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3 Organizing seating arrangement
There are three different seating arrangements explained by Harmer 2007: 41-43. First, students sit in orderly rows. In this seating arrangement, teachers
will be able to see the whole class and children have a clear view of their teachers, but it is important for teachers to keep children involved in the activity. The
second is circles or horseshoes arrangement. It is suitable for small classes. The classroom is a more intimate place and the potential for children to share feelings
and information. The last is separate tables‟ arrangement. The children seat in small groups at individual tables. It is useful for classes which have mixed-ability
children. 4
Organizing learning activities Teachers need to anticipate the effects on children of different kinds of
activities Brewster et al, 2002: 224-225. Classroom activities may occupy children physically or calm and settle them. Based on the class activity, teachers
can decide children to work individually, in pairs, or in a group. Asking children to work in pairs or in a group can be a hard work for teachers because some
children prefer to work alone. To overcome the problem, the pairs or group members are arranged based on children‟s choice.
In order to achieve the teaching and learning goals, teachers should allocate teaching time effectively. According to Brewster et al, 2002: 228, there are
several points which should be considered by teachers after ending a class: a
Plan, so you do not have to stop in the middle of an activity. b
Finish works on the main teaching point a little early rather than late; you can always find an activity to fill up a few minutes.
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c If you want to give out homework, take time to explain it beforehand and
give an example. d
Plan a teacher-led review session at the end of each class. From some definitions above, it can be concluded that there are some points
that should be taken into account by teachers in case they want to conduct conducive and effective teaching and learning activities. Well-organized plans are
the key of a successful classroom management.
d. Theme Based Language Teaching
A theme integrated teaching is affirmed to better suit the way that young children naturally learn Cameron, 2005:181. By focusing on a particular theme,
teaching materials and learning activities can be related to children and anything in the class. Cameron also mentions on his book 2001: 182 that by adopting this
approach, the realistic and motivating uses of the language with meaning and purposes for children are clear.
Because the focus of the approach is on a theme and the contents of the material are arranged around the theme, these make the teaching and learning
activity to be more effective. There are some explanations about the effectiveness of theme based work Scott and Yterberg, 1990: 84-85.
1 By concentrating on a particular theme, the language is less important than
the lesson content. The lesson can be related to children‟s interests and
experiences. 2
Working on a particular theme helps children to associate words, functions, structures, and situations with the theme. Association helps memory, and learning
a language in context clearly helps both understanding and memory.
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3 Theme based teaching accommodates the chances which are not always
covered by textbooks such as going into a subject in detailed, bringing out children‟s reactions and feelings, providing necessary vocabulary for children,
and bringing out children‟s need more into focus. 4
Giving a personal or local touch to materials which may not have been produced in teachers‟ country is easily done when teachers work on particular
themes. The way teachers organize the materials within a topic is very personal and is dependent on the particular class that they are teaching at that particular
time. 5
Theme based teaching supports teachers to rearrange their materials to suit what is happening generally at the time of teaching.
6 By looking at how much the theme arouse students‟ interest, how much
language work, how much time are available, and how much materials teachers have, teachers can decide to lengthen or shorten the amount of teaching and
learning time as they like. 7
The work of theme-based teaching in the classroom naturally includes all the language skills as well as guided and free activities because it emphasizes on
content. Cameron 2001: 185-190 explains that to adopt the approach successfully
teachers should do several things including finding a theme, planning content, and planning language learning tasks.
Finding a theme can come from the children‟s current interests, from topics being studied in other classes, from a story, or from
a local or international festival or event. In planning content, teachers can do
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brainstorming to have one idea and then sparks off others through random and spontaneous links. After that, they write down ideas and connections without
forcing them into linear form. By doing those two activities, teachers can move to identify activities and language goals. To plan the tasks, teachers can organize
tasks into stages, each with language and content goals, and fitted to the timing of lessons.
Based on the explanation above, theme based language teaching is suitable to be applied in teaching English to children especially when English is no longer as
the part of the curriculum. English teachers have the freedom to plan their own teachin
g activities and materials based on the students‟ needs. It gives many benefits for children in learning English. Teachers should do some planning
activities so the teaching and learning activities will be successful and effective.
2. Teaching Listening Skill to Children
a. The Importance of Teaching Listening Skill to Children
Listening skill is very crucial in communication activity. As one of receptive skills, listening focuses on receiving oral information. When children start
learning English, they spend their time more to listen because they need an input language before they are able to produce the language. It means that children
speaking skill are based on their listening skill. They learn to pronounce words and speak through listening to the pronunciation, intonation, and stress of words.
According to Harmer 1998: 97-98, there are three important reasons listening skill should be taught to children. First, the children learn different
spoken varieties and accents of English so they will have an idea about English as
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a world language. The number of variety to be taught should be appropriate with their level. Second, children acquire English subconsciously through listening.
They learn grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, rhythm, intonation, pitch, and stress without any burden. Third, children can get any helps from teachers in
learning listening skill and performing it. They will be good listeners because they listen effectively.
In line with Harmer, Pinter 2006:56 states that after children have been exposed to English through listening, they soon are willing to talk about their
world and participate in interactions with their friends in class and other language speakers. By listening to the teachers or their friends, the children develop their
communicative skill and social skill. They learn to listen to the others and give them feedbacks.
Besides, by developing good listening skills, children‟s reading comprehension skills will be improved because they are able to match the sounds
of spoken words with the similar symbols Linse and Nunan, 2005: 25. Children at the age of eight to ten are able to understand symbol of words. There are
possibilities that they have less difficulty in matching the sound and the written form of words.
Based on the theories above, listening is very essential to be learned by children. It should be stressed before speaking skill because recognition
knowledge is required to process and to decode the oral input, whereas retrieval
