68 The object of the testing instrument or the test takers are Indonesian Young
learner, in this case, is the English learners in the elementary schools starting from grade 4 up to grade 6. Using the theories as the underlying philosophy, the testing
instrument has a goal to guide the Indonesian young English learners to be individuals who are productive, confident and accountable.
It is mentioned in the previous chapter that effective testing instrument Mc Kay , 2007: 20 should be designed to ensure valid and fair information on the
students’ abilities and progress. A testing is valid if it measures what it is supposed to measure and it is fair when it provides meaningful and appropriate
information about students’ language use ability. The cost of making wrong decision as the result of wrong testing can be low stakes or high stakes in which
the former ones are relatively minor and relatively easy to correct, on the other hand, the last ones are likely to affect students’ lives and are difficult to
correct”Mc Kay, 2007: 20 . But most of wrong decisions are more high stakes than we think since many decisions that teachers and schools make have a
cumulative effect on students’ future. Therefore, the development of the testing instrument is done by considering the characteristics of the test takers—
Indonesian elementary school English learners.
b. The Characteristics of Elementary School English Learners.
To get a picture of the characteristics of Indonesian elementary school English learners, the research did an analysis on the characteristics of the young
English learners in general. In the previous chapters, the characteristics of English young learners have
generally explored in 5 aspects: cognitive, physical, emotional and social, literacy,
69 and self esteem or vulnerability. The concluded characteristics will be limited to
which of age 10 up to 12 year development stage. The rational is because: the position of English in Indonesia is as foreign language. This means that the
English environment of the teaching learning is not available in daily life. Thus, the introduction to English needs complex skills of the children. As it is
mentioned previously, the age range of young learners, generally, is from birth to 11 or 12 years old. Ten to twelve years is the age in which children have
developed their sense of independence and logical thinking for broader subjects outside themselves.
The characteristics of young learners in general will be concluded as the aspects to be considered in developing the testing instrument are presented in 5
aspects. First, the cognitive aspect, as it is presented below:
10-11 years
Early use of logical and systematic manipulation of symbols related to
concrete objects Less
egocentric with
increased awareness of external events and
involves concrete references Early understanding of cause and
effect Difficult to use grammar and discourse
12 years
Use symbols related to abstract concepts
Able to manipulate thoughts and ideas
The use of language to the ability of predicting, hypothesizing and
classifying Understanding of cause and effect
Piaget’s Children’s COGNITIVE Aspect
70
Figure 2.17. Diagram of formulating cognitive aspects of young learners age 10-12
The above diagram shows that the cognitive development of children of age 10-11 is separated from those of age 12. According to Piaget, the former one is
included in the advanced concrete operational stage childhood, while the last one is already in the early formal operational stage adolescence. Therefore, the
cognitive aspects to be considered is a compromised formulation of these two development stages :
they are able to use simple logical systematic text paragraph of concrete subject or topic, predict, hypothesize and classify and use
simple grammar.
Second, the physical aspects of the children of this age range are presented
below:
10-11 years
Active, tiring easily and recovers quickly
Love physical activities such as pointing, circling or coloring
pictures
12 years
Able to respond without pictures
Mc Kay’s Children’s PHYSICAL Aspect
Concluded Characteristics:
Ability to use simple logical systematic text paragraph of concrete subject or topic.
Ability to predict, hypothesize and classify. Ability to use simple grammar
71
Figure 2.18. Diagram of formulating physical aspects of young learners age 10-12
The concluded characteristics of physical aspects to be considered as it is presented in the above diagram are that they like doing circling, pointing and
coloring pictures. They like colored pictures most but when the gets 12 years, they start to get along with texts but they still have short span of attention.
Third, the emotional and social aspects of the children of this age range are
presented below:
Figure 2.19. Diagram of formulating emotional and social aspects of young learners age 10-12 Concluded Characteristics:
Ability to circling, pointing, and coloring pictures. Short span of attention
Ready for texts
Concluded Characteristics:
Sociable, sensitive and unstable
Relatively calm
Early independent
10-11 years
Early development of feelings of independence
12 years
Sociable
Relatively calm, short-lived
moments of anger, sadness or depression
Sensitive and unstable
emotional condition
Mc Kay’s Children’s EMOTIONAL and SOCIAL aspect
72 The concluded characteristics of emotional and social aspects to be
considered as it is presented in the above diagram are that they are sociable, sensitive and unstable but they are relatively calm and start to be independent.
Fourth, the literacy aspects of the children of this age range to be
considered in developing the testing instrument is presented in the diagram below:
Figure 2.20. Diagram of formulating literacy aspect of young learners age 10-12 Concluded Characteristics:
Ability to grab meanings of words and
sentences Ability to understand
fiction and non- fiction
Early ability to express idea and feeling into words and sentences
10-11 years
Can expand thinking more readily through writing and
reading
Continue to increase reading vocabulary
Continue to self-correct errors
Read silently with increased speed and comprehension
12 years
Continue to expand thinking readily through writing and
reading
Continue to increase silent reading rate and time spent
at reading
Continue to increase ability adjust rate and reading to
suit purpose skim, scan, select, study
Continue to broaden their interests in a variety of
fiction and non-fiction
Begin to understand that people may interpret the
same material in different ways
Mc Kay’s Children’s LITERACY
73 The concluded characteristics of literacy aspects to be considered as it is
presented in the above diagram are that they are able to grab meanings of words and sentences, understand fiction and non-fiction, express idea and feeling into
words and sentences.
Fifth, the aspect of self-esteem or vulnerability of children of this age
range which has to be considered in developing the testing instrument is presented in the diagram below:
Figure 2.21. Diagram of formulating literacy aspect of young learners age 10-12
The concluded characteristics of literacy aspects of the children of this age range to be considered as it is presented in the above diagram are that they are
sensitive, fragile and dynamic. Therefore, the characteristics of young learners of age 10 to 12 can be summarized as follows:
Concluded Characteristics:
Sensitive, fragile, and dynamic.
10-12 years
Sensitivity to praise, criticism and approval Self-esteem is strongest influenced by experiences at school
Enthusiastic to play, fantasy and fun
Mc Kay’s children’s SELF-ESTTEEM VULNERABILITY
74
Young learners of age 10-12
Cognitive:
Ability to use simple logical systematic text paragraph of concrete
subject or topic. Ability to predict, hypothesize and
classify. Ability to use simple grammar
Physical:
Ability to circling, pointing, and coloring pictures. Short span of attention
Ready for texts
Social-Emotional:
Sociable, sensitive and unstable Relatively calm
Early independent
Literacy:
Ability to grab meanings of words and
sentences Ability to understand fiction and non- fiction
Early ability to express idea and feeling into words and sentences
Vulnerability:
Sensitive, fragile, and dynamic.
Figure 2.22. The summary of characteristics of young learners of age 10-12
75
c. English Education of Elementary Schools in Indonesia
