Abstract
This study attempts to discuss the English language used by Indonesian young learners who come to the US and identify their language learning strategies. Some theoretical issues in second language acquisition related to this topic are discussed and then followed by the discussion on the subjects’ learning strategies and some factors related to the strategies, and the description of the subjects’ language development. The two subjects are good English learners: they had “three variables” of good language learning: aptitude, motivation, and opportunity. They were bright children and they knew how to use their knowledge in learning a “new” language; they were good guessers and risk takers. They were also integratively motivated: they practiced their English; they were expressive and eager to communicate; and finally they had now a good opportunity to learn English in its natural setting. The main implication of this study is on the teaching of English to the Indonesian speakers. It is obvious that the differences between English and Indonesian sentence structures have created difficulties to the learners. A teaching syllabus based on contrastive analysis will be more realistic though only in obvious contrasting features. It should reinforce marked differences in L2, where L1 and Universal Grammar are unmarked – so as to raise learner’s awareness of the new features.
Highlights
It is always amazing to see how children acquire a certain language in a relatively short time; how they produce sounds and combine them into thousands of words, and how they construct those words into sentences to express their feelings and thoughts
Some theoretical issues in second language acquisition related to this topic are discussed and followed by the discussion on the subjects’ learning strategies and some factors related to the strategies, and the description of the subjects’ language development
The two subjects are good English learners: they had “three variables” of good language learning: aptitude, motivation, and opportunity. They were bright children and they knew how to use their knowledge in learning a “new” language; they were good guessers and risk takers
Summary
It is always amazing to see how children acquire a certain language in a relatively short time; how they produce sounds and combine them into thousands of words, and how they construct those words into sentences to express their feelings and thoughts. It is more amazing to notice that all children in all cultures are excellent second language learners; regardless of what languages they learn. Gina (8: 6) and Nadia (7: 2) speak Javanese, their mother tongue, and Indonesian, their national language and the language of instruction in public schools in Indonesia – alternately and with ease. Their parents said that they learnt Arabic for almost a year, and took a special English class for three months before they left their country. When they enrolled in elementary school in Athens, Ohio, USA, they had a new experience: they had to speak English when they were at school and had to spend eight hours a day with their American teachers and classmates
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