Young English Learners Research Articles

PROGRAM “SITOGA” (SING, STORY, AND GAMES): PELATIHAN BAHASA INGGRIS BAGI GURU TK DESA SENAUNG KABUPATEN MUARO JAMBI

The purpose of this Community Service (PKM) activity is an effort to help teachers of the Jauharul Iman Kindergarten Senaung Village, Jambi Outer City District, Muaro Jambi Regency, Jambi Province, to find, create and apply English learning materials according to the age of the children. To achieve this goal, the PKM activity carried out is SITOGA (Sing, Story and Games) for kindergarten teachers. This activity takes place during the month of April to May 2022, where the first month is focused on deepening material on the principles of teaching English for Young Learners, introducing learning resources, and learning methods and techniques. The next second month becomes an opportunity for participants (kindergarten teachers) in making learning resources and implementing or practicing learning. The results of PKM activities include participants being able to understand theories of teaching English in kindergarten, teachers being able to recognize several English songs, combining songs and movements in English, making simple English teaching media, designing learning activities with fun activities, and getting to know and practice
 different types of games

Teachers’ Challenges in Teaching English for Young Learners during Indonesia’s School-Based Curriculum

The goal of this study is to discover the challenges that teachers suffered from when teaching English to young learners in Tembilahan Elementary Schools during the School Based Curriculum in 2018. The quantitative descriptive design was used for this study. Researchers employed questionnaires and interviews as research tools to collect study results, the questionnaire functioning as the primary instrument. Questionnaires and interviews were distributed to ten teachers from nine different primary schools. The findings of the Likert questionnaire data analysis and interviews showed that the most difficult challenges for teachers in teaching English to young learners was learners’ motivation. They all believe that raising motivation was tough, and that was one of the difficulties in teaching English to young learners. The findings of the highest score in the data was the thirteenth statement (motivation), where the total score was 40, and it was a teaches’ challenges in teaching English to young learners in primary schools in Tembilahan.

INDONESIAN EFL TEACHERS TEACHING READING TO ENGLISH YOUNG LEARNERS IN INDONESIA AND THAILAND

Among myriad research on teaching reading on English Young Learners, little has been discussed the practice within two different socio-culture settings. Indeed, the success stories of teaching reading to young learners with different social and cultural circumstances will be able to offer insight and new perspectives of teaching reading to EYL for researchers, mainly English teachers. This study aimed at narrating and exploring the process of teaching reading within two different countries, Indonesia and Thailand. This study invited two Indonesians EFL teachers who teach English to young learners in Indonesia and Thailand. Underpinning the narrative research design, this study narrated the experience of the participants from interview process triangulated by their narrative framework and teaching reading materials. From the obtained data, the findings were presented using four major themes: teaching experience, the students, teaching reading, and teaching reading materials. The result revealed that the participants had some similarities and distinction aspects. Teaching technique that the participants used could be said as the similar aspect of the participants. Meanwhile, teaching materials could be said as the integral factors underlaying the differences. Furthermore, organizational system and community around participants played significant role in affecting the differences and similarities.

Task-modality effects on young learners’ language-related episodes in collaborative dialogue

Abstract In adult learners’ collaborative dialogue, oral+written tasks have been found to promote a greater incidence and resolution of language-related episodes and to demand higher levels of accuracy than oral tasks thanks to the extra time learners have to reflect on their written outcome. No previous studies have tested whether asking learners to attend to accuracy in both modalities would yield similar results. The present study with 23 dyads of young English learners supports the superiority of the oral+written modality in the promotion of learning opportunities, even if learners are encouraged to focus on form in the oral modality, a result reinforced by the incorporation of target-like resolved episodes in the written product. However, the intragroup analysis reveals that young learners focus on meaning in equal terms, present low rates of target-likeness, and do not elaborate their resolutions, all of which can be ascribed to their younger age and developing metalinguistic awareness.

The Implementation of School from Home in English for Young Learners' Classrooms

The sudden occurrence of the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has affected the education sector in Indonesia. The Indonesian government responded to this matter and issued a policy on the implementation of distance learning or known as the school from home. School from home has been applied to all education levels in Indonesia, including primary schools. This qualitative case study investigates the implementation of school from home in English for young learners' classrooms at a primary school in Indonesia. The data was collected through online classroom observation in second, fourth, and sixth-grade classrooms and interviews with five English teachers who taught in first until sixth-grade classrooms. Data from the interview were analyzed using thematic analysis, resulting in three generated themes on the implementation of school from home in English for young learners' classrooms. The themes include teachers' readiness to implement school from home, teachers' strategies to implement online learning as part of the school from home, and teachers' strategies to overcome challenges in online learning. The results of the study indicated that the implementation of school from home requires thorough preparation and has the potential to be implemented in English for young learners' classrooms, especially in the upper-grade classrooms of primary schools.

Community service at Sanggar Belajar Cakrawangsa in Kucur Village, Dau Subdistrict, Malang

Kucur Village, located in Dau District, Malang Regency, is a village that has a lot of potential. However, the economic condition of most of its residents is still far from prosperous. Through this community service activity, the Ma Chung University community service team aims to develop the potential and empower the young generation in Kucur Village through practical English language basic education in collaboration with the Sanggar Belajar Cakrawasa as a partner. The three main problems faced by the partner are limited teaching staff, monotonous learning activities, and unavailability of English learning modules. The methods offered as solutions to the three problems are providing the Training of Trainers (ToT) program to Ma Chung University students to volunteer as additional teaching staff to the partner, according to the Teaching English for Young Learners (TEYL) theory, using fun learning techniques, develop learning modules. After 8 months of mentoring, the three main partners' problems were finally resolved.

TEACHERS’ STRATEGIES IN CONDUCTING SPEAKING ASSESSMENTS FOR YOUNG ENGLISH LEARNERS AT MIS NURUL HUDA, TANJUNG MORAWA

ABSTRACT - The purpose of this study is to ascertain and pinpoint the teacher's comprehension of speaking, particularly for young students. Through the use of a qualitative research approach, this study tried to examine teachers' methods for administering speaking tests to young English learners. A questionnaire for expert lecturers and students, teacher interviews, and the outcomes of the most recent exam given to students make up the instrument. In MIS Nurul Huda interviews with teachers and teacher observations to evaluate young pupils' speaking abilities, a questionnaire for teachers was utilized as the testing tool. The results show that even though most teachers do not fully comprehend assessment concepts, they can nevertheless use these principles to evaluate assessments for their pupils. Despite the fact that they are unfamiliar with the assessment's terminology, their understanding of the procedure is in line with the theories advanced by the experts. The teacher employs speaking tactics for each student's speaking strengths and shortcomings throughout formative speaking assessments in the classroom. Speaking techniques include imitative speaking (repetition), intensive speaking (tasks requiring you to finish sentences and dialogues), responsive speaking (questioning and responding), interactive speaking (role playing, discussion, and conversation), and extensive speaking (illustrated discussions in stories).Keyword : Speaking Assesment, Young English, Strategies

PROFESSIONALISM IN TEACHING ENGLISH FOR YOUNG LEARNER

Professionalism is an important thing that every people should have if they want to succeed and move ahead. In teaching world, professionalism is also important. Professionalism in teaching means the professional teachers who have been qualified where they can face the difficulties in teaching by the skills and experiences they have. Teaching English for young learners is not as easy as what people think, the teachers of young learners must be aware of children’s basic physical and psychological needs, they should provide the care necessary to meet the needs so they can thrive and focus in learning. Most of English teachers of primary school are graduated from the primary school teacher education (PSTE) where they have enough skill in teaching young learners but they do not have enough knowledge English. This problem can caused the students get lost if the teachers are not properly skilled and professional.Â

TEACHERS’ STRATEGIES IN TEACHING ENGLISH FOR YOUNG LEARNERS

In this globalization era, people have to communicate globally. English plays a very important role especially in international communication. It is used in various activities like education, business, politics and technology. Consequently, it is taught in Indonesia to provide supplementary knowledge for communication. The importance of learning English cannot be ignored, it is the greatest common language spoken all over the world. In addition, learning English is very important to increase knowledge and language ability. In Indonesia, English has been introduced at kindergarten school, as the development of the world globalization that demand English skill for all people from different nation in the world. Every school has learned English, there is no need to fear but urgent need for wise adaptation and negotiation so that English becomes a powerful tool for gaining tremendous and unlimited knowledge for all kinds of subjects learned at school. Teaching English to young learners is not as easy as imagined, the teachers is not only help the students to get knowledge, competences and morality, but also have to prepare everything’s need. The teachers have to use many strategies in teaching such as applying various strategies, media and game in order to keep students’ interest in learning English. In this research, quantitative research was used that aim to find out teachers’ strategies in teaching English to young learners. The population was all of the teachers at one of kindergartens in Palembang, and the sample was selected through simple random sampling technique. In collecting the data, interview and questionnaire were used, and then the data was analyzed through descriptive method in this research. Based on the result of the research, it was found that there were three teaching and learning strategies used by the teachers in teaching English for young learners

Undergraduate Students’ Perceptions toward Self-Assessments

In the current education context that encourages students to be independent learners, self-assessments have gained more attention as one of the effective ways to support self-learning. However, teachers in Indonesia seem hesitant to use self-assessments because they assume that students cannot understand and perform self-assessments. Therefore, the research is aimed to know about undergraduate students' perceptions toward self-assessments, which can result in knowing students' comprehension of self-assessments. The research was conducted at an English Language Education Program (ELEP) from one of the private universities in Central Java, which involved 42 students from the 2018 academic year who had passed Teaching Skills Courses (Teaching English for Young Learners, Teaching English for Adult Learners, and Teaching English for Specific Purposes). A questionnaire consisting of close-ended and open-ended questions was used to collect the data, and the data were analyzed using statistical analysis and content analysis methods. From the results, it was found that the participants reacted positively toward self-assessments. The participants felt content and helped when doing self-assessments, and they also knew the benefits and the importance of it. Furthermore, it was found that they were able to carry out self-assessments appropriately and showed their preference for self-assessments, such as comparing with criteria or making reflections. Therefore, it can be concluded that the teachers' previous assumptions can be considered inaccurate. The study is hoped to help teachers consider implementing self-assessments more in their courses and help them design suitable self-assessments.

Gamification in a textbook for Brazilian learners of English

Gamification, i.e. the use of game design elements in non-game settings, has attracted an increasing academic interest with numerous research papers having been published on the application and evaluation of gamification in education. The strenuous effort to introduce innovation to textbooks and improve student engagement in the classroom has allowed gamification to gain ground in English language teaching. This article aims to present and discuss the strategies implemented to gamify a textbook for young Brazilian learners of English. In addition, it also intends to contribute to materials writing by describing some game design principles. Pedagogic and design implications stemming from the strategies adopted in the examined textbook include providing a variety of game design elements on varying levels of abstraction (game interface design patters, game design patterns and mechanics, game design principles and heuristics, and game models). Finally, the text shares some reflections on the importance of creating a student-centred learning environment based on meaningful gamification.

Individual Differences in Categorical Judgment of L2 Stops: A Link to Proficiency and Acoustic Cue-Weighting.

This study investigated individual differences in Korean adult learners' categorical perception of L2 English stops with an aim to explore the relationship of gradient categorizations to perceptual sensitivity to acoustic cues and L2 proficiency. Korean young adult L2 learners of English (N = 49) participated in two speech perception tasks (visual analog scaling and forced-choice identification) in which they listened to English voiced and voiceless stops and Korean lax and aspirated stops with Voice Onset Time (VOT) and F0 manipulated to form a continuum. It was found that in both L1 and L2 stop perception, listeners' gradient category judgment was associated with greater reliance on language-specific redundant cues (i.e., F0 in L2 English and VOT in L1 Korean) and that in the perception of L2 stops, categorical listeners who tended to be less sensitive to F0 were the ones with a higher level of L2 English proficiency. The results suggest that the categorical manner of judging L2 stops reflects learners' better knowledge of L2-specific acoustic cue-weightings, based on which less relevant acoustic information is effectively suppressed.

Learning to Teach English in the Multilingual Classroom Utilizing the Framework of Reference for Pluralistic Approaches to Languages and Cultures

Positioned in a specific curriculum context, yet universal in its rationale, this paper illustrates how over the course of one term, student teachers experiment with designing and teaching language learning activities that foster plurilingual competence of young learners of English, while following the Framework of Reference for Pluralistic Approaches to Languages and Cultures. It presents two practical teaching examples (one for primary and one for secondary school level) not only to showcase the great learning and motivational potential of pluralistic tasks employed in L3 English classrooms but also to bear testimony to the creativity and plentiful resources today’s pre-service language teachers themselves bring into their multilingual classrooms if encouraged and opened up to such a practice. Based on the FREPA descriptors, the paper evaluates the developed teaching material to discuss implications for pre- and in-service training of teachers working with young learners of diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

Exploring the potential of graphic novels for L2 pragmatic teaching and learning – focus on young learners

ABSTRACT To date very little research is available that focuses on L2 pragmatics and young learners [cf. Schauer, G.A. 2022a. Teaching pragmatics to young learners: a review study. Applied Pragmatics. DOI:10.1075/ap.00006.sch]. Recent studies have shown that textbooks for young learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) vary considerably regarding their pragmatic content and frequently do not provide varied and consistent input of key speech acts and formulaic expressions. Graphic novels could be a rich source of pragmatic input for L2 learners as they tend to contain a considerable amount of direct speech that could be used in a variety of different ways in the L2 classroom. In this paper, I will examine four graphic novels (2 suitable for beginner level and 2 suitable for intermediate level EFL learners) concerning their potential to provide young L2 learners with pragmatic input of their respective level. The study provides an overview of the number of speech act occurrences of eight speech acts (greetings, leave-takings, requests, responses to requests, expressions of gratitude, responses to expressions of gratitude, apologies, responses to apologies), as well as a more detailed analysis of individual speech act expressions and formulaic routines of six of the eight speech acts.

First generation English language learners in post-Covid rural India: Situation and Aspirations

Young learners from all over the world today are facing indescribable problems to continue with their basic formal learning due to Covid Lockdown and the closure of schools for more than a year. The rural Indian scenario is more than horrible. Government schools are the only source and hope of learning language properly in rural India. Learning English along with any of the vernacular languages properly boosts both the confidence and acceptability in the job sector. Good communication in English is a necessary criterion in a cosmopolitan society. But English is not taught as a language but as a subject in most of the government schools. English language teachers are not properly trained to teach English language as a medium of communication. After completing class 12 exams, only a few students can confidently communicate in English. Sadly, even after passing colleges, the percentage of English speakers and communicators is barely hopeful. And it is not a post-Covid scenario but pre-Covid one. The present paper tries to realize the situations of the first generation Young English learners in rural government schools; the challenges that they face during learning this so called foreign but otherwise the official language of India, the probable solutions to ease out the situations in the post-Covid scenario and how rural India can emerge as a outstanding human resource that can interact in English language fluently and grow using the tools of mobile telecommunication and information technology if the government schools are properly backed and supported digitally after the possible implementation of NEP-2020 and Post-Covid restructuring of education system.

Student’ Perception on Learning Heutagogy in the English for Young Learner

To attract the attention of students as learners, teachers should use an approach that is in accordance with the characteristics of students. Students as generation z or digital natives, have a great interest in the digital world. Therefore, the process of learning and teaching can get out of the traditional zone by using the heutagogy method. This heutagogy method is applied to students who take English for Young learners. The results obtained from 85 students' answers to the questionnaire about students' perceptions of learning using heutagogy showed positive results. Students respond well to heutagogy learning. Heutagogy is expected to be a teaching choice for students later.

Student-Student Interaction in Online Learning During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Case Study

Despite numerous studies investigating various aspect of online learning amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, the empirical findings reporting about student(s)-student(s) interaction in micro-level of language teaching learning process is inadequately documented. Thus, this current study was in attempt to address this void by exploring how the students interact in online learning, identify the perception of the student about student-student interaction in online learning for effectiveness in online learning English teaching process. Framed in a case study, 5 students of a public University in West Nusa Tenggara participating in Teaching English for Young Learner (TEYL) course were purposefully recruited to participate in this study. The data were garnered from a series of semi-structured interviews and a 4-month virtual classroom observation and were analyzed using thematic analysis. The finding elucidates that students enjoyed their online learning interactions and they perceived that their language skills and knowledge increased significantly. The teacher was seen to have pivotal role in facilitating students to have effective interactions by providing various activities, prepared materials, and support. Practically, this study proposes some suggestions for teachers and students on how to establish effective student-student interaction in a language online classroom.

WHY DO THEMES MATTER? THE TEACHERS’ VOICES ABOUT THEMATIC UNITS FOR TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS

Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL) in Indonesia has been an intriguing field that there never been ending studies about it. As a locally-tailored school subject that can be local content or elective subject without curriculum guideline, English for Young Learners (EYL) program is carried out in various ways by the primary schools in Indonesia. This present study aims to discover the essential role of implementing thematic model in TEYL. This paper discusses a phenomenological investigation of five EYL teachers who employ thematic units for teaching the pupils in different cities of Indonesia. Graduated from English education department, all participants have been teaching young learners English more than five years and planning their teaching based on their students’ needs by utilizing themes. Using semi-structured interview questions, the teachers were guided to explain their experience in valuing the themes for teaching English thematically, how to incorporating themes into TEYL, and challenges in implementing EYL thematic units. The data were analyzed thematically to get the emerging themes which correspond to this research topic. The results revealed that teaching English thematically is critical for young learners as their English learning scaffolding to achieve language skills and ability to communicate in particular discourse. All participants agreed that their students enjoyed the EYL thematic activities for gaining new knowledge using English despites challenges faced by the teachers in preparing the lessons.

Student-student interaction in an online learning during the covid-19 pandemic

Despite numerous studies investigating various aspects of online learning amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, the empirical findings reporting on the student(s)-student(s) interaction in the micro-level of the language teaching-learning process is inadequately documented. Thus, this current study was in an attempt to address this void by exploring how the students interact in online learning and identifying the perception of the student about student-student interaction in online learning for effectiveness in the online learning English teaching process. Framed in a case study, 5 students of a public University in West Nusa Tenggara participating in the Teaching English for Young Learner (TEYL) course were purposefully recruited to participate in this study. The data were garnered from a series of semi-structured interviews and a 4-month virtual classroom observation and were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings elucidate that students enjoyed their online learning interactions and they perceived that their language skills and knowledge increased significantly. The teacher was seen to have a pivotal role in facilitating students to have effective interactions by providing various activities, prepared materials, and support. Practically, this study proposes some suggestions for teachers and students on how to establish effective student-student interaction in a language online classroom.

STIMULATING YOUNG LEARNERS; PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY THROUGH 4D FLASHCARDS TO STRENGTHEN THEIR RIGHT HEMISPHERE

Abstract
 This research aimed to explain how stimulating young learners’ Photographic Memory through 4D flashcards can strengthen the students’ right hemisphere. In every step of human development, there area number of experiences happened that can not be just forgotten. In that process, brain characters process a number of activities. Giving the right stimulus at an early stage of age gives a very great impact on the next human development process. There are several methods that we can apply for balancing the right hemisphere capability, one of them by using flashcards as a medium that uses a card game. Flashcard hasseveral types but one of the most interesting cards is the 4D flashcard. 4D Flashcard is a card with pictures that can move and produce a sound. By introducing this Flashcard to children, they can be more excited to learn. 4D flashcard was first introduced by an application in the Smartphone called Octagon 4D Flashcard. Introducing the learning materials through 4D Flashcard can be delivered in a simple way and most important in a pleasant atmosphere both for the children and the teacher or parent. Even though the learning procedure only takes a few minutes but it gives a real benefit for children in stimulating their brain development. This research is a three-circled case study research in which applied to young English Learners in LIA Padang. The techniques were successful to improve their right hemisphere