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C. Young Learners
1. The Characteristics of Young Learners
There are some characteristics of young learners that differentiate them from adult. By knowing their characteristics, it is hoped that the teacher would
treat their students well and be able to choose an appropriate technique of teaching in order to reach the objective of teaching-learning process.
The age of learners can be categorized into three ages, which are: a. The age of 5 – 12 is considered Young Learners.
b. The age of 12 – 18 is considered Teenagers. c. Older than 18 is considered to be Adult.
According to Purwaningsih in Daristya, young learners are learners in elementary school aging 9 – 10 years old who are learning English as foreign
language. Similarly, Hoesein in Daristya states that young learners are the students of elementary school who are at grade four up to grade six. From those
statements, it may be concluded that young learners are students who are studying English in elementary school.
Additionally, Brumfit 1995: v proposed some characteristics of young learners as follows:
a. Young learners are only just beginning their schooling. So that teachers have major opportunity to mould their expectations of life in school.
b. As a group, they are potentially more differentiated than secondary or adult learners, for they are closer to their varied home cultures and new to the
conformity increasingly imposed across cultural groupings by the school. c. They tend to be keen and enthusiastic learners, without the inhibitions which
older children sometimes bring to their schooling. d. Their learning can be closely linked with their development of ideas and
concepts, because it is so close to their initial experience of formal schooling. e. They need physical movement and activity as much as stimulation for their
thinking, and the closer together these can be better. From explanation above, it can be concluded that children are mostly
enthusiastic of doing something. Learning with physical movement will be more
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attractive for them. Therefore, it is important to teach them with a technique that involves some interesting activities during teaching-learning process.
2. Teaching English to Young Learners
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