a. Sequencing letters, parts of words, whole words or sentences and sequencing them to make words, phrases, or sentences.
b. Matching or mapping pictures, and words or two halves of a sentence so that they make sense.
c. Speaking using written prompt cards or language in a graphic organizer. d. Completing detailstaking notes in a graphic organizer.
e. Reading and using a graphic organizer to make statements or ask questions. f. Classifying words to make lists or sets of various kinds. Classifying mixed up
detail from 2 stories. g. Checking written statements. The students read sentences or short texts which
have deliberate mistakes in them to do with language, the ideas, the layout, the organization, and so on.
h. Understanding genre or text types. The students learn words for different kinds of text.
In terms of writing, young second language learners in the early stages of learning may still be consolidating their concept of print. In this case, copying
provides opportunities to practice handwriting, learn, and consolidate their understanding of new vocabulary, develop an awareness of and confidence in
English spelling and practice a range of simple sentence patterns they have learned to use Brewster et al., 2002. An important principle noted by Brewster et
al. is that children at all level should not be asked to write something that they cannot say in English. Older learners may move on to practice writing sentences
and very simple short texts. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
c. English in Elementary Schools in Indonesia
The curriculum in Indonesia has changed several times. As stated earlier, the School-Based Curriculum SBC clearly mentions that English is a local
content to be taught in grade IV, V, and VI. This curriculum also already sets the standards of competence basic competences of English for fourth, fifth, and sixth
graders. The most recent curriculum, 2013 Curriculum which is known as K- 2013, however, has caused some changes regarding the position of English at
elementary school level. Unlike SBC, K-2013 does not state clearly what the position of English is. The two curricula are juxtaposedly implemented in
Indonesia and it causes a chaotic atmosphere especially in the teaching of English as a foreign language in Indonesia Tantra, 2015.
Although there was a rumor that English would be removed from the curriculum, many schools keep offering English classes for students, be it as a
local content or an extracurricular subject. Some schools provide English for students in grade I to VI and some only from grade IV to VI. This does not matter
as referring to the Decree of the Minister of Education and Culture No. 060U1993, the curriculum in elementary schools is adjusted to the condition and
the need of the local area, agreed by the head of the Regional Office of the Education and Culture Department. For instance, all elementary schools in a sub-
district in Yogyakarta teach English for students at grade four, five, and six Lestari, 2012, while there are also elementary schools that teach English for
students of all grades. The English teaching at elementary schools has two purposes BNSP,
2006. First, it is to make learners able to communicate orally in a limited way to PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
accompany action language accompanying action in school context. Secondly, it is to make learners aware of the essence and importance of English to increase the
nation‟s competitiveness among the global society. It is also said that the English teaching in elementary school is to prepare students to learn English in the senior
high school level. In other words, from the English subject, elementary school students are expected to have interaction skills in English to support their
classroom and school activities. In terms of the teaching scope, English in elementary schools covers the
skills to communicate orally in a limited way in the school context. This scope includes all the four English skills; listening, speaking, reading, and writing. In
this case, the writing and reading skills are meant to improve the learning of oral communication. English is intended to develop those skills to make students able
to communicate and to produce discourse in English in a certain literacy level BSNP, 2006. In relation thereto, standards of competence and basic
competences of English in elementary schools are set. In generals, the standards of competence of English for elementary school students grade IV, V, and VI
include understanding very simple instructions with actions in a classroom context listening, expressing very simple instructions and information in a classroom
context speaking, understanding very simple English writings in a classroom context reading, and spelling and rewriting very simple English writings in a
classroom context writing.
2. Materials and Materials Development
This part talks about materials and materials development. Some definitions of materials, roles of materials, and kinds of materials are discussed.
Additionally, some criteria of good materials and principles in materials development are highlighted.
a. Materials
Some authors define the term „material‟ in different ways. Tomlinson
1998 defines this term as anything that is utilized to assist in teaching language learners. Although language learning materials are usually associated with
coursebooks by many people, they can actually be in many forms other than coursebooks, e.g. a workbook, a cassette, a CD-Rom, a video, a photocopied
handout, a newspaper, a paragraph written on a whiteboard Tomlinson, 1998. Brown 2001 adds that although teachers can have activities without those aids,
much of the richness of a language instruction is obtained from supporting materials. On the other hand, Graves 2000 finds blurring boundaries between
materials, techniques, and activities. He argues that perhaps twenty years ago people might define materials as what a teacher uses and techniques and activities
as how a teacher uses them. However, he believes that those definitions can no longer be applied. In fact, “part of the blurring of boundaries stems from the
different ways which one can conceptualize content. If you conceptualize content as a skill
– learning to write, for example – then materials will of necessity include activities” Graves, 2000, p.149.
There are many opinions regarding the role of instructional materials in the language classroom. Crawford 2002 states that some experts criticized on the
published materials. They claim that textbooks reduce the teacher‟s role to one of
managing or overseeing preplanned events, textbooks are for poor teachers without imagination, and so on. However, Crawford 2002 adds that instructional
materials also play a role as a structuring tool, meaning that textbook does not necessarily drive the teaching process, but it does provide the structure and
predictability that are necessary to make the event socially tolerable to the participants. Allwright in Crawford 2002 mentions two key positions about the
role of instructional materials as explained below. The first
– the deficiency view – sees the role of textbooks or published materials as being to compensate for teachers‟ deficiencies and ensure that
the syllabus is covered using well thought out exercises. Underlying this view is the assumption that „good‟ teachers always know what materials to
use with a given class and have access to, or can create them. They thus neither want, nor need, published materials. The - difference view, on the
other hand, sees materials as carriers of decisions best made by someone other than the teacher because of differences in expertise. Allwright in
Crawford, 2002, 81 Different kinds of instructional materials have different characteristics.
Tomlinson 1998 mentions three kinds of materials in his book, namely multi- media materials, self-access materials, and supplementary materials. As clarified,
multi-media materials utilize a number of different media such as print, graphics, video, and sound. They are usually interactive and provide learners with an
opportunity to get feedback on the production of their written and spoken language. Self-access materials, on the other hand, are designed to be used
independently by learners be it at home, in a library, or in a self-study center. Lastly, supplementary materials refer to any material that is designed to be used in
addition to the core materials. Equally important to note, Tomlinson 1998 also talks about core materials
for a course, which is course book. He states that “It aims to provide as much as possible in one book and is designed so that it could
serve as the only book which the learners necessarily use during a course” Tomlinson, 1998, p.ix.
b. Materials Development
Knowing some definitions and roles of materials, one can say that materials development belongs to a teacher‟s responsibility. Graves 2000, p.150 states that
for a teacher who designs a course, materials development means “creating, choosing or adapting, and organizing materials and activities so that students can
achieve the objectives that will help them reach the goals of the course”. Where materials development fits in the process of a course design is illustrated in Figure
2.1, a framework of course development processes by Graves 2000. On the other hand, Tomlinson 1998 puts an emphasis on the language input. He argues that
materials development refers to anything writers or teachers or students do to provide language input sources which makes the most of the supplying of
information and or experience of language in ways designed to encourage language learning.
Figure 2.1 A Framework of Course Development Processes Graves, 2000, p.3
Basic principles of materials development are important as a guide for materials developers. Tomlinson 1998 proposes basic principles of second
