Background of the Study
certain points of language acquisition that they should already have reached. They have their own capabilities, needs and interests. Thus, the materials for teaching
language to children should be different from materials for teaching language to adults.
Before conducting the study, the researcher has observed the English teaching-learning activities in 1
st
grade L1 children of Fun English Club 2013. Fun English Club FEC is an English program for children which is held as the
continuance and as the regular class of EFH. As the continuance of EFH, FEC has the same goal with EFH that is focusing on the development of children
’s communication in English. FEC is held to introduce and to enrich children with
English knowledge, to motivate children in learning English and to build children’s character through fun English learning activities. The club is held for
elementary school ’s students from first until fifth grade on their second semester.
When the researcher conducted the study in FEC 2013, it was held in two months 24x meetings, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday; and started from
15.30 until 17.00 p.m. There were 3 classes in this club, i.e. L1 1
st
– 2
nd
grade, L3 3
rd
– 4
th
grade and L5 4
th
– 5
th
grade with total 24 children. The teaching-learning activities were designed based on theme-based syllabus designed by academic
sections and were fitted with children’s levels and interests. Most of the teaching-
learning processes were held in the classroom by using many kinds of supporting media such as handout, LCD, laptop, speakers and media kits to increase
children’s interest in learning. There were also some outdoor activities such as campus grand tour, barbecue and field trip. In its teaching-learning activities, FEC
used some kinds of materials, i.e. songs, games, stories, MC-ing and speeches which have been adjust
ed with children’s level.
The children in L1 class were active and enthusiastic learners. Most of them had good response to the activities given by the teachers. They used many
kinds of media given by teachers to learn the lesson. There were many activities in its teaching-learning process during the course. In addition, the method applied in
this program was mostly Total Physical Response TPR methods and pronunciation through playing games, singing songs and storytelling.
It was different from what they have got in their school. There were so many activities which demand the students to learn English structures, to read
texts and even to write words in English, especially the words stated in their workbooks. The first grade children are considered as very young learners that are
still learning how to say the words and how to grab the meaning of the words they hear or use. They still like playing, so it will be hard for the children if they are
given too many written activities while they are just introduced the words in English. Therefore, there should be more oral activities in the teaching materials
for the young language learners. Through the observation, the researcher is able to find some inputs related
to the materials being used to be fitted to the problem in the same area in EFH that is analyzed in this study. In regard to the situations stated previously, the
researcher tries to develop theme-based materials for L1 children of English for
Holidays. Hopefully it can be used as the standard syllabus which suits to the learners
’ needs, lacks and wants.