The Earlier, the Better. Global and Indonesian Views on TEYL (Teaching English to Young Learners)

Authors

  • Muhammad Amin University of Mataram
  • Thalia Qaulan Tsaqiila University of Mataram
  • Ahmad Zamzam University of Mataram
  • Hajriana Arfah University of Mataram

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29408/veles.v7i1.12403

Keywords:

TEYL, global and Indonesian perspectives

Abstract

Teaching English to young learners (TEYL) has been attracting the attention of governments (as policymakers), TEYL practitioners, and students' parents alike. For some, among various issues surrounding TEYL, issues regarding the role of students' first language (L1), language skills to focus on, and when to start to teach English are among the critical issues in TEYL. This qualitative study assesses how academics have measured and conceived teaching English to young learners across 17 empirical studies from global and Indonesian contexts. Its specific goal is to determine what can be drawn from these investigations and what critical issues remain. Results indicate that English to young learners from the global context is divided into two opposing parties (i.e., proponents and opponents of early start). Meanwhile, Indonesian EYL practitioners (i.e., researchers, teachers, schools) and stakeholders (i.e., parents) mostly favor the early start. Yet, current research findings serve to deepen and broaden theoretical understandings of The TEYL and their impact in the particular situation of teaching English to young learners. Future research and practical implications are discussed.

References

Arnold, W & Rixon, S. (2008). Materials for Teaching English to Young. In B. Tomlinson (Ed.), English language learning materials: A critical review, 39-58. ISBN: 9780826493507

British Council. (2013). The English Effect: The impact of English, what it’s worth to the UK and why it matters to the world. https://www.britishcouncil.org/research-policy-insight/policy-reports/the-english-effect

Copland, F, & Garton, S. (2015). Teaching English to Young Learners in Europe: Teachers Attitudes and Perspectives. In A. Linn, N. Bermel & G. Ferguson (Eds.), Attitudes towards English in Europe (pp.321-343). Berlin: de Gruyter Mouton. e-ISBN (PDF) 978-1-61451-551-7

Copland F., Garton, S. & Burns, A.. (2014). Challenges in teaching English to young learners: Global perspectives and local realities. Tesol quarterly, 48(4), 738-762. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.148

Copland, F & Ni, M. (2019). Languages in the young learner classroom. In S. Garton and F. Copland (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of teaching English to young learners (pp. 138-153). New York: Routledge. e-ISBN: 978-1-315-62367-2

Damar, E.A., Gursoy, E. & Korkmaz, S.C.. (2013). Teaching English to Young Learners: Through the Eyes of EFL Teacher Trainers. Uludag: Uludag University. Retrieved from http://www.uludag.edu.tr/dosyalar/egitim/akademik_kadro/%C4%B0ng ilizce/ozptxvey.pdf.

Diniyah, F. (2017). Persepsi orang tua dan guru mengenai bahasa inggris pada anak usia dini di TK Aba Karangmalang Yogyakarta. Tarbiyah: Jurnal Ilmiah Kependidikan, 6(2). https://jurnal.uin-antasari.ac.id/index.php/jtjik/article/view/1594/1433

Fata I. A., Nasir, C. & Alifah, N. (2022). Attitudes and Support Strategies of Parents to Promote English-Indonesian Bilingualism in Children. JEELS (Journal of English Education and Linguistics Studies), 9(2), 354-380. DOI: https://doi.org/10.30762/jeels.v9i2.532

Garton, S. & Copland, F. (2019). The Routledge Handbook of Teaching English to Young Learners. New York: Routledge. . e-ISBN: 978-1-315-62367-2

Hartshorne, K J, Tenenbaum, J. B., & Pinker, S. (2018). A critical period for second language acquisition: Evidence from 2/3 million English speakers. Cognition, 177, 263-277. DOI: 10.1016/j.cognition.2018.04.007

Harun, C.A.. (2014). Pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris bagi anak usia dini versus budaya lokal. Cakrawala Dini: Jurnal Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini, 5(2). From https://ejournal.upi.edu/index.php/cakrawaladini/article/view/10499

Karolina, P. (2016). USING CHESSBOARD TECHNIQUE IN RESPONDING TO THE SHORT STORY TO DEVELOP STUDENTS’SPEAKING SKILL. JOALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literature), 1(2), 11-19. https://doi.org/10.33369/joall.v1i2.4175

Kersten, K. & Rohde, A.. (2013). Teaching English to young learners. In A. F. Mattson and C. Norrby (Eds.), Language acquisition and use in multilingual contexts: Theory and Practice, 107-121. From https://lucris.lub.lu.se/ws/portalfiles/portal/5329199/4075031.pdf

Khairani, A. I.. (2016). Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Untuk Anak Usia Dini. from http://digilib.unimed.ac.id/448/

Knight, P. (2001). The development of EFL methodology. In C Candlin and N. Mercer (Eds.), English language teaching in its social context, 147-166. ISBN: 9780415241229

Kostoulas, A. (2014, April 6). “Primary English Language Teaching does more harm than good” – School systems worldwide are intensifying ELT courses and start at ever younger ages. Just how good an idea is this?. Medium. https://medium.com/achilleaskostoulas/primary-english-language-teaching-does-more-harm-than-good-f4055d796fcd

Krashen, S. D., Long, M. A. & Scarcella, R. C. (1979). Age, rate and eventual attainment in second language acquisition. TESOL Quarterly, 573-582. From https://www.academia.edu/40603904/Age_Rate_and_Eventual_Attainment_in_Second_Language_Acquisition

Kuchah, K. (2019). Teaching English to young learners in difficult circumstances. In S. Garton and F. Copland (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of teaching English to young learners (pp. 73-92). Routledge. . e-ISBN: 978-1-315-62367-2

MacSwan, J. & Pray, L. (2005). Learning English bilingually: Age of onset of exposure and rate of acquisition among English language learners in a bilingual education program. Bilingual Research Journal, 29(3), 653-678. From https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Learning-English-Bilingually%3A-Age-of-Onset-of-and-a-Macswan-Pray/48284ce7e9fe1b6dfd83d6af36c7faa9d7aee952

Maili, S. N. (2018). Bahasa Inggris pada Sekolah Dasar: Mengapa perlu dan Mengapa dipersoalkan. http://journal.unsika.ac.id/index.php/judika

Miller, I. K, Cunha, M. I. A, Bezerra, I. C. R. M, Nobrega, A.N., Ewald, C. X, & Braga, W. G. (2019). Teaching English to Young Learners. In S. Garton and F. Copland (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Teaching English to young learners (pp. 508- 522). Routledge. e-ISBN: 978-1-315-62367-2

Morahan, M. (2010). The use of students’ first language (L1) in the second language (L2) classroom. Retrieved July, 20.

Nasution, S.. (2016). Pentingnya pendidikan Bahasa Inggris pada anak usia dini. Warta Dharmawangsa, (50). DOI: https://doi.org/10.46576/wdw.v0i50.198

Nisa, I. F. (2020). Kebijakan dan Pelaksanaan Pembelajaran Bahasa Inggris untuk SD di Indonesia. from https://jurnal.ustjogja.ac.id/index.php/semnas2020/article/view/7510

Oktaviani, A. & Fauzan, A.. (2017). Teachers’ Perceptions about the Importance of English for Young Learners. Linguistic, English Education and Art (LEEA) Journal, 1(1), 1-15. DOI:10.31539/leea.v1i1.25

Puchta, H. (2019). Teaching grammar to young learners. In S. Garton and F. Copland (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of teaching English to young learners (pp. 203-219). Routledge. e-ISBN: 978-1-315-62367-2

Rich. S. (2014). Taking stock: Where are we now with TEYL? In International perspectives on teaching English to young learners (pp. 1-19). Palgrave Macmillan, London. DOI: 10.1057/9781137023230_1

Rich, S. (2019). Early language learning teacher education. In S. Garton and F. Copland (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of teaching English to young learners (pp. 44-59). Routledge. e-ISBN: 978-1-315-62367-2

Saville-Troike, M. & Barto, K.. (2016). Introducing second language acquisition. Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 9781316603925

Schweers, Jr. W. (1999, April). Using L1 in the L2 classroom. English teaching forum (Vol. 37, No. 2, pp. 6-9). From https://www.academia.edu/1335570/Using_L1_in_the_L2_classroom

Shin, J K. & Crandall, J.J. (2018). Teaching reading and writing to young learners. In S. Garton and F. Copland (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of teaching English to young learners (pp. 188-202). Routledge. e-ISBN: 978-1-315-62367-2

Snow, C. E., & Hoefnagel-Höhle, M. (1978). The critical period for language acquisition: Evidence from second language learning. Child development, 1114-1128. https://doi.org/10.2307/1128751

Ssentanda M. E & Ngwaru, J.M. (2019). Eearly English language teaching in Africa: Opportunities and challenges. In S. Garton and F. Copland (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of teaching English to young learners, pp.461-476. Routledge. e-ISBN: 978-1-315-62367-2

Statista Research Department. (2022, Nov 29). The most spoken languages worldwide 2022. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/266808/the-most-spoken-languages-worldwide/#:~:text=In%202022%2C%20there%20were%20around,at%20the%20time%20of%20survey

Sullivan, A. L. & Weeks, M. R. (2018). Differentiated instruction for young English learners. In S. Garton and F. Copland (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of teaching English to young learners (pp. 125-137). New York: Routledge. e-ISBN: 978-1-315-62367-2

Susanty, L., Sholihah, H. I. A., Pramesworo, I. S., Telaumbanua, S. & Basir, A. (2021). Promoting English learning from home to Indonesian families: an alternative approach to learning foreign languages at an early age. Linguistics and Culture Review, 5(1), 203-216. https://doi.org/10.21744/lingcure.v5n1.1310

Willans, F. (2019). Teaching English to Young Learners across Pacific. In S. Garton and F. Copland (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of teaching English to young learners (pp. 523- 536). Routledge. e-ISBN: 978-1-315-62367-2

Zakaria, F. (2013). The role of first language in EFL Classroom. Jurnal Ilmiah Didaktika, 13(2). 373-383. https://doi:10.22373/jid.v13i2.484

Zhang, J. (2019). Some views about Standard English. English Language and Literature Studies, Vol. 9 no.4, pp.94-98. DOI:10.5539/ells.v9n4p94

Zein, S. (2019). Classroom management for teaching English to young learners. In S. Garton and F. Copland (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of teaching English to young learners (pp. 154-168). New York: Routledge. e-ISBN: 978-1-315-62367-2

Zulfikar, Z. (2019). Rethinking the use of L1 in L2 classroom. Englisia Journal of Language, Education, and Humanities, 6(1), 42-51. From https://jurnal.ar-raniry.ac.id/index.php/englisia/article/view/2514/2718

Downloads

Additional Files

Published

2023-05-06

How to Cite

Amin, M., Tsaqiila, T. Q., Zamzam, A., & Arfah, H. (2023). The Earlier, the Better. Global and Indonesian Views on TEYL (Teaching English to Young Learners). Voices of English Language Education Society, 7(1), 158–166. https://doi.org/10.29408/veles.v7i1.12403