TEACHING ENGLISH TO YOUNG LEARNERS
Sri Supiah Cahyati, M.Pd.
Sekolah Tinggi Keguruan & Ilmu Kependidikan
(STKIP Siliwangi) Bandung
Characteristics of Young Language Learners:
• Children are at pre-school/in the first couple of years of
• Generally they have a holistic approach to language, which
means that they understand meaningful messages but
cannot analyze language yet.
• They have lower levels of awareness about themselves as
language learners as well as about process of learning.
• They have limited reading & writing skills even in their
• Generally, they are more concerned about themselves than
• They have a limited knowledge about the world.
• They enjoy fantasy, imagination, & movement.
• These children are well established at school &
comfortable with school routines.
They show a growing interest in analytical approaches,
which means that they begin to take an interest in
language as an abstract system.
They show a growing & their learning.
They have well developed skills as readers & writers.
They have a growing awareness of others & their
They have a growing awareness about the world around
They begin to show interest in real life issues.
Skills should be taught first in TEYL:
As in mother tongue learning, English should start
with an emphasis on listening & then speaking
because children often cannot read & write at all
listening should precede speaking
(communicative skills should be the aim of
good language classroom).
reading and then writing will emerge when
the language learner is ready and should not
comprehension of language should
3. Jerome Bruner called is as Scaffolding: helping
children to learn by offering systematic support.
8. Krashen & Terrell: the Input Hipothesis
Spoken fluency in second language is not taught
directly. Rather the ability to speak fluently and easily
in a second language emerges by itself, after a
sufficient amount of competence has been acquired
We acquire (not learn) language by understanding
input that is a little beyond our current level of
(acquired) competence. Listening comprehension and
reading are the primary importance in the language
program, and the ability to speak (or write) fluently in
a second language will come on its own with time.
Speaking ability "emerges" after the acquirer has built
up competence through comprehending input.
The major points on the Input Hypothesis are:
it relates to acquisition, not to learning;
we acquire by understanding language a bit
beyond our current level of
competence. This is
done with the help of context;
spoken fluency emerges gradually and is not
when caretakers talk to acquirers so that the
acquirers understand the message, input
automatically contains "i+1", the grammatical
structures the acquirer is "ready" to acquire.
The implications for classroom practice:
- whatever helps comprehension is important;
- vocabulary is important. With more vocabulary,
there will be more comprehension, and there will be
- in giving input, in talking to students, the teacher
needs to be concerned primarily with whether the
students understand the message.
A natural approach is required in language
teaching. Its main tenets are as follows:
communicative skills should be the aim of the
good language classroom; comprehension of
language should precede production
(listening should precede speaking); speaking
and then writing will emerge when the language
learner is ready and should not
9. John Dewey:
Education should be child centered.
Education must be both active & interactive.
Education must involve the social world of the child
and the community.
• Plan purposeful curriculum.
• Make sense of the world for children.
• ‘It’s fun’ is not enough.
10. Maria Montessori:
Children learn language and other significant life
skills, without conscious effort, from the
environments where they spend their time.
Children learn best through sensory experiences, by
doing & through repetition.
Children are capable of great concentration when
they are surrounded by many interesting things to do
& given the time and freedom to do them.
Children need more physical activity.
11. Erik Erikson:
How children develop the foundation for emotional &
social development & mental health.
Consider individual differences.
Focus curriculum on real things.
Stages of Psychosocial Development (“Eight Ages
of Man”); theory of emotional development,
which covers the life spans of human beings.
A Lesson Plan of TEYL:
Challenging/taking a risk
A child-centered lesson
- We can plan a lesson carefully
- We can use time effectively
- We can teach clearly and logically
- The children behave well and do not
chat so much.
The children enjoy themselves
They learn naturally and actively
They are spontaneous
Their eyes shine brightly
What can go wrong?
We do not give the children space to
They do what we want them to do
They do not try for themselves
They do not experiment enough
They are unsuccessful
They do not make links
Planning a Lesson
From familiar to unfamiliar
Varying the focus
Varying the style
Moving on to the next target
Introducing new patterns
Creating a need
pairs, and groups
Good morning, students / Good afternoon,
Who is absent today? / Who isn’t here today? /
What’s the matter with ... today? / Why were you
absent last ...?
a. Waiting to start:
I’m waiting for you tobe quiet / We won’t start
until everyone is quiet / Stop talking & be quiet.
b. Time to begin:
Let’ s begin our lesson now / Is everybody ready
to start? / Open your book at page...
Where have you been? / Did you oversleep?
d. Check Ss’ understanding :
Is there any questions? / Do you understand? /
Do you get it? / Are you with me?
a. Time to stop:
It’s almost time to stop / We’ll have to stop here /
That’s all for today.
b. Next time:
We’ll do the rest of this chapter next time / We’ll
continue this chapter next…
Do exercise … on page … for your homework.
Goodbye, students. See you on… / See you again
next … / Have a good holiday.
TEYL in Indonesia Context
Requirements for effective TEYL:
a. English should be used all the time to ensure that
children have relatively much exposure to English.
b. Print-rich environment in English should be created
and around the classroom.
c. Teachers of EYL should use activity-based teachinglearning techniques such as TPR, games, & projects.
d. The teachers should use various techniques for short
periods of time to maintain the interest level of the
children in engaging the English lessons.
TEYL in Indonesia Context
d. The teachers should focus on functional English for
vocabulary development & for immediate
fulfillment of communicative needs of the learners.
e. The teachers should reiterate often to ensure the
acquisition of English expressions/vocabulary items.
f. The teachers should provide useful, acquisitionpromoting routines.
g. The teachers should have a good command of
English & have an ability to act as a role model
to the learners they teach.
Keep on trying
Keep up the good work
That kinds of work makes me happy
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Paul, David. 2003. Teaching English to Children in Asia. Hongkong;
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Pinter, Annamaria. 2006. Teaching Young Language Learners. Oxford:
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Slattery, Mary & Willis, Jane. English for Primary Teachers: A
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