THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING TO YOUNG LEARNERS A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY AT THREE KINDERGARTENS

THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNING TO YOUNG LEARNERS A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY AT THREE KINDERGARTENS

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background

English as an International language is needed by all levels of education to be mastered. This has made educators from all levels of education try to facilitate the best way of teaching and learning English. As a result, the teaching and learning English has been placed in a very important position and has been taught in almost all countries in the world.

In Indonesian teaching context, English is a foreign language that becomes a compulsory subject in all schools from lower secondary to upper secondary schools. It is where the department of education and culture number 060/U/1993 includes English into curriculum for the elementary level of education as one of the local content subjects from grade four to grade six (www.depdiknas.go.id). In addition, Suyanto (2008 : 15) states that now English is also introduced to preschool where the students are grouped into very young learners.

In relation to this, many parents send their young learners to schools that offer a good English program. They do this with an assumption that learning foreign language will be much easier at an early age. Hence, young learners have a better chance to be successful in acquiring foreign language. Actually, there are many other factors that will determine the success of language learners such as exposure, support, engagement, teachers' confidence, capabilities and sponsorship (Musthafa, 2008 : 4).

In line with this, Suyanto (2008 : 15) notes that the maturity of students are not simply from the age but also from any other factors, such as environment, cultural, interest, and the influence of parents. Furthermore, Nunan (1999) says that whether or not it's a 'good thing' to begin a foreign language for very young learners (4-5 years old) will depend on many factors including the amount of time the kids are given, the competence of the teachers, the quality of the resources etc.

As mentioned above, in Indonesian teaching context English is included into curriculum for the elementary level of education and many studies have been investigating the process of teaching and learning English to young learners in elementary level. Furthermore, the researcher tries to consider about the process of teaching and learning English to young learners or early childhood education, where the age range of the students is around four to six years old. This study will focus on the process of teaching and learning English to young learners, the process of English language assessment to young learners as well as the effect of these processes. Hopefully the findings of this study will provide an insight of the process of teaching and learning as well as assessment to young learners. It is also expected that this study will contribute some lucid information on how teaching and learning as well as assessment should be carried out. Hence, there will be improvement on the way teachers teach and assess to young learners.

Since in this study there will be a discussion about assessment, there will be a definition about assessment which is related to the study. Assessment is the process of data analysis that teachers use to get evidence about their learner's performance and progress in English (Pinter, 2006 : 131). In terms of purpose, assessment is needed by administrators, teachers, staff developers, students and parents assist in determining appropriate program placements and instructional activities as well as in monitoring students' progress (O'Malley and Pierce, 1996 : 3). More specifically, all teachers need to know how effective their teaching is and all learners are interested in how well they are doing. Since assessment is the teaching and learning process, therefore it is an integral part of teaching and learning and it occurs all the time.

B. Research Questions

Relevant to the main points explained above, the questions in this research are formulated as follows : 

1) What is the process of teaching and learning English language to young learners in some kindergartens in northern part of X ?

2) What is the process of assessment of English language to young learners in these kindergartens ?

3) What is the effect of these processes to young learners in these kindergartens ?

C. Purpose of the Study

In line with the research questions mentioned above, the aims of this research are specified into the following points : 

1) To identify the process of teaching and learning English language to young learners in some kindergartens classroom in northern part of X.

2) To identify the process of assessment of English language to young learners in those kindergartens.

3) To identify the effect of these processes to young learners in these kindergartens.

D. Definition of Terms

- Young learners : children are at preschool or in the first couple of years of schooling (Pinter, 2006 : 2).

- Teaching : work of a teacher, idea or belief that is taught (Oxford Learner's Pocket Dictionary, 1995 : 425)

- Assessment : calculating the value of something (Oxford Learner's Pocket Dictionary, 1995 : 21). According to Pinter (2006 : 131) Assessment is the process of data analysis that teachers use to get evidence about their learner's performance and progress in English.

E. Significance of the Study

This study will provide an insight of how English language learning is conducted in terms of the process of teaching and learning, assessment and the effect of these processes to young learners. Findings of the study will give empirical evidence of the process of teaching and learning, the process of assessment of English language and the effect of these processes to young learners at some kindergartens in northern part of X. The results of this study hopefully make teachers are aware of the crucial things in teaching and assessing English language learning to young learners.

YOUNG LEARNERS VOCABULARY IMPROVEMENT THROUGH AUDIOVISUAL BY USING YOUTUBE VIDEOS

YOUNG LEARNERS VOCABULARY IMPROVEMENT THROUGH AUDIOVISUAL BY USING YOUTUBE VIDEOS (PROGRAM STUDI : PENDIDIKAN BAHASA INGGRIS)

CHAPTER I 

INTRODUCTION

A. Background

Teaching a foreign language has been carried out for a long time at all levels of education. In some big cities in Indonesia, primary young learners have been taught English starting from elementary level of education. This has made educators both in formal and non formal schools try to facilitate the best way to teach and learn English. Moreover, English is one of the elective subjects in elementary school. Although it is not a compulsory subject, it is strongly recommended by the government that English be taught at the elementary level. The aims are to make the students familiar with English in their early age, and they can understand English, hopefully, in written and oral form.

Teaching English to young learners in Indonesia refers to teaching English for children especially those of elementary school ages. It has been now supported by an official policy from Depdikbud RI No. 00487/U/1992 and The Decree of the ministry of Education and Culture No. 060/U/1993 (Suyanto, 2001). In addition, it has been carried out in the curriculum of 1994 and developed in curriculum of 2004 and the current curriculum, the school-level curriculum (KTSP) which aims at encouraging students to be able to communicate in English.

According to Alwasilah (1997), there are two reasons why government allows the elementary school to teach English to their students : (1) many parents send their children to attend the English courses, especially English for children, and (2) it is assumed that teaching English in Elementary school will create a positive attitude toward English; thus English is no longer regarded a difficult subject. Similarly, Musthafa (2002) mentions that when young learners are introduced to English since their early stage of life, they will get sufficient exposure, with sufficient exposure they are expected to be successful language users in the future. Regarding this, Vygotsky in Cameron (2001) says that words do have significance for young learners to learn new language. It provides the children with new tool, opens up new information through the use of words as symbols.

Regarding this demand, educators both in formal schools and language institutions have been trying to formulate a concept of teaching which suits young learners' need in learning vocabulary. A thing that should be considered in teaching new words for young learners is that they are still building up their first language vocabulary and are still in process of acquiring and organizing concepts. The children relate the L2 with their L1 knowledge to develop and understand the meaning of a word. Therefore, when introducing vocabulary to young learners it should be presented in a context which is familiar to the children. Visual support is also very important to help convey meaning and to help children memorize new vocabulary. In relation to this, Harmer (2002) asserts one of the advantages of video is that learners do not just hear the language, they also see it too.

Based on the researcher's observation, the development of teaching and learning in elementary schools in Indonesia is not good enough; therefore the result of teaching in Indonesia is not yet satisfactory. This might have been probably influenced by the teacher's way and concept of teaching. In this case, the students are rarely given English words in the appropriate context. In accordance with it, Harris, Golinkoff and Hirsh-Pasek (2011) claim that real life context is suitable for word meaning because the child is actively engaged in a meaningful and pleasurable activity and the language used often has instrumental purposes the child wants to achieve.

Furthermore, there are some challenges encountered by Indonesian young learners in learning English. The first challenge is young learners have been assumed as being 'a miniature adults', in which the way they learn a foreign language is exactly the same as the way adults do. Musthafa (2008) asserts that this misleading conception can lead to failure because children and adults are not the same. The second is the teacher's instruction is not based on the principle of young learners teaching and learning. According to Paul (2003) and Pinter (2006), the eagerness of young learners can be bettered down if they are frequently overwhelmed by the developmentally inappropriate experiences. Therefore the responsibility is on the shoulders of young learners educators, which can be met through sensitive study and understanding of the principles and needs of young learners. The third is the lack of language use in the real situations. They receive less demonstration and exposure in learning English. For young learners, it is necessary the first learning experience has to fulfill the long term memory in their brain (Shankoff and Phillips, 2000).

Due to the challenges above, this study aims to give contribution and create a condition in which children have an opportunity to have different situations and fun learning to love English at early stage by providing them suitable, good and interesting materials. In fact, there are many ways that teacher can apply to achieve these. Furthermore, it is the teachers' responsibility to find the best way in teaching English at their students' early stage, so that the learning goals can be achieved. Specifically, this study tries to investigate the use of technology to teach vocabulary in the classroom.

Technology in language teaching is not new these days. It has been around in language teaching for decades. The use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) by language teachers such as multimedia technology, audiovisual, software and internet access materials have greatly improved and made the use of these resources in the classroom more practical. According to Agnew in Neo (2001) multimedia or audiovisual is defined as the combination of various digital media types such as text, images, sound and video, into an integrated multi-sensory interactive application or presentation to convey a message or information to an audience. In the researcher's point of view, the use of audiovisual in the classroom is important because of the flexibility in presenting the lessons. It adds the context to the language and the lesson. Furthermore, the use of audiovisual helps students and teacher to connect vocabulary meaning and make the lesson more interesting because of the motion, color and sound in ways that can dramatize the ideas better than any other medium.

In the area of teaching English as Second Language (ESL) or Foreign Language (EFL), recently the most effort to enhance the process of language learning has involved computer technology and the internet. Since the initial introduction of computers and internet are into the field of second/foreign language education, a large number of practitioners have concurred that this technology holds great potential for language learning and contribute to the global development of young learners (Seghayer , 2001).

Therefore, the use of media, particularly YouTube video, is to attract young learners' attention and heighten their curiosity while the teacher is delivering the message.

One of the alternative techniques that can be used in teaching English vocabulary to young learners is using YouTube videos. It is a popular video hosting service, similar to Google video that users can view, download and upload their own. In such a condition, the existence of supporting instructional materials in the form of YouTube taken into the classroom aim to contribute the reader and teacher's knowledge on young learners' learning principles are observed in YouTube videos, the effects of You Tube videos in teaching vocabulary to young learners, and their respond when they learn English by using YouTube video.

B. Statement of the Problem

The internet provides a huge number of web sites that provide audio and video that can be used as teaching materials (e.g. YouTube). There are a lot of video produced by YouTube; entertainment, science and technology, education, and etc. Relevant to the main points explained above, the questions in this research project are formulated as follows : 

1. What young learners' learning principles are observed in YouTube videos ?

2. Can YouTube videos help young learners develop their vocabulary mastery ?

3. How do the children respond to the lesson in YouTube during the learning process ?

C. Purpose of the Study

On the basis of the above questions, the investigation is intended to meet the following purposes : 

1) To find out what young learners' learning principles are observed in YouTube videos 

2) To investigate the effect of video based on material-based on vocabulary mastery of young learners; and

3) To find out how young learners respond to YouTube videos

D. The Organization of the Thesis

This thesis consists of five chapters. The first chapter is introduction which highlights the basic description of this study. The second chapter deals with the theoretical framework building up the theories and references for this study. The third chapter describes the methodology that is used to conduct this research. Furthermore, the fourth chapter elaborates research finding and discussion. Finally, the fifth summarizes the findings, presents the condition of the basis and offers some suggestion for further research.

TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS

TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS (PROGRAM STUDI : PENDIDIKAN BAHASA INGGRIS)

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

This study is intended to investigate the way used by three English teachers of three Elementary Schools in X, in planning and implementing their instruction and the way they assess their students' learning progress and achievement.

This chapter is an introductory part of this thesis which consists of seven sub-headings. They are background of research, research questions, objectives of the study, significance of the study, scope of the study, definition of key terms, and thesis organization.

A. Background of Research

The process of teaching learning and assessment are two sides of the same coin. Brown (2001 : 420) defines, "Assessment and teaching are partners in the learning process." This indicates that both elements are two interrelated entities of equal importance. A sound research conducted by Luciana (2004) reveals that there is a gap between what the teachers taught to the students and what they assess on the part of the students. Therefore, the researcher is interested to investigate these two essential elements in relation to the ways English teachers plan and implement the instruction and the way they assess students' learning progress and achievement.

In line with the above fact, the researcher finds the phenomenon of EFL in Indonesia that views mastering English has been of great importance for recent years concerning the influence of scientific and technological development. Therefore, there is an assumption that it will be easier for anyone to grasp ideas and gain information across the globe - which is mostly uttered in English—if he or she possesses good ability in English.

In response to that assumption, there is a growing demand of Indonesian citizens on starting teaching English at elementary school level. They believe that mastering English is one of several competences to be acquired to live in this globalization era. There is a common assumption that the younger children learn foreign languages, in this case English, the better the result would be, since, as Harmer (2002, 37) says, children learn foreign language faster than adults. A national survey on teaching and learning English at Junior and Senior High school levels conducted by Retnaningsih (2002 cited in Harun, 2005) indicates that almost all the parents interviewed by the researcher state that they wish their children to have good English competence and performance. This expectation can be fulfilled only when the students, especially young children, have opportunities to learn English appropriately.

Coping with such demand, the release of a number of decrees which then followed by relevant curriculum have taken place. First, the Decree of Minister of Education and Culture (RI/No. 0478/4/1992, chapter viii) which states that an Elementary School can add some extra lessons in its curriculum as long as they are not in contradiction with the objective of National Education. Second, a follow up Decree of Ministry of Education and Culture, number 060/U/1993 dated February 25th 1993 which states that English can be introduced to the fourth grade students of Elementary School (Suyanto, 1997 cited in Sary, 2006).

In line with the above Decrees, the implementation of 1994 Curriculum for Elementary School enables Elementary Schools' teachers to teach English as a Local Content subject to their students. The implication is that English becomes an official subject in Elementary Schools now. As a result, having included English into Elementary school curriculum, majority of Elementary Schools then have been providing English in the classroom for their students. Nowadays, teaching English at Elementary Schools has been carried out as an official subject, since it is supported by an official policy.

As a Local Content Subject, as Suyanto (1997, cited in Sary, 2006) says, the basic goal of English teaching in Elementary Schools is to make the students aware of the fact that there are international languages, in this case English, they can learn other than their local and national languages. It also aims to develop basic receptive skills (reading and listening) in spoken and written English (Huda, 1999).

In addition, concerning the teaching of English, Sinaga (cited in Sartono, 1997 : 173, cited in Sary, 2006) says that one of the most important elements in an English teaching is the quality of teachers, which includes qualifications of English and qualification of teaching methodology. The former is essential since the teachers are the model for their students. Moreover, the latter is of the same importance since it deals with knowledge of how to teach children and the ability to perform it in the classroom.

Despite the fact that many private (which then followed by public) elementary schools have applied teaching English for several years, the results of previous studies reveal shortcomings in the teaching of English to young learners (TEYL).

Those facts are among other : the teaching of English at the elementary schools studied is unsatisfactory (Suyanto, 1994, cited in Sary, 2006); what the teachers taught to the students and what they assess on the part of the students are incongruent (Luciana, 2004); the teachers could not apply most of the principles of TEYL even if they shared the understanding (Suharno, 2005); and the teachers did not consider principles of assessing young learners in assessing their students (Defianty, 2007).

Many factors contribute to the occurrence of those facts. Alwasilah (2004 : 80) argues that graduates of educational universities and institutes are not specially prepared for teaching English in elementary schools. They are not provided with knowledge on psychology of children, and theories of teaching and learning appropriate for the young learners. They are not professionally ready for it and lack of field experience. Therefore, the researcher is interested to investigate the ways employed by the English teachers in planning and in implementing the instruction and the ways they assess their students ' learning progress and achievement in three elementary schools in X.

B. Research Questions

To meet the objectives of the study, the formulation of the research questions is broken down as follows : 

1. How do the teachers plan their instruction ?

2. How do the teachers implement their instruction ?

3. How do the teachers assess their students' learning progress and achievement ?

C. Objectives of the Study

The objectives of this study are formulated based on the problems to be investigated. Thus, the purposes of this study are as follows : 

1. To find out the way the teachers plan the instruction.

2. To find out the ways the teachers implement the instruction.

3. To find out the way the teachers assess students' learning progress and achievement of English.

D. Significance of the Study

It is expected that the findings of the study can enrich the literature of English teaching in Elementary School. It is also hoped to provide the teachers fruitful information on teaching and assessing in Elementary School.

E. Scope of the Study

This research aims to illustrate the process of EFL teaching at three Elementary Schools in X. Particularly, it aims to investigate the ways the teachers prepare and implement their teaching in teaching English to their students and the way they assess their students' learning progress and achievement. This is done because as the ones who teach English in the classroom, it is the teachers themselves who prepare the instruction, apply the teaching and learning process in the classroom, and then assess their students' learning progress and learning achievement. As a case study, the findings of this research are only true to the respondents participating in it. Therefore, there is not any effort for generalization.

F. Thesis Organization

This thesis is organized into five chapters. The first chapter is introduction, which highlights the basic description of this study. The second chapter deals with theoretical framework which builds up the theories and references for this study. The third chapter describes the methodology used to conduct this research. It presents research design, method of data collection, participants and sites of the study, and procedure of analysis. The fourth chapter elaborates research findings and discussion. The fifth or the last chapter presents conclusion, limitations of the study, and recommendations.