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requires learners to process syntactically; they have to pay some attention to the form of language Swain, 1995 cited in Ellis, 2008:261.
Production has six roles: 1 It serves to generate better input through the feedback that learner‟s efforts at production elicit, 2 It forces syntactic processing
i.e. it obliges learners to pay attention to grammar, 3 It allows learners to test out hypotheses about the target language grammar, 4 It helps to automotive
existing L2 knowledge, 5 It provides opportunities for learners to develop discourse skills, for example by producing „long turns‟, 6 It is important for
helping learners to develop a „personal voice‟ by steering conversations onto topics they are interested in contributing to.
Swain claimed that the basic instructional pattern in class was one in which teachers talked a great deal and students got to say very little. It means that
teacher needs to provide much exposure through their talk. This exposure will equip the students for their language production. On her observations, Swain
formulated an alternative hypothesis of „comprehensible output‟ hypothesis. She suggests that the opportunities to produce language were important for acquisition
Swain, 1995 cited in Nunan, 2001:90. She added, „Being pushed to produce output obliges learners to test hypotheses and refine their developing knowledge
of the language system‟. Learners not only need to practice the language, but also to test their hypothesis through practicing whether the language they used is
appropriate in the certain context. It has also being claimed that being pushed to produce output obliges
learners to cope with their lack of language knowledge by struggling to make themselves understood, by speaking slowly for example, or repeating or clarifying
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their ideas through rephrasing Hedge, 2000:13. It can maximize the opportunity of students to talk. „Getting students to speak – to use the language they are
learning – is a vital part of a teacher„s job‟ Harmer, 2000:4. Thus the quality of
the input to the learner was seen as a central variable in second language outcome. Swain argued that pushing learners to produce more comprehensible output
may have a long-term effect. One way in which output may promote acquisition is by priming learners to attend to linguistic features in the input.
3. Elementary School Students
The definitions and the characteristics of elementary school students will be provided in this section.
a. Definition of Elementary School Students
Elementary school in Indonesia is called Sekolah Dasar SD. It is the basic of formal education under the responsibility of the Ministery of Education and
Culture Kementerian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan or Kemendikbud and the Ministry of Religious Affairs Kementerian Agama or Kemenag. Students who
are studying in this level should spend 6 years started from grade 1 up to 6 to graduate from this stage. The gradutates students from elementary schools level
can continue their education to junior high school or Sekolah Menengah Pertama SMP. Generally, elementary school students are the children who are age about
7 – 12 years old who studying in between grade 1 up to 6 in elementary level.
The education system in Indonesia required all citizens to undertake the compulsary education for nine years. It consists of 6 years in the elementary level
and three years in junior high school or secondary level. Schools in Indonesia are organized either by the government negeri or private sectors swasta. Thus,
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some of the private schools adopted “national plus curriculum” which means that
they intend to go beyond the minimum government requirements, especially with the use of English as medium of instruction or having and international-based
curriculum instead of the national one.
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. The teachers who teach in elementary level are expected to help students to
develop their potentials not only in religious and spiritual aspects but also in actualizing their learning potential.
b. Characteristics of Elementary School Students
In general, children who are still in the elementary school level ages about 7-11 years old. They used to be called as young learners. Generally, they are
natural learners, they are curious about the world around them. They learn by doing; they learn most efficiently when all of their senses are involved. They are
active but have short attention spans Costa and Kallick, 2000; Shin, 2006. Children in age 7-11 years develop their ability to apply logical thought to
concrete problem. In this stage, they are able to improve their ability to think more logically. They are already very good at interpreting meaning without necessarily
understanding the individual words. They are already having great skills in using limited language creatively. And they also love talking. They learn more through
holistic context, not part by part Costa and Kallick, 2000; Shin, 2006. Therefore, the context in which children carry out activities in the primary classroom needs
to be natural, real and understandable Paul, 2003. Teachers need to encourage them to use language as a vehicle to do things which have a real purpose.
Children bring to language learning their curiosity and eagerness to make sense of the world Cameron, 2001. A child is an active learner. Young child is
