risk taking affective process, or a process involving learning with others or social process”. Stevick, 1998 in Graves, 2000:30
Then, related with their roles, the learners can be the sources of knowledge or recipients of it and the decision-
makers or subordinates” Graves, 2000:30. Meanwhile, related with the focus, the intention of learning can be to acquire new
knowledge, to master skills, to develop awareness, or to learn about attitudes “Graves, 2000:30. Teachers‟ beliefs about learning can be derived from their
education or training, their experiences in teaching, or their experiences as learners Freeman in Richards and Lockhart, 1996:34. The teachers and learners
in the classroom may have different beliefs about learning. Those differences are potentially causes problems in the classroom. Therefore, it is important for the
teachers to introduce their beliefs clearly before conducting their classroom practices.
3 Beliefs about teaching
Every teacher as an individual has their own personal views about what is teaching and what kind of teaching is effective. Those personal views then are
known as beliefs about teaching. All that the teachers do in the classroom or teachers‟ classroom practices are primarily the representations of their beliefs
about teaching. According to Richards and Lockhart, teachers‟ beliefs about teaching could be s
een through the teachers‟ role, implemented teaching method, and teaching resources being used in the classroom 1996:36.
Similarly, Graves proposed that beliefs about teaching and teachers‟ role are closely related with beliefs about learning 2000:30. The beliefs about teaching
and teachers‟ role in the teaching process are the result of the teachers‟ beliefs PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
about learning process which should happen in the classroom. Related with the beliefs about teaching, it can be viewed as “a knowledge transmission, a
management of learning, a provision of learning structures, or a collaborative process‟ Graves, 2000:31. Meanwhile, considering the beliefs about their roles,
the teachers can be considered as “decision makers, knowledge transmitters, learning structures‟ providers, collaborators, or resources” Graves, 2000:31.
2. Teaching English to Young Learners in Primary School
Prior to the discussion about young learners in primary school, it is important to define whom this term refers to. Later on, the characteristics of
young learners in primary school by some experts and researchers are presented. Finally, the principles of teaching English to young learners in primary school
which proposed by some experts in TEYL are also presented.
a. Definition of young learners in primary school
Slattery and Willis 2001:4 defined young learners as children who are seven until twelve years old. Similarly, Brewster, Ellis, and Girard 2002:28 also
defined young learners as children who are seven until twelve years old and then classified them into three age groups: 3-6 years old, 7-9 years old, and 10-12 years
old. The classification is based on the characteristics of children as learners which will be discussed in the following part of the research. Furthermore, Phillips
2003:3 defined young learners as “children from the first year of formal schooling five or six years old to eleven or twelve years of age”. In other words,
young learners are school-age children who study in the primary schools. In addition, Pinter 2011:1 defined young learners as children from five to fourteen
years old in any educational levels. Based on some definitions above, it can be PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
inferred that young learners are children who are five until fourteen years old and usually study in the primary school.
However, referring to the context of this research Indonesian context, the school age for primary school is from seven to twelve years old. Thus, the term
„young learners‟ in this research refers to children who are seven years old until twelve years old and study in primary school. Furthermore, in Indonesian context,
the young learners in primary school are divided into two groups, namely lower primary students seven until nine years old and upper primary students ten until
twelve years old. The young learners in this research particularly refer to lower primary students since the lesson being investigated is in lower primary
classroom.
b. Characteristics of young learners in primary school
Based on to the definition of young learners in the previous part, that they are basically young children, thus it is significant to discuss the characteristics of
young children before discussing further about young learners. As widely studied, young children have some characteristics that differentiate them with older
children, adolescents, or adults. Recognizing and acknowledging those characteristics can give much contribution in understanding their way of thinking,
feeling, and acting. Then, as the further result, the teacher can have more understanding about how to teach them or how to deal with them in the classroom
particularly in the English classroom. Among many researchers who are interested in studying young children,
Brewster, Ellis and Girard are the ones who give a quite detailed explanation about the characteristics of young children. They described the characteristics
from the general until the very specific ones. The common characteristics of young children described by Brewster et al. 2002:27-28 are shown in the
following quotation. “1 Have a lot of physical energy and often need to be physically
active; 2 Have a wide range of emotional needs; 3 Are emotionally excitable; 4 Are developing conceptually and are at an
early stage of their schooling; 5 Are still developing literacy in their first language; 6 Learn more slowly and forget things
quickly; 7 Tend to be self-oriented and preoccupied with their own world; 8 Get bored easily; 9 Are excellent mimics; 10 Can
concentrate for a surprisingly long time if they are interested; and 11 Can be easily distracted but also very enthusiastic.
” Brewster, Ellis and Girard, 2002:27-28
In addition to the common characteristics, Brewster et al. 2002:28 also described the physical and emotional characteristic of young children. According
to their description, most of young children are physically active and emotionally unstable. The detailed descriptions of the physical and emotional characteristics of
young children by Brewster et al. are presented in the following quotation. “1 All learners of primary school age have emotional needs, such
as developing self-esteem and confidence in learning; 2 Still operate in a very egocentric way, where they find it difficult to
consider others‟ needs; 3 Tend not to cooperate with others as effectively as older children; 4 Can become easily frustrated if
their needs are not met; 5 Still developing motor skills, such as holding pencil, hopping, skipping, balancing, and the hand-eye
coordination; 6 They are also more physically restless than older children; 7 Require activities which are short, varied and which
occasionally allow them to burn off energy, 8 They may be unstable emotionally and have sudden emotional outbursts, 9 Need
to develop a sense of confidence and self-esteem; 10 Need to have other children to share and play with; 11 Need to be involved in
learning where they are physically active, 12 Need to have routines that provide a sense of security and a warm, encouraging
classroom atmosphere, where they feel they have opportunities to succeed in their learning and recei
ve praise”. Brewster, Ellis and Girard, 2002:28
Furthermore, Brewster et al. 2002:28 also state the characteristics of young children related with their conceptual, educational and linguistic
development. Conceptually, young children are quite ready for rational thinking and also need greater opportunities to explore many things around them.
However, young children are still developing their mastery of complex grammatical expression. The characteristics are described clearly in the following
quotation. “1 Young children are still developing numeracy and literacy in
their first language and up to the age of puberty are still learning to master complex grammatical expression even when speaking or
writing their L1; 2 Capable of realistic and rational thought; 3 The very young need opportunities to choose and decide on
actions; to investigate, explore and be curious; be encouraged to question, to work things out; activities which help them to focus
and pay attention in order to develop memory and concentration skills; activities which reinforce concepts they may be developing
and develop oral skills”. Brewster, Ellis and Girard, 2002:28 However, as explained previously, Brewster, Ellis, and Girard 2002:28
classified young learners into three groups. It means that their characteristics of young children include all of the three groups. Since the young children being
studied in this research are primary school children, some characteristics that are appropriate to primary school age children are formulated in Table 2.1.
Table 2.1 Characteristic of Young Children in Primary School
Adopted from Brewster, Ellis, and Girard, 2002:27-28 Physical
Characteristic Emotional
Characteristic Developmental
Characteristic
Have a
lot of
physical energy Get bored easily
Learning more slowly and forget things easily
Tends to be active and restless
Short attention span Capable of realistic thought
Very enthusiastic about almost everything
Still developing numeracy and literacy in their first
language and still learning to
master complex
grammatical expression Can be easily distracted
Need opportunities to be encouraged to question and
work things out.
Have many emotional needs,
such as
developing self-esteem
and confidence
in learning
Still quite egocentric Need
to have
other children to share and
play Have unstable emotions
Basically, understanding all characteristics above can help the English teachers in teaching the young children more effectively. However, there are some
particular characteristics of the young children which are useful in learning language in this case, learning English language. The characteristics of young
children which can support them as language learners are proposed by many researchers Slattery and Willis, 2001:4; Brewster, Ellis, and Girard, 2002:162,
172; Phillips, 2003:34, 68; Moon, 2000:4-9; and Cameron, 2001:1. Referring to the theories by some researchers above, some characteristics of young children
that can support them in language learning are presented in Table 2.2. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
