opportunities to produce understandable outputs. Furthermore, during the process, the learners might be able to notice more about features of the target language in
this case, English language. Considering all theories of second language acquisition above and also the special characteristics of the young learners, some
experts formulate some principles in teaching English to young learners, particularly the primary students. Brewster, Ellis, and Girard 2002:26; 39-40
stated some principles to teach English to young learners. Those principles are: 1 Teachers should provide the contextualized language use of L2 and its visual
support to optimize the natural ability of children in grasping meaning like in their L1; 2 Teacher can use repetition to familiarize the sound and meanings of words,
but should be combined with variety and adjusted with the learners‟ needs; 3 Teachers should provide sufficient contextualized input for the learners; 4
Teachers can optimize “the children‟s skills at guessing and predicting” in learning the language; 5 Teachers should encourage the learners to talk in
expressing their intended meaning by using meaningful communicating activities; 6 Teachers should adjust the difficulty level of the materials and activities to
maximize the learners‟ motivation in learning; 7 Teachers should adjust the feedback in order to maintain learners‟ motivation during the learning process;
and 8 Teachers should encourage the learners to listen and act before speaking at t
he beginning phase of learning”. Brewster, Ellis, and Girard, 2002:26; 39-40.
3. Classroom Practice
The term „classroom practice‟ is widely used in many researches about teaching and learning. In each research, this term refers to different definitions
and concepts depend on the emphasis and context of the discussion. Therefore, it PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
is important to clarify the definition and the areas of classroom practice which used in this research in order to lead the study to an appropriate direction and in
line with the topic. Classroom practice is also known as instructional practice which refers to
“everything that actually happen in the classroom” Farrel and Tan, 2007 in Rajasaigran, Omar, Lee, 2014:221. In addition, Cotton 1995 defined
classroom practice as a set of teaching strategies and methods of instruction employed in the classroom in Khader
, 2012:77. The term „classroom practice‟ in this research refers to the instructional practice that consists of teaching strategies
and methods which employed in the classroom. In line with the definition above, classroom practice basically consists of
teaching strategies and methods of instruction. It means that classroom practice can be examined through the strategies and methods employed by the teachers
during the process of teaching and learning in the classroom. Therefore, classroom practice in this research is analysed through the role of teacher, learner,
and material, teaching activity, teaching media, and teachers‟ use of language. Furthermore, the teaching activity will be discussed through lesson structure,
teaching technique, and classroom management. Then, the teaching media that will be explained are flashcards, songs, and games. All the elements of the
classroom practice above are discussed in details to identify the teachers‟ practices about teaching English to young learners in primary school.
a. Role of learners, teachers, and materials
According to Richards and Rodgers 2001:20, approach refers to “the theories about the nature of language and language learning that serves as the
source of practices and principles in language teaching”. The approach selection is primarily bases on the beliefs about language and language learning. However,
Richards and Rodgers remarked that similar approaches chosen by the teachers can lead to different implementations since approach does not determine the
teaching techniques and activities to be employed in classroom 2001:24. Therefore, a design is needed to synchronize the approach and the procedure. A
design is also known as instructional system. In developing the design, there are six factors to be adjusted with the approach which include the objective of
methods, the selection and organization of the language content, types of learning tasks and teaching activities, the roles of learners, the roles of teachers, and the
role of instructional materials Richards and Rodgers, 2001:24. In other words, the roles of learners, teachers, and materials are parts of design which also means
the connector between beliefs and practices. The theories about the three roles are discussed in details in the following paragraphs.
Richards and Rodgers 2001:27 remarked that the design of instructional design depends in some extent on the contribution of the learner in the learning
process. In other words, learners‟ role is defined as the contribution that the learners have in the process of learning. The role of the learners can be seen
through the activities that they should perform, their control on the learning content, grouping system toward them, their degree of influence towards others,
and the view about their functions whether as processor, performer, initiator, or problem solver. All the things above can give clear clues about the roles of the
learners which also describe the approach that underlies that design. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
The teacher‟s role in the instructional system relates closely with the learner‟s role. According to Richards and Rodgers 2001:28, the teacher‟s role
relates with some things as the following: 1 types of function expected from the teacher; 2 degree of control over the learning process; 3 degree of control over
the content of learning; 4 the interactional pattern between the teacher and the learner. The role of teacher is the representation of the objectives of the method
and the learning theory. The success of language learning can be greatly depended on the success of the teachers in accomplishing their role. The descriptions about
the objectives, content, learning activities, the role of learner, and the role of teacher, determine the role of materials within the instructional system Richards
and Rodgers, 2001:29. Furthermore, they also remarked about the role of instructional materials as presented in the following quotation.
“The role of instructional materials within a method or instructional system will reflect decisions concerning the primary goal of
materials, the form of material, the relation of materials to other input, and the assumptions made about teachers and learners.
” Richards and Rodgers, 2001:30
b. Teaching activity
Teaching activity is one of the classroom practices that the teachers do in the classroom. In this research, the teaching activity is observed through three
elements which include lesson structure, teaching technique, and classroom management. All the elements would be discussed respectively as the following.
1 Lesson structure
In prior to the discussion about lesson structure, it is important to gain understanding about the definition of lesson. According to Richards and Lockhart
1996:113, lesson is the event that takes place in certain places a school or PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
classroom, involves two kinds of parties teacher and student, and consists of some kinds of teaching and learning activities. Inferred by the definition of lesson
above, lesson structure can be defined as the ways the lesson are started, proceeded, and ended in order to achieve the learning objectives. As remarked by
Richards and Lockhart 1996:113, the lesson structure is a part of teachers‟ effort in organizing the instructional process to obtain optimal learning in particular
time. Meanwhile, structuring is defined as the organizing of lessons into sequences and the achieving of lesson‟s momentum Richards and Lockhart,
1996:114. Furthermore, they also proposed four dimensions of structuring which includes opening, sequencing, pacing, and closure.
The first dimension is opening which refers to how a lesson begins. This dimension includes the steps used by the teacher to direct the learners‟ attention
toward the objectives of the lesson. According to Kindsvatter, Wilen, and Ishler 1988, “commonly the opening or entry of a lesson only covers the first five
minutes but has a significant impact to how much they learn from the lesson in Richards and Lockhart, 1996:114.
The second dimension is the sequencing that refers to how to connect an activity with the other activities. In other words, this dimension covers how the
sequences of the activities are formatted in a lesson. Later on, Richards and Lockhart 1996:118-119 proposed some principles for formatting the internal
structure of lessons in second language learning. Those principles are presented in the following quotation.
“1 Simple activities must precede the complex ones; 2 Activities for receptive skills come before those for productive skills; 3 The
learning of grammar rule must precede the practice of it; 4 Students should practice using the structure of the language first
