Characteristics of Young Learners

2. Characteristics of Young Learners

Sandha 2001 proposes characteristics of young learners in their developments. Young learners are those whose ages are between 6-12 years. He classifies young learners’ developments into four groups, namely physical, social, moral and cognitive. a. Physical Development According to Sandha 2001 young learners, whose age ranges from 6-12 years, the body and many physiological and neurological aspects are growing. Physiological and neurological changes affect children’ cognitive development especially the brain. Bodily changes of the young learners also occur. Girls are growing faster than boys. Besides, girls also grow faster in terms of puberty than boys p. 32. b. Social Development Sandha 2001 states that in the social development, young learners of elementary school have specific characteristics. They like playing and having fun with their friends. Most social interaction between young learners occurs when they are playing together p. 32. c. Moral Development Sandha 2001 proposes three stages of young learners’ moral development. The first is called preconventional manner. In this stage, young learners react to rewards and punishment. They should be encouraged by being given rewards. The second stage is called conventional manner. Young learners are capable of understanding the perspective of others. He argued that children should be motivated by maintaining the social interaction among others. The last stage is called postconventional manner. In the last stage, young learners can make judgment based on moral principles p. 33. d. Cognitive Development Young learners, as stated by Sandha 2001, learn by concrete example. They will understand concept of what they are learning if there are concrete example of it. Teachers should provide example in order to make the learning process run effectively. Teachers can provide examples such as pictures of fruits, animals, jobs, etc. p. 30.

3. Principles of Young Learners’ Learning