georgia]. Athens, Georgia.
Napoli, M., Krech, P. R., & Holley, L. C. (2008). Mindfulness Training for Elementary School Students: The Attention Academy. Journal of Applied School Psychology, 21(1), 99-125. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1300/J370v21n01_05
Pasamurti, T., & Iyati, W. (2018). Rekayasa Desain Akustik Ruang Kelas SDN Kauffman 1 Malang Universitas Brawijaya]. Malang.
Prasetiyo, I., Desendra, G., Hermanto, M. N., & Adhika, D. R. (2018). On Woven Fabric Sound Absorption Prediction. Archives of Acoustics(4), 707-715. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.24425/aoa.2018.125164
Proshansky, H. M., Fabian, A. K., & Kaminoff, R. (1983). Place-identity: Physical world socialization of the self Journal of Environmental Psychology, 3(1), 57-83. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/S0272-4944(83)80021-8
Rabiyantia, Rahmaniar, I., & Putra, J. C. P. (2017). Effect of acoustic and thermal comfort to support learning process in a university [Engineering Physics International Conference, EPIC 2016]. Procedia Engineering, 170, 280-285. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2017.03.027
Russo, D., & Ruggiero, A. (2019). Choice of the optimal acoustic design of a school classroom and experimental verification. Applied Acoustics, 146, 280-287. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2018.11.019
Sabtalistia, Y. A. (2020). Perbaikan waktu dengung ruang kuliah dengan optimalisasi model ruangan dan jenis material. Pawon: Jurnal Arsitektur, 4(1), 65-76. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.36040/pawon.v4i01.2347
Sarrico, C., Tice, J., & Rodrigues, C. (2004). Managing performance in a Portuguese secondary school using the balanced scorecard. Performance Measurement and Management, Edinburgh, UK. (Original Publication)
Schiavetti, N. (1992). Scaling procedures for the measurement of speech intelligibility In R. D. Kent (Ed.), Intelligibility in Speech Disorders. Theory Measurement and Management.
Shams, S., & Ramakrishnan, R. (2012). Acoustic metrics for classroom performance- A literature revie. Canadian Acoustics, 40(3), 100-102. https://jcaa.caa-aca.ca/index.php/jcaa/article/view/2559
Shield, B., Conetta, R., Dockrell, J., Connolly, D., Cox, T., & Mydlarz, C. (2015). A survey of acoustic conditions and noise levels in secondary school classrooms in England. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 137(1), 177-188. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1121/1.4904528
Sivanantham, G., Thyla, P., Loganathan, P., & S, S. (2019). Measuring methods of acoustic properties and influence of physical parameters on natural fibers: A review. April 2019Journal of Natural Fibers, 17(8), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.1080/15440478.2019.1598913
Suleman, Q. (2014). Effects of Classroom Physical Environment on the Academic Achievement Scores of Secondary School Students in Kohat Division, Pakistan. International Journal of Learning & Development, 4(1), 71-82. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.5296/ijld.v4i1.5174
Titze, R. (2001). Acoustic interpretation of resonant voice. Journal of voice, 15(4), 519-528. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/S0892-1997(01)00052-2
Yang, Z., Becerik-Gerber, B., & Mino, L. (2013). A study on student perceptions of higher education classrooms: Impact of classroom attributes on student satisfaction and performance. Building and Environment, 70. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2013.08.030