Young English Learners Research Articles

Folktale 'Wendit' as the material staging the local folktale of Malang in effort to accomplish an international collaboration

This community service program focused on assisting SD Aisyiyah Kota Malang to play a virtual drama entitled ‘The Tale of Wendit' as the material staging the local folktale of Malang in effort to accomplish an international collaboration with Dajeong School Korea. The community service was carried out by sharing session about virtual drama performance, casting, rehearsals, videotaping, video launching, and virtual drama performance to teachers and students of Dajeong Primary School, Korea. Every session provided both English for Young Learners’ teachers and students opportunities to practice their reading and speaking for the performance. Besides, they also learned how to deal with digital platforms used for the rehearsal and virtual performance. The findings revealed that it was possible for teachers and students to include literature in English for Young Learners (EYL) learning in this digital era. During this pandemic, virtual drama performance can be carried out in primary school which has similar characteristics with the school where the community service was conducted.

Teaching English for Young Learners by Using ICT: Narrative Inquiry Study

In this era, ICT is an essential need for education. Teachers should be aware of ICT’s development. Thus, teachers still struggle with using ICT for teaching and learning. Studying teachers’ view on using ICT for teaching can help teachers solve issues and challenges using ICT. The study’s objectives were to identify the kinds of ICT used by teachers, their view toward the use of ICT, and their suggestions for overcoming issues and challenges in using ICT to teach English to young learners in SDIT Ukhuwah Banjarmasin. This study used narrative inquiry. Two teachers shared their experience of using ICT. The result indicated that these teachers have implemented ICT like Google Classroom, WhatsApp, Google, Microsoft Office, YouTube, Kinemaster, Kahoot!, Mentimeter, Google Forms, Padlet, Quizziz, Zoom, smartphone, computer, laptop, projector, LCD, speaker, audio player, and internet. Teachers have a positive view of using ICT because there are many roles and benefits of ICT. However, teachers experienced some challenges in using ICT such as lack of time and technical problems. Therefore, there is a need to develop teachers’ skills and knowledge of ICT, and give them technical support.

Teacher agency in perceiving affordances and constraints of videoconferencing technology: Teaching primary school students online

Despite some evidence in the literature on the evolving and emergent nature of technological affordances, the role of teacher agency in noticing, selecting, and utilizing those affordances in the context of L2 online teaching has not been fully explored. In addition, while previous research on technological affordances has focused on adult students, little has been known about how teacher agency is manifested in relation to ICT affordances when teaching young learners in large-sized L2 classes. Thus the present study, adopting the ecological perspective on teacher agency and affordance, aims to investigate how primary school English teachers enacted and exerted their teacher agency in response to pedagogical challenges by exploring and exploiting the pedagogical affordances of a synchronous videoconferencing tool. Qualitative data collected from semi-structured interviews with 10 English teachers in South Korea reflected that their teacher agency guided by their pedagogical beliefs contributed to evolving ICT affordances for L2 online teaching, responding to institutional expectations and technological constraints. The findings also showed that the characteristics of young English learners mediated their agency enactment in ways that teachers noticed technology affordances and constraints while addressing pedagogical issues regarding teaching young learners. Academic implications from the perspective of teacher agency are discussed.

Cross-language activation during word recognition in child second-language learners and the role of executive function

We investigated lexical retrieval processes in 4- to 6-year-old German–English bilinguals by exploring cross-language activation during second-language (L2) word recognition of cognates and noncognates in semantically related and unrelated contexts in young learners of English. Both button presses (reaction times and accuracies) and eye-tracking data (percentage looks to target) yielded a significant cognate facilitation effect, indicating that the children’s performance was boosted by cognate words. Nonetheless, the degree of phonological overlap of cognates did not modulate their performance. Moreover, a semantic interference effect was found in the children’s eye movement data. However, in these young L2 learners, cognate status exerted a comparatively stronger impact on L2 word recognition than semantic relatedness. Finally, correlational analyses on the cognate and noncognate performance and the children’s executive function yielded a significant positive correlation between noncognate performance and their inhibitory control, suggesting that noncognate processing depended to a greater extent on inhibitory control than cognate processing.

THE IMPROVEMENT OF MISPRONUNCIATION ENCOUNTERED BY MOST YOUNG ENGLISH LEARNERS

Mispronunciation is a critical issue encountered by most young English learners in a second language learning that causes low spoken English proficiency, which plays important roles today. The objectives of this study were to identify the segmental changes resulted in the articulation of English mispronounced words produced by most young learners, to describe the different elements between Indonesian and English sound systems, and to explain the phonological interference of mother tongue in English mispronunciation. This study uses descriptive qualitative research design performed on ten primary school students selected by using purposive sampling in Semarang. Data were collected by using simak method and analyzed by using padan fonetik artikulatoris method.
 The data suggest that the majority of the participants had difficulty in articulating the words with absent phonemic segments /ɪ, æ, əː, ɔ, ʌ, eɪ, ʊə, ɪə, aɪə, ʃ, θ, ð, ʒ, voiced v/, silent letters <b, d, e, t, w, gh, and r in some cases>, spelling patterns <th, ow, ph, ie, ueue, ough>, and tricky words including several English borrowings that have inconsistent spelling pronunciation. The results showed that the interference of L1 sounds and pronunciation rules occurred through substitution of closest native sounds for absent phonemes, insertion of native sounds, and negative transfer of L1 spelling pronunciation. It can be concluded that most of the young learners mispronounced on words with absent phonemic segments, silent letters, spelling patterns of many letters combination, and several English borrowings.

Integrating the Technology in Teaching and Learning Process Through Digital Media Creation as A Way to Improve Indonesian EYL Teachers’ Competence

<strong>Abstract:</strong> Now that the spread of Covid 19 is still high and the teaching and learning process should be continued to be conducted at homes, but it seems that some teachers –in this case EYL teachers– are not ready to integrate various digital platforms. It is necessary for us to respond to the need of investigating technology readiness of English for young learners teachers in teaching during this Covid 19 pandemic. It is strongly important to reveal the teachers’ technology readiness as it plays vital role, especially during this pandemic —when the only thing that the teachers and the students can do is interacting online. Without having adequate literacy in technological thing, it is impossible to create teaching and learning process which can facilitate both the teachers and the students. Based on the result of initial survey, it could be stated that some teachers might not be ready in integrating the technology in their virtual classrooms; ending up in either providing lots of assignments or creating monotonous activities, which of course break the nature of teaching English for young learners. Hence, it is expected that by conducting this study, the researchers could assist some of the teachers to be more aware with their technology readiness, so that they could serve the students better, and the students could also learn the material more interesting and meaningful.

Effectiveness of Animated Video to Teach First Grade Students of Starlight Tuition in Mastering Number

Teaching English for young learner is not a simple thing. They need different treatment in learning new things especially new language. Some teachers use games, videos, songs, etc. The researcher made an animated movie about “Numbers”. It can be used to teach first grade students to learn Numbers in English from one to ten. The researcher wants to know whether the video made is effective or not to teach first grade students in Starlight Tuition. The result is animated video is effective to teach vocabulary especial “Numbers” to young learner.

The Implementation of Songs in Teaching English for Young Learners in Online Learning Context

The purpose of this study was to describe the implementation of song in teaching speaking competency as well as problems encountered by teachers during the implementation at SD N 2 Tembok, Buleleng Regency. Researchers collected data in a qualitative way, through interviews and observation. Then, the data were analyzed through 3 processes proposed by Dull & Reinhardt (2014). The purpose of implementing song in all stages in learning is to make students adapted with the English vocabulary and pronunciation by using fun method which is via song which is familiar for the students. Based on the result of this study, it can be concluded that the teacher basically implemented the song to the learning in three activities such as opening activity, whilst activity and closing activity by giving the link of youtube video to the students as well as helping them in translation to encourage the students to learning to speak English by using song. The problem that mostly occurred in the class to teach song for speaking English was internet connection due to online class caused of covid-19 pandemic. Because of that, doing voice recording is needed for the students to check their grammar as well as their pronunciation.

Young gamers in the digital wilds

This study involves young learners of English as a foreign/second language (L2) in Sweden. The aim is to see whether there is a relation between their online gaming habits on the one hand and L2 English vocabulary knowledge and listening comprehension on the other, and to investigate known words more closely in relation to their gaming preferences. We collected data with the help of a questionnaire, a vocabulary test, and a listening comprehension test, and analyzed data using a mixed method. The results showed positive correlations between gaming frequency and vocabulary knowledge as well as listening comprehension. Playing multiplayer games appeared more common among those who reported playing always, compared with those who played often or rarely. Pedagogical implications are discussed.

Improving Phonological Awareness Skills of Young Learners of English in an EFL Context

This action research study aimed to improve the phonological awareness of young learners in the Turkish EFL context. In total, there were 56 students from the 5th, 6th, and 7th grades at a secondary state school. The students’ phonological awareness levels were measured via the Phonological Awareness Skills Test (P.A.S.T.) in the pre-test, immediate post-test, and delayed post-test design. Their scores were analysed through statistical procedures. When the mean scores of the pre-test, immediate post-test, and delayed post-test were compared, it was found that the scores in the immediate post-test and delayed post-test increased. A non-parametric Friedman test of differences among repeated measures was conducted and rendered a significant Chi-square value. Thus, it was revealed that there was a statistically significant difference among the P.A.S.T. scores of the participants measured before the in-class activities, after the in-class activities, and after a six-week follow-up. The findings displayed the importance of employing various activities to improve the phonological awareness of young learners. Educational implications are also discussed.

Reading strategies and attitudes of young learners of English during online extensive reading

This study aims to analyze reading strategies and reading attitudes of elementary school students during online extensive reading. A total of 69 students participated in this study and were divided into two groups: a higher-level group (n = 21) and a lower-level group (n = 21). Both groups were asked to complete surveys concerning their reading strategies and reading attitudes, and take a reading proficiency test. Results showed that there was no significant difference between the higher-level group and the lower-level group in terms of their use of reading strategies. However, a significant difference was observed between two groups regarding anxiety and discomfort. Moreover, male students and female students showed a significant difference in terms of their use of reading strategies. There was a meaningful relationship between reading strategies and the students’ intellectual value regardless of their proficiency level. For the lower-level group in particular, there was also a significant relationship between reading strategies and comfort as well as between reading strategies and anxiety. Based on these findings, an appropriate teaching of reading strategies and the support of interesting activities to lower students’ anxiety can be suggested for a successful online English reading.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF ANIMATION VIDEOS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH INTEGRATED SKILLS FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

As a foreign language, English is very good to be taught from an early age because an early age is a golden age where children can understand learning material faster. However, teaching English to young learners is not easy. They are easily bored, and also easily distracted. Thus, teachers are required to provide fun and interesting learning activities. Therefore, researchers developed media in the form of animation videos to assist teachers in conveying learning to students as well as attracting their attention. This media does not only refer to vocabulary but also listening, reading, speaking, and writing. In this study, researchers used the ADDIE development model (analysis, design, development, implementation, evaluation). The data in this study were collected by observation, distributing questionnaires, and interview methods. The instruments used in collecting data are questionnaires and tests. After doing research, it is proven that by applying animation video media, the level of student learning is increasing. In conclusion, teachers are advised to apply animation videos in teaching English for young learners so that the teaching and learning process becomes effective and fun.

The Instructional Media to Teach English for Young Learner

The purpose of this article is to discover the applicable Instructional Media to help teacher in teaching English for young learners for different situations. This study used library research, which this research is a series of activities related to the method of collecting library data. Instructional Media is a facilitation used to implement instruction given by the teacher. It is also facilitate students to have a better understanding to the material. In a similar vein Adegun (1997) says instructional media are things which are intended to help the teacher to teach more effectively and enable the students to learn more readily. Considering the characteristics of young learner, the media used have to be interest for students. From the discussion, there are five medias can be used to teach English for young learners, such as realia, pictures, boards, flipcharts, and Internet.

The Ambivalent Students' Cognition to Be English Teachers for Young Learners: A Longitudinal Study.

This longitudinal study analyzed university students’ cognition in learning an English for young learners (EYL) course. A qualitative method was used to get the data from 28 students who took the tiered EYL courses, EYL 1, EYL 2, and EYL 3, at a private university by giving them open-ended questionnaires for three semesters, or one and a half years. Semi-structured interviews with those 28 students were also used as the triangulation data at the end of each semester. The findings indicate a very extreme change in pre-service teachers’ cognition, such as motivation, perception, and belief. At the end of their lecture, students initially interested in learning English for young learners did not want to become EYL teachers. On the other hand, students who enrolled in the EYL course for non-academic reasons wanted to have a profession as an EYL teacher after completing the EYL courses. It proves that students’ interest in teaching English to young learners and the length of time spent studying EYL teaching knowledge do not assure those pre-service teachers are increasingly convinced to have a teaching profession.

The Effect of Online Gamification Quiz Application on Vocabulary Mastery for Young English Learners

Abstrak: Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh Kahoot pada penguasaan kosakata untuk pelajar bahasa Inggris usia muda. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kuantitatif dengan desain Pre-experimental One Group Pre-test and Post-test . Instrumen yang digunakan pada penelitian ini adalah tes kosakata yang terdiri dari 20 item dalam pengumpulan data. Data dianalisis menggunakan statistik deskriptif dan inferensial. Partisipan penelitian ini adalah siswa kelas IV SD Dana Punia Singaraja. Temuan penelitian ini membuktikan bahwa terdapat pengaruh signifikan yang terdapat pada pada penguasaan kosakata untuk pelajar muda bahasa Inggris dengan efektivitas kategori sedang. Lebih Lanjut, penerapan Kahoot sebagai gamifikasi dalam pembelajaran kosa kata sudah tepat dalam meningkatkan penguasaan kosakata pelajar muda. Abstract: This research aimed to investigate the effect of Kahoot on vocabulary mastery for young English learners. This research utilized the quantitative method with Pre-experimental One Group Pre-Test and Post-Test Design. The instrument used to collect the data was vocabulary test that consisted of 20 items. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The participants of this study were fourth-grade students of SD Dana Punia Singaraja. The findings proven there was a significant effect on vocabulary mastery for young English learners with a moderate effect of effectiveness. Furthermore, the implementation of Kahoot as gamification in English learning was precise in improving young learners' vocabulary mastery.

‘You could win Masterchef with this soup. Can I get some more?’ Request production and the impact of instruction on young EFL learners

This paper presents a study exploring the impact of concept-based instruction of requests with two intact classes of young learners of English (aged 12–13) in a Norwegian primary school. Based on sociocultural theory, the instruction aimed to promote agentive language use by focusing on two main dimensions: firstly, introducing scientific concepts and language resources related to the pragmalinguistic dimension, i.e. internal and external modification strategies to increase the learners' pragmalinguistic repertoire; secondly, presenting the sociopragmatic dimension, such as the situation, familiarity, and interlocutor age. In this study, learners’ internalisation of pragmalinguistic resources, displayed through increased variation in language use, is viewed as a prerequisite for agency. The learners’ request production was tested through a video-prompted oral discourse completion test (VODCT) in a pre-, post- and delayed post-test. The results reveal an increased variation and use of modal verbs and supportive moves following the instruction. In addition, their distribution varied depending on the interlocutor's age and familiarity. The learners also started using downgraders introduced during instruction. However, except for please, downgraders were not commonly used, which suggests that these require further scholarly attention. Overall, the young learners’ pragmalinguistic development displayed in the present study reveals a potential for teaching pragmatics through concept-based approaches.

Teachers' Perceptions Using Narrative for Teaching English for Young Learners

This article examines the use of narrative as a learning method in English classes for young learners. This study used descriptive qualitative method. It examines the teacher's perspective in using narrative in lesson plans. Interviews were conducted with both novice and experienced teachers in teaching young learners about their preferences and experiences when using narrative-based learning. Research results show that teachers assume narrative-based lessons are very time-consuming so it is not easy to use narratives in learning, so narratives also have a positive impact on the theoretical part could be seen on students and for teaching, 5 out of 7 teachers think coursebooks are not enough for narrative-based learning so they use other sources such as internet and storybooks.

Assessing Verb‐Construction Integration in Young Learners of English as a Foreign Language: Analyses of Written and Spoken Production

AbstractExtending previous findings on adult L2 learners’ integration of verbal and constructional information, this study investigated how child learners of English as a foreign language produce verbs in target constructions and whether (a) receptive skills and (b) the specific production modality (spoken versus written) modulate the integration process. Written and spoken samples from 76 Korean‑speaking children were analyzed for verb‐construction association strength using three independent measures. A mixed‐effects regression analysis showed that the written data contained fewer strongly associated verb‐construction combinations than did the spoken data, yet verb‐construction association in writing became stronger as the participants’ receptive task scores increased. Subsequent cluster analyses revealed that the stronger verb‐construction associations found for increasing receptive skills in writing were due to the lower‐proficiency participants’ matching some verbs with inappropriate constructions. The modulating role of production modes, as well as receptive skills, in children's integration of verbs and constructions is consistent with usage‐based approaches to language learning.

INVESTIGATING YOUNG LEARNERS PERCEPTION AND MORAL VALUES ON LISTENING SKILL THROUGH WATCHING MOVIE “DORA: THE LOST CITY OF GOLD”

The aim of the research was to investigate young learners perceptions and moral values on listening while English language teaching for young learner by having "Dora: The Lost Gold City" Movie at SMP Daarul Yaqiin. Method of research used descriptive analysis to explore young learner’s perception and moral values. Instrument used were observation, questionnaires and interviews. Interviews and questionnaires were conducted in the seventh grades of SMP Daarul Yaqiin. It was followed by 50 young learners who join listening class. The results of this study indicate; (1) Young learners give a good perception about the use of the movie "Dora: The lost city of gold" (2) Young learners give positive feedback to attract listening skills by using the movie "Dora: The lost city of gold" in learning, and (3) young learners get moral values by watching the movie "Dora: The lost city of gold". The advantages of using the movie "Dora: The lost city of gold" in learning listening are; it helps young learners understanding the subject easily, young learners were happy, gave them motivation to learn English for young learner. From these finding the conclusion was the used of the movie "Dora: The lost city of gold" in English listening easy understanding material has positive response from young learners and also provided several benefits for them especially moral values for young learners.

Managing English Young Learners’ Classroom Activities through Gestures: A Multimodal Perspective

Managing classroom activities in children has become a challenge for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. Teachers usually use gestures in class activities, such as giving directions and pointing at students. This study explores the multimodal representation of the teacher's gestures when managing classroom activities in the EYL context. Data were collected through non-participant observation and analyzed by Systemic Functional Multimodal Discourse Analysis (SFMDA). The findings show that four meanings are multimodally represented in teacher gestures, namely (1) building student-teacher relationships through clapping and thumbs up, (2) emphasizing instruction through raising hands, pointing and lifting class objects, (3) encouraging involvement of students in academic tasks through finger pointing and counting down, and (4) warning of disruptive behavior of students through pulling gestures. Pedagogically, this research provides a paradigm shift that classroom-based communication does not have to use a single semiotic source but also a combination of other semiotic sources to help students understand teacher instructions easily.