Characteristics of the Elementary School Students
be firm in teacher’s expectations of students, elicit as much oral participation as possible from students.”
The last is Authentic, Meaningful language. Children are focused on what this new language can actually be used for here and now.
There are some principles of teaching language to children in elementary school. Those are based on theory from Scott and Yterberg 1990:5-6. The first
principle is that “words are not enough”. It means that when the teacher teaches, shehe showed movements and involved the senses. The teacher needs to conduct
games and songs that involve the movements and sense. The second is “play with language”. The teacher lets the students talk to themselves, make up rhymes, sing
songs, tell stories, and so on. The third principle is “variety in classroom”. Due to children’s
concentration is short the teacher should create variety in the classroom. It can be varieties of activity, pace, organization, and voice. The fourth principle is
“routines”. It is important for children to know the rules and to be familiar with the situations.
The fourth principle is “cooperation not competition”. It means that the teacher should create an atmosphere of involvement and togetherness. This does
not mean that they have to work in-groups all the time. The last is “assessment”. To know the children’s learning development, the teacher should assess the
children ability in the classroom. Related to the characteristics of children, Brewster and Ellis 2004: 40
also explain about certain principles that make teacher aware of teaching English to children:
a. Children are excellent observer and have natural ability to grasp meaning in their L1 from a variety of sources: body language, intonation, gesture, facial
expression, and the social context as well as language itself. The teacher can help learners draw on skill in the L2 by ensuring language use is contextualized
and has visual support wherever possible. b. Children learning their L1 often repeat words and phrases to themselves in
order to become completely comfortable with their sounds and meaning. Once a child feels he has learned the word, repetition stops. Incorporating repetition,
especially with variety, is important but teachers must be guided by the children’s reaction to know when enough is enough.
c. In acquiring their L1 children have spent years honing their puzzling out, hypothesis-testing skills. Brewster and Elllis 2004 add that the teacher simply
needs to ensure that there is enough contextualized, motivating language ‘data’ for them to work with.
d. Children are skilled at guessing and predicting and teachers can usefully draw on the skills and the other thought processed outlined as part of ‘learning to
learn’. e. Children like to talk, even if they do not know much language, often with only
two or three words plus key intonation patterns. As Brewster and Ellis advised, the teacher should try to provide opportunities for meaningful communication
activities wherever it is possible. f.
Teacher needs to create a balance in their classrooms between providing support and providing a challenge.
g. When learning their L1 children seem to be good risk takers and experimenters, their willingness to ‘have a go’ should be encouraged and should not be
dampened too much by constant correction or an overly strict atmosphere.