Institutional Repository | Satya Wacana Christian University: Teachers’ Challenges in Teaching English to Young Learners in Rural Public Primary Schools in Salatiga

ABSTRACT
It is believed that rural education has a legacy unique challenge as compared
with that of their urban and suburban counterparts. The challenges are also found in
the place and the implementation of English program in primary level. Therefore, the
aim of this study is to investigate the challenges encountered by English teachers in
teaching English for young learners in rural public primary schools in Salatiga,
Central Java. To answer the question, semi-structured interview is used with eight
participants from eight primary schools in four sub-districts (Argomulyo, Tingkir,
Sidorejo, and Sidomukti) in Salatiga. It launches by briefly discussing the place of
English in national curriculum for primary school in one hand and the execution of
English program in rural schools on the other hand. Throughout the research, the
researcher obtained three challenges and those were: (i) the status of English as a local
content subject creates conditions which is less supportive for the teachers to teach
English, (ii) most of the teachers are coming from non-English educational
background which influence their competencies in teaching English, (iii) socioeconomic status from parents plays a big role in students’ motivation and achievement
in learning English.

Key words: Teaching English for Young Learner, rural schools, teachers’ challenges,
curriculum, teachers’ competencies, parents’ socio-economic status.