12 characteristics is importantly acknowledged. Mc Kay 2006: 288 states that the
demand of tasks of the test should be appropriate to children’s age and their related abilities and should not extend beyond the children’s capacity.
The term ‘young learners’ usually is referred to catch all terms for students who are not yet adults. The term is often interpreted in different ways. It is used
by some institutions and language providers to refer to any student who has not yet reached their maturity. In this sense, the term ‘young learners’ includes the
whole range of ages and developmental stages of children from infants, young children and older children, through to adolescent teenagers and young people.
Slattery 2001: 4 uses the term ‘young learners’ for children aged 7 to 12 and ‘very young learners’ for those aged under 7.
As the object of the research is students of elementary school, the ‘young learners’ mentioned in this research is the one which refers to children of their
beginning of first year of formal school that is when they are 7 years old up to their last of first year of formal school that is when they are about 11-12 years old.
There are several things to be noticed in developing testingassessment for young learners. They are :
a. Cognitive Growth
In studying the cognitive development of children and adolescents, Piaget 1896-1980 identifies four major stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete
operational and formal operational. He believes that all children pass through these phases to advance to the next level of cognitive development. In each stage,
children show new intellectual abilities and increasingly complex understanding
13 of the world. “Stages cannot be ‘skipped’; intellectual development always
follows this sequence” Berk, 2008: 208. The figure below illustrates the stages of young learners based on Piaget’s theory:
Figure 2. 1. Tiffany Davis’ illustration of Piagets four cognitive development stages cited
from Meghan Hummel, and Kay Sauers 2006
As it is shown in the above figure, the first stage, sensorimotor, begins at
birth and lasts until 18 months-2 years of age. This stage involves “the use of motor activity without the use of symbols”. Knowledge is limited in this stage,
because it is based on physical interactions and experiences. The second stage,
preoperational usually occurs during the period between toddlerhood 18-
24months and early childhood 7 years. During this stage children begin to use language and develop their memory and imagination. In this stage, children
engage in make believe and can understand and express relationships between the past and the future. More complex concepts, such as cause and effect relationships,
have not been learned. Intelligence is egocentric and intuitive, not logical. The
third stage, concrete operational stage typically develops between the ages of 7-
11 years. Intellectual development in this stage is shown by the use of logical and systematic manipulation of symbols, which are related to concrete objects.
Thinking becomes less egocentric with increased awareness of external events, and involves concrete references. The period from adolescence through adulthood
14
is the formal operational stage that typically develops above 12 years.
Adolescents and adults use symbols related to abstract concepts. Adolescents can think about multiple variables in systematic ways, can formulate hypotheses, and
think about abstract relationships and concepts.
A description of children’s cognitive development and language learning is presented by Mc Kay 2006, 6-7. She states that in the early years of schooling
children’s attention span is short. They are easily unfocused and distracted by others. They can easily drop out the task when they find it difficult. From age 5 to
7, children learn continuously direct from experience. They develop their understanding of cause and effect, such as “I can have a pet if I take care of it.”
They start developing the use of their first language to clarify thinking and learning. They understand the meaning of the words ‘tomorrow’ or ‘yesterday’
but they may still be unsure about length of time. Before the age of 8, children do not find it easy to use language to talk about language, such as grammar and
discourse. As children move into older age or upper eelementary grades, they start developing into more objective thought and being able to recognize things. At the
age of 11 to 13, children begin to develop the ability to ‘manipulate’ thoughts and ideas. The use of language has developed to the ability of predicting,
hypothesizing, and classifying. Their understanding of cause and effect also expand. At the age of 12, children’s understanding of time has developed to “the
point where they can talk about recent events, plans for the future and career aspirations” Mc Kay, 2006: 7.
15 The object of the research is the students of elementary school. Therefore,
‘young learners’ mentioned in this research is the ones which refer to children of their end of first year of formal school that is when they are 7-12 years old. In
Piaget’s theory, it is in the stage of between the concrete operational and formal operational stage. The character of this age young learner can be summed up as:
first, ready to use logical and systematic manipulation of symbols which related to concrete objects. Second, begin to think less egocentrically with increasing
awareness of external events. Third, start to involve concrete references, and fourth, they start to be able to think about cause and effect. Another theory is from
Mc Kay’s which defines it as a period in which children begin to develop: first, their ability to ‘manipulate’ thoughts and ideas. Second, develop their use of
language to the ability of predicting, hypothesizing, and classifying. Third, develop their understanding of cause and effect and fourth, their understanding
and ability to talk about recent events, plans for the future and career aspirations.
b. Social and Emotional Growth
