However, young learners are of course different with the adult ones in which the teacher should pay attention to their characteristics in order to make a better teaching and learning process. Before we discuss about the characteristics, it is better to know the definition of young learners first.
Young learners are childrenfrom the first year formal schooling (5 or 6 years old) to eleven or twelve years old. Young learnershave own special characteristic that different with adult learners. Thedifferences should be known and understood by the teacher to improve theirquality of teaching and learning process. The teacher needs to know how to giveexplanation to them because they don’t like long explanation. Young learnershave their own world, so the parents and the teacher should be understood what theywants. Basically young learners and adult learners have different characteristicsfrom physical, social and psychological side.
Based on the physical side,young learners more active than adult. They do physical activity in many wayslike writing, drawing, coloring, dancing and many more. Because they are veryactive, theteachershould be try to askthem to play games or role play dialogues with others. Young learners understandingthe teacher’sexplanation from hands, eyes, and ears. They will understand if the teacherusing gesture to explain. Young learners at the developing stage, so theyshould be get knowledge about everything as much as possible. Not only theteacher that have to teach them, but also their parents. Beside that they are capableof attaining native of foreign language.
Young learners arehappy playing and working with their friends. They areaware of themselve in relation to others. It means that they likeplaying in the company. The parents and theteachers should be using activities that require group play, such asgames and dramatizations, but respect the child’s desire to work aloneoccasionally. Praise him or her for positive behavior such as taking turns andsharing. The teacher will be betterto give the childrenresponsibilities and tasks that theycan carry out, and then praise efforts and accomplishments.
There are manycharacteristics of young learners based on the psychological side. The first isyoung learners have short concentration span, so teachersshould be give varied activities as handwriting , songs, games etc.They also getbored easily. To make them enjoy thelesson of course is not easy, teachers can use interesting ways. By usinginteresting technique children are expected not under pressure. Besides that, they are imaginative. It’s important to Usevideo or pictures to teach new vocabulary related to concretemeanings.They are lessshy than older learners.And then they enjoyimitating and skilfull in listening accurately and mimicking what they haveheard.They respond well to rewards fromthe teacher.Children get bored easily. Childrenhave no choice to attendschool.The lack of the choice means that class activities need to be fun interestingand exciting as possible by setting up the interestingactivities.
In conclussion, young learners are childrenwho still in the first schooling, so teachingEnglish to young learners at elementary school is differentfrom that toadults. The English teachers toyoung learners in elementaryschool should be know the characteristics of young learners. The characteristics consist of physical side, socialside and psychological side. TheEnglishteachers at elementary schools should haveother skill. The teachers of Englishto younglearners should be able to singsongs, tellstories, and organize worksheet sothat the classroom atmosphere seemsinteresting. According to John and Morrow (1983:60-64) tomake situation of the teaching of English toyounglearnerscommunicative, the English teachersshould comprehend the communicativeprinciplas follows:
b. The whole is morethan the sum of the parts.
d. To learn it, do it.
References:
Morrow, K. 1983.“Principles of Communication Methodology”. In Johnson, K. AndMorrow, K. Communication in theClassroom: Application and Methods for ACommunicative Approach.Longman House, Burnt Mill, Harlow,Essex CM20 2JE,England:Longman Group Limited.