xix 1.
Young learners ar e just beginning t heir schooling, so t hat t eachers have a major opport unit y t o mold t heir expect at ions of life in school.
2. As a group, t hey are pot ent ially mor e diff er ent iat ed t han secondar y or adult
learners, for t hey ar e closer t o t heir varied hom e cult ures, and new t o t h e conformit y increasingly imposed across cult ural gr oupings by t he school.
3. They t end t o be keen and ent husiast ic learners, w it hout t he inhibit ions,
w hich older children somet im es bring t o t heir schooling. 4.
Their learning can be closely linked w it h t heir developm ent of ideas and concept s, because it is so close t o t heir init ial experience of for mal
schooling. 5.
They need physical movement and act ivit y as much as st imulat ion for t heir t hinking and t he closer t oget her t hese can be bet t er.
Brumfit and Ray Tongue, 1995: V Based on t he explanat ion above, it can be described t hat young l earners ar e
children in t he early st ages of t heir schooling. Children have dif f erent charact erist ics from adult . Young learners w ant t o know ever yt hing in t heir surroundings.
C. English Skills
English skills include of f our skills, namely list ening, reading, speaking and w rit ing. According t o Roger Gow er , Diane Phillips and St eve Walt er, English skills are
divided int o t w o main groups, namely r ecept ive skills list ening and r eading and product ive skills speaking and w riting. The recept i ve skills are concerned w it h t he
underst anding of somet hing w rit t en and spoken. While t he product i ve skills of speaking
xx or w rit ing are focus on get t ing t hings right accuracy, or on get t ing t he m eaning acr oss
fluent comm unicat ion or f luency, Roger Gow er, Diane Phillips and St eve Walt er, 1995: V-VI.
M eanw hile, Harmer explains t hat speaking and w rit ing involve language product ion and are t her efor e oft en ref err ed t o as product ive skills, w hile list ening and
reading involve r eceiving m essages and are t her efor e oft en r eferr ed t o as r ecept ive skills Harmer, 1998:16.
M oreover, Brumfit and Ray Tongue say t hat list ening and reading as recept ive or modes of oracy and speaking and w rit ing as product ive or lit eracy Brumf it and Ray
Tongue, 1995:115-116. Based on t he explanat ion above, it can be seen t hat English skills can be divided
int o t w o groups, namely product ive skills writ ing and speaking and recept i ve skills list ening and reading.
D. Teaching English Skills to Young Learner
Teaching English skills t o young learners is very import ant . W e not only t each vocabular y and grammar but also equipping st udent s w it h t he language skills. As st at ed
by John Haycraft “ Learning a language usually has pr act ical aim t o enable st udent s t o com municat ive in t hat language. Therefor e, ever y minut e of every class be direct ed t o
equipping st udent s w it h t he language skills t hey r eally need” John Haycraf t , 1997:18. St udent s need m eaningful, int eract ive pract ice in t he skills in order t o learn t o use t he
language.
xxi Similarly, Harmer says t hat t eaching language skills would help t he st udent s t o
approach t he foreign language w it h mor e confidence and a gr eat er expect at ion of success Harmer, 1998:25. Theref ore, it is very impor t ant t hat t he t eacher should help
t he st udent s in learning language skills. It can help t he st udent s t o be success in learning a foreign language.
Teaching of skills at low er level or beginner w ill be general depend on st udent s need or t he syllabus. Based on t he M inist er of Nat ional Educat ion policy, number 23,
2006 as cit ed by Kasihani Suyant o, St andard Compet ence of Educat ion Unit for English in Elem ent ary School included:
1.
List ening St udent s underst and about inst r uct ion, informat ion, and simple st ory.
2.
Speaking St udent s can r eveal t he meaning of simple int erpersonal and t ransact ional
discourse inst ruct ion and informat ion orally.
3.
Reading St udent s r ead loudly and underst and t he m eaning of inst ruct ion, inf ormat ion,
short funct ional t ext , and descript ive t ext .
4.
Writ ing
xxii St udent s can w rit e English w ords, sent ences, and simple funct ional t ext
correct ly including spelling and punct uat ion. Kasihani Suyant o, 2007:5
E. Games
