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CHAPTER II THEORETICAL REVIEW AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
A. Theoretical Review
1. Definition and characteristics of Young Learners
Young learners are the learners who learn in early ages commonly between five and ten or eleven years old Scott and Ytreberg, 2000. According to
Cameron 2001, young learners are elementary school learners between five and twelve years old.
The age of students is a factor that influences the learning process. Young learners have specific needs, competences, and cognitive skills. Harmer 2001:
38 explains that young children learn differently in the following ways: a.
Young children respond to meaning even if they do not understand individual words.
b. Young children often learn indirectly rather than directly. They take in
information from all sides and they learn from everything around them. Means they do not only focus on one topic they are being taught.
c. Young children’s understanding also comes from what they hear and see,
not only from the explanation. d.
Young children generally enthusiast in learning and they curious about the world around them.
e. Young children need individual attention and approval from the teacher.
f. Young children keen to talk about themselves and they give a good
respond in learning using the main topic of themselves and their own live.
g. Young children have a limited attention span. They often get bored and
lose their interest easily. There are some reasons why young learners have different way of learning.
According to Brewster et al. 2002: 27, those differences might be because: a.
Children have a lot physical energy and they often need to be physically active.
b. Children have a wide range of the emotional needs.
c. Children are emotionally excitable.
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d. Children are developing conceptually and they are also at an early stage
of their schooling. e.
Children are still developing literacy in their first language. f.
Children learn more slowly and they forget things quickly. g.
Children tend to be self-oriented and they preoccupied with they own world.
h. Children easily get bored.
i. Children are excellent mimics.
j. Children can concentrate for a surprisingly long time if they are
interested. k.
Children can be easily distracted but also very enthusiastic. Young learners have not only the different learning ways but also the
characteristics which can support the teachers to teach them easily. Some experts Halliwel, 1992; and Scott and Ytberg, 1990 mention the characteristics of young
learners. According to Halliwel 1992, there are some characteristics of children. First, children are already very good in interpreting meaning without necessarily
understanding the individual word. Second, children already have great skill in using limited language creativity. Third, children frequently learn indirectly rather
than directly. Fourth, children take good pleasure in finding and creating fun in what they do. Last, children words are full of imagination and fantasy, and it is
more than simply a matter of enjoyment. Scott and Ytreberg 1990 state the general characteristics of students in
elementary school. Firstly, they are competence users of mother tongue. Secondly, they cannot tell the difference between the fact and the fiction. Thirdly, they love
to play and learn best when they enjoy themselves, but they also take themselves seriously and like to think what they are doing is really worked. Fourthly, they are
enthusiastic and positive. Fifthly, they rely on the spoken word as well as the physical world to convey and understanding meaning. Next, they are able to work
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