Full

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Teaching English to Very Young Learners
A THESIS
Presented as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

to Obtain the Magister Humaniora (M.Hum) Degree
in English Language Studies
by
Atiek Pratitis Lestari

Student Number: 07 6332 020
THE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
YOGYAKARTA
2011
A THESIS
TEACHING ENGLISH TO VERY YOUNG LEARNERS
by

Approved by
F.X. Mukarto, Ph.D.

Advisor Yogyakarta, June 28, 2011
ii
A THESIS
Presented by

Defended before the Thesis Committee

and declared acceptable.
THESIS COMMITTEE
Chairperson : F.X. Mukarto, Ph.D. __________________
Secretary : Dr. B.B. Dwijatmoko, M.A. __________________
Members : 1. Dr. Retno Muljani, M.Pd. __________________
: 2. Dr. Novita Dewi, M.S., M.A (Hons) __________________
Yogyakarta, July 20, 2011

The Graduate Program Director
Sanata Dharma University
Prof. Dr. Agustinus Supratiknya
iii
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY
This is to certify that all the ideas, phrases, and sentences, unless otherwise
stated, are the ideas, phrases, sentences of the thesis writer. The writer
understands the full consequences including degree cancellation if she takes
somebody else’s ideas, phrases, or sentences without a proper reference.
Yogyakarta, July 20, 2011
iv
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN

PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS
Yang bertandatangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:
Nama : Atiek Pratitis Lestari

Nomor Mahasiswa : 07 6332 020
Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan

Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:
beserta perangkat yang diperlukan. Dengan demikian saya memberikan hak

kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan
dalam bentuk lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan
secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannyaa di internet atau media lain untuk
kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan
royalty kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis.
Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.

Dibuat di Yogyakarta
Pada tanggal: 20 Juli 2011
Yang menyatakan
v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My greatest gratitude goes to Allah SWT who has blessed me with His mercy
and blessings to live my life to this moment and complete my graduate study. His
miraculous help has taught me to keep my faith despite all the obstacles lying before
me.
Next, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis advisor, F.X.
Mukarto, Ph.D., for his invaluable help, support, supervision, suggestions, and
encouragement in completing this thesis. I would also like to thank all lecturers who
have inspired me to make the most of myself and all the staffs of English Language
Studies for the help during my study.
I also thank my big family for their endless love, support, prayers, and cares.
My gratitude and love may never be enough to reward Mama and Bapak who have
always been there for me when I need them. My special thanks are also dedicated to
my younger brother, Yayang, my sisters, and my outstanding nieces.
I would also like to say my great thanks to all of my friends of the class of
’07 especially, Ms. Pipin, Mbak Siwi, Chosa, Pak Koko, and Yuniar for sharing
many things during the study. Not forgotten, I also thank all ELTIers for giving me
the opportunity work with them, especially Mbak Sensi for her willingness to share
her amazing experiences, Pipit and Sisca for always making me laugh.
The last but not least, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my
beloved husband, Yadi Cahyadi who has always encouraged me to finish my study.
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE……………………………………………………………….. i
APPROVAL PAGE ………………………………………………………... ii
DEFENSE APPROVAL PAGE ……………………………………………. iii
STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ……………………………………….. iv
LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA
ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS ………………………... v
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS …………………...…………………………… vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS …………………………………………………... vii
LIST OF TABLES …………………………………………………………. ix
LIST OF FIGURES ………………………………………………………… x
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS………………………………………………. xi
ABSTRACT …………………………………………………………........... xii
ABSTRAK …………………………………………………………………. xiv
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ………………………………………… 1

A. Background ……………………………………………………............ 1
B. Problem Identification …………………………………………........... 4
C. Problem Limitation ……………………………………………............ 7
D. Problem Formulation …………………………………………………. 9
E. Research Goals ……………….……………………………………….. 9
F. Research Benefits ……………………………………………………... 10
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW ………………………………... 13

A. Theoretical Review…...………………………………………………... 13
1. Teaching English to VYLs …………………………………………. 14
a. Definition of VYLs …………………………………………….. 21
b. The characteristics of VYLs …………………………………… 21
c. Learning materials ……………………………………………... 27
d. Learning strategies …………………………………………….. 31
1) Dialogues ………………………………………………….. 31
2) Total Physical Response (TPR) ………………………….... 32
3) Games ……………………………………………………... 32
4) Songs and chants ………………………………………….. 34
5) Storytelling ………………………………………………… 36
6) Art projects ………………………………………………... 38
2. VYL teacher ………………………………………………................ 39
a. Teacher qualifications ………………………………………….. 39
b. Teacher roles …………………………………………………… 40
3. Lived experience ……………………………………………………. 46
4. Related research …………………………………………………….. 49
B. Theoretical Framework ………………………………………………... 53
CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY ………………………………………. 56

A. Research Method ………………………………………........................ 56
B. Data and data gathering technique …………………………………….. 58
vii
1. Nature of data and data collection technique ……………………... 58

2. Setting …………………………………………………………….. 61
3. Participant ………………………………………………………… 62
4. Validation …………………………………………………………. 64
C. Research Procedures ………………………………………………….. 65
1. Turning to a phenomenon of interest ……………………………... 66
2. Investigating experience as we live in it rather than
conceptualizing it ……………………………………………......... 66
3. Reflecting on the essential themes which characterize the
phenomenon …………………………………………………......... 67
4. Describing the phenomena—the art of writing and rewriting ......... 67
5. Maintaining a strong and orientated relation to the phenomenon … 68
6. Balancing the research context by considering the parts and the
whole ……………………………………………………………… 68
D. Data Analysis and Interpretation ……………………………………… 68
1. Data summary …………………………………………………….. 68
2. Data organization ……………………………………………......... 69
3. Interpretation ……………………………………………………… 69
CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS RESULTS ………………………………….. 72

A. Sensi’s story ……………………………………………........................ 72
1. Sensi’s background ……………………………………………….. 73
2. How Sensi joined ELTI and the Kindergarten program ………….. 74
3. Sensi’s joy and problems of teaching the VYLs ………………….. 75
4. Sensi’s beliefs ……………………………………………………... 79
B. The Essential Themes ………………………………………………..... 87
1. Good knowledge of the very young learners’ characteristics …….. 87
2. Creativity …………………………………………………….......... 89
3. Flexibility …………………………………………………………. 91
4. Patience and firmness ……………………………………………... 93
5. Attention and understanding ……………………………………... 96
6. Cooperation and negotiation ……………………………………… 98
7. Commitment and responsibility …………………………………... 102
8. Trust …………………………………………………………......... 103
CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ………………... 105

A. Conclusions …...……………………………………………………….. 105
B. Suggestions ……………………………………………………............. 108
BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………………………… 111
APPENDICES .............................................................................................. 115

Appendix 1. Participant’s consent ………………………………………….. 116
Appendix 2. Participant’s journal …………………………………………... 117
Appendix 3. Interview Transcript 1-2 ..…………………………………….. 131
Appendix 4. Observation 1-3 ………………………………………………. 148
Appendix 5. The photographs ……………………………………………… 155
viii
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1 The characteristics of VYLs ……………………………………. 24

Table 2.2 The characteristics of children between 7-9 years old …………. 25
Table 2.3 The characteristics of children between 10-12 years old ………. 26
Table 3.1 Qualitative Data Collection Types ……………………………... 59
Table 3.2 Excerpt of the participant’s interview coding ………………….. 70
ix
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 2.1 Samples of Today’s Lesson …………………………………… 29

Figure 2.2 A sample of game board ………………………………………. 34
Figure 2.3 A sample of storybook ………………………………………… 37
Figure 2.4 A sample of art project ………………………………………… 38
Figure 2.5 A cyclical model of teacher thinking and learning ……………. 44
Figure 3.1 The interview pointers ………………………………………… 60
x
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
ATT : Attention
BLF : Belief
CRE : Creativity
ELTI : English Language Training International
EFL : English as Foreign Language
FLX : Flexibility
INT : Interest
L2 : Second Language
OPT : Opportunity
PRO : Problem
PTC : Patience
TPR : Total Physical Response
VYLs : Very Young Learners
xi
ABSTRACT
Lestari, Atiek Pratitis. 2011. Teaching English to Very Young Learners.

Yogyakarta: The Graduate Program in English Language Studies, Sanata Dharma
University.
Very young learners (VYLs) who are still undergoing the early process of
physical and psychological development require special treatment in their
learning. Motherly attention and patience are essential to initiate the children’s
habits of learning during their first interaction with other people outside the
family. A good teacher for VYLs needs to meet those qualifications. Not all
teachers are capable or willing to deal with the VYLs. It also happens in one of
non-formal English language institutions which offers a Kindergarten program.
This phenomenon made me interested in conducting a research in this
particular issue. A teacher has very crucial roles in a VYL class. Therefore, I
formulated the research question as “What is the teacher's lived experience in
teaching English to the VYLs?”
This research aims 1) to describe and to explore the participant’s lived
experiences in teaching English to VYLs; 2) to interpret the participant’s ideas
and beliefs of the programs for VYLs through the lived experience stories.
It is a progressive qualitative study conducted by employing hermeneutic
phenomenological approach. A resourceful participant who has taught all
kindergarten levels of the program and dealt with the kindergarten classes
continuously was chosen. She had rich experiences and she was able to articulate
her meaningful experiences teaching the VYL classes. Firstly, I asked the
participant to make the daily journal of her teaching experience for 4 months.
Then, I observed and recorded some of the participant’s classes. Next, I conducted
in-depth interviews with the participant for more comprehensive stories and
accurate data. Finally, the data were analyzed and interpreted to answer the
problem formulation.
The findings of the study was the description of the participant’s story and
the interpretation of the essential themes. The essential prefigured themes were:
(1) good knowledge of characteristics of VYLs; (2) creativity; (3) flexibility; (4)
cooperation; and (5) commitment. Moreover, the emergent themes were: (1)
patience and firmness; (2) negotiation; (3) responsibility; and (4) trust. By having
sufficient knowledge of VYLs, a good teacher could treat the VYLs appropriately.
The creativity of the teacher would enhance the VYLs’ creativity as well.
Knowing the characteristics of the VYLs led the teacher to be flexible in dealing
with them. Good negotiation led good cooperation between the teacher and the
colleagues, share teacher, students, and the language institution. Dealing with the
VYLs, a teacher should be patient, firm, responsible, and committed so that s/he
could gain the trust of the parents and the institution.
The findings of this study obtained from the reflections of the participant’s
lived experiences will build better understanding of VYLs to the participant, me
as the researcher, and the readers. Consequently, we can enhance our knowledge
and understanding of the significance of teaching English to VYLs. Hence, the
xii
participant will be able to perform better in her field and to actualize herself more
effectively. Most of all, this study serves as a reflection of non-formal English
program for the VYLs in Indonesian context. With the cultural differences, the
participant’s lived experiences can represent what kind of English program that is
the most suitable for the VYLs within Indonesian culture. Hence, the quality of
teachers, English program for VYLs, and English education in Indonesia can be
improved.
xiii
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
This first chapter provides the readers with an introduction to the research,
what makes me interested in exploring this particular topic of research, the
background of my study, the problem identification, the problem limitation, the
research question, my research goal and its objectives, and finally theoretical and
practical benefits of this research.
A. BACKGROUND
As a developing country in the extended circle (Kachru 1985), Indonesia is
in a struggle to create a bilingual society by improving its education system. Most
of schools in Indonesia are competing to give best education towards the children.
One of the most popular phenomena is the emergence of bilingual or international
schools in several big cities in Indonesia. Those schools offer bilingual classes for
the students. Therefore, English is now not only taught to elementary school
students, but also to kindergarten students. Graddol reveals that:
The age at which children start learning English has been lowering across
the world. English has moved from the traditional „foreign languages‟ slot
in lower secondary school to primary school – even pre-school. The trend
has gathered momentum only very recently and the intention is often to
create a bilingual population (2006, 88).
This fact makes me interested in observing how English is taught to very young
learners in Indonesia as one of countries in the extended circle. Furthermore,
Cameron also presented that “Many advantages are claimed for starting to learn a
1
PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 2
foreign language in the primary years; more evidence is needed to judge how far
claims turn to reality” (2001, 16). Hence, researches are still needed to evaluate
the effectiveness of teaching English to young and very young learners. I am
particularly interested in elaborating it by revealing the lived experience stories of
a teacher teaching VYLs in the kindergarten program of a non-formal English
course. Through the teacher‟s point of view, I will be able to describe what
actually happens in a VYL classroom. Hence, I can obtain the essential themes to
illustrate whether they are true or not.
Furthermore, in the early learning process, children learn and explore their
environment by interacting with the people around them. The source of
knowledge for them is their family, especially the parents as the main caretakers.
Inside the classrooms, teachers play very essential role in guiding the students
learn the language in the class because they substitute the family, particularly their
parents as the source of knowledge. They interact with the children intensively
during the learning process. Hence, the teachers do not only teach the language
aspects but also other values such as politeness, sharing, cooperation, kindness,
and friendliness. Elbers (1996, 281) revealed that the study of child language
learning has become popular issues among researchers in some decades. The
researchers attempt to understand the influence of the children‟s interaction with
parents and teachers to their learning. This interaction, indeed, could connect the
children with the environment, its culture, and their learning so that they will be
able to build good foundation in studying how they learn within cultural context.
He referred to Vygotsky‟s theory of internalization which explains that children

learn the essential meanings of their environment by taking parts in different kinds
of activities guided by the adults. He, further, emphasized the importance of
learning through interaction.
In my opinion, children learn best through good supervision by the adults.
Therefore, parents and teachers should have sufficient communication and good
cooperation to synchronize their ways to educate the children. There should not be
any gaps between the education at home and outside home (formal and non formal
education institutions). Harmonious cooperation between teachers and parents will
be able to set good learning habits for the children.
As the globalization transforms the community in all aspects, education
reforms are strongly needed. Teacher roles change to meet the challenges and
expectations. Teachers and parents have to cooperate well to educate the children.
Hamdan stated,
Teachers are expected to be more of a facilitator of children‟s learning

instead of an instructor. The biggest challenges the teachers face are about
striking the balance between letting the children learn by themselves
through exploration, and at the same time, still achieving the expected
learning objectives. Another challenge that the teachers face is how to
educate the parents so that they can understand the new roles teachers
assume (Weekender, The Jakarta Post, 2010, 19).
I do agree with her statement. Critical thinking must be implanted to the children
as early as possible so that they can explore their ability. Kindergarten teachers as
the first educators in the children‟s life after their family need to develop
innovative strategies to encourage the children to learn more and more.
The knowledge transfer depends on how good the relationship among
them is. The adults, i.e. teachers and parents, are the role models for them.
Therefore, they are required to be able to give good examples to them. Hence, I
also want to show and describe the importance of the good interaction to the
learners‟ learning process. During their early years of life, they are very dependent
to the adults to adopt the habits of learning. Parents and teachers have to guide
them patiently and wisely. Since teachers own full responsibility in the classroom,
therefore, I would like to focus my research by elaborating the lived experience of
the teacher in teaching English to the very young learners. Exploring the
experiences, I will have better understanding of the bittersweet experiences that
the participant faces when teaching English to the Kindergarten students.
Moreover, the participant will also have meaningful reflections from the shared
lived experiences.
Being a kindergarten teacher and often sharing the experiences of teaching
the kindergarten classes, I am interested in revealing the experiences of the
teachers in teaching the Kindergarten classes. By sharing the experiences, the
participant, I as a researcher, and the readers in general, obtain many useful things
such as how to anticipate problems that might happen during the class, how to
seek possible class activities, how to deal with children and parents, and most of
all, how to empower ourselves as educators.
B. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION
In Indonesia, there is not an official policy related to the curriculum of
teaching English for young and VYLs. The government set the rules of teaching
English only for elementary school students but not for the VYLs. However, more
schools and language institutions offer classes and courses for the very young
learners. It is influenced by the global trend and higher demand of English. As one
of informal language institutions, ELTI, of course, has more freedom and
flexibility to set the kindergarten program. The language institution is free to
determine its goals and materials which are appropriate with the VYLs. There
certainly are adjustments with the materials and activities as the program develops
to meet the recent demands within Indonesian culture.
Teaching English for the very young learners is absolutely very different
from teaching English for adults. Not all skills can be covered equally. There are
many reasons for this. Cameron stated that:
„Discourse‟ in foreign language learning needs both senses. Discourse as

real language use is the target of teaching: we want children to be able to
use the foreign language with real purposes. Part of this requires that
children know how the foreign language works in conversations and
longer stretches of talk and text. Furthermore, discourse occurs in language
classrooms: when teachers and learners interact on tasks and activities,
they are involved in a discourse event (2001, 37).
Furthermore, she explained that there are three most important discourse skills in
childhood: conversation and extended talk, development of conversational skills
in childhood, and developing children‟s discourse repertoires. It can be seen that
in teaching children, she emphasized the importance of more exposure on the
speaking skill. Having experienced teaching children for many years, I observed
that during their early learning, children still have difficulties, especially on
writing even in their own mother tongue. Therefore, it is very burdensome for
them if in their first interaction with English as L2, they also have to develop their
writing skill. The wisest way is giving good introduction to the language so that
they can enjoy it and get more motivated to learn English.
In the study of Second Language Acquisition (henceforth SLA), Ferrier,
quoted by Ellis, has concluded that much “of the communication with young
children centers on routine activities: eating, having a bath, getting dressed,
looking at picture books, playing games, etc.” These kinds of activities create
stronger bound between the caretaker and the children so that the children can
focus on the learning process easier (1994, 249). In designing and determining the
learning materials and activities for the very young learners, we need to consider
their characteristics so that we are able to provide the most suitable ones for them.
VYL teachers should look for materials and activities which are the closest with
the students‟ real lifeworld so that they will be able to learn optimally and
internalize the lessons easily.
Nevertheless, there are still many other factors that may trigger problems
in establishing the most appropriate methods in teaching English to young
learners. Some schools and institution may establish different goals and methods
for the language programs for the young learners. The problems may emerge from
the design of the program itself. In designing the program, the language schools
must have clear goals so that they can determine the appropriate materials,
approaches, and facilities. As I stated earlier, most kindergarten and early
elementary school students are still in the process of developing their verbal skill,
especially in their L1 or mother tongue.

I observed that in the particular language course, there is a program for the
young learners which is quite inappropriate. It is inappropriate because of its goal
that focuses more on the writing skill rather than speaking fluency. If it focuses on
the writing skill, it will be burdensome for them since they still face difficulties in
their cognitive and motor skills. Teachers have to be aware of this theory so that
they can choose the most suitable approach for them.
One of the most important points to bear in mind is that the whole learning
process must be learner-centered and not teacher-centered so that children will be
able to perform their best. Giving more exposures to the children will give them
more opportunities to explore the use of the language in its natural use.
Furthermore, teachers are sometimes not given sufficient training to deal
with the VYLs. At one of the language school where I work, most of the teachers
teaching the VYLs learn teaching their classes by directly teaching in the
classroom and doing their own observations and discussions with their seniors.
Indeed, it is not an easy task to do that is full of challenges and interesting
experiences. Thus, I want to share the stories through this research. In conducting
the research, there are several important methods. It can be done by having video
recordings, interviews, and class observations.
C. PROBLEM LIMITATION
I focused the study on the teacher's real experiences by uncovering the joy
and problems she has faced when teaching kindergarten classes. It was done
through video recordings, interviews, and class observations. Since it is a

qualitative study, I decided to examine a single participant in order to collect
focused and comprehensive data. I chose the participant based on her longest
experience teaching the kindergarten classes in all levels. After considering the
opportunity, accessibility, good relationship, willingness for sharing information,
and the richness of experiences (Creswell, 2007), I determined to conduct the
research at my work place, ELTI Yogyakarta.
I tried to describe the participant‟s experiences holistically. Therefore, I
divided the experiences based on several categories. To make the distributions
easier and more organized, I started from the teacher‟s teaching preparation which
included the teaching material, activities, and also the equipment needed during
the class. Next, I covered the experiences related with the learning activities in
class. It included how many activities usually done in class, the variations, the
timing, the distributions with the share teacher, and also the backup activities.
After that, since there are generally two teachers in kindergarten class at ELTI,
there are certainly many things to harmonize between the two teachers. The two
teachers sharing the same class have to cooperate harmoniously so that they could
run the class well. In having discussions they might experience different
perceptions in teaching, ideas, and beliefs. Different personalities might also
influence how well they cooperate inside and outside the class. Furthermore, the
students themselves who are still very young will certainly have different attitude
and behavior in class. Some could be quiet, attentive, ignorant, or hyperactive.
They also have different interests and abilities depending on their development.
Moreover, the teacher is not only responsible to the institution establishing the
kindergarten program but also the parents. Dealing with parents and the
institution, the teacher would undergo interesting experiences that I also need to
elaborate in this research. Lastly, the personal feelings and beliefs of the teacher
herself would certainly affect how she dealt with her job as a teacher for the VYLs
at the particular non-formal language school.
D. PROBLEM FORMULATION
This research aims to describe, elaborate, and interpret the participants‟
meaningful lived experiences in conducting the kindergarten classes. Hence, it led
to the research question: What is the teacher's lived experience in teaching
English to the VYLs? Seeking the comprehensive insight to this question, I am
going to scrutinize a commendable research to someone who has been exposed to
very rich experiences throughout the years.
E. RESEARCH GOALS
Kindergarten program at ELTI is a special program for very young
learners which also require special skills from the teachers to supervise the
students. This research aims 1) to describe and to explore the participant‟s lived
experiences in teaching English to kindergarten students; 2) to interpret the
participant‟s ideas and beliefs of the programs for very young learners through the
lived experience stories. Therefore, a comprehensive observation was needed to
describe, to explore, and to interpret the participant‟s ideas and beliefs of the
programs for very young learners through their meaningful lived experiences.
Hence, it will empower the participant by sharing the meaningful stories and
experiences. It can be accomplished through observing the participant‟s journals,
having class observations, and conducting some in-depth interviews. This study
aims to facilitate the participant to reflect their lived experiences. Most of all,
essential themes of the meaningful lived experiences are able to be revealed to
enhance better understanding of the participant and I in teaching the VYLs. Thus,
we can enhance the quality of our life as teachers so that eventually we become
self-fulfilled and excellent in our own right.
F. RESEARCH BENEFITS
This research will describe and reveal participants‟ ideas and beliefs on
what actually happens in the learning process of kindergarten classes at ELTI
Yogyakarta. The study on the teacher‟s meaningful lived experiences was
essential to comprehend the teaching and learning process of the kindergarten
classes regarding with different factors that influence the teacher‟s performance. I
chose to interview one VYL teacher who has the longest time teaching the
kindergarten classes, the one who has experienced teaching all six kindergarten
levels at the particular language school, and the one who never missed a single
term of kindergarten class since she joined the institution for the first time. I do
believe that by choosing her as the participant of this particular issue, I would
discover comprehensive information of the phenomena.
The comprehensive description and interpretation of the participant‟s
meaningful lived experiences will certainly serve practical and scientific benefits.
The participant, language institution, and the readers will obtain better
understanding of teaching English to VYLs. Hence, they hopefully can improve
their performance through the reflection elaborated in this study. New insights
from the essential experiences will hopefully encourage them to perform more
effectively, efficiently, and productively. The participant will be more empowered
in actualizing herself to teach English to the VYLs. It will maximize the
participant's potential in making the most of her role as a kindergarten teacher. It
will also influence the VYLs to learn English better. The stake holders, in this
case, the language institution, the parents, and also policy makers in English
education can recall this study to establish better English programs for the VYLs
in Indonesia. This study can contribute critical input towards the institution‟s
kindergarten program.
This study also offers scientific benefits for people who have great interest
and concern towards the English education for VYLs. They will be aware of the
crucial meaning of the real situation of teaching English to VYLs as experienced
by the participant. This awareness is essential to develop good programs for the
VYLs since education is an endless area to explore. The government can also
infer this study in order to make better education policies. Thence, the English
education for VYLs in Indonesia will be more and more qualified. The results of
this research will serve important information related with the English teaching to
VYLs in Indonesia as second language in extended circle area.
For my personal development as a teacher and researcher, I gain a lot of
benefits. This study has endowed me better and more comprehensive

understanding on the teacher‟s lived experiences in teaching VYLs. Hence, I can
reflect back with my own lived experiences and enhance the quality as an
educator to contribute more for the community. Most of all, the findings of the
study will represent an example of an English program for the VYLs within
Indonesian context in the extended circle area.

CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter clarifies the constructs and concepts used in this research. It
helps me relate the research question in the current issues of education in the
global world and how the local English education programs for young and very
young learners contribute to it. Eventually, this chapter will become the
theoretical framework of the research.
A. THEORETICAL REVIEW
In this section, I need to clarify some essential terms used in this research
to expand the readers‘ understanding of the study conducted. Firstly, the term
English as second language (L2) is used in this study. I use this term since there
have been debates among experts on its difference between L2 and EFL (English
as Foreign Language). Moreover, Graddol also suggests that English is now
undergoing a transformation process to ‗Global English‘ which ―would allow an
exploration of the new status of English as a global lingua franca and the new
cultural, linguistic, political, and economic issues surrounding English as it is used
in a postmodern world‖ (2006, 58).
Next, Ellis defines ‗L2 acquisition‘ as ―the way in which people learn a
language other than their mother tongue, inside or outside of a classroom‖ (1997,
3). Brumfit also supports the idea that ―Now, we are much less sure that the
boundaries between first, second, and foreign language are discrete, and certainly
13
it is not clear exactly what it is that one is saying in talking about somebody as a
second language user‖ (2001, 117). Therefore, referring to their statement, the
term L2 is used to avoid confusion. Indonesia has got very rich cultures with their
own languages. Yet, I decided to use L2 to simplify this study. Although most of
the students speak Indonesian and Javanese, L2 is considered as the language
other than their mother tongue in this study.
In the process of acquiring L2, the learning process, especially in class, is
highly determined by the teacher since s/he has the full responsibility inside the
class. This research aims to understand the teacher‘s meaningful experiences in
teaching kindergarten classes at ELTI which is a well known language school in
Yogyakarta. Hence, I divide the theories into some groups to build a framework in
researching the phenomena.
1. Teaching English to VYLs
The demand of English proficiency is getting higher and higher. Being
able to communicate in English both in spoken and written becomes one of the
basic requirements for people pursuing their career in the professional world.
Thus, English education system is challenged to meet this increasing demand.
English is considered as basic skills of literacy (learning to read and write)
which means that it is the tool acquire knowledge (Pope 2002, 29). English is not
only a means of communication but it is also the basic tool to develop learners‘
ability in certain fields they want to be excellent at. Moreover, English as a
foreign or second language ―represents access to specific knowledge and skills

and tends to be identified with the technology and science as well as the
economics and cultural models of the modern west‖ (Pope 2002, 32). Mastering
English will empower the learners to explore their knowledge and capability to
achieve their best.
English is ―a compound of language, literature, culture, media (the terms
are no longer relevant); is everywhere hybrid and nowhere pure. And is
consequently constantly reforming under the pressure of other languages,
literatures, cultures, and media‖ (Pope 2002, 26). This implies that there is no
certain form of English that can be called as the right form of English. When
English is spoken outside the inner circle countries area, the local culture will
acculturate in the development of the language. Therefore later on, there occurs
the term World English, language spoken across the world, belongs to everybody
who speaks it but it‘s nobody‘s mother tongue (Rajagopalan 2003), since it is the
new English which is hybridized in which it is spoken. Graddol (2006) also
suggests that English is now undergoing a transformation process to ‗Global
English‘ which ―would allow an exploration of the new status of English as a
global lingua franca and the new cultural, linguistic, political, and economic
issues surrounding English as it is used in a postmodern world‖ (p. 58).
This transformation, of course, requires changes or reformation in English
teaching as well to meet the actual demands of the learners in facing the use of
English in the real world. Savignon mentions in her article that
A number of recent reports of reform efforts in different nations provide a

thought-provoking look at English language teaching today as the
collaborative and context=specific human activity that it is. Themes appear
and reappear, voices are heard in one setting to be echoed in yet another.
Such first=hand observation provides valuable insights for researchers,

program administrators, and prospective or practicing teachers who work
or expect to work in these and other international settings (2003, 61).
Teachers, schools, language institutions, other stakeholders have to evaluate and
reevaluate the English teaching regularly so that they can improve and maximize
the learners‘ potentials. They need to be the learners‘ facilitators in gaining more
knowledge. In VYL teaching context, individuals involved in the children‘s
English learning need to evaluate the English program for VYLs regularly so that
it can fulfill the learners‘ needs.
Seidlhofer (2004) supports the idea to promote cross-cultural approach in
teaching English in the global community as a result of its global spread.
Summing up from McKay (2002), she lists some priorities in teaching English.
There are three main goals. First, we need to ensure intelligibility rather than to
insist on correctness. Second, we need to help learners develop interaction
strategies that will promote comity (friendly relations). Third, we need to foster
textual competence (reading and writing skills for learner-selected purposes).
Moreover, there are some approaches should be applied: sensitivity in the choice
of cultural content in materials, reflexivity in pedagogical procedures, and respect
for the local culture of learning (p. 226). It is essential to consider those factors
when preparing the content, approaches, methods, etc in teaching English as Pope
suggests that language is the form of the mixture and development of the culture
itself.
Furthermore, in overcoming the development of English, adjustments to
the learning process should be accomplished. The traditional way of teaching-

centred cannot compromise with the emerging issues. Teachers need to focus
more on the learning-centred activities in the class. Educators suggest that there
are some differences between ‗activities‘ and ‗tasks‘. According to Cameron
(2001), tasks given to the learners should be adopted as a unit that would attempt
to bring the classroom and ‗real‘ life closer together. More importantly, the goals
and outcomes of tasks were to relate the real needs of learners, such as reading
bus timetables or buying cinema tickets while ―not all activities that take place in
a classroom will qualify as ‗tasks‘; an activity can be any kind of event that
children participate in, but task has further features.‖ Furthermore, she states that:
The best we can do is aim for dynamic congruence: choosing activities and
content that are appropriate for the children‘s age and socio-cultural
experience, and language that will grow with the children, in that although
some vocabulary will no longer be needed, most of the language will
provide a useful base for more grown-up purposes (p. 30-31).
A good teacher is able to select, combine, and recycle activities to meet the
learners‘ needs. A teacher should be aware of the cultural differences (racial,
religious, social class, ethnic, etc) if s/he has students from different communities
or groups. Dodge and Colker (1992) state that the teacher should learn those
differences:
Because culture is an integral part of children‘s lives, it should be an

integral part of the curriculum as well. One way to do is to make the
environment and curriculum reflect the children‘s backgrounds and
experiences—family, language neighborhood—and gradually expands
upon what is familiar and what children already know (p. 10).
Therefore, in designing language curriculum and tasks, a teacher should be able to
overcome these differences so that no student will feel neglected or insulted.
Cameron (2001), hence, summarizes the key features of classroom tasks for
children. It must have: 1) coherence and unity for learners (from topic, activity
and / or outcome); 2) meaning and purpose for learners; 3) clear language learning
goals; 4) beginning and end; 5) opportunities to involve the learners actively.
Besides those features, she also suggests that good activities must be set
through clear stages: PREPARATION  CORE ACTIVITY  FOLLOW UP.
Phillips also adds some other crucial points when choosing activities for children.
The activities should be simple enough for the children to understand what is
expected of them (the teacher should provide simple and clear instructions and
also give model). Next, they should be within their abilities; it needs to be
achievable but at the same time sufficiently stimulating for them to feel satisfied
with their work (we should not expect the same results from different children or
compare their works). Then, they should be largely orally based—indeed, with
very young children listening activities will take up a large proportion of class
time. Finally, they should be limited in using written activities for younger
children (young children are often not yet proficient in the mechanics of writing in
their own language (1993, 5). Therefore, when determining learning activities and
tasks, the most crucial things to bear in mind are simplicity, clear stages, and
coherence so that they will be achievable for the learners.
Speaking fluency is formed from discourse. Discourse is ―a unit of
language, especially spoken language, that is longer than the sentence. The term is
used by linguists when investigating features of language that extend beyond
sentences‖ (Microsoft Encarta, 2008). Moreover, Finnegan defines it as ―spoken
or written language use in particular social situations; discourse is a broader term

than text in that it includes context and the intended and actual interpretations‖
(2004, 575). Next, fluency is the ability to speak or write fluidly and confidently
and at a rate that is consistent with children of the same age (Linse 2005, 208).
Speaking fluency for children does not only mean knowing a lot of vocabulary,
but the important thing is that they can communicate confidently in front of
others. It shows the function of English as a tool for communication. When they
are confident, they usually speak more fluently.
Moreover, the Kindergarten program in the institution is aware of the
limitations and also the characteristics of the VYLs so that it focuses on the
speaking and listening skills because they are the most crucial skills in learning a
language. They are also inseparable since in order to be able to speak, children
have to listen first. Listening activities are not passive because learners can be
actively engaged in listening tasks and activities. By listening, children are
preparing to replicate the sounds when they speak and to develop reading
comprehension skills. Georgiou and Pavlou (2003) state that speaking consists of
a number of elements to accomplish verbal communication, i.e. to be able to
convey messages. Therefore, when assessing children, the emphasis should be on
their communicative ability in basic functions such as asking questions or
introducing themselves (p. 7). Children say new language items faster right after
they listen them first rather than read them first (Paul 2003, 72). Giving more
exposure to children to listen as much as they can of the new language items will
give them more opportunities to produce the language they learn. However,
teachers should present them within the students‘ level so that they can follow
them and finally discover new vocabularies and patterns by themselves. Of
course, teachers need to simplify and make necessary adjustments so that they can
figure it out by themselves. Indeed, it needs great patience to guide the children to
understand and internalize them.
During their early years, children are even still in the process of
internalizing their own mother tongue. The progress of the fluency of L1 is also
different from each other. Therefore, we cannot expect ‗magical‘ results of
learning L2 from the VYLs. The main aim of learning L2 is as an introduction to
L2 and as a trigger to their interest in learning the language.
In teaching the VYLs, it is very essential to build good habits since those
habits will contribute to the development of their language skills. Guthrie (1993)
in Hergenhan and Olson states that skill ―is not a simple habit, but a large
collection of habits that achieve a certain result in many and varied circumstances.
A skill is made up of many movements‖ (p. 207). The habits can be set from
simple things, such as greeting, asking permissions, etc. Based on Bourdieu‘s
notion, Golden (2004) reveals that there are three important things of habits in
early childhood learning:
First, young children, as new members of society, are deemed most in

need of, and made subject to, intensive cultural instruction; second the
practice of early education is itself underpinned and guided by the
assumption of the importance of experience for effective learning among
young children; and finally, young children, as such, are least able to
discern the workings of the ‗hidden persuasion of an implicit pedagogy‘
(p. 397).
Giving children more opportunities to use the language by letting them experience
using English themselves is very essential to make them memorize the new
vocabulary longer. Hence, they will not forget the new material easily. On the
other hand, they will learn more related vocabulary more easily.
a. Definition of VYLs
Learners are defined as ―all individuals who will bring a different set of
knowledge and experiences to the learning process and will make sense of the
world and the situations they are faced with in ways that are personal to them‖
(Williams 1999, 12). In other words, learners are the participants involved in the
learning process who influence each other to achieve the goals of the programs.
The learners discussed in this research are the students studying in kindergarten
classes. Therefore, I need to differ between young learners and very young
learners.
Sarah Philips defines young learners as ―children from the first year of
formal schooling (five or six years old) to eleven or twelve years of age.‖ (1993,
5). Reilly and Ward (1993) define VYLs as ―children who have not yet started
compulsory schooling and have not yet started to read. This varies according to
the country and can mean children up to the age of seven, so we have taken three
to six as a realistic average.‖ (p. 3). In this particular research, VYLs refer to those
who take the kindergarten program in the particular language institution.
b. The characteristics of VYLs
VYLs are still in the early process of growing. They are developing their
motor skills, brain, and body. Of course, this situation brings a lot of
consequences for their learning process. Good teachers for the VYLs need to have
sufficient knowledge about their general characteristics so that they can treat them
appropriately in the classroom.
Mayall, as quoted by Golden reveals that for children school is an essential
preparation for them to interact with other people in the environment. ―From the
children‘s point of view, childhood is being lived now, in bodily and mental
terms, but their experience is that their present wishes must give place to school
agendas based on concern for the future‖ (2004, 402). It can be assumed that
children need to prepare themselves for their future so that it is necessary to have
good foundation especially during the early years.
Dodge and Colker (1992) state that ―during the early childhood years,
children deal with three of the eight stages of socio-emotional growth‖. First, they
are learning to trust others outside their families. They interact with new people
other than their parents to substitute them as the caretakers inside the family.
Secondly, they are attempting to gain independence and self-control. Without the
parents who are always ready to help them, they need to learn to do many things
themselves. Thirdly, they learn to take initiative and assert themselves in socially
acceptable ways. Interacting with limited people inside the family, they need to
adjust themselves to socialize with friends of their age and teachers who are
responsible in the classroom.
They also explain that in children cognitive development, they learn
through several ways. First, they learn by doing. They observe what happens
during their interaction with materials and other people concretely and literally
(view everything as it is). Second, they learn from the environment by having
active self-exploration about the world through the language and internalizing
words with real experiences. Next, they begin to classify numbers, relationship,
etc. finally, they develop abstract thinking skills (how to read and write). When
teaching the children, teachers need to integrate those processes so that they can
learn the language and develop their other skills at the same time.
In their physical development, they are still in the process of gross motor
development which involves the large muscles of the body so that they enjoy
activities such as running, skipping, jumping, hopping, rolling, and crawling).
Moreover, they are having fine motor development which involves the use of
small muscles such as those in the wrist and hand. They need to strive a bit hard to
cut, color, and draw pictures.
Reudene E. Wilburn (2000) emphasizes that the most obvious nature of
the VYLs is that they are innately curious. Strong, Silver, and Robinson (1995) as
quoted by Wilburn reveal that ―students want and need work that stimulates their
curiosity‖ (2000, 7). Therefore, they need to fully explore new situations
involving toys, manipulatives, open spaces, play-yard equipment, and more. Some
scientists even call the young children as constructivist learners which means
that youngsters manipulate and interact with their surroundings in order to make
sense of them (by absorbing the environment, they create meaning for
themselves). It makes a nursery school, preschool, or day-care environment
provide the best opportunity for peer interaction. By having real experiences,
children learn and understand better.

Teachers should choose learning activities which can accommodate the
VYLs‘ needs of physical activities and the language exposure at the same time.
However, it is also important to consider the level of complexity of the material
being taught to them to determine what kinds of activities that are appropriate for
them. Teachers should be able to create conducive learning atmosphere and set the
rules for different kinds of activities. They should keep asking questions of what
will possibly happen during the activities to anticipate the learners‘ difficulties
and problems in completing the tasks. Are the learners active, quiet, shy, or
moody? Will they be able to share and cooperate with their friends? Will the
competitive games trigger quarrel or fight? Will they enjoy it? Will they get more
motivated or maybe discouraged? The general characteristics of the VYLs can be
seen in the Table 2.1 below.
4 – 6 year olds
Characteristics Implications Needs
Just beginning school Not used to classroom Training in class routines
rules and conventions e.g. listening to teacher‘s
instructions
Limited motor skills Clumsy control of Exposure to develop motor
crayons, pens, markers, control
and scissors e.g. colouring, copying,
cutting
Learn holistically Whole child needs Opportunities to involve all
stimulation body parts such as moving,
singing, playing, exploring,
touching, smelling, and
holding
Cannot distinguish Cannot analyse Exposure to chunks of
between different parts language language (words that
and patterns of language naturally come together e.g.
‗thank you very much‘,
‗have a nice day‘ – that are
easily learnt, repeated and do
not need analysis)
e.g. chants, stories,
classroom language
Limited reading/writing Introducing reading/ Lots of listening and
skills in L1 writing in English speaking activities, fun
introduction to English
letters and words
See no need to Students use L1 Reasons to speak English
communicate in English exclusively e.g. games, chants
Love stories, fantasy Excited with many Stories, fantasy, fun
topics
Table 2.1 The characteristics of VYLs (Adapted from: ―How children learn at
different stages of development‖)
<http://www.onestopenglish.com/News/Magazine/children/children_animal.htm#
4 – 6 year olds> <Accessed on June 10, 2008>
Compared to the young learners between the age of 7 – 9 year old, VYLs
have shorter attention span and they do not have writing skill yet. However, some
children may be able to write a little; some alphabets, numbers, and their names. It
also shows that the young learners between the age of 7 to 9 years old (Table 2.2)
already have better motor skills.
7 – 9 year olds
Characteristics Implications Need
Beginning to be logical Can see patterns, Opportunities to experiment
and analytical aware of language e.g. making up own chants
Asking questions Need answers Freedom to express
themselves and learn more
than language
Reading and writing still Still need support and Practice and success oriented
minimal in L1 help activities
Still have problems Group activities not Teacher to guide them and
sharing always successful chances to work alone
Developing confidence Students will have Chance to state opinions
to express themselves views on what they e.g. expressing what they like
want to do / talk about and dislike
Developing knowledge Know more than we Chances to use what they
of the world around them often give them credit know
for
Table 2.2 The characteristics of children between 7-9 years old (Adapted from:
―How children learn at different stages of development‖)
Furthermore, compared to older children of 10 to 12 years old (Table 2.3),
the VYLs are less focused and serious with their learning. They are still interested
in the ‗playing‘ world so that teachers should integrate the learning with their real
daily world so that the children will not feel that they are forced to learn. We
should emphasize the FUN in their learning.
10 – 12 year olds
Characteristics Implications Need
Longer attention span Greater range of Opportunities to engage in
activities possible in tasks that require focus and
class commitment
Knowledge of the world More topics can be Stimulation
growing addressed e.g. information from internet
or cross-curricular
Taking learning more Can be given Chances to be independent
seriously responsibility
Still children Have need for security Teacher sensitive to their
and pleasure needs and moods
More cooperative with Can do more group Variety of grouping in class
peers work i.e. work on own, in pairs, in
group, as class
Intellectual, motor and Can be challenged Activities that challenge
social skills developing more them
Developing own learning Children won‘t all Chance to personalise their
strategies react in the same way learning experience
to the same task/topic
Table 2.3 The characteristics of children between 10-12 years old (Adapted from:
―How children learn at different stages of development‖)
Surely, teachers should understand the characteristics of their students and
the class before applying the activities. The same activities do not always run well
in different classes because students have different learning styles. However, by
learning from special training and education, teachers can enhance their ability in
creating and handling different learning activities and tasks.

c. Learning materials
Nowadays, there are lots of learning materials which are easily accessed
by language schools and teachers. As the consequences of VYLs‘ special
characteristics, kindergarten programs need to provide suitable materials which
can meet the learners‘ needs. Paul (2003) mentions some important learning
materials that should be available for kindergarten classes. They are course books,
worksheets, workbooks, notebooks, supplementary books, flash cards, pictures,
animals and puppets, toys, games, other accessories, computers, audio and video.
First, course books availability are beneficial. They can be guidelines for
the children and parents of what they are learning and what they can gain during
the course. Therefore, selecting the appropriate course books become the essential
foundations to set up a kindergarten programs. Moreover, since the VYLs are still
in the process of exploring the world around them even in their L1, what needs to
keep in mind is selecting learning materials and topics which are of their real
world. It covers family, school, and their environment. Hence, they will have
harmonious experiences of school and real life situations.
Realizing the needs of course book, the kindergarten program at ELTI has
chosen one course book to underlie its program for VYLs. The course book
chosen is Balloons written by two experts of English teaching for young learners,
Mario Herrera and Barbara Hojel (1998). In their philosophy, they explain that
Balloons is designed based on a natural approach that assumes that language
immersion, particularly English, will lead to children‘s potentials in learning the
L2. It means that children are exposed to the use of English as the main means of
communication inside the classroom. Unlike some other courses which only focus
on ―teacher-student stimuli-response‖, Balloons encourages children to participate
actively through natural conversations. The book covers the themes which are
already a vital part of children‘s lives, such as school, their bodies, families, pets,
clothes, homes, and neighborhood. Learning things which are integral parts of
their lives will make the children more confident to gain success. The most
important aim is to make them enjoy learning the language. They state ―Young
children‘s play becomes their work and their work is found in their play‖ (p. iv).
Next, worksheets can be used as facilities to practice the four skills:
listening, speaking, reading, or writing. Workbooks and notebooks serve as
records for the children to see what they have achieved in their learning. By
having neat workbooks and notebooks, parents can monitor the children‘s learning
and help them revise the lessons at home. The course book Balloons has been
equipped with workbook providing activities for children to complete in the
classroom or at home. The kindergarten program emphasizes on children‘s
speaking fluency but not the language literacy. Therefore, the teachers provide
today‘s lesson as their learning records. The children just have to glue the paper
on their notebooks.
Today’s Lesson Today’s Lesson

Day: Monday Day: Saturday
Date:13 July 2010 Date: May 19, 2010
Material: Unit 1 My Classroom Material: Developing Conversation
Language coverage: Language Coverage:
Greetings  Assessment: Classroom Objects
 Hello. This is blue. This is red
Introducing oneself This is glue. This is a table.
 My name is Mia. These are scissors, etc.
 What’s your name?  Revise Story Telling: School Day
Classroom Language Page 1 : School day.
 Give me glue, please. Hello, boys. Hello, girls.
 Give me paper, please Page 2 : Let’s work.
 Give me marker, please Page 3 : Let’s read a story.
 May I go to the bathroom, please? Page 4 : Good-bye, teacher.
Good-bye, boys and girls.
Figure 2.1 Samples of Today‘s Lesson
Beside the course books and workbooks, supplementary materials taken
from various resources and supplementary books will be very useful. Nowadays,
they are even much easier to obtain from the internet by downloading the e-books
for very young learners.
For teaching aids and equipments for VYLs, we should remember that
generally children love a lot of colorful pictures and various toys. Therefore,
teachers need to integrate them in their learning. Paul (2003) even emphasizes that
flash cards are probably the most important teaching resource to have and we
should provide plenty of them. Teachers need them to introduce new vocabulary
and practice the target language. Hence, various pictures with themes, such as
classrooms, zoo, and park, will enhance the learning process in class. With short
attention span, it is important for teachers to attract children‘s attention by

showing interesting pictures. Moreover, childhood is time for both playing and
learning. Creating friendly class atmosphere by bringing things they love to play
with will encourage them to learn more. Teachers can make use of different kinds
of toys, animals, puppets, games, and other accessories to overcome children‘s
boredom when learning in the classroom. Lastly, the advancement of technology
makes the learning process easier and more fun. Born in the digital world, they
automatically become digital natives with easy access to computers, cell phones,
and other virtual games. Employing computers as the source of learning
information will satisfy their full of curiosity. With the limitation of the
equipment in the particular language course, this method cannot be applied
directly. However, teachers employ computers and internet to obtain various
sources, ideas, and teaching aids to accommodate the learning process.
Brewster, et al. (2002) state there are three aspects to consider in designing
language program and materials for children. First, as a linguistic resource, they
should allow new language vocabulary and patterns to be introduced, reinforced,
and recycled. Therefore, they should be presented in exciting forms and in a rich
imaginative context. Hence, all skills can be integrated and improve all aspects of
pronunciation in an enjoyable way.
Next, as a psychological/affective resource, the learning materials should
accentuate fun in all aspects. They have to be motivating to develop VYLs‘
positive attitude towards the target language. They also need to be non-threatening
to make the children feel comfortable, confident, and secured learning in the
classroom.
Lastly, as a cognitive resource, good learning materials help them develop
concentration, memory, and coordination. They should enable the children to
build their knowledge through experiences. It can be done by giving them
repetition, accompanying actions and gestures, and various activities to
accommodate all learning styles. Lastly, as a cultural and social resource, the
materials can be taken from authentic sources so that they will help the learners
interact with other people from different cultures in a good manner.
d. Learning strategies
This part explains all the learning strategies used in the Kindergarten
program. Most of the language features are presented verbally by avoiding writing
activities. It is done to prevent discouragement of the VYLs in their early process
of learning. Hence, all the learning strategies here focus on listening and speaking
to give the language exposures to the students.
1) Dialogues
Since the language learning focuses on communication, this technique is
needed not only to enhance the learners‘ speaking fluency but also their
confidence. It can be done through open pairwork where two students ―perform a
dialogue while the rest of the class observes‖ or closed pairwork when ―all pairs
working at the same time.‖ (Thornburry 2002, 73). This technique also provides
chance for the learners in contextualizing some language items ―as well as some
cultural aspects of the target language‖ (2002, 59). Moreover, Paul (2003)
believes that meaningful speaking exercises are when teachers are able to give
real-life scene setting situations rather than ask the children to memorize the
dialogue. Therefore, integrating themes towards their dialog exercises will
maximize their understanding. The themes can be set based on places or their
routines, such as at the pet shop, at school or in the park. To make the dialogue
more lively, teachers can use puppets or dolls to make the children more excited.
Herrera and Hojel (1998) propose ―3-D‖ modeling in which the teachers
model the conversations they want them to practice. They must be presented in
real, authentic ways so that the children can imitate them well. The use of learning
aids such as puppets and stuffed animals is highly recommended.
2) Total Physical Response (TPR)
Based on Asher, Linse states that in TPR, ―Learners physically respond to
oral commands which are given. Just as with babies, learners are expected to
respond non-verbally to commands before they are expected to speak‖ (2005, 30).
Furthermore, Richards and Rodgers define it as ―a language teaching built around
the coordination of speech and action; it attempts to teach language through
physical (motor) activity‖ (2001, 73). This technique can also be combined with
songs, chants, and telling stories.
3) Games
Games are very important to be involved in the learning process especially
for children in their very early years because they are the main attraction to
explore their environment. As Linse states that play is a purposeful activity and
games are the crucial part of playing. As such games are a very appropriate
teaching technique in the young-learner classroom, games can also be structured
to maximize the children‘s English-language use (Linse 2005, 57).
There are many kinds of games that can be applied during the learning
activities, e.g. bingo, snake and ladders, card cover, domino, and picture cards.
When choosing the appropriate games for the very young learner class, teachers
need to consider whether the games can accommodate the children‘s needs and
different characteristics. Some very lively and physically active games can cause
troubles if they are applied in a class full of very active children who can easily
get over enthusiastic. Competitive games may also create discomfort to some
children who are not ready to accept any failures. Therefore, teachers need to
choose games which give them opportunities to internalize some humanistic
values such as cooperation and sharing.

Figure 2.2 A sample of game board. (Balloons)
The board game serves as assessment media to revise what the students
have learned in Unit 1. Teachers give example how to play the game using the
dice and chips. They can make it as a competition game or not. Then, students are
put in pairs or groups of three to play the game. In this game, children learn the
value of sharing and cooperating with their friends.
4) Songs and chants
In general, children like songs. Therefore, they always enjoy singing,
moving, and dancing. Paul states ―songs add a whole dimension to children‘s
classes, and make it easier for the children to remember words and patterns and
natural chunks of language‖ (2003, 58). The songs and chants can be used for
TPR activities. Most of us have been familiar with songs but may not be familiar
with chants. Phillips describes chants as a song without music, or a poem with a
very marked rhythm (1993, 93).
Referring to Temmerman (2000) Lamont reveals that older children
experience music as part of the preschool day, with daily formal music-making
activities of up to half an hour for 4- and 5-year-olds, and they enjoy the more
active elements of music such as moving/dancing and playing instruments far
more than they enjoy singing or listening. In addition to formal ‗music time‘,
young children also have the opportunity to engage in spontaneous music play
with instruments to express themselves more freely and actively (2008, 249).
Brewster et al. sum up some benefits in integrating songs and chants in
learning a language. Linguistically, they allow new language to be introduced and
structure and vocabulary to be reinforced and recycled; present familiar language
in new and exciting forms and in a rich, imaginative context; provide for lots of
natural and enjoyable repetition; can be used to develop all skills in an integrated
way; and help improve all aspects of pronunciation. Psychologically, they are
motivating and fun and build positive attitudes towards the target language since
they are also able to build confidence by giving opportunities for children to show
off their ability to others. As a cognitive resource, they help to develop
concentration, memory and coordination; sensitize children to rhyming clues as
aids to meaning; enable children to predict what comes next and to consolidate
language items; reinforce meaning through accompanying actions or gestures;
provide changes the pace and atmosphere of a lesson and caters for different
learning styles; and can be compiled into song/rhyme books to help children
develop good study habits. Since they are from authentic resources, they can
contribute to the cultural component of a language programme (2002, 162-163).
5) Storytelling
Most children are interested in stories. Through stories they begin to
understand the environment around them. Wright (1995, 5) believes that
interesting stories help children become aware of the general ‗feel‘ and sound of
the foreign language. Stories can also introduce children to new language items
and sentence construction without their necessarily having to use them
productively. They can build reservoir of language in this way. Moreover, this
activity should be done in a relaxed situation in which the children can express
themselves freely. Therefore, it is better if they sit in semicircles on carpet or
chairs. Hence, they can face all their friends and all the visual aids can easily be
seen by all participants (Reilly & Ward 1997, 18).
Cameron also supports the idea and emphasizes that stories are the forms
of the holistic process of learning a language. Stories are able to offer a whole
imaginary world created by language, that children can enter and enjoy, learning
language as they go. Various themes begin from an overarching topic or idea that
can branch out in many different directions, allowing children to pursue personal
interests through the foreign language (2001, 159).

Figure 2.3 A sample of storybook (Balloons)
The teacher can ask the students to sit around him/her while they are
giving the examples of telling the story in the storybook and they repeat after
him/her. After repeating several times and they can memorize it quite well, the
teacher can ask them to perform it one by one. Most students are usually excited
to get their turns, even the shy ones although they speak very quietly.
6) Art projects
Georgiou and Pavlou reveal the advantage of having art project task for
the children. Purposeful projects are especially suitable for assessing mixed-
ability groups. Teachers can assign or avoid assigning specific tasks according to
the chidren‘s particular abilities. Moreover, projects lend themselves to integrating
language skills and promoting student creativity (2003, 10). Most of all, this
activity will train students‘ motor skills since the very young and young learners
are still in the state of synchronizing what is in their brain and the outcomes, i.e.
their actions. Nevertheless, they also argue that there is a weakness in this activity.
Some low achievers may find this activity too demanding. It may make them
worried that their works will be compared to others and it will discourage them to
enter the class.
Figure 2.4 A sample of art project
In the art project, teachers can ask the students to color the pictures well or
crumple colorful crepe paper and stick it on the picture. Hence, children learn to
train their motor skill and the vocabulary as well. It shows their achievement
when they can complete the task.

2. VYL teacher
Teaching young children with their special characteristics requires some
criteria for the teachers as well. The most important quality they need to possess is
good knowledge of the VYLs‘ characteristics. They need to prepare themselves to
be good teachers for the VYLs by empowering themselves with sufficient
knowledge of the VYLs. The teachers can take special education or training for
teaching the VYLs.
a. Teacher qualifications
Brewster et al. (2002) propose the idea of learning to learn for teachers and
students. Not only the students need to learn better but also the teachers. Learning
to learn comprises various activities to develop metacognitive awareness and
learning strategies. Its main concern is what and how the students learn. It also
acknowledges that different learners have different learning styles as well.
Therefore, as individuals, learners have their own preferences towards the
materials and activities. This is what teachers need to learn to enhance the
learners‘ awareness of their own learning strategies so that they can become more
effective and independent learners.
Learning to learn also recognizes individual differences in children‘s

learning in that they may use a variety of learning strategies at different
times depending on a range of variables, such as the nature of the learning
task, their learning style, their mood, and motivation level (p. 60).
The benefit of applying this approach to teachers‘ professional development is
that they are able to keep having reflections towards their teaching performance so
that they will keep improving themselves.

Different teachers mean different teaching styles. They are influenced by
individual preferences, personality, attitudes and beliefs of language learning, and
their classroom experiences. Brewster et al. (2002) suggest some strategies for
teachers for their professional development: making lesson plans, observing
lessons, storytelling (use self-assessment questionnaire to develop storytelling
skills), doing research, keeping a diary for reflections, producing materials,
reading articles in magazines or journals, and joining seminars and group
discussions (p. 277). Always learning for better personal development is the most
important key to be good teachers.
b. Teacher roles
Brumfit (2001) explain that teachers are the most essential facilitators and
organizers who use both language and culture as constructs. They simplify the
learners‘ tasks to learn and experience new things in their lives. Moreover, he
explains that the job of the teacher is the mixture between comprehension and
communication.
Teachers, unusually, operate with many large groups of people in the

course of a single working day. Their role is to communicate effectively,
and to cause effective communication within these groups—and each
group has to be generalized about in planning, in execution of the lesson,
in making judgements for assessment purposes, and in dealing with the
considerable affective demands that insecure learners make on their
teachers (2001, 37).
Teachers who work in informal language institutions will probably have to teach
more than a class with different kinds of students from different levels, from
VYLs to adult learners. Therefore, s/he needs to develop her/his interpersonal

skills to interact with those different groups of learners. VYLs have unique
characteristics so that the teachers need to treat them appropriately all the time in
different kinds of situations and behavior.
Richards and Rodgers also support this idea that teacher is
a source of knowledge and direction; others see the teacher‘s role as

catalyst, consultant, guide, and model for learning; still others try to
―teacher-proof‖ the instructional system by limiting teacher initiative and
by building instructional content and direction into texts or lesson plans‖
(2001, 28).
Of course, those roles do not appear in all teaching methods. Different methods
need different strategies and activities which also change the roles of the teachers
and learners in a classroom. The roles of the teacher are influenced by: (1) the
types of functions teachers are expected to fulfill, e.g. as a practice director,
counselor, or model; (2) teacher‘s degree of control over how the learning takes
place; (3) teacher‘s degree of responsibility in determining the material; (4) the
interactional patterns that develop between teachers and learners (2001, 28).
Therefore, teachers function as the primary source of language and of language
learning in the classical Audiolingual Method. They also become psychological
counselors whose effectiveness measures the counseling skills and attributes –
warmth, sensitivity, and acceptance. The various relationships between the
teachers and learners reflect what objectives and learning theories try to achieve.
Based on Wright (1987), Benson explains:
The role of the teacher within autonomous learning clearly falls within the
framework of interpretation teaching. Terms proposed to describe the role
of the teacher within this framework include facilitator, helper,
coordinator, counselor, consultant, adviser, knower and resource‖ (2001,
171).
Quoting Voller (1997), he further defines into three roles: facilitator (teacher as
providing support for learning); counselor (the emphasis is placed on one-to-one
interaction; and resource (teacher as a source of knowledge and expertise). Based
on these essential roles of teacher, teachers for the VYLs surely need to
accommodate all of them and adjust the roles to facilitate the VYLs‘ needs. Being
a helper for the VYLs here means s/he needs to be ready to show and teach them
the very basic skills such as cutting, coloring, gluing, and drawing since the VYLs
are still in the process of developing their motor skills. All those activities may be
the children‘s first experiences so that the teachers have to deal with them
carefully and patiently. Thence, the children will be autonomous in their own
rights. As a counselor, the teacher provides sufficient information regarding with
the children‘s progress to their parents and give feedback to enhance their English
proficiency and performance in the classroom. As a resource, the teacher provides
new knowledge of English to the children to internalize.
Moreover, Benson (2001) conveys that Voller (1997) summarizes the
functions and qualities of teachers into two major categories of technical and
psycho-social support. The technical support covers three major things. First,
teachers help learners plan and carry out their independent language learning, in
terms of needs analysis (both learning and language needs), objective setting
(short and long terms), planning work, selecting materials, and organizing
interactions. Next, they help learners evaluate themselves showing their progress.
Then, they also help learners acquire the skills and knowledge by enhancing their
autonomy in their learning. In this research context, the children‘s independent

learning involves the parents who help them continue their learning outside the
classroom. In this research, the participant provides today‘s lesson for the children
so that their parents can use it to revise and practice the materials at home.
The key features of psycho-social support covers some areas. First, they
should have personal qualities of the facilitator (being caring, supportive, patient,
tolerant, emphatic, open, non-judgemental). These humanistic qualities will
support learners in developing themselves. Moreover, they should have a capacity
for motivating the learners and an ability to raise learners‘ awareness (2001, 172).
Those features support the idea of teacher autonomy in which teachers
have freedom to determine their teaching styles, methods, materials to achieve the
goals of the learning. Hence, teacher education should also initiate both teacher
and learner autonomy, Little (1995) as quoted by Benson argues:
…teacher education should be subject to the same processes of negotiation

as are required for the promotion of learner autonomy in the language
classroom. Aims and learning targets, course content, the ways in which
course content is mediated, learning tasks, and the assessment of learner
achievement must all be negotiated; and the basis of this negotiation must
be a recognition that in the pedagogical process, teachers as well as
students can learn, and students as well as teachers can teach (2001, 175).
Referring to Lamb (2000), Benson concludes that the process of enhancing
autonomy involves critical reflection of the discrepancies of the lived experiences
and knowledge in terms of professional assumptions about teaching and learning.
Therefore, it is essential for teachers to do reflection of their lived experience
regarding their performance as a teacher so that not only teachers themselves are
able to perform better but the learners as well.

Next, Brewster et al. (2007) draw a cyclical model of teacher thinking and
learning. It illustrates how teachers work on their lived experiences to optimize
their learning and teaching performance. The more experiences they gain both
inside and outside class, the richer their understanding of how students learn.
TEACHERS‘ Beliefs about language

THEORIES & teaching & learning
BELIEFS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TEACHERS‘ Post-lesson: Pre-lesson:

PLANNING Absorb & adapt Draw on experience of
new information teaching & learners‘
responses & behavior
-------------------------------------Evaluation-----------------------Match----------------
TEACHERS‘ Tactics: Task:

DECISIONS learners‘ behavior in learning experiences for
specific teaching situations specific & general goals
STRATEGY
Figure 2.5 A cyclical model of teacher thinking and learning (Adapted from
Anning (1988) by Brewster et al. (2007, 38))
Rogers (1994), as quoted by Scrivener, suggests that there are three
important characteristics that will enable an effective learning environment: (1)
respect: a positive and non judgmental regard for another person; (2) empathy:
ability to see things from the other person‘s point of view; (3) authenticity:
becoming oneself without hiding behind job titles, roles or masks (2005, 24).
Becoming a teacher for the VYLs, one should own those three criteria. Respecting
the VYLs as individuals will help the children develop their confidence and
positive attitudes towards others. Moreover, teachers need to see the world in the
VYLs‘ point of view so that they will understand the students better. As
individuals having different personalities and teaching styles, teachers need to be
themselves in front of the children. Hence they can interact with the students
naturally and in a friendly way. Most of all, Herrera and Hojel (1998) highlight
that to become good teachers, we must always show our enthusiasm in teaching
and learning by doing silly things that VYLs enjoy such as pretending to be a
rabbit hopping around the class, making ugly expressions, and even doing silly
dancing movement.
In terms of assessment for VYLs, teachers need to consider how to do it
wisely. Linse stated that assessment is the process of gathering of information for
a specific purpose. When buying a book, someone chooses one or even some
books which involves assessment towards thousands of books available in the
store. Since people usually do this automatically, they do not realize that they do
assessment. Yet, there are other times when assessment is more conscious, such as
making a decision as to which job to take or university to apply to (2005, 138).
She further explained that assessment is different from evaluation. Quoting
Brindley (2003), she states ―Assessment refers to collecting information and
making judgment on a learner‘s knowledge, whereas evaluation is used when
collecting and interpreting information for making decisions about effectiveness
of an education program‖ (p. 138).
Wiggins supports the idea by proposing ―that assessment should be
educative in two basic senses.‖ It ―should be deliberately designed to teach (not
just measure) by revealing to students what worthy adult work looks like (offering
them authentic tasks)‖ and it ―should provide rich and useful feedback to all
students and to their teachers.‖ Therefore, it should be able to ―assess the use
feedback by both students and teachers‖ (1998, 12). Generally, if educators want
to improve the quality of educative assessment, they need to change and reform
the whole educational system itself. This mission is certainly cannot be done
instantly. Small actions can contribute to the betterment of not only the students
but also the educational institutions. Hence, ELTI kindergarten program does not
apply failing system for the VYLs. All students go to the next level after they
finish one level and no one fails. For the scoring system, they use only two
categories for some criteria, namely always and sometimes. It is done to avoid the
higher demand from parents or competition among the students. Most of all,
assessment is done daily by observing all the learners‘ progress in the class, how
they perform and participate that day.
3. Lived experience
In order to extract the essential themes of someone‘s lived experiences, a
researcher needs to immerse with the participant‘s life. Van Manen (1990) states
that the study of human science is
phenomenological, hermeneutic, and semiotic or language oriented, not

just because that happens to be the particular interest or prejudice of the
author but rather because pedagogy requires a phenomenological
sensitivity to lived experience (children‘s realities and lifeworlds). It
scrutinizes a particular phenomenon comprehensively to gain the essence
and the significance of the situations. Pedagogy comprises ―the activity of
teaching, parenting, educating, or generally living with children, that
requires constant practical acting in concrete situations and relations (p. 2).
Furthermore, he explains that the most essential part of this study is the narrative
reflections on the meaningful lived experiences and daily real practices in the real
world reality in order to enhance someone‘s understanding and knowledge. It
means that
Phenomenology describes how one orients to lived experience,

hermeneutics describes how one interprets the ―texts‖ of life, and
semiotics is used here to develop a practical writing or linguistic approach
to the method of phenomenology and hermeneutics (1990, 4).
Next, he outlines six methodological procedures which are very useful to
the conduct hermeneutic phenomenological research.
1) Turning to a phenomenon of interest
2) Investigating experience as we live in it rather than conceptualizing it
3) Reflecting on the essential themes which characterize the phenomenon
4) Describing the phenomena—the art of writing and rewriting
5) Maintaining a strong and orientated relation to the phenomenon
6) Balancing the research context by considering the parts and the whole
(Van Manen 1990, 30).
I found that these six steps are helpful to guide me conducting my research and to
make me focus on the right path.
Dilthey (1976) as quoted by Moustakas states that
… all science and scholarship is empirical but all experience is originally

connected, and given validity, by our consciousness … it is impossible to
go beyond consciousness, to see, as it were, without eyes or to direct a
cognitive gaze behind the eye itself …. From this point of view our picture
of the whole of nature stands revealed as a shadow cast by a hidden
reality; undistorted reality exists for us in the facts of consciousness given
by inner experience (1994, 8).
It can be understood that in interpreting one‘s experience, it is impossible to
examine that particular experience only without considering other facts because
they are connected and they influence each other. Understanding an experience
means that we also understand the internal and external factors involved in the
particular experience. Thus, in understanding the participant‘s lived experience, I
myself cannot separate my own experience as a teacher for the VYLs. Hence, in
this research, as a researcher, I collaborate with the participant to uncover and
elaborate the meaningful experience to gain thorough understanding of the
phenomena.
Moustakas (1994), furthermore, asserts that ―Intentional experience
incorporates a real content, in and through which we dwell in thought, perception,
memory, judgment, and feeling, in order to comprehend its essences‖ (p. 55).
There is no ultimate ending of the process of its interpretation of meaning.
Referring to Schutz who concerns with Husserl‘s ideas of sociology and scientific
study of social behavior, Cohen et al. (2000) highlight that the main concern is
―understanding the meaning structure of the world of everyday life...meaning can
be accounted for in this way by the concept of reflexivity‖ (p. 24). As Van Manen
states ―phenomenological reflection is not introspective but retrospective.
Reflection on lived experience is always recollective; it is reflection on experience
that is already passed or lived through‖ (1990, 10). The process of reflection itself
cannot only be done once but several times until we get the comprehensive
understanding, to the best of our knowledge. In conclusion, lived experience is

the essence of meaning gained through conscious contemplative reflections on the
past and present experiences.
4. Related research
More researchers are interested in conducting research on children L2
learning. They examine different kinds of aspects of children L2 learning. They
observe the L2 acquisition in early childhood, the influence of adults and children
interaction to their learning, and misconceptions of early childhood L2 learning.
With the higher interest of phenomenological research in education field, more
researchers investigate their studies by employing this approach to gain better
understanding of the participant‘s stories of lived experiences. I, therefore,
summarize the similar researches on early childhood learning and
phenomenological studies.
Bodrova and Leong (2003) in their article emphasize that the age before
children enter elementary school is the most fundamental part of child
development. This development can be divided into several major themes: 1)
Dynamic system of mental functions: the period when the process of formation
goes through its initial stages, when children‘s use of language continues to
transform their perception and begins to transform their attention, memory,
imagination, and thinking; 2) The child‘s growing mastery of his or her behavior:
the preschool years culminate in the child‘s overcoming the dependence on the
environmental stimuli and becoming capable of intentional behavior through the
use of self-regulatory private speech and participation in make-believe play; 3) A

holistic process with emotions and cognition acting in unity and affecting each
other; 4) The social situation of development is the ―basic source‖ of development
(p. 159-160). They further reveal that the particular period is essential to
determine Vygotsky‘s approach to the transition from preschool to school age,
including the issue of school readiness, since the social situation becomes very
crucial part of their development. Hence, I want to develop further research to
gain better understanding of the teacher‘s lived experience in teaching
kindergarten classes. Despite the very young learners‘ limitation in learning
English; they still have problems in motor, verbal, and cognitive skills, they can
acquire better progress in some areas, especially related with their speaking skill
such as pronunciation, intonation, and fluency. I would like to elaborate the
experiences of the teacher dealing with the VYLs.
Barry Mclaughlin (1992) discusses in his article some misconceptions
about L2 learning for children. He reveals some facts related with this matter and
gives some suggestion for Language Learning for children as follows:
a. Children learn second languages quickly and easily: in some cases, older
learners also shows better pronunciation. Therefore, he suggests that teachers
should not expect miraculous results from children who learn English as L2.
b. The younger the child, the more skilled in acquiring a second language: the
study conducted by Stern, Burstall, and Harley, showed in a study of 17,000
British children learning French in school, those who started at age 11
performed better on tests of second language proficiency than those who
started from 8. There are also some researches showing similar results.
Nevertheless, the results of those studies do not mean that learning L2 early is
disadvantageous. It ―allows for a long sequence of instruction leading to
potential communicative proficiency‖ and also ―allows children to view
second language learning and the insights they acquire into another culture as
normal and integral parts of schooling.‖
c. The more time students spend in a second language context, the quicker they
learn the language: Over the length of the program, children in bilingual
classes, where there is exposure to the home language and to English, have
been found to acquire English language skills equivalent to those acquired by
children who have been in English-only programs.
d. Children have acquired a second language once they can speak it: The
assumption of good verbal ability means learners have mastered the linguistic
features as well is not always correct. McLaughlin reveals that ―Cummins and
others speak of the ―linguistic façade,‖ whereby children appear to be fluent in
a language because of their oral skills but have not mastered the more
disembedded and decontextualized aspects of the language.‖ Therefore,
educators should not neglect more specific aspects of language features and
must give proper lessons related to these matters.
e. All children learn a second language in the same way: Children from different
social and cultural backgrounds have different learning strategies (1992,
http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/pubs/ncrcdsll/epr5.htm). <Accessed on June 10,
2008>
He also adds that more active and confident students develop their
speaking ability better than those who are shy and quiet. Yet, since those who are
shy and quiet pay more attention to details, they develop their accuracy in using
the language better. Therefore, teachers should be aware of learners‘ differences
so that they can interact and treat them appropriately. Hence, they can set more
effective instructions for them that can enable more positive and conducive
learning atmosphere for different learners. Most of all, parents who teach children
from their birth need to re-consider their decision of teaching L2 to them due to
their individual differences. It is essential to evaluate whether the children are
ready or not to learn L2.
McLeod (2001) acknowledges the values of teachers‘ lived experiences for
their professional development. Their meaningful experiences contribute to their
quality advancement as educators.
Teaching is not a journey taken in isolation. It is social action where

children, parents, other teachers are fellow voyagers who bring to each
interaction individual biographies, lived experiences and perspectives. The
ability to understand these perspectives, to utilize the knowledge of work,
language and power to facilitate the teaching act, is a function of the
totality of each teacher‘s lived experience.
From the views, I learn that the study of teacher‘s lived experience is
worth doing in order to gain better understanding of being a teacher for the VYLs
in the particular language institution because the teacher interacts with those
classes directly.
Van Manen (1990) suggests that we should mine the essential meanings of
the lived experiences through meditations, conversations, daydreams, inspirations,
and other interpretive acts. Therefore, in this study, I did the reflective
conversations during the in-depth interview with the participant, meditations and
other thoughtful activities to interpret the essential meanings of the phenomena.
Furthermore, Van Manen (1990) emphasizes that in order to answer the questions
about the notion of pedagogy (parenting or teaching), we should seek the answers
in the experiences of pedagogy itself. We should examine the real lifeworld where
the experiences of pedagogy are happening. Hence, qualified and reliable data
could be obtained for further interpretation and analysis.
B. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
A framework for research is essential as the main guidance for a
researcher. There is, surely, not only a single framework which can accommodate
a single study. The main framework consists of sub-frameworks. It means that
there are frameworks within a framework. Creswell emphasizes the need of a
framework:
For those designing a proposal or plan, I recommend that a general

framework be adopted to provide guidance about all facets of the study,
from assessing the general philosophical ideas behind the inquiry to the
detailed data collection and analysis procedures. Using an extant
framework also allows researchers to lodge their plans in ideas well
grounded in the literature and recognized by audiences e.g. faculty
committees that read and support proposals for research (2003, 3).
Therefore, I tried to build the adopted framework for this study based on the
theoretical and literature reviewed in the previous part. I formed the framework as
the pre-figured themes since the results of phenomenological study were the
essential themes of the participant‘s lived experiences (Creswell, 2003).

Teaching English to VYLs is very different from teaching English to
adults. Very young learners have very unique characteristics which are very
different from adult learners. Moreover, they still have not developed their body
and socio-emotion well. Most of the things they learn at school become new
experiences for them to explore. Therefore, a good teacher needs to understand
the VYLs‘ physical and emotional constraints so that s/he is able to treat them
properly during the teaching-learning process (Dodge and Colker 1992; Cameron
2001; Wilburn 2000). The first theme, good knowledge of the VYLs’
characteristics is needed to determine the suitable class activities. In one class,
there are certainly different kinds of children who can be shy, active, hyperactive,
critical, introvert, extrovert, attentive, obedient, and bad-tempered.
As individuals having different kinds of personalities, VYLs certainly
have different learning styles as well. The teacher should be able to deal with all
of them and find the strategies and activities to enable them to learn English
cheerfully. In determining the good strategies and interesting activities, teacher‘s
creativity is strongly needed. The next theme, creativity can be enriched by
learning from various resources and experiences. The learning activities should be
fun, interesting, and meaningful as good introduction of L2 to the VYLs
(Brewster, et al. 2002).
In conducting a kindergarten class, adjustments to the materials, lesson
plans, and activities are needed. Being flexible with all of them will make the
kindergarten class run better. Good learning materials need to be introduced,
reinforced, and recycled in a fun way so that the VYLs will have good impression
for the rest of their lives (Brewster, et al. 2002). Therefore, flexibility becomes the
next theme.
As a part of the institution, teachers should build good collaboration and
cooperation of all the parties involved determine its success. The teacher, hence,
needs to be able to build good relationship with other teachers, the students, the
parents, and the institution itself. It is related with the teacher roles as a source of
knowledge, counselor, helper, and facilitator (Brewster, et al. 2002; Benson 2001;
Rogers 1994).
Lastly, since the teacher becomes one of the most essential parts of the
kindergarten program, the teacher needs to have good commitment towards the
job as a teacher, to the students, to the institution, and to the community. Having
good commitment involves respect, empathy, and authenticity (Rogers 1994 in
Scrivener 2005).
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents the research design for the study. It included the
methodology and the procedures that will be employed in this research. Therefore,
this section is divided into five major parts, namely (1) research method, (2)
research design, (3) data and data gathering technique, (4) research procedure, (5)
data analysis and interpretation.
A. RESEARCH METHOD
This research adopted a progressive qualitative method which aimed to
explore and interpret the teacher’s lived experience in teaching the VYLs in
kindergarten class. The formulated research question is “What is the teacher’s
lived experience in teaching English to the VYLs?”. Based on Rossman and Rallis
(1998), Creswell (2003, 181-183) proposes that a qualitative research: (1) takes
place in the natural setting; (2) uses multiple methods that are interactive and
humanistic; (3) is emergent rather than tightly prefigured; (4) is fundamentally
interpretive; (5) puts the researcher to view the social phenomena holistically; (6)
encourages the researcher systematically to reflect on who he or she is in the
inquiry and is sensitive to his or her personal biography and how it shapes the
study; (7) encourages the researcher use complex reasoning that is multi-faceted,
iterative and simultaneous; (8) inspires the researcher adopt and use one or more
strategies of inquiry as a guide for the procedures in the qualitative study.
56
This is also a hermeneutic phenomenological study which attempts to
describe and interpret the texts of life. It is phenomenology because it describes
the lived experience (phenomena) in the attempt to enrich lived experience by
mining its meaning. It is also hermeneutics because it interprets the expressions
and texts of lived experience (Van Manen 1990, 38). Therefore, I tried to
elaborate the phenomenon that became the focus of my study, the description and
interpretation of the meaningful experiences of teaching English to the VYLs. It
was accomplished by observing the participant’s journal, observing and recording
the participant’s classes, note taking, having interviews and re-interviews. These
steps were taken to acquire as complete information as possible so that I was able
to examine the information holistically. The various steps and data were used to
enhance the trustworthiness of the study through data triangulation.
The major data employed in this study were the narrative stories of the
participant obtained from the in-depth interviews and journal. Therefore, I needed
to scrutinize the stories carefully because they were the core of hermeneutics
study. It involved the art of reading a text so that the intention and meaning
behind appearances were fully understood. The inseparable interrelationship of
the underlying intention and meaning of the lived experiences provided a central
meaning and unity that enables one to understand the substance and essence of the
experience. Interrelationship of science, art, and history is at the heart of
hermeneutic design and methodology (Moustakas 1994, 9). Thus, Creswell (2007)
suggests that “the researcher needs to decide how and in what way his or her
personal understandings will be introduced to the study” (p. 62). Hence, I
collaborated with the participant to derive the essential themes of the study.
B. DATA AND DATA GATHERING TECHNIQUE
The study employed several techniques to collect the data. This section
covers five essential parts: (1) Nature of data and data collection technique; (2)
setting; (3) participant; and (4) validation.
1. Nature of data and data collection technique
All of the data needed to conduct this research would be in the form of
texts delivered in narratives. The texts were collected from the participant’s
stories. The data were gathered through three class observations during the
program. Then, in-depth interviews were conducted with the participant to get
complete narrative stories of the participant’s lived experience. The interviews
were conducted in an informal atmosphere outside the work area and working
hour so that the participant and I felt more comfortable to share stories. Since the
data gained from the interviews were essential, therefore, good instrumentations
were strongly needed. Good interview techniques should be planned well. They
were built from the research framework and construct. It can be seen in the Table
3.1
Data collection types Options within types

Observations  Complete participant: researcher conceals role
 Observer as participant: role of researcher is
known
 Complete observer: researcher observes
without participating
Interviews  Face-to-face: one on one, in-person interview
Documents  Private document: journals
Audiovisual materials  Photographs
 Video recording
 Art objects
Table 3.1 Qualitative Data Collection Types (Adapted from Creswell (2003))
From the table above, it can be seen that the data consisted of (1) a series
of class observations obtained by recording and field notes presented in the
narrative texts (2) a series of recorded interviews presented in the interview
transcripts, (3) photos (class situations and art projects), and (4) art projects
produced by the learners which were presented in photos. The data were taken
from various aspects so that they could enhance the validity and trustworthiness of
the research.
The data retrieved from the class observations and interviews were
collected into corpus of data to make the analysis and interpretation easier to be
implemented. They were presented in tables and also in the interview transcripts.
Therefore, I made the interview questions based on the construct of my study. It
can be seen in Figure 3.1 The interview pointers.

Figure 3.1 The Interview Pointers

2. Setting
I chose ELTI as my research setting after considering the opportunity,
accessibility, good relationship, willingness for sharing information, and the
richness of experiences of the participant (Creswell 2007). Furthermore, I do
believe that ELTI is one of the reputable and respected language institutions in
Yogyakarta which has served the community since 1985. In 2008, ELTI
Yogyakarta was awarded as the second best English language institution in
Indonesia. With its long experiences, there are plenty things to explore from the
institution in my research. I am particularly interested in conducting an intensive
research on the kindergarten program in the language institution.
As a respected English language institution in Yogyakarta, ELTI recruited
the teachers through several selection steps to ensure their quality as English
teachers. Since not all the teachers came from the English education program,
they always trained the teachers after the recruitment to equip them with the
teaching skills, class management, and the institution programs and policies.
Thus, all the teachers were well trained and prepared before they taught their
classes.
The data collection was done in a natural setting in which I did not
interfere any class activities in the class. However, I sometimes participated in
those class activities so that the students did not feel disturbed with my presence. I
myself could understand the students better and could describe what was going on
in the class during my observation clearer.

The kindergarten program in which the participant was involved with
consisted 6 levels: red, orange, yellow, purple, blue, and green. The kindergarten
program was founded in January 2004. There were 28 meetings in each level. In
the middle (14th meeting) and the last meeting (28th meeting), there was parents’
day in which teachers give progress report to the parents.
There were two series of books that were used in the program, Balloons 1
and Balloons 2. Each series was used for three levels. The books were equipped
with workbooks so that the students could have more exercises at home. There
were, of course, other supplementary materials used in the program taken from
different kinds of resources.
The classroom was specially designed for the VYLs. There were four
different color sets of tables and chairs with carpet on the floor. The room was
also air-conditioned to make the children feel more comfortable studying in the
classroom. Each meeting lasted 60 minutes. Moreover, there were 2 teachers in
the classroom with 9 to 16 students and 1 teacher for class with 6 to 8 students.
Children aged 3 to 7 years old were allowed to take this program.
3. Participant
In this research, I focus on one participant. As Creswell (2007, 119)
suggests that in a phenomenological study, a researcher needs to find one or more
individuals to study. The individuals who have experienced all the phenomena
being explored and can articulate their lived experiences. Moustakas (1994, 107)
suggests similar criteria with Creswell that the research participant: 1) has
experienced the phenomenon; 2) is intensely interested in understanding its nature
and meanings; 3) is willing to participate in a lengthy interview, 4) grants the
researcher the right to record the interview and publish the data in a dissertation
and other publications. Therefore, I chose the participant because she is one of
English teachers at ELTI having experienced teaching all levels of kindergarten
program: red, orange, yellow, blue, purple, and green. Therefore, I chose Ms.
Sensi as my main participant. She took English Literature and graduated from
Sanata Dharma University in 2003. Although she did not come from English
education background, I do believe that her diverse teaching experiences in the
language institution have built her as a qualified English teacher. Moreover, she
has taught the kindergarten classes since she joined the institution for the first
time in 2004, after she joined the institution and after the kindergarten program
had just been established. Therefore, as she grew with the development of the
program itself, she had comprehensive knowledge about the ups and downs, the
good and bad things, and the sad and happy moments. Most of all, her great
interest in this particular topic of the study and her willingness to share her diverse
and precious experiences make her the most suitable participant for my research.
Another reason that made me choose her as my participant was my
friendship with her since both of us joined the language institution. Being teachers
in the language institution, we often shared stories, problems, interesting
experiences which encouraged me to conduct this research. Her colleague teachers
stated that she is a patient person who loves working with children. For her,
children are always fun to work with and they are full of surprises. Therefore, she
is never bored teaching the VYLs. Since we worked in the same place, she was
more accessible to cooperate with. I do believe that the readers can learn many
things from the lived experiences.
In the language institution, the full-time teachers work from Monday to
Saturday. There are three groups of teachers, which have different working hours.
Ms Sensi is in group C so that she works from 08.30 to 11.45, has a break from
11.45 to 13.45, and continues from 13.45 to 18.00 on Thursday and Friday.
Meanwhile, on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, she works from 13.45 to
21.00. Then, she works from 12.45 to 19.00 and on Saturday. In the high season,
she can have 3 to 5 classes a day with the duration of 60 minutes for Kids and
SLTP programs, 90 minutes for High school and Conversation program, and 120
minutes for TOEFL. Therefore, she can work for approximately 30 hours per
week. In the regular classes, there are usually 8 to 19 students but in the
Kindergarten program, the maximum number of students is 16.
In order to be able to use her real name in this research, I asked her to sign
a consent stating her willingness to participate. As Creswell (2007) and
Moustakas (1994) state that a phenomenological study requires a researcher to
provide a consent signed by the participant and the researcher as a legal contract
and for the validity of the data obtained from the participant.
4. Validation
Validation is essential in a qualitative research. Angen (2000) as quoted by
Creswell formulated validation a “judgment of the trustworthiness or goodness of

a piece of research” (2007, 205). She emphasizes that the most important key to
make interpretive research worthy of our trust is by conducting open-dialogue on
the particular topic of the research. Further, she formulates two types of
validation: ethical validation and substantive validation. Ethical validation
includes the underlying moral consumptions, the political and ethical
implications, and the equitable treatment of diverse voices. While substantive
validation means understanding one’s own understandings of the topic. The
understandings are derived from other sources and the documentation of this
process in the written study. What determines most to the validation is self-
reflection (2007, 205-206).
Creswell (2007, 209), further, suggests that a researcher adopts at least two
validation strategies in any given study. Therefore, I decided to choose two
strategies. The first was triangulation in which I made use of multiple and
different sources, method, and theories to provide evidence in order to shed light
on a theme or perspective. The second one was thick description in which I
described in detail the participant’s life world in order to enable the readers to
transfer information to other settings and to determine whether the findings could
be transferred “because of shared characteristics.” The thick description was
presented in the analysis.
C. RESEARCH PROCEDURES
In conducting this research I adopted Van Manen’s six methodological
procedures so that they would make me more focused and organized. However, I
made some adjustments to those steps to fit my needs in investigating the
phenomenon.
1. Turning to a phenomenon of interest
The first thing I did as a researcher was finding the topic that interested me
to investigate. Then, I collected the information needed to support the significance
of my research. Hence, the problem of my research could be formulated. After
being approved, I determined the research setting and participant who could help
me conduct the research. Next, I gathered the theories needed to build the research
construct and framework so that I obtained the pre-understanding of the
phenomenon.
2. Investigating experience as we live in it rather than conceptualizing it
While building my research construct, I also did some class observations
and other supporting data collection. During the observations, I sometimes
participated in the activities to obtain better understanding of the participant’s
experience. However, as Van Manen states that a researcher needs to investigate
experience as living in it, I also gathered my own experiences as a teacher for the
VYLs so that I could elaborate the participant’s stories more comprehensively
during the in-depth interview. The other documents that I employed to support the
main data were photos, video recordings, daily journal written by the participant,
and the today’s lesson. The photos were taken during the class observations and
outside class since the art project photos could be taken after the class. The video
recordings were used so that I would be able to see what I might miss during the
field notes taking of the class observations. I asked the participant to write the
daily journal for three months. However, it was not written every day. It was only
written after the participant had kindergarten class on that day. The today’s lesson
was made by the participant or the share teacher as the substitution of taking notes
for the children so that parents could review the lessons at home.
The main data of this research were taken through in-depth interviews.
The pointers of the in-depth interviews were created after the researcher built the
research framework so that all essential points could be elaborated.
3. Reflecting on the essential themes which characterize the phenomenon
After all the data had been obtained, essential pre-figured and emergent
themes could be analyzed. Those essential themes served as the reflection for the
researcher and participant to perform and actualize ourselves better.
4. Describing the phenomena—the art of writing and rewriting
Investigating the phenomena of this research was done to achieve the main
goals of this research, which were describing and interpreting the participant’s
stories. Since the main data of the research was in the form of texts of the
participant’s stories, I needed to write and rewrite the narratives. Then, I presented
to the participant to check whether the narratives were acceptable or not. Hence,
the participant and I did the reflection of the research by doing the re-interview to
synchronize all the information and stories to enhance the accountability and
trustworthiness of the research results.
5. Maintaining a strong and orientated relation to the phenomenon
After all the data had been gathered, I analyzed them and wrote them,
interpreted them into some essential themes of the phenomenon. From those
themes, I could interpret the essential meanings of the participant’s lived
experience of being a teacher for the VYLs.
6. Balancing the research context by considering the parts and the whole
Finally, I drew the conclusion and gave the suggestions. Hence, all the
research contexts and significances were formulated.
D. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION
In this part, I explain how I summarized all the data obtained during the
observation and in-depth interviews. Summarizing all the data gathered, I
extracted the meanings so that I could formulate the essential themes of my study.
1. Data summary
The goal of this research was to interpret the participant’s narratives from
the interviews in order to reveal the essential meaning of their stories emerging as
themes. There were several steps needed to be accomplished.

First, I made the pointers for the in-depth interview built from the research
constructs. Hence, the participant would be able to reveal the stories more fluidly.
Then, I did some observations inside the class and outside class. I also read the
daily journal that the participant made. After that, I wrote the stories into
narratives and had the participant check it again before the re-interview. After
conducting the re-interview, I re-wrote the narratives again.
2. Data organization
In order to organize the text well, I needed to own good description
strategy. I had to refer back to all the data that cover the observation results, daily
journals, photos, video recording, and the interview transcripts. This part contains
the description of the lived experience of teaching English to the VYLs.
3. Interpretation
After describing the teacher’s lived experience in teaching English to the
VYLs, I interpreted the teacher’s narrative stories based on the findings, the
prefigured themes, and the emergent themes. I interpreted it holistically. Creswell
(2003) suggests that in order to interpret the essential themes comprehensively,
there are several vital steps that need to be performed. First, a researcher needs to
read the written transcripts carefully several times to obtain the essential
meanings. Next, s/he has to identify the significant phrases or sentences that
transmit directly to the lived experiences of the participant. Then, s/he formulates
the meanings and clusters them into themes that are common to all of the
participant’s transcripts. After that, s/he needs to integrate the results into an in-
depth, exhaustive description of the phenomenon. Finally, s/he has to validate the
research findings with the participants, and include their final remarks in the final
description (p. 89).
In the following table, I sorted the units of relevant meanings and prepared
them to be formulated as the essential themes. The essential themes consisted
those that had been prefigured and those that emerged from the interpretation.
Topic Text Code

Share teacher Karena saya kan orangnya pelupa, jadi harus ada yang ATT
mengingatkan saya, khususnya saat mulai kelas baru,
terutama nama anak-anak. Jadi kalau ada share-teacher
nya, bisa saling mengingatkan.
Kalau saya punya dua kelas kindergarten dalam 1 hari, PRO

biasanya nge-prep nya aja sering bingung, jadi harus
ada yang mengingatkan atau bergiliran menyiapkan.
Saya banyak sekali belajar dari Ms Pipin. Hampir semua
cara menghadapi anak-anak saya pelajari dari dia. Saya
belajar caranya kerjasama yang baik dengan share-
teacher kita. Di luar kelas pun kami berteman baik. Kita
harus sabar tapi tetep tegas menghadapi anak-anak.
Harus ada aturan-aturan yang jelas. Kita harus punya
aturan yang sama. Saya pernah punya share-teacher
yang sering membentak anak-anak. Jadi kalau saya yang
melarang ya sudah gak mempan lagi buat mereka karena
mereka sudah terbiasa dengan bentakan. Trus, share-
teacher saya itu juga tidak mau mendengarkan nasehat
saya. Jadi ya saya hanya bisa diam saja. Setelah tidak
berpasangan dengan dia di kelas tersebut karena dia
keluar dari ELTI, saya juga diprotes oleh orangtua
siswa, “sekarang kok anak-anak kurang disiplin ya
setelah Ms X tidak mengajar mereka lagi?” Saya
jelaskan kalau saya tidak bisa membentak anak-anak.
Kadang-kadang mereka juga malah bilang, “dimarahi
aja Ms, gak pa pa kok asal dia nurut n mau
mendengarkan.” Saya cuma senyum saja.
Sejauh ini, saya cukup beruntung punya pasangan FLX

mengajar yang cekatan dan flexible. Bisa saling
bergantian dan mengingatkan untuk prep di 1 kelas.

Kalau di dalam kelas, biasanya kami sudah saling tau
kapan harus bergantian mengajar, handle anak-anak, n
kapan kita harus saling bantu.
Seperti share teacher saya yang suka hugging ma anak- ATT

anak, ya saya ingatkan lagi di luar kelas untuk
mengurangi n tau saat yang tepat buat hugging.
Table 3.2 Excerpt of the participant’s interview coding

CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS RESULTS
This chapter presents the detailed description of the findings from the
exploration of the phenomena in order to elaborate the lived experiences of the
teacher in teaching English to the VYLs. Thus, essential themes can be obtained.
I divide this chapter into two parts. First, I describe the participant’s story
extracted from the in-depth interviews, observation, and the participant’s journal.
The story is presented in a narration form to reveal rich description of the
participant’s lived experiences. Furthermore, in the second part, I elaborate the
essential themes obtained from the participant’s stories. After the participant and I
signed the consent stating that she was willing that her identity would be revealed
in this research, I was able to present the story using the participant’s real name.
Meanwhile, other names mentioned by the participant were all pseudonyms to
protect their privacy.
A. Sensi’s story
This part covers the summary of the participant’s lived experiences
obtained from the in-depth interviews, observation, and the participant’s journal.
In order to make the narrative of the participant’s lived experiences more
organized and easier to understand, I divided the story into several parts: 1)
Sensi’s background; 2) How Sensi joined ELTI and the Kindergarten program; 3)
Sensi’s joy and problems of teaching the VYLs; and 4) Sensi’s beliefs.
72
1. Sensi’s background
Her full name is Vincentia Narastuti but her family and friends usually call
her Sensi. She was born on 5 April 1979 in Yogyakarta. She studied in Sanata
Dharma University majoring in English Literature and graduated in 2003.
Actually, Sanata Dharma was not her first choice. She wanted to take
International Relation at Gajah Mada University. Unfortunately, she did not pass
the test. Then, her mother gave her two options, taking Economics at Atmajaya
University or English at Sanata Dharma University. Since she does not like
Economics and Mathematics, she decided to study at Sanata Dharma University.
She also realized the increasing demand of English fluency as an international
language which has different kinds of variations in its use. She did not take
English Education because in her opinion, there were a lot of rules for the
lectures, such as wearing formal outfit especially skirt and putting some make-up
in some subjects. There were also some hard field works. She is a simple woman
who always likes casual clothes. She does not like wearing formal clothes with
heavy makeup. She thought that she could be more relaxed and would have the
opportunity to read a lot of novels and other masterpieces if she studied English
Literature. Briefly, she felt that English Literature gave her more freedom to learn
what she likes and there were not too many rules for dress code. She could wear
T-shirt and jeans when she joined the lectures. Although she entered the
University in 1997 she graduated in the early 2003. She was sick for quite long
time so that she could not complete her undergraduate thesis on time (Interview
Transcript 1-Teacher’s Background-INT).

2. How Sensi joined ELTI and the Kindergarten program
After her graduation, she applied to some Government departments in
Jakarta. She took the tests and tried to live there for a week but she could not
enjoy living there. She thought that the traffic jams, pollution, and crimes would
make her get more and more stressful. Then, she tried to find a job in some places
and became a freelancer as a translator. A friend of hers persuaded her to apply a
job to be an English teacher at ELTI Yogyakarta. At that time, she was not
interested and refused it. It did not mean that she did not want to be a teacher but
she was more interested in becoming a public relation officer. Her friend kept
persuading her and finally she was willing to try applying there. Finally, she was
accepted there although she just wanted to try at the beginning (Interview
Transcript 1-How she worked at ELTI).
At the beginning, when she became a teacher there, she faced a lot of
difficulties because she did not have enough teaching experiences. She did
become a private teacher for several times but she felt that it was very different
from teaching in a classroom with a lot of students. Although there were not as
many students as in formal school, there were at least ten to nineteen students
(Interview Transcript 1-How she became a teacher-PRO).
When she entered the language institution, the program was still brand
new. It had just been launched to the public for several months. The program
founder, Ms Vivin, offered her to be a teacher in the program. Since the program
was still new, not all teachers were assigned to teach the classes. Only those who
wanted to teach the classes voluntarily were given the classes. She was very
confused but Ms Vivin was patient and understanding. She never forced her. She
asked her to observe the classes to see what they were like. Then, she observed
the classes several times and began to like them (Interview Transcript 1-How she
became a teacher-OPT).
After several weeks, there was a new class, Red level. Ms Vivin asked her
to be her share teacher and convinced her that she would only help and become
her assistant in the classroom until she was ready to teach in front of the class. She
eventually accepted the offer as Ms Vivin’s share teacher. In the program, there
are twenty-eight meetings in one level. Every meeting lasts sixty minutes. There
are also parents’ day in meeting fourteen and twenty-eight. In some of the first
meetings, she only assisted her in the class and she just took care of the noisy
children or those who needed help with the art project (Interview Transcript 1-
How she became a teacher-OPT).
3. Sensi’s joy and problems of teaching the VYLs
Indeed, she needs time to adapt to work there as a teacher. She felt
comfortable and started enjoying her role as a teacher after about two years. When
she became a teacher, she learned new things. There have been a lot of exciting,
annoying, even touching experiences not only with the children, but also with the
share teachers, students’ parents, materials, and the management of the language
institution (Interview Transcript 1-What she thinks about herself and the
program).
It also took some time before she felt comfortable and confident to teach in
front of the children. Therefore, they started to share responsibilities and materials
that should be taught to the children. At that time, all materials, today’s lesson,
and art-projects were unavailable so that everything had to be prepared several
days before, including the lesson plans. Therefore, she and Ms Vivin usually met
several days before the class to discuss the lesson plans. She practically only
helped choose the activities because all the ideas came from Ms Vivin and she
usually asked her opinion to choose the activities, materials, and art-project.
Honestly, she was overwhelmed with the complicated preparation and the new
things that she had to learn fast. They had to browse the internet for class
activities and art-projects. One day, Ms Vivin was sick so that she had to prepare
all the materials, today’s lesson, art project, and lesson plans by herself. It became
the starting point for her to be independent in doing the preparation. “Ms Vivin is
my teacher and also my best friend.” She still keeps communicating and sharing
stories, especially about the students, with her until now (Interview Transcript 2-
Preparation-CRE).
Now, everything is more practical and easier to find because all the
materials, such as flash cards, today’s lesson, art-projects, and rewards are already
available. However, the teachers for the VYLs are still encouraged to propose new
ideas or art projects to the division. Sometimes, the division accepts the ideas, but
if it costs a lot, they refuse it (Interview Transcript 2-Preparation-CRE).
There are certainly times when she feels down in dealing with the
children. Annoying students are unavoidable. They make the class atmosphere
uncomfortable. Not only she herself gets disturbed but also other students in the
classroom. She is usually worried with naughty children who constantly hit their
friends and often endanger themselves and their friends. She realizes that when
the children are in the class, she is responsible with their safety. Their parents
have trusted them to her. Therefore, whenever she could not solve the problems
herself, she discussed them with her colleagues and coordinators. One solution
worked in one class, but it did not mean that it could work in other classes with
similar problems. Hence, she should keep learning from trials and errors. When
the problem could not be solved by her and her colleagues, she usually called the
parents to solve it together. Once, a very hyperactive child kept disturbing his
friends in the class. After talking with his mother, she found out that his father just
passed away. The mother tended to let him do what he wanted to do because she
felt pity for losing his father. When it happened, she could not do anything
because there was no agreement between her and the parents. She also found out
that in some meetings or levels in the programs, the materials are not suitable for
the learners. Sometimes, they are too easy or too difficult for them. Unfortunately,
she could not do anything to improve the books and decided to make her own
adjustment to make it more suitable for her students. The monotonous materials
made her bored although she had different students (Interview Transcript 2-
Challenges-PRO).
Once, a parent protested her for being less disciplined than her previous
share teacher. She stated that her previous share teacher often yelled to the
students to make them quiet and pay attention to the lesson. Ms Sensi told her that
it was not good yelling at children but she did not want to listen to her advice.
After she did not teach the class anymore, the students tended to ignore Ms
Sensi’s instructions and order. The parent asked her to snap at them if they are
disobedient. She tried to explain to them that it was not the best solution and
emphasized that she had always been firm for any disobedient behavior in class.
Yet, the parents did not seem satisfied with her statement. Of course, she could
not force them to agree with her but at least she had tried to give her better
understanding of treating their children (Interview Transcript 2-Share holders-
parents-PRO).
She conveyed further that she felt being spied by one of the students’
parent. The father always watched from small open space of the door and wrote
down all class activities that day. He sometimes confirmed the activities done in
the class and criticized the teachers. He even told them what they should do in the
classroom. She got a bit disturbed but could do nothing to stop him doing that.
She could only try to be patient in dealing with him and respected him as the
customer (Interview Transcript 2-Share holders-parents-PRO).
Despite those problems, when her students showed drastic progress, she
became very happy and touched. It was a priceless moment for her when a very
quiet student, who never said anything in class, suddenly spoke in English and
became very enthusiastic in joining the class activities. She once cried after, her
three-year-old student, Zio, spoke up for the first time. She also often feels that the
students also care about her. Whenever there is a change in her, they ask. “Are
you okay Ms Sensi? Are you sick? You’ve got new clothes, haven’t you? Why
did you have your hair cut, I liked your old hairstyle.” (Interview Transcript 2-
What you enjoy most of teaching-BLF).
4. Sensi’s beliefs
Ms Sensi never considers herself as a teacher. She always thinks that she
only shares her knowledge and meets new people. When she is in the classroom,
she also learns new things from her students. Yet, when teaching kindergarten
classes, she really feels teaching them and becomes a real teacher because she has
to give good examples and pays attention to every single child in the classroom.
The knowledge transfer is mostly from the teacher to the students. She was
willing to teach kindergarten classes because she, basically, likes and loves
children. She said, “They are cute, funny, and unpredictable. I was often amazed
with their behavior in the classroom and how they respond to anything”
(Interview Transcript 2- Satisfaction of being a kindergarten teacher-INT).
She regards the very young learners as pure blank paper so that she can
fill it easily. It is easier to teach them something new because they are still pure
and innocent. Yet, she learns that adults should not force them to do something.
She realizes that they still have short attention span which depends on their mood.
When they are in a bad mood or upset, they will be less enthusiastic. If they
refuse, we should give them options to choose. Hence, they will still keep
working. She usually makes agreement before giving rewards. The reward is
usually colorful sticker. They can get it if they pay attention to the lesson, obey
the rules, participate enthusiastically, and finish their works well. Rewards do
work much better than punishment. Even the most disobedient students are
willing to listen in order to get the sticker. It is their pride and achievement to
show the sticker to their parents. However, some students sometimes cried for not
getting one. She encouraged him/her to perform better in the next meeting. She
needs to stay firm so that they want to try harder (Interview Transcript 2-What
you know about VYLs-BLF).
Teaching kindergarten classes is more like substituting the parents’ role as
the caretakers so that teachers need to be more understanding and patient. Because
of their short attention span, she and her partner usually spend thirty minutes for
the lesson and some other activities, and the rest for sticking the today’s lesson
and doing the art-project. She also observes that children do not like competition
games because when they lose, they will get upset, fight, or mock each other. If it
happens, she will ask them to say sorry and shake hands. In the count of minutes,
they already get along well again (Interview Transcript 2-What you know about
VYLs-BLF).
She believes that the kindergarten program at ELTI is more suitable for the
VYLs, children between 3 to 7 years old because the program focuses on making
the children enjoy learning English and making them speak English confidently
and fluently. In Elementary Class program, she often feels pity to the first or
second graders of elementary schools who still have problems in writing. It seems
that they have to write because the assessment material also covers writing skill
(Interview Transcript 1-What she thinks about herself and the program-BLF).
At the beginning, the classes should be supervised by two teachers. It was
very ideal because teaching and organizing 3 to 6 year-old children are not easy. It
also needs extra patience. However, ELTI now has a new policy. If there are only
6 to 8 students, there will only be one teacher in the classroom. If there are 9 to 15
students, there will be two teachers. In her opinion, “two teachers are the most
suitable for a class, one teacher is not enough since teaching classes needs extra
preparation and attention” (Interview Transcript 1-What she thinks about herself
and the program-BLF).
The materials have been provided by the division at ELTI. They already
decided to use Balloon 1 and Balloon 2 published by Longman. Actually, Ms
Vivin decided to use the books because she was the founder of the program. Since
there are two book series, each book is used for three levels and each level covers
three units of all nine units in every book. Nevertheless, they sometimes were not
able to cover all the three units. There are some factors that influence it.
Sometimes, the students were very young so that they need to repeat the material
again and again. If the students are a bit older, they usually do not have problems
learning all the material. It is not a problem when they cannot finish all the
material because they can continue it in the next level. After all, the materials are
always recycled so that they will learn that again in the following units. Ms Sensi
believes that the material inside the book is very suitable for the very young
learners since it mostly covers the world around them, such as school, family, and
playground. Moreover, the children can learn some cultural differences from the
book (Interview Transcript 2-Decision making-FLX-BLF).

Although Ms Vivin does not work there anymore, Ms Sensi still does what
they did in the past such as discussing the lesson plans, determining the materials,
etc. She usually prepares three to five activities for one meeting. Sometimes, they
could not cover all the lesson plans so that they needed to cancel it until the next
meeting.
“We just have to be flexible with the children. It also depends on the
children’s mood. If the children are in bad mood or if they cannot
concentrate to the lesson anymore, and keep running around the class, we
usually do TPR activities so that they can channel their energy and make
them sit nicely and pay attention to the lesson again….TPR activities
usually become the most effective alternative” (Interview Transcript 2-
Decision making-FLX).
The TPR activities are usually combined with chants and songs so that they can
move and sing. She believes that chants and songs enhance their speaking fluency
and pronunciation. They can memorize new vocabularies faster. Beside TPR, the
workbook also helps (Interview Transcript 2-Decision making-FLX-CRE).
Then, she stated that the students did not only learn the language but also
the habits of learning holistically. In their early age, they need to build their
confidence especially in entering the school world. Therefore, she and her share-
teacher always ask the children to perform their abilities in front of the class. They
always gave the examples of dialogues, storytelling, and art-project presentation,
then ask the students to perform them in front of the class. Hence, they can learn
the culture, the natural use of language, and the way to express their emotion. She
noticed that children like showing off anything to their friends and teachers.
Therefore, after performing their abilities in front of the class, they look very
proud and satisfied. Their parents are mostly happy with their children’s progress.
They noticed that their children became more confident after taking the
kindergarten program. Quiet students can be more cheerful and interact with
others confidently. Moreover, she and her share teacher often get spontaneous
ideas and activities in the class and they directly try them. Thus, they need to have
plenty of backup plans (Interview Transcript 2-What you enjoy most of teaching-
BLF).
Storytelling and art projects are also essential for their learning. Story
telling gives them opportunities to speak and memorize longer sentences. The
colorful pictures used during the storytelling trigger them to explore their
imagination. When they manage to tell the story well, they are very satisfied.
They also enjoying the moment when they become the center of attention.
Furthermore, “art projects are good to train the children’s motor skill because
some children even cannot use the scissors, markers, and crayons well yet.” Then,
teachers and students can interact more closely during the art project. They can
share ideas, dreams, and capabilities. Their works are the reflections of their
imagination and dreams. They sometimes draw themselves as their favorite heroes
or cartoon characters and share the stories with their friends. When chatting with
them, she maintains using English most of the time so that she also gives the
VYLs the English exposure although sometimes she uses Indonesian. Although
the children respond in Indonesian or mixed between Indonesian and English, at
least they understand what she says. During the art project, she also has the
opportunities to approach the shy and quiet students. Hence, they will feel more
comfortable and secured studying in the classroom (Interview Transcript 2-Story
telling-Art Projects-BLF).
Now, she has become the most experienced and senior one in teaching
kindergarten classes. She has been paired with new teachers so that she can train
and share her knowledge and experiences in running the kindergarten classes.
Hence, there will be more qualified teachers for the VYLs in the language
institution. She now usually gives her share teachers options so that they can adapt
to the kindergarten classes. They should keep communicating and negotiating to
one another so they will feel more comfortable in teaching the class. After her
share teachers get familiar with the kindergarten classes, they share
responsibilities and take turns in preparing the class. Indeed, she feels more
comfortable with old teachers having experiences teaching the kindergarten
classes because they can share the responsibilities directly. So far, she has been
quite lucky to have adept and flexible share teachers who are willing to share
responsibilities. Most of them know what to do inside and outside class (Interview
Transcript 2-Decision making-FLX).
As a teacher, she realizes that she has some strengths and weaknesses. She
loves children and their stories. She likes sharing stories with them and paying
attention to them. She learns that children like attention, especially with their
appearance and their belongings. When they feel that she pays attention to them,
they will study harder. Her share teachers also told her that she is very patient. She
is patient and firm. She does not want her students to endanger their safety so that
she is always firm in handling dangerous situation, e.g: children playing with
scissors or chairs, fighting children, etc. She usually will warn them directly or
keep them away from other children in a separate table. One of her share teachers
loved hugging with the children and sometimes they fell and hurt themselves. She
warns her to reduce the hugging activities slowly. Unfortunately, she is a bit
forgetful, especially with small details. Therefore, whenever she has complicated
art-project with different materials, she misses some parts. Hence, she needs her
partner to remind her. There was a time when she had very tight schedule that she
did not realize that she had classes in a row but in different buildings. As the
consequence, she had to leave the class earlier and got late the following class.
The office boy usually took her to travel from one to another building. If she had
realized it earlier, it could have been anticipated by dropping one of the classes.
She also keeps reminding the coordinators to pay more attention on the
scheduling, but it still happens again and again. Therefore, she often felt
exhausted after work. Realizing her flaws, she refused to teach the kindergarten
class alone without a share teacher in the classroom (Interview Transcript 2-
Strengths & Weaknesses as a teacher-ATT-PTC-PRO).
She has been devoting her life working in the language institution since
2004. Since then, she did not have any career progress because of her status as a
contracted fulltime teacher. She could be a PET (Permanent Employee Teacher) if
there is a vacancy or position rolling in the management. For sure, she has learned
a lot of things for her experiences, especially in anticipating and dealing with
problems inside and outside class. She is more adept at problems, patient, firm,
and flexible. Furthermore, she explained that in developing all teachers’ overall
performance, there had been a regular workshop with different topics and
upgrading sessions. For teachers willing to teach the kindergarten classes, the
academic division conducted special upgrading sessions. If there are seminars on
very young and young learners, they will facilitate the teachers to join them. Then,
those joining the seminar are asked to share the knowledge they get by conducting
small workshops (Interview Transcript 2-Professional development-OPT).
According to her, teaching and learning are parts of the process to gain
knowledge. A teacher is both the source of knowledge and facilitator. For the very
young learners, a teacher tends to be the source of knowledge because they still do
not know many things. However, a teacher can also become a facilitator when
s/he gives elicitation, then they can explore it. For example, she asks “What can
you see in the zoo?” Then, they will mention animals that they know which are
even unavailable in their text-book. She further explains that effective teaching
must be student-oriented which means that a teacher should give the students
more opportunities to explore their ability (Interview Transcript 2-Teaching and
learning-BLF).
In assessing the VYLs’ progress, there is an assessment session in every
unit. The unit usually lasts for nine meetings. The assessment is done to revise all
the material in one unit and check their understanding. For daily assessment, she
gives rewards (colorful stickers). Before and during the class, she keeps reminding
the students about the requirements to get the stickers. The students should behave
well, participate in class activities, and finishes the tasks. For more official and
detailed report to the parents, there are two parents’ day in meeting fourteen and
twenty-eight. There are some points of assessment and categories. There are only
two categories of scoring, sometimes and always. Ms Vivin made this system in
order to minimize the competition and demand of the parents to their children.
Hence, they will not feel depressed to achieve perfect scores. “After all, the main
purpose of the kindergarten program is to give good introduction of learning
English and to make them enjoy learning the language” (Interview Transcript 2-
Assessment-ATT).
B. The Essential Themes
This part presents the essential themes that I pre-figured in the theoretical
framework and that emerged from the observation, in-depth interviews, and
participant’s journal. In formulating the essential themes, I did thoughtful
reflections with the participant during the interviews and during the formulation of
the meaningful essences of the lived experiences.
1. Good knowledge of the very young learners’ characteristics
To be a good teacher for the VYLs, she should have sufficient knowledge
of very young learners’ characteristics. Indeed, every child is unique with his/her
own characteristics. Nevertheless, she can learn to understand them better by
reading from different resources. Learning from real lived experiences will make
her understanding become better and better. Hence, she can be wiser and treat the
children appropriately in the classroom based on their needs.

As a teacher for the VYLs, she needs to approach her students in a friendly
way so that she can get their trust and make them feel secured and comfortable
studying in the classroom. She realizes that children indeed are different from
each other so that she needs to understand their habits, what they like, and what
they dislike.
“Well…hmm…Basically I like children so I like chatting with them about

anything. They really like our attention about their performance, clothes,
bags, hair, etc. When they feel happy in class, they will get more motivated
in learning English” (Interview Transcript 2-Strengths as a teacher-ATT).
In my first observation to her class, Ms Sensi came and the children were excited
to see her. Then, they were very eager to share their stories about their
experiences at school that day. Basically, they love talking and showing
themselves off and she knows it very well so that she makes the sharing stories
time to build better relationship with her students.
By treating them attentively, they will see their teachers as their friends or
even family members who understand and care about them. It can be seen
whenever the children attempt to seek their teachers’ attention by hugging them,
asking help, reporting their friends’ being naughty, etc. For them, gaining others’
attention successfully gives them satisfaction. Sometimes, they do this in a good
way but at another time, in a bad way. Hence, teachers need to be aware of their
behavior so that they can overcome any kind of situations well. Ms Sensi can
understand them better by observing their daily attitude in the class. She values
every moment with them which enriches her knowledge as a teacher for the
VYLs.
“They are cute, funny, and unpredictable. I was often amazed with their
attitude and responses. Moreover, if they show drastic progress. As the
example, one of my students who had been very quiet and never said
anything suddenly spoke and became very enthusiastic. It was very
rewarding moment to me. I was happy and touched until I cried”
(Interview Transcript 2-Satisfaction of being a teacher-INT).
From her experiences, she learns that it is easier to teach very young
learners since almost everything they learn about English are still new. Therefore,
it is easier for them to accept new knowledge than adult learners are. Although
they are still very young, she learns that she should not underestimate them. She
should respect them as individuals. If they refuse to do something that she asks in
the class, she will give them more choices to choose so that they will feel
appreciated. They should be involved in making any decisions. Being aware, of
the short attention span of the children, she prepares plenty of backup plans.
“I always assume that they are blank paper which is still pure and easier
to fill in…Never force them to do anything. If they refuse, give them more
choices. We ask, which one do you want to do? But remember, do it well if
you want to get the sticker.” (Interview Transcript 2-What you know about
very young learners-BLF).
As a good teacher, she realizes that she needs to keep learning so that she can
improve her performance and also empower herself to be a qualified individual.
2. Creativity
VYLs between the age of 3 to 6 are still striving to develop their motor
skills and synchronize them with their brain. Ms Sensi realizes their needs to
make them balanced. Therefore, in every meeting, she always prepares art-project
activity for the children. She always varies the kinds of art-projects for them. Ms
Vivin has taught her to be creative in choosing them. Browsing the internet and
reading more children books for new ideas are very useful to expand her
creativity. By choosing various activities, she can train them to develop their
motor skills to create something. Cutting, drawing, gluing, and folding are crucial
activities for them. However, she combines simple and difficult tasks in turns so
that the children will not get bored or even burdened. She realizes that children get
bored easily so that she needs to have plenty backup plans to do in the classrooms.
Hence, when an activity does not work, she can switch to another one quickly.
Children’s creativity also depends on the teachers who teach them. It is the
time for her to give good examples and provide more opportunities for them to
explore their creativity.
“For students, art projects are very important to develop their motor
skills. Then, teachers and students can interact closer during the art-
project. It’s time for them to explore their dreams, ideas, and capability”
(Interview Transcript 2-Art projects-BLF).
She also realizes that she, indeed, becomes more creative after becoming a
teacher. She has learned many things, especially how to be a good teacher for the
VYLs, from Ms Vivin and enhanced her own creativity.
In my third observation of the participant’s class, the teachers showed
some pictures of food and drink and sing a song (It’s a party). They had to change
the lyric if the teacher showed different pictures. The children were happy and
kept dancing and singing. It can be seen that the teachers develop and modify the
song so that it becomes more interesting and fun to do for the active students. In
the activity, they are also aware of the students’ active movement so that they ask
them to stand in line behind the class to give them more space to move.
3. Flexibility
Having experienced so many things as a teacher for the VYLs in the
institution, Ms Sensi found out that one of the important things to always keep in
mind is flexibility in everything.
First, she needs to be flexible with her schedule which sometimes can be
very tight so that she only has very little time to prepare her classes. Therefore,
she needs to be flexible in having discussion and sharing responsibilities with her
share teacher. She needs to find free time for both herself and her share teacher to
have even very short discussion. Five minutes will mean a lot for them to
determine the lesson. Then, they can adjust their time to share responsibilities to
do the preparation.
“So far, I am lucky enough to have understanding and flexible share

teacher. We can take turns and remind each other to prepare one class. In
the classroom, we know when to take our turns to teach, how to handle the
children, and when to help each other” (Interview Transcript 2-Share
teacher-FLX).
Moreover, she also revealed that all the teachers had to share ideas and help each
other so that all the lessons could be covered well. If a teacher is good at singing,
s/he should handle the singing activities more. If a teacher can draw better, s/he
should draw more. Yet, the teachers sometimes should switch their tasks as a
variation so that the children will not get bored.
In my first class observation, I saw the students rushed to Ms Sensi and it
was hard to make them stand in line to get the puzzle. Ms Pia quickly helped Ms
Sensi and took some puzzles from her to distribute to the students. 1 puzzle was
missing then they told them to wait while Ms Pia was looking for it and it was
apparently on one of the students’ table. In this situation, it can be seen that the
teachers’ fast response in handling the rush situation shows their flexibility.
Next, as I have mentioned earlier, she understands that the VYLs still have
very short attention span. As the consequence, although she has prepared to do
several activities for the children, the lesson plans can change or even not all of
them can be accomplished. At the first time she taught the kindergarten class, she
often felt down and thought that she failed teaching them. Yet, she learns that in
dealing with the very young learners, she needs to be flexible all the time with
them.
“They still have short concentration span which also depends on their
mood. If they are upset from home or at school, they will get less
enthusiastic in class. They don’t pay good attention to the lesson as well.
Well, we need to be more flexible because teaching students is more like
babysitting” (Interview Transcript 2-What you know about very young
learners-BLF).
As the high season in the language institution comes, there will be more
classes for Ms Sensi which makes her have very tight schedule. Sometimes, she
has three to five classes in a row which even requires her to travel from one to
another building. Since the situation could not be avoided as she sometimes did
not notice that, she needed to get excused by leaving the class earlier or arriving
late. However, the institution decided to solve the situation by informing the
students and parents about the situation. Being more flexible to overcome the
changing situation in the classroom makes the class run better and the children
will not get bored easily.

4. Patience and firmness
Next, being a good teacher, especially for very young learners, requires
great patience and firmness. As Ms Sensi realizes that she does not only teach the
very young learners, she needs to babysit them at the same time. Therefore, she
needs to have clear rules and always be consistent in applying them. Ms Sensi
stated,
“We need to be patient and firm when dealing with the children. There
must be clear and consistent rules. I had a share teacher who often
snapped the children. Therefore, when I forbid them, they did not listen to
me anymore since they are accustomed to yelling. Then, she did not listen
to my advice. Therefore, I just kept silent. After she resigned from her job,
I was protested by the parents, “Why do the children get less disciplined
after Ms X resigned?” I explained them that we should not yell to the
children. They even told me, “get angry with them Ms so that they obey
and listen to you.” I just smiled” (Interview Transcript 2-Share teacher-
PRO).
It can be seen from her statement that she understands very well the difference
between being firm and angry. Firmness does not involve anger. It shows her
consistency with the class rules and her patience in dealing with the children. She
believes that children learn by observing, imitating, and doing. Therefore, by
being firm and respectful to the children, she teaches them to do the same thing as
well. She realizes that in the class, she is the role model for them. She does not
only teach the language aspects of English, but also other values such as
politeness, understanding, sharing, kindness, appreciation, and respect to the
children because she is the parent substitute in the classroom.
Instead of giving punishment, she prefers giving rewards for good
behavior and performance in the class. Rewards will motivate the children to
perform their best to earn the reward and show it to the parents what they can
achieve.
“Besides that, to make the children get more motivated in the class, we
will also give stickers in every meeting if they behave and complete the
tasks well. Sometimes, some of them even cried for not getting one. Yet, we
always tell them to do better next time. We have to be firm so they want to
strive harder” (Interview Transcript 2-Assessment-ATT).
When I entered her class for the first time, I saw that they liked shouting to
answer the teachers’ questions and the teachers tried to remind them about the
stickers. If they shouted and hit the table or chatted with their friends, they would
get no stickers. Then, they said good bye to each other then Ms Sensi and Ms Pia
decided who deserved to get the stickers that day. Those who got the stickers were
very excited but those who did not looked disappointed and even almost cried. Ms
Sensi and Ms Pia consoled them and told them that they would get the sticker if
they behave and perform better next meeting. They kept encouraging the students
in a positive way to motivate them.
Once, a student, Raisa, sneaked out the class without asking permission.
When she got back, Ms Sensi warned her to ask permission next time and
returned to her seat. She usually did not give the sticker for any disobedient
behavior, especially if they did it for several times. Hence, they became more
disciplined with the class rules (Observation 3). Although the children already
know the class rules, they still need to be reminded again and again so that they
will stay calm and do not run here and there. Ms Sensi also has other tricks to
discipline them. One of them is counting one to ten. I observed this in my first
observation. At another time, Ms Sensi just kept silent, folded her arms, and said
“Ssssh.” Then the students understood and paid attention to her again. She needed
to do this to overcome their short attention span. Since most of them kept running
round the class, Ms Sensi counted 1 to 10 to make them sit and be quiet.
Children sometimes face conflicts with their friends for any reasons. They
might hit each other, fight, or just mock each other. Hence, the teacher needs to be
alert and able to solve the problem quickly and wisely and make them understand
that what they do is inappropriate. Hence, the teachers must be the peacemakers of
the class and maintain good class atmosphere. In dealing with a bad-tempered
student, Ms Sensi is always firm and wise. When suddenly, Jason hit his friend,
Jordan, and made him cry. Ms Sensi asked him to apologize, shake hands, and
make it up. When she told Jason to apologize, she said it firmly and directly
looked into his eyes to show that his behavior is inappropriate. She shows her
firmness not only through words but also from her gestures. Sometimes, she only
looked at the students and shook her head or her point finger to show her
disapproval. Moreover, as the role model in the classroom, she always makes sure
that the children pronounce new vocabulary well by asking them to repeat after
her one by one (Observation 1). By being patient and firm and patient at the same
time, she makes the student feel secured and comfortable in the classroom. More
importantly, she can control their behavior so that the class runs well and does not
go too far from the target.

5. Attention and understanding
When the teachers pay good attention on them, they will do the same
thing. They will also love and care about them. If there is mutual understanding
between them, then the class will run well. The students will feel comfortable and
secured studying in the class and the teachers will feel happy teaching the class. A
little attention will always make anyone happy and appreciated. Hence, the
teachers and students will get closer to each other.
Ms Sensi’s great attention to her students could be seen when a student
came late and Ms Sensi asked her to sit beside me and asked her attentively. Her
name’s Nailu and she had been absent several times before. Ms Sensi asked her:
“Where have you been?” She seemed confused and Ms Sensi tried to explain her
question using simpler words and gestures. “Last week. Were you sick?” She
pretended to cough and put her hand on her own forehead. Meanwhile, some
students like coming to the teachers, hugging them, kissing them, and even sitting
on their lap. She accepted these kinds of behavior occasionally but she revealed
that she reminded her share teacher not to do this too often so that the children
will keep focused to the lesson (Observation 1).
“They often make me feel noticed because they always ask whenever there
is a change in me. “What’s the matter with you Ms Sensi? Are you sick?
You’ve got a new shirt? Why did you have your hair cut? I liked your long
hair” (Interview Transcript 2-Satisfaction of being a teacher-ATT).
Ms Sensi realizes that children love attention. They will do anything to
attract her attention in the class by doing good or bad things. Therefore, she tries
to make use of it to motivate them to learn hard in the class.

“When they can memorize and deliver a story fluently, they look very
happy and extremely satisfied. Moreover, if they deliver the story in front
of the class and become the center of attention” (Interview Transcript 2-
Storytelling-BLF).
Ms Sensi always wants to understand every single student well, especially
those who are quiet and shy. She tries to approach them by talking to them and
asking anything to make them more open and confident to speak with their friends
and teachers. It is their first place to interact with others outside their family
circle. Therefore, teachers and students need to build conducive atmosphere
through attention and understanding.
“The shy children will be more open and willing to share stories during
the art-project. The important thing is, they have to feel comfortable and
secured in the class so that the learning process will be more effective”
(Interview Transcript 2-Art projects-BLF).
In her reflection that she wrote in her journal, I constantly found how she
paid attention to the students sincerely. She truly cared about her students and felt
the emotional bond between them. On August 23, 2010, she wrote
“It was so different without Ibra in the class. He is so talkative, even he

sometimes talks to himself. He is so lovely and he always cheers the class
up. However, I was happy because they could learn the movement of the
dance very well. I was happy to see them enjoy dancing as usual”
(Journal).
At other times, she also revealed her attention to every single student in the class.
Whenever some of them were absent, she realized that it affected the class
atmosphere and her feeling that day. I observed that she told the other students
about her feeling by asking them where they thought the absent students might be,
what they were doing, and why they were absent. When they told her that they
were absent because they were sick or perhaps they were tired that day, she would
never force them to do the activities, especially the physical activities.
As an ordinary person, she of course cannot avoid involving her personal
feeling when teaching the kindergarten classes. She admitted that she had her own
favorite students that she always looked forward to meeting. Their presence would
make her more cheerful teaching the class. Moreover, she realized that when she
paid more attention to them, they would feel happier and more comfortable in
class.
“I paid more attention…the students are more and more open. I am happy
with it and I’m sure Pia is too… everybody is open, including Azwa, but
we still wait for Noval to be active just like the others… (Journal, October
12, 2010)
“Again….Zio came late….but that cute and baby face is always waited.
Everybody was happy and I was too ” (Journal, October 15, 2010)
They were absent. It rained hard ….. Only two students came. It’s so quiet
but they did not lose the courage of studying. We felt sorry cuz they
couldn’t meet their friends but we were still happy because they could
focus on the materials and art project. (Journal, October 18, 2010)
Her great attention and understanding to the children in the classroom makes her
closer with them and they all feel comfortable learning in the classroom.
6. Cooperation and negotiation
The kindergarten program is run by ELTI which has its own management
system. Therefore, everyone working in the institution needs to have good
relationship to make all the programs run well. In the kindergarten program, the
teachers have to cooperate with others professionally through good cooperation
and negotiation.
Ms Sensi admitted that she is forgetful. Therefore, she needs a partner and
co-workers to remind her about anything. She needs a share teacher to remind her
about the children’s names, especially in a new class. Then, she also needs her
share teacher to remind her about the class preparation, report deadline, teaching
material, etc. She also has to remind the division if there are letters for parents that
need to be made and materials for art-projects to order. She usually builds good
relationship with her share teacher not only inside the class but also outside the
class.
“I realize that I am forgetful, so I need someone to remind me about the

children’s names, especially in a new class. If I have a share-teacher, we
can remind each other. Moreover, if I have two classes in a row, I often
get confused when preparing. I need someone to remind me or take turns
doing the preparation. I’ve learned a lot from Ms Vivin. I learned almost
all techniques to deal with the children from her. I also learn how to
cooperate well with our share-teacher. We become friends not only inside
but also outside the class” (Interview Transcript 2-Share teacher-ATT-
PRO).
During the observation, I also found the real examples of the teachers’
good cooperation in the classroom. When presenting new lesson, especially
dialogue, they show good cooperation to give example for the students. They do
this to teach the children to cooperate and share with their friends nicely. They
believe that children learn best through real examples and imitate what they see.
Ms Sensi and Ms Eno put different kinds of animal dolls on the floor and
they gave an example of short conversation. “Ms Eno, I want a dog please.” Then
Ms Eno took the dog doll and gave it to Ms Sensi. “Here you are.” “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Then, they changed the role. Some students were very excited
to come in front of the class and performed the short conversation They yelled,
me…me…me…and some even came to the front of the class. Then, Ms Sensi told
them, “Ssshh, sit down nicely first” (Observation 2).
Then, Ms Sensi took a piece of paper and asked the marker to Ms Eno.
“Ms Eno, give me the marker please” “Here” “Thank you” Then, Ms Sensi asked
Ms Eno to put her right foot on the paper. Ms Sensi drew a line along with Ms
Eno’s foot. After she finished, she stuck the paper on the whiteboard and started
to draw a picture and asked the children to guess what it was. “Bird” “Cat” “Dog”
Ms Sensi drew the water bubble, scales, fin, and gill so that they knew that it was
a fish (Observation 2). At another time, Ms Sensi stuck a piece of paper on the
whiteboard and asked Ms Pia the napkin shaped rectangle and stuck on the paper,
they apparently wanted to make a napkin collage. When the teachers stopped the
activity and told them that they could take their work home. They cleaned up the
class and the students also helped them put back the crayon, glue, and marker on
the right place (Observation 3).
When the teachers want to present something or change the activity, they
usually talk to each other to discuss and then decide what they will do next.
Negotiating before, during, and after the class is essential to maintain harmonious
relationship between them.
Next, Ms Sensi regards the VYLs as individuals who have their own will
and determination. Therefore, she always acknowledges their opinion and
responses towards something. Instead of getting angry with their refusal, she
negotiates with them.
“We should never force them to do something. If they refuse, we give them
options to choose what they want to do. We should ask, “which one do you
want to do? But do it well if you want to get the sticker” (Interview
Transcript 2-What you know about very young learners-BLF).
I observed that after Ms Sensi and Ms Pia finished arranging their seats,
she asked them to stand up behind the class, then called them one by one to their
seats that she chose for them. Some students protested and asked to move to
another seat. Then, they negotiated and finally everyone sat on his/her own seat.
Next, a student did not bring the book and another student sitting next to her
refused to share the book. Then Ms Sensi asked another student, “Azka, is it okay
if Naylu share the book with you?” (Observation 3). Negotiation with the students
and teachers shows their flexibility in dealing with any kinds of situation.
Ms Sensi realizes that she can also learn something from the students. It
shows their mutual relationship. She revealed,
“I never consider myself a teacher. When I teach, especially adult

learners, I consider it as sharing because I share my knowledge about
English with them but I also learn many things from them. It is just
sharing then” (Interview Transcript 2-What you enjoy most of teaching-
BLF).
During the parents’ day session, the teachers and students can meet and
share stories. The teachers give feedback to them to improve the children’s ability
and the parents can confirm their progress in class. Sometimes, they ask for advice
or just share their happiness that their children now become more confident.
The teachers should also have good cooperation and negotiation with other
employees in the institution to solve problems that might emerge. One problem
that Ms Sensi often faced is the scheduling. The tight schedule obliged her to
travel from one to another building. Since she cannot ride a motorcycle, she has to
take a walk or an office boy her takes her.

“If I have to travel to another building, there is an office boy assigned to

take me, but it is hard to do if it rains or the OB forgets. I have reminded
the divisions about the scheduling, but I am a bit forgetful so I do not
realize that I have to travel. After being discussed with the division, we
sent a letter to parents telling them that I would be late due to travelling.
Because of that, I sometimes lacked time to prepare my classes”
(Interview Transcript 2-Institution-PRO).
That kind of problem could have been anticipated if the coordinators had been
more careful in giving classes to the teachers. Fortunately, they maintain good
cooperation among them to solve it wisely.
7. Commitment and responsibility
Becoming a teacher brings great responsibilities, especially towards the
students and parents. Therefore, teachers need to have good commitment to do
their best. In the classroom, anything can happen if the teachers are not alert with
the situation. Ms Sensi is aware of her great responsibility towards the children’s
safety. Whenever something might endanger them, she took quick action to
prevent it. She revealed that,
“As an example, if someone misused the scissors and directed them to

their friends just to threaten or play with them. As the teachers, we are
fully responsible with them, so it is quite hard. Once, an extremely
hyperactive student sometimes endangered himself or his friends. After I
asked the mother, I found out that his father just passed away. However,
his mother tended to be less disciplined with him because she felt pity for
him and just let him do anything he wanted. Thus, it was hard for us
because of the big gap between the rules at home and in the class”
(Interview Transcript 2-Challenges-PRO).
After that, Ms Sensi is also responsible to report the students’ progress to
their parents. Hence, they have parents’ day to show them what the children have
achieved in the class. It also gives her the opportunity to know the children better
and build good relationship with their parents to synchronize their learning at
home and in the classroom. She observed that the parents and children were
satisfied when they could see directly what they have achieved in class. Whenever
the class runs smoothly without any complaints from the parents or students, it
means that she also has been responsible towards her job and the institution as
well. Hence, she will ensure that the children study in the safe environment. It is
important for the children’s safety and their parents’ comfort so that they will feel
happy to entrust their children studying at the language institution.
8. Trust
The last theme that emerged in this research is trust. The institution trusts
the teachers by giving them the kindergarten classes. Meanwhile, the customers
trusts the institution and the teachers by enrolling their children to the program. If
there is one party losing their trust, it will disturb the good harmony between
them. Ms Sensi once felt that the parents distrusted her and her share-teachers.
She felt that they were always being spied.
“My partner and I felt very uncomfortable because we had been spied by
one of the students’ parent. He always peeped from the little open space of
the door and took notes all the class activities in detailed. After that, he
always asked and confirmed all of them. He even sometimes told us what
to do, we should do this and that…hmmph…it was very uncomfortable as
if we were being watched. He seemed not to trust us and how we taught
the materials in the class. It was very annoying but we had to be patient.
No matter what happened, he was our customer” (Interview Transcript 2-
Share holders-parents-PRO).
Ms Sensi believes that trust in an essential part that everyone should maintain all
the time. She has tried her best to gain the parents’ trust by teaching the children
well and respecting the parents as well. Fortunately, that kind of experience only
happened once. Other parents sometimes did peep the class. However, she still
thought that it was normal that they sometimes wanted to know what the children
were doing in the class. Trust from the parents is very essential so that the
teachers and the students will not feel disturbed. If the parents interfere too much,
the children will not be independent either. Most importantly, there must be trust
from the students themselves towards the teachers so that they will obey them and
learn better in the classroom.

CHAPTER V
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
This last chapter presents two parts. The first part provides the conclusions
covering the summary of my study and answers to my research question. The
second part serves the suggestions that, hopefully, can enhance the teachers’
teaching performance, especially to the VYLs.
A. Conclusions
This study aimed to reveal the essential meaning of teaching English to the
VYLs. In order to answer the research question, I did some class observations and
in-depth interviews to narrate the participant’s stories. Hence, I was able to
uncover the essential themes of teaching English to VYLs. Some of the essential
themes covered had already been pre-figured in the research framework but some
others emerged during the analysis. These themes were formulated from the
reflective activities on the experiences of pedagogy of the participant in teaching
the VYLs.
The first, and the most important theme in my study is good knowledge of
the VYLs’ characteristics. A good teacher for the VYLs needs to have sufficient
knowledge of the general characteristics of the VYLs so that they are able to
determine suitable learning materials and activities for them. In general, all
teachers have to understand the characteristics of the learners of any age. Hence,
s/he will get wiser and treat the children appropriately in the classroom based on
105
their needs. Hence, good class atmosphere can be accomplished to initiate the
learning process in the classroom.
Next, creativity becomes another important point that the participant
experienced in her class. It is related with their needs to develop their motor skills
in order to balance them with their brain development. Therefore, she provides
various activities and art-projects to cultivate their creativity. Teachers’ creativity
determines the learners’ creativity.
Ms Sensi has learned that flexibility in any kinds of situation will make the
class run smoothly. She needs to be flexible in dealing with her schedule, share-
teacher, share-holders, etc. Being flexible and realistic with the situation before
her enhances her ability to overcome different kinds of problems and learners as
well.
Indeed, teaching the VYLs requires a lot of patience since the teachers
have double roles as their teachers and caretakers at the same time. Therefore, she
needs to have clear rules and always be consistent in applying them. Instead of
giving punishment, she prefers giving rewards for good behavior and performance
in the class. Rewards will motivate the children to perform their best to earn the
reward and show it to the parents what they can achieve. Patience and firmness
become the first emergent themes in this research. Good teachers should be
patient and firm in dealing with different kinds of learners of any age.
As human beings living in a social world, we need to have good harmony.
The good harmony in the classroom can be constructed through mutual attention
and understanding. When the teachers pay good attention on them, they will do
the same thing. They will also love and care about them. If there is mutual
understanding between them, then the class will run well. The students will feel
comfortable and secured studying in the class and the teachers will feel happy
teaching the class. A little attention will always make anyone happy and
appreciated.
The next theme that emerged was negotiation. This theme emerged along
with the interpretation of the importance of cooperation that should always be
maintained. By having good cooperation and negotiation with all parties, the
kindergarten program will run and develop well. They show good cooperation to
give real examples for the students so that they will cooperate and share with their
friends nicely. They believe that children learn best through real examples and
directly imitate what they see. Moreover, it also shows that Ms Sensi
acknowledges the VYLs and all learners in general as individuals having their
own will and determination.
Ms Sensi’s commitment as a teacher demands her to complete her
responsibilities well. Her greatest concern is the children’s safety. Therefore, she
always tries to keep alert with any kinds of situation endangering them. The theme
of responsibility emerged as the consequence of having good commitment
towards her job as a teacher in the language institution.
Finally, trust became the last essential theme that emerged in the study.
Hence, Ms Sensi always strives to fulfill her responsibilities as well as she can to
earn everyone’s trust. When teachers, parents, students, and the language
institution trust each other, they can cooperate harmoniously for the betterment of
the program and improve the learners’ achievement.
B. Suggestions
To be a good teacher for the VYLs and all English learners in general, s/he
needs to always explore their knowledge of the different learners’ characteristics.
Reading various resources and sharing lived experiences will help teachers
expand their knowledge and empower themselves to perform their best in their
field. Recently, the Government and public schools are developing curriculum and
materials for the young learners of the first to third graders. Since it is the
transition time for the children to learn at school, I do believe that educators
should build a good bridge for further English learning. Hence, English education
in the early school years will develop well. More researches on other level of
learners in formal and non-formal schools should also be conducted to improve
the English education in Indonesia.
All people working in the education field, not only those working with the
VYLs but also all learners in general, should always develop their creativity to
modify the learning materials and activities for them. Hence, they will be able to
produce more various and useful teaching aids for them. Hopefully, it will also
enhance the quality of human resources, teachers, policy makers, text-book
writers, formal and non-formal schools. Their collaboration is strongly needed to
improve the quality of English education in Indonesia.

Teachers should have good classroom management. To accomplish it,
they should be very patient and firm. Clear class rules and consistency in applying
them should be maintained all the time. Rewards and appraisals instead of
punishments are good ways to anticipate and solve possible problems in the
classroom.
Since the VYLs are still having the process of adjusting to interact with
other people outside the family circle, teachers should give sufficient attention and
understanding to them so that they will feel happy and secured learning in the
classroom. The important thing that should always be kept in mind is making
them enjoy learning English as the second language. Thus, the children will have
positive attitude towards the L2 for the rest of their lives. In dealing with older
learners, good teachers indeed still have to maintain their positive attitude to build
good class atmosphere.
Language schools and institutions should maintain good cooperation and
negotiation to establish qualified programs for the VYLs, young learners, teenage
learners, and adult learners. Hence, they will produce good bilingual generation.
Therefore, educational professionals should be committed and responsible to do
their best in their job. Great commitment and responsibility will certainly earn the
trust of the community to give good English education for the students.
The findings of this study serve as a reflection of pedagogy of non-formal
English program for the VYLs in Indonesian context. With the cultural
differences, the participant’s lived experiences can represent what kind of English
program that is the most suitable for the VYLs within Indonesian culture.
Therefore, more researches on the lived experiences in different settings and
groups of learners are highly recommended for better understanding of the
English education in Indonesia. Hence, the quality of English education in all
areas in Indonesia can be enhanced.

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APPENDICES
115
Teacher’s Lived Experiences in Teaching English to Very Young Learners
Dear Participant,
The following information is provided for you to decide whether you wish to participate in
the present study. You should be aware that you are free to decide not to participate or to
withdraw at any time.
The purpose of this study is to describe and interpret the teacher’s lived experiences in
teaching English to VYLs. It is a qualitative study employing hermeneutic phenomenology
approach.
The data will be collected several times in 3 month period. The data collection will involve
documents (journal made by the participant, today’s lesson, and the kindergarten students’
art projects), audio-visual material (video recordings of the class), interviews (transcript of
interview between the researcher and participant), and classroom observation fieldnotes.
Individuals involved in the data collection will be the share teacher and the students in the
class.
Do not hesitate to ask any questions about the study either before participating or during
the time that you are participating. I would be happy to share the findings with you after
the research is completed. Your identity as a participant will be revealed in this research.
There are no known risks and/or discomforts associated with this study. The expected
benefits associated with your participation are the information about the experiences in
teaching English to VYLs.
Please, sign your consent with full knowledge of the nature and purpose of the procedures.
A copy of this consent will be given to you to keep.
Yogyakarta, 21 August 2010

Yogyakarta, 21 August 2010
Vincentia Narastuti Atiek Pratitis Lestari

Participant Researcher
English Language Studies
Sanata Dharma University
Interview Transcript 1
Name : Vincentia Narastuti

Location : Warung Jagung Bakar Trendy, Bumijo
Day and date : Saturday, 16 October 2010
Time : 7 p.m.
Topic Text Code

Teacher’s Nama lengkap saya Vincentia Narastuti, tapi teman- INT
Background teman saya biasa memanggil saya Sensi. Saya lahir di
Yogyakarta tgl. 5 April 1979. Dulu saya kuliah di
Universitas Sanata Dharma dan lulus tahun 2003.
Sebenarnya Sanata Dharma bukan pilihan pertama saya.
Dulu saya pengen masuk Universitas Gajah Mada,
jurusan HI, tapi tidak lulus ujian masuknya. Kemudian
Ibu saya memberikan dua pilihan kepada saya, masuk
Atmajaya jurusan Ekonomi atau Sanata Dharma Jurusan
Bahasa Inggris. Karena saya tidak begitu suka ekonomi
dan hitung-menghitung, saya lebih memilih Sanata
Dharma. Waktu itu saya tidak memilih jurusan PBI
karena sepengetahuan saya, terlalu banyak aturan untuk
perkuliahannya, seperti memakai rok dan make-up di
mata kuliah tertentu. Trus, ada PPL dll. Kalau Sastra
Inggris, lebih santai dan saya bisa membaca banyak
novel dan juga berbagai karya sastra besar lainnya. Saya
merasa Sastra Inggris lebih banyak memberikan
kebebasan kepada saya untuk memilih mempelajari apa
yang saya sukai dan tidak terlalu banyak aturan dalam
soal berpakaian. Saya bisa memakai kaos dan celana
jins ketika masuk kuliah. Saya masuk Sanata Dharma
pada tahun 1997 tapi baru lulus awal thn 2003. Waktu
itu saya sempat sakit agak lama sehingga skripsi saya
keteteran.
How she Setelah saya lulus, saya melamar ke beberapa instansi

worked at pemerintah di Jakarta. Tetapi setelah saya mengikuti tes
ELTI dan mencoba tinggal di Jakarta selama 1 minggu, saya
tidak bisa menikmati hidup disana. Kemudian
beberapakali mencari pekerjaan di beberapa tempat dan
juga menjadi freelancer sebagai translator, salah seorang
teman saya membujuk saya supaya saya melamar kerja
sebagai guru Bahasa Inggris di ELTI, Yogyakarta. Pada
saat itu, sebenarnya saya kurang tertarik dan
menolaknya. Bukan karena saya tidak mau menjadi
guru, tapi ya perasaan untuk menjadi guru itu biasa aja
sih, netral. Saya lebih pengen menjadi seorang PR.

Namun dia terus-menerus membujuk saya dan akhirnya
saya mau mencoba untuk melamar kesana. Akhirnya
saya diterima di ELTI secara tidak sengaja karena
memang dari awal saya cuma pengen mencoba.
How she Pada masa-masa awal saya menjadi guru di ELTI, saya PRO
became a merasa sangat kesulitan karena pada dasarnya saya tidak
kindergarten mempunyai pengalaman mengajar yang cukup. Waktu
teacher kuliah saya memang sempat menjadi guru privat
beberapa kali tapi beda banget sama mengajar di dalam
kelas dengan jumlah murid yang banyak. Ya tidak
sebanyak kalau mengajar di sekolah umum sih, tapi
paling tidak di dalam kelas ada 10 sampai 19 orang
murid.
Ketika saya masuk ELTI pertamakali, program OPT

Kindergarten masih sangat baru, baru beberapa bulan
saja diluncurkan ke public. Pendiri program
Kindergarten, Ms Vivin, waktu itu menawari saya untuk
menjadi guru di program Kindergarten. Karena program
ini termasuk program khusus dan masih baru, makanya
tidak semua guru ditugaskan mengajar kelas-kelas
kindergarten. Hanya guru-guru yang bersedia dengan
sukarela saja yang diberikan kelas-kelas tersebut. Waktu
itu saya benar-benar bingung. Tetapi, Ms Vivin itu
orangnya sabar dan penuh pengertian. Dia tidak pernah
memaksa saya. Dia meminta saya melihat dan observe
dulu kelas kindergarten itu seperti apa. Jadi saya masuk
ke kelasnya beberapakali. Setelah beberapa waktu, ada
kelas kindergarten, level Red baru. Ms Vivin mengajak
saya menjadi share teacher-nya. Dia meyakinkan saya
kalau saya hanya akan membantu dan menjadi assistant
di dalam kelas sampai saya benar-benar siap mengajar
di depan kelas. Akhirnya saya menerima tawarannya
dan menjadi share assistant teacher Ms Vivin. Di
program Kindergarten, ada 28 meeting di setiap
levelnya dan ada parants’ day di meeting 14 dan 28. Di
beberapa pertemuan pertama Ms Vivin benar-benar
menjadi penanggung-jawab penuh di kelas dan saya
hanya bertugas mengatur anak-anak yang rame atau
membutuhkan bantuan di kelas. Setelah beberapa lama,
saya mulai nyaman dan percaya diri untuk mengajar di
depan anak-anak. Oleh karena itu, kami mulai berbagi
tugas dan materi yang harus diajarkan ke anak-anak.
Pada saat itu, semua materi, bahan, dan juga art-projects
masih baru jadi semuanya harus disiapkan beberapa hari

sebelumnya. Kami biasa mendiskusikan lesson plans
beberapa hari sebelumnya. Sebenarnya sih saya cuma
memilih aja sih, karena semua ide nya dari Ms Vivin
dan biasanya dia meminta pendapat saya untuk memilih
aktivitas, materi, dan juga art-projects. Kalau sekarang
semuanya lebih praktis karena bahan-bahan sudah
tersedia, mulai dari today’s lesson, art-projects, dan juga
rewards. Persiapan kelas kindergarten yang lumayan
ribet dan juga karena semuanya merupakan hal yang
baru buat saya itu yang membuat saya sangat kesulitan
pada masa awal saya bekerja sebagai guru.
What she Saya tidak pernah menganggap saya ini adalah seorang INT
thinks about guru sih. Tetapi saya lebih menganggap kalau saya
herself and berbagi pengetahuan aja dan juga berkenalan dengan
the orang-orang baru. Ketika saya berada di kelas, saya juga
kindergarten belajar dan mendapatkan hal-hal baru dari murid-murid
program saya. Kalau pas ngajar kindergarten ya memang benar-
benar mengajar dan menjadi guru karena saya harus
memberi contoh yang baik dan juga memperhatikan
setiap anak di dalam kelas. Saya bersedia mengajar
kelas kindergarten karena pada dasarnya saya suka
anak-anak kecil.
Saya memerlukan waktu yang cukup lama untuk

beradaptasi bekerja di ELTI menjadi seorang guru. Saya
baru merasa nyaman dan mulai menikmati peran saya
sebagai guru setelah kira-kira 2 tahun. Ketika menjadi
guru Kindergarten, saya mempelajari banyak hal baru.
Banyak pengalaman yang menyenangkan, menyebalkan,
bahkan juga mengharukan. Gak hanya pengalaman
bersama anak-anak, tetapi juga share-teacher, orangtua
siswa, materi, dan juga manajemen ELTI sendiri.
Menurut saya, program kindergarten di ELTI itu lebih BLF

ideal daripada program Elementary Class karena di
program kindergarten yang diutamakan adalah membuat
siswa menikmati belajar Bahasa Inggris dan juga
speaking fluency siswa. Kalau program EC, kasihan
anak-anak SD yang masih kelas 1-2 yang belum lancar
menulis. Kesannya mereka mau tidak mau harus
menulis karena materi ujiannya juga ada yang tertulis.
Pada awalnya, program kindergarten memang harus BLF

dipegang oleh 2 orang guru di dalam satu kelas.
Memang idealnya seperti itu karena untuk mengajar dan

mengatur anak-anak berumur 3-6 thn di dalam kelas itu
tidaklah mudah dan memerlukan kesabaran yang ekstra.
Namun, sekarang ELTI mempunyai kebijakan baru.
Kalau jumlah siswa di dalam kelas hanya 6-7, maka
gurunya hanya satu saja. Tetapi kalau jumlah siswanya
8-15, gurunya ada 2. Menurut saya, ada 2 guru di dalam
kelas itulah yang ideal untuk sebuah kelas kindergarten.
1 guru tidaklah cukup karena mengajar kindergarten itu
membutuhkan persiapan dan perhatian ekstra.
Interview Transcript 2
Location : Pondok Cabe

Day and date : Wednesday, 22 December 2010
Time : 7 p.m.
Topic Text Code

Decision Untuk materi pelajaran, sudah ditentukan oleh divisi FLX
making Kindergarten di ELTI. Mereka sudah memutuskan
(learning untuk memakai buku Balloon 1 dan Balloon 2 yang
material, diterbitkan oleh Longman. Ehm, dulu sih yang
activities, art memutuskan Ms Vivin, yang dulu mendirikan program
project) Kindergarten. Karena ada 2 seri buku, setiap buku
dipakai untuk 3 level, n setiap level itu meng-cover 3
unit. Target nya emang 3 unit untuk setiap level, tapi ya
tergantung kelasnya juga sih. Soalnya kalau di satu
kelas anaknya masih kecil-kecil banget materinya harus
selalu sering diulang-ulang jadi kadang gak bisa kelar 3
unit. Tapi kalau anak-anaknya sudah umur 5-6 thn an
sih bisa. Walopun gak kelar, masih bisa dilanjutkan ke
level slanjutnya. Ya kami harus flexible aja sih.
Menurut saya, materi yang ada di buku tersebut sudah BLF

sangat sesuai untuk anak-anak karena isinya tentang
alam sekitar yang dekat dengan kehidupan anak-anak
sehari-hari. Buku tersebut berisi tentang vocabulary
yang ada di tempat sekitar anak-anak dan juga short talk
yang sesuai dengan keadaan yang biasa terjadi di tempat
tersebut. Kebanyakan materi sesuai dengan kebudayaan
Indonesia, namun ada juga yang berbeda seperti tentang
seasons karena disini hanya ada 2 musim saja
sedangkan disana ada 4 pergantian musim. Karena
perbedaan musim itu, jenis pakaian yang biasa dipakai
juga berbeda. Tapi, perbedaan-perbedaan tersebut yang
bisa mengajarkan anak-anak tentang keanekaragaman di
dunia. Mereka juga sangat antusias ketika
mempelajarinya. Mereka selalu berebutan bilang
“Wah,aku juga pengen liat salju Ms trus maen-maen
bikin boneka salju yang gede.” “Trus bisa lempar-
lemparan bola salju, asyik banget.”
Trus, kalau tentang materi, today’s lesson, activities, n FLX

art project, itu selalu diobrolin sama share teacher-ku.
Kalau dulu, waktu sama Ms Vivin, saya Cuma ngasih
pendapat aja n dia yg ngasih beberapa pilihan trus saya
memilih enaknya yang mana buat anak-anak. Itu pun

kalau di kelas, lesson plan yang sudah kita bikin bisa
berubah lagi. Mungkin ada materi yang tidak ter-cover n
harus di pending sampe meeting selanjutnya. Ya
pokoknya kita harus flexible ma anak-anak. Tergantung
mood mereka hari itu juga sih. Kalau anak-anak dah
mulai gak konsentrasi n lari kemana-mana ya udh kita
langsung TPR aja biar skalian nyalurin energy mereka n
bisa bikin mereka duduk n merhatiin pelajaran lagi.
Kadang-kadang ide untuk aktivitas anak-anak muncul di
kelas n langsung kita coba aja, jadi ya spontan aja ma
mereka. Trus kita harus punya banyak backup plans.
Tapi yang paling efektif sih TPR.
Kalau sekarang, karena saya sdh jd yg paling senior FLX

ngajar Kindergarten disana, saya sering dipasangin ma
guru-guru baru buat regenerasi lah. Ya kalau ma mereka
sekarang ya saya ngasih pilihan ke mereka kayak Ms
Vivin dulu biar mereka juga adaptasi ngajar kelas-kelas
kindergarten juga. Jadi ya harus selalu komunikasi n
negosiasi sama share-teacher kita biar lebih enak juga
ngajar di kelasnya. Soalnya kalau gak ada komunikasi
ya ntar repot di kelas nya. Trus kalau mereka sdh mulai
bisa adaptasi sama semua tata cara n juga trik-trik ngajar
kindergarten, ya gantian nge-prep. Misal saya prep hari
Selasa, share-teacher ku yang Jumat nya. Kalau share
kelas sama yg udh pengalaman kindergarten sih enak n
langsung bisa bagi-bagi tugas nya cepet jg.
Untuk program Kindergarten nya sendiri, memang kita CRE

kalau ada ide buat aktivitas atau art-project ya langsung
bilang ke coordinator nya atau yang ngurusi
Kindergarten sekarang. Ya kadang diterima tapi kalau
ribet atau terlalu banyak memakan biaya ya kadang
ditolak.
Strengths as a Hmm apa ya? Hehe.. Pada dasarnya saya suka sama ATT
teacher anak kecil jadi suka ngajak mereka ngobrol tentang apa
aja. Mereka kan suka banget kalau diperhatiin n dikasih
komen tentang penampilan mereka, baju, tas, rambut,
dll. Kalau mereka sdh ngrasa seneng n nyaman di kelas,
mereka bakal lebih semangat belajar.
Temen-temen saya bilang sih kalau saya juga sabar. PTC

Sabar tp tetep tegas sama anak-anak. Terutama kalau itu
menyangkut keselamatan mereka. Misalnya, kalau
mereka maenin gunting ya saya langsung peringatkan n

minta guntingnya. Ada juga di salah satu kelas saya yg
anak-anaknya suka hugging saya n partner saya. Tapi
kadang-kadang itu jg membahayakan mereka soalnya
mereka kadang-kadang lari trus meluk n ga liat-liat
sikon jd bisa jatuh atau terbentur kepalanya. Jadi saya
gak Cuma tegas sama anak-anak tapi jg partner saya.
Sekarang pelan-pelan ngurangin ato menolak kalau
anak-anak pengen hugging. Dulu juga pernah ada anak
yang suka mukul temennya, jadi ya saya pisahkan aja
duduk sendiri di meja yang berbeda. Tapi kalau mereka
sikapnya sudah membaik ya boleh bareng temen-
temennya lagi.
Weaknesses Saya akui saya ini orangnya pelupa. Apalagi tentang PRO
as a teacher detail yg kecil-kecil. Jadi kalau art-project nya banyak
pernak-pernik nya kadang-kadang ada beberapa bahan
yang kelupaan. Atau kalau saya punya 2 kelas
kindergarten yang berurutan sering bingung pas prep-
nya. Makanya saya butuh partner buat ingetin saya.
Apalagi, kalau pas jadwal di ELTI padat banget, sampe- PRO

sampe saya ga nyadar kalau saya ternyata juga harus
travelling dari ELTI Hadidarsono ke ELTI Sabirin ato
sebaliknya. Padahal kalau saya tau lebih awal bisa juga
diantisipasi n salah satu kelas bisa di drop.
Professional Kalau secara professional sebagai guru di ELTI sih tidak

development ada jenjang karir kalau status nya guru kontrak n ga ada
perubahan posisi di kantor ya tetep aja. Kecuali kalau
ada pembukaan lowongan sebagai PET (Permanent
English Teacher) mungkin bisa mulai jenjang karir
sesuai manajemennya.
Yang jelas, kalau dilihat dari segi kualitas mengajar dan OPT
how to handle and anticipate problems itu yang sangat
terasah di ELTI. Sekarang saya lebih cepat tanggap n
flexible juga. Walaupun dulu saya tidak mengambil
jurusan pendidikan, tapi keahlian yang saya dapat itu ya
karena learning by doing lah.hehe..
Dari segi karakter, kayaknya sekarang jadi lebih tegas, PTC

lebih sabar ketika menghadapi anak-anak n juga
masalah-masalah yang sering muncul di kelas.
Untuk pengembangan kemampuan semua guru di ELTI, OPT

selalu diadakan workshop secara berkala. Khusus untuk

guru-guru yang bersedia mengajar kelas-kelas
kindergarten diadakan upgrading oleh coordinator.
Kalau ada seminar tentang very young learners, young
learners, dll, kami juga diikutsertakan atas biaya kantor
supaya memperkaya dan memperluas pengetahuan
kami. Biasanya, yang sudah mengikuti seminar2
tersebut diminta untuk mambagi pengetahuan yang
didapat dengan mengadakan workshop di ELTI. Dengan
selalu berusaha untuk selalu mengembangkan
kemampuan kita, kita kan bakal lebih kreatif juga.
Satisfaction They are cute, funny, and unpredictable. Jadi sering INT
of being a banget saya jadi amazed sama tingkah-polah mereka di
kindergarten kelas, respon mereka terhadap sesuatu. Apalagi kalau
teacher misalnya progress yang mereka tunjukin tuh drastic.
Misalnya, yang dulunya sangat pendiam bahkan ga mau
ngomong sama sekali di kelas, suatu ketika mau
ngomong n antusias tuh sangat rewarding banget. Jd
ngerasa terharu n bahagia. Sampe nangis terharu
juga.hehe
Mereka juga sering bikin saya ngerasa diperhatiin ATT

soalnya setiap ada perubahan di diri saya, mereka tuh
selalu tanya. “Ms Sensi kenapa? Sakit ya? Bajunya Ms
sensi baru ya? Kok rambutnya dipotong sih, aku kan
lebih suka kalau Ms Sensi rambutnya panjang.”
What you Saya selalu mengasumsikan bahwa mereka itu kertas BLF
know about kosong yang masih pure n lbih mudah diisi. Jadi lebih
very young gampang mengajar anak-anak daripada murid-murid yg
learners sdh dewasa karena mereka itu masih murni n persepsi
mereka juga masih polos. Mereka juga sangat
unpredictable, in a good way, lho.hehe.. contohnya dulu
Zio, muridku itu ga pernah merhatiin pelajaran tapi
ternyata bisa. Trus jangan pernah memaksa mereka
ngerjain sesuatu. Kalau mereka menolak, kita kasih
pilihan ke mereka biar mereka pilih yang mereka mau.
Kita Tanya, “pengen ngerjain yang mana? Tapi
ngerjainnya yang rapi ya kalau mau dpt sticker.” Ya
pokoknya kita harus flexible ngadepin mereka.
Mereka juga masih memiliki jangka waktu konsentrasi BLF

yang masih pendek, tergantung mood mereka juga.
Kalau mereka lagi rewel atau dari rumah atau di sekolah
sudah kesel, nanti di kelas ya paling mereka kurang
semangat atau hanya bisa konsentrasi sebentar aja. Tapi

ya itu tadi, kita tetep harus flexible karena ngajar anak-
anak tk itu lebih seperti babysitting.
English Bahasa Inggris tuh bahasa internasional. Memang BLF

banyak sih variasi nya, tapi menurut saya, patokannya
ya tetep harus British atau American English.
Walaupun, pada prakteknya kita bisa ngembangin
sendiri, seperti Singaporean English, Black English,
Australian English, dll. Saat ini sudah banyak sekali
kemudahan untuk mempelajari Bahasa Inggris karena
sudah tersedia bermacam-macam teaching aids yang
bisa kita pilih untuk pembelajaran di dalam atau di luar
kelas.
Teaching and Menurut saya teaching and learning itu adalah proses BLF
learning untuk mendapatkan knowledge. Kalau dalam pengajaran
Bahasa Inggris, guru itu adalah source of knowledge and
also facilitator. Untuk very young learners, guru lebih
sering jadi source of knowledge karena mereka belum
tahu banyak hal. Tapi di lain kesempatan, kita juga bisa
jd facilitator ketika kita ngasih pancingan ke mereka.
Contohnya: what can you see in the zoo? Biasanya
mereka berebutan nyebutin nama-nama binatang yang
mereka tahu yang bahkan tidak ada di buku mereka.
Effective Buat saya, effective teaching itu ya student-oriented. BLF

teaching Maksudnya, 70% students’ activities n teacher 30% aja.
Karena siswa harus mencoba n meng-explore banyak
hal. Jadi trial n eror bikin kegiatan belajar-mengajar
lebih efektif.
What you Sebenarnya saya gak pernah menganggap diri saya itu BLF
enjoy most of guru. Jadi kalau ketika mengajar, khususnya adult
teaching learners, saya anggap itu sharing. Soalnya, saya berbagi
pengetahuan saya tentang Bahasa Inggris dengan
mereka, tetapi saya juga jadi tahu banyak hal dari
mereka. Jadinya berbagi pengetahuan aja sih.
Kalau untuk mengajar anak-anak, memang peran kita BLF

lebih sebagai guru dan pengajar karena knowledge
transfer lebih banyak dari kita ke mereka walaupun
mereka juga lebih tau tentang PS games atau yg laennya
yang saya gak pernah tau. Saya juga belajar kalau ada
sebagian anak-anak yang gak suka competition games
karena mereka jadi bersaing trus ntar kalau kalah
mereka ngambek atau saling berkelahi. Kalau sudah

kayak gitu biasanya saya yang harus menengahi mereka.
“Come on, say sorry and shake hands.” Untungnya,
kalau anak-anak itu cepet sih baekannya. Walaupun
beberapa menit yang lalu mereka rebut, ntar mereka sdh
maen bareng atau ngobrol asyik lagi. Yah, begitulah
anak-anak sering bikin kita ketawa, gemes, macem-
macem lah.
Challenges Yang pertama, tentu saja, annoying students. Kalau ada PRO
siswa yang ngeyel atau ngeselin di kelas tuh sdh bikin
class atmosphere jadi gak nyaman. Yang terganggu
bukan hanya gurunya tetapi juga siswa-siswa yang laen
yang pengen belajar. Kita juga harus cari solusi supaya
kegiatan belajar-mengajar tetap berjalan. Memang sih,
semakin banyak kita ngadepin berbagai macam anak
dengan berbagai karakter, kita makin tahu gimana harus
ngadepinnya. Kadang satu cara berhasil di satu kelas,
tetapi gak berhasil di kelas yg laen. Trial and error.
Mencoba n terus mencoba sampai berhasil
menyelesaikan satu masalah. Kalau misalnya kita gak
bisa dapet solusi, ya biasanya saya diskusi sama temen-
temen saya, coordinator, atau dikomunikasikan dengan
orangtua siswa itu sendiri. Yang paling menantang n
bikin kuatir itu naughty children: anak-anak yang suka
mukul temen-temen yang laen n yang sering
membahayakan diri sendiri n temen-temen nya juga. Ya
contohnya kalau ada yg maenan gunting trus diarahain
ke temen mereka. Karena kalau di kelas kan anak-anak
itu sepenuhnya jadi tanggung-jawab kami sebagai guru
nya, jadi berat juga tanggungjawab ke orangtua mereka.
Pernah ada, anak yg sangat hyperactive tetapi dia
terkadang juga bahaya-in dia sendiri n temennya juga.
Setelah saya bertanya sama mamanya, ternyata ayah
anak itu baru aja meninggal. Tetapi, mamanya jadi
cenderung kurang tegas ngadepin si anak karena merasa
kasihan jadi sering membiarkan saja anak itu berbuat
semaunya. Jadi ya kalau di rumah sudah seperti itu, ya
kita juga susah menerapkan disiplin ke si anak karena
perbedaan aturan di rumah dan di kelas.
Setelah itu, classes in a row. Kalau lagi high season di PRO

ELTI, sehari saya bisa punya 5 atau 6 kelas. Terkadang
kalau ada 3 sampai 4 kelas berurutan tuh sudah bikin
kita capek banget n kurang konsentrasi mengajar.
Apalagi kan saya orangnya pelupa jadi sering banyak
hal yang lupa disiapin. Konsekuensinya ya harus pinter-

pinter nyuri waktu disela-sela jam pelajaran entah itu
untuk nyiapin materi, makan, atau yang laen. Apalagi,
seperti yang saya bilang tadi, sudah berurutan, harus
travelling juga karena ada 2 gedung yang berlainan.
Kalau sudah seperti itu ya benar-benar capek.
Teaching material yang terkadang menurut saya kurang

sesuai untuk level tertentu. Kadang ada yang terlalu
banyak, terlalu mudah, jadi gak balanced. Trus, karena
saya sudah lama mengajar disana, kadang saya sendiri
ngerasa bosen juga dengan materi yang itu-itu
saja..hehe..walaupun muridnya selalu ganti-ganti sih.
Learning Pada dasarnya, anak-anak itu senang melakukan BLF

activities aktivitas fisik. Dengan aktif bergerak, mereka merasa
senang karena di usia mereka, mereka tuh lagi seneng-
1. TPR senengnya bermain dan gak mau diam. Dengan
melakukan gerakan sambil mempelajari kosakata baru,
mereka akan lebih mudah mengingat, lebih cepat, dan
nyantol di ingatan mereka lebih lama juga. TPR juga
jadi backup atau emergency plan yang manjur. Kalau
mereka sudah mulai gak konsentrasi di dalam kelas atau
sangat aktif berjalan atau berlari kesana-kemari, ya
sudah TPR saja untuk menguras energy mereka.
2. Chants Chants itu melatih pronunciation mereka. Jadi pelafalan BLF

mereka, khususnya basic sound atau phonics mereka
lebih jelas. Trus, mereka juga lebih mudah mengingat
kosakata baru karena biasanya chants digabung dengan
TPR. Mereka gak hanya mengucapkan tapi juga
melakukan gerakan yang disesuaikan dengan chants
nya.
3. Dialogues Dialogues itu melatih keberanian n kepercayaan diri BLF

anak-anak. Dengan dialog, mereka juga mempelajari
cara mengekspresikan emosi mereka, budaya orang-
orang inggris, dan natural use of English itu sendiri
ketika berkomunikasi. Mereka juga seneng kalau
disuruh perform di kelas soalnya mereka bisa pamer
kalau mereka itu bisa. Waktu mereka maju ke kelas,
mereka kan jadi pusat perhatian n mereka seneng.
Bahkan, anak-anak yang tadinya sangat pemalu, lama-
kelamaan mau juga dan makin percaya diri. Kebanyakan
orangtua siswa yang anaknya pemalu juga bilang kalau
mereka seneng melihat anaknya sekarang jadi lebih
percaya diri n mau berinteraksi sama temen-temennya.

Bahkan, kadang karena jadi terlalu akrabnya jadi lebih
sering asyik ngobrol sama temennya n kurang
konsentrasi sama materi pelajaran.
4. Songs Hampir sama dengan chants, Cuma kalau lagu lebih BLF
mudah diingat juga sama anak-anak karena ada nada n
iramanya juga. Biasanya anak-anak jadi ceria n seneng
kalau disuruh nyanyi. Yang tadinya bosen atau ngantuk
jadi lebih semangat. Mereka juga semakin kompak sama
temen-temen mereka karena biasanya kalau menyanyi
bareng-bareng 1 kelas n mereka bisa interaksi sama
temen-temen mereka dengan lebih akrab.
5. Story Dengan bercerita, anak-anak berlatih berbicara dan BLF

telling menghafal kalimat-kalimat yang lebih panjang.
Biasanya kami menggunakan story book, tapi hanya
berupa gambar-gambar saja dan tidak ada text-nya. Nah,
gambar-gambar yang warna-warni itu bisa
mereangsang imajinasi mereka. Ketika mereka bisa
menghafal dan menyampaikan 1 cerita dengan lancar,
mereka biasanya keliatan seneng sekali, kayaknya puas
banget. Apalagi kalau mereka pas bercerita di depan
kelas dan menjadi pusat perhatian.
6. Art Untuk anak-anak kindergarten, art projects itu sangat BLF

projects penting, khususnya untuk melatih motor skill mereka
karena beberapa anak bahkan belum bisa memakai
gunting, markers, n crayons. Lalu, guru dan juga siswa
dapat berinteraksi dengan lebih akrab pada saat
mengerjakan art project. Ketika mereka mengerjakan
art project, they can explore their dreams, ideas, and
capability. Misalnya, contoh yang simple, kalau mereka
menggambar rumah, ada saja ide-ide kreatif mereka.
Mereka gambar robot di dalam rumah trus di luar rumah
mereka gambar dinosaurus atau monster sebagai
peliharaan mereka. Hasil karya mereka juga sebenarnya
refleksi imajinasi dan juga hidden dreams mereka.
Kadang-kadang mereka menggambar diri mereka
sendiri sebagai super hero atau tokoh kartun kesayangan
mereka. “Ini aku jadi anggota Power Rangers, Miss.
Aku jadi ranger merah nya.” Trus yang laen kalau sudah
kayak gitu nimpalin “Aku jd yg pink.” “Kalo aku suka
yang kuning soalnya……” etc. Kalau sudah kayak gitu
mereka langsung asyik cerita n saling pamer mainan
mereka di rumah, apa yang mereka punya, kakak-adek,
ya semuanya deh. Tapi pas mereka asyik ngobrol kayak

gitu, saya biarkan aja tapi tetep ingetin untuk tetap
menyelesaikan tugas mereka. Saya juga ikut menimpali
cerita mereka tetapi merespon dalam Bahasa Inggris
supaya mereka dapet English exposure yang lebih juga
walaupun jawabnya kadang masih campur-campur.
Tetapi, mereka ngerti maksud kita apa. Untuk anak-anak
yang agak pemalu, pada saat mengerjakan art project,
mereka juga jadi lebih terbuka n mau ngobrol juga
walaupun kadang harus lebih dipancing n ditanya-tanya.
Intinya, mereka harus merasa nyaman n secured di kelas
jadi proses pembelajaran juga jadi lebih efektif.
ATT
Ketika mereka bisa menyelesaikan karya mereka dengan
baik trus dikasih kesempatan mempresentasikannya di
depan kelas, keliatan banget kalau mereka itu bangga n
puas sama hasil kerja mereka.
Preparation Untuk menyiapkan materi, aktivitas kelas, dan juga art- PRO
project, dulu pada awal saya menjadi kindergarten
teacher, sangat berat. Semuanya harus disiapkan
beberapa hari sebelumnya. Lesson plan biasanya
didiskusikan dengan share-teacher saya. Jadi harus
menyempatkan waktu untuk diskusi trus kalau prep-nya
ya dibagi 2. Ya sebenernya saya sih dulu saya lebih
seperti jadi asisten nya Ms Vivin.hehe..soalnya
cenderung dia semua yang nyiapin n saya cuma bantu
dikit-dikit.
Tapi, pernah suatu saat, Ms Vivin sakit n dengan sangat CRE

terpaksa, saya sendiri yang harus nyiapin semuanya.
Waktu itu repotnya n deg-degan nya setengah mati
soalnya hampir semuanya di handle Ms Vivin. Waktu
itu, untuk bikin today’s lesson saja harus nyari di buku n
ngetik semuanya sendiri, nyari gambar yang sesuai buat
materi hari itu juga. Pokoknya ribet deh. Gak kayak
sekarang, today’s lesson tinggal copy paste n edit dikit
aja soalnya semua file kan sudah ada. Trus, dulu itu art
project kan harus disiapin sendiri karena belum tersedia
di shelves kayak sekarang. Sekarang sih tinggal milih n
ambil aja mana yang kita pengen. Bagusnya sih dulu
karena masih masa awal pengembangan program
kindergarten di ELTI, jadi kita lebih dituntut untuk
kreatif trus juga nyari sumber dimana aja. Biasanya dari
buku-buku koleksi Ms Vivin atau browsing di internet.
Setelah Ms Vivin sakit itu, saya akhirnya bisa mandiri
juga. Hehe. Ya itu sisi baiknya. Pokoknya, Ms Pip itu

guru n sahabat saya. Sampai sekarang saya kadang juga
masih konsultasi n cerita-cerita ke Ms Pip tentang
murid-murid kindergarten.
Setelah itu, baru saya dapat kelas dengan share-teacher

yang laen. Tapi karena saya sudah punya pengalaman ya
agak tenang lah. Waktu itu Ms Vivin masih aktif bekerja
disana jadi kalau ada apa-apa ya bisa langsung tanya n
minta bantuan. Bahkan untuk minta dia nyiapin pernak-
pernik art project aja bisa lewat sms malem-malem.
Tapi kalau sekarang, ya sudah gak bisa kayak gitu lagi.
Paling enggak pesen 2 hari sebelumnya untuk materi
yang harus dibuat seperti play-dough, itu kayak malam
yang bisa dibentuk jadi apa aja. Atau barang-barang
yang perlu beli di supermarket, kayak kue, roti tawar,
selai, balon, dll.
Number of Untuk aktivitas kelas, biasanya, kami nyiapin 3-5 aja. FLX
activities Itu pun terkadang gak semua bisa jalan di kelas. Tapi
misalnya di 1 meeting ada aktivitas yang belum bisa
dilakukan, di meeting selanjutnya bisa dilakukan. Kalau
ada art-project yang belum kelar ya dilanjutkan di
meeting selanjutnya. Pokoknya flexible aja sih.
Biasanya, 30 menit untuk pelajaran dan aktivitas,
sisanya untuk menempel today’s lesson dan
menyelesaikan art-project. Urutannya biasanya, revisi
materi sebelumnya, presentasi, practice, trus untuk
backup plan activities biasanya TPR atau mengerjakan
workbook.
Share teacher Karena saya kan orangnya pelupa, jadi harus ada yang ATT
mengingatkan saya, khususnya saat mulai kelas baru,
terutama nama anak-anak. Jadi kalau ada share-teacher
nya, bisa saling mengingatkan.
Kalau saya punya dua kelas kindergarten dalam 1 hari, PRO

biasanya nge-prep nya aja sering bingung, jadi harus
ada yang mengingatkan atau bergiliran menyiapkan.
Saya banyak sekali belajar dari Ms Vivin. Hampir
semua cara menghadapi anak-anak saya pelajari dari
dia. Saya belajar caranya kerjasama yang baik dengan
share-teacher kita. Di luar kelas pun kami berteman
baik. Kita harus sabar tapi tetep tegas menghadapi anak-
anak. Harus ada aturan-aturan yang jelas. Kita harus
punya aturan yang sama. Saya pernah punya share-
teacher yang sering membentak anak-anak. Jadi kalau

saya yang melarang ya sudah gak mempan lagi buat
mereka karena mereka sudah terbiasa dengan bentakan.
Trus, share-teacher saya itu juga tidak mau
mendengarkan nasehat saya. Jadi ya saya hanya bisa
diam saja. Setelah tidak berpasangan dengan dia di kelas
tersebut karena dia keluar dari ELTI, saya juga diprotes
oleh orangtua siswa, “sekarang kok anak-anak kurang
disiplin ya setelah Ms X tidak mengajar mereka lagi?”
Saya jelaskan kalau saya tidak bisa membentak anak-
anak. Kadang-kadang mereka juga malah bilang,
“dimarahi aja Ms, gak pa pa kok asal dia nurut n mau
mendengarkan.” Saya cuma senyum saja.
Sejauh ini, saya cukup beruntung punya pasangan FLX

mengajar yang cekatan dan flexible. Bisa saling
bergantian dan mengingatkan untuk prep di 1 kelas.
Kalau di dalam kelas, biasanya kami sudah saling tau
kapan harus bergantian mengajar, handle anak-anak, n
kapan kita harus saling bantu.
Seperti share teacher saya yang suka hugging ma anak- ATT

anak, ya saya ingatkan lagi di luar kelas untuk
mengurangi n tau saat yang tepat buat hugging.
Share holders Sekarang peraturan lebih ketat, menyangkut masalah BLF

 Institution budget juga. Jadi, sekarang peraturan nya, kalau jumlah
siswa kurang dari 9 orang, hanya ada 1 guru di 1 kls.
Tapi kalau ada 9 baru ada 2 guru. Karena saya tau
keterbatasan n kekurangan saya, saya tidak bersedia
untuk mengajar sendirian di 1 kelas, apalagi kalau level
awal, red, soalnya biasanya lebih repot karena harus
membangun habits mereka. Kalau sudah level-level
selanjutnya, sebenernya lebih gampang karena anak-
anak sudah tau dan terbiasa dengan semua class rules.
Tapi ya karena untuk persiapan kelas itu juga banyak, ya
saya tetep menolak untuk mengajar sendirian. 2 orang
guru saja di kelas sudah repot, apalagi kalau sendirian.
Kadang para coordinator juga kurang memperhatikan PRO

scheduling, jadi mereka ngasih kelas berurutan tanpa
mempertimbangkan guru. Sudah berurutan, harus
pindah gedung juga. Itu bener-bener bikin saya capek.
Kalau harus traveling memang biasanya ada office boy
yang mengantar, tapi kendalanya ya kalau hujan atau
OB nya kadang lupa juga. Saya juga sudah memberitahu
divisi tentang scheduling, tapi karena saya orangnya

agak pelupa, kadang saya gak merhatiin kalau saya
harus berpindah tempat juga. Setelah didiskusikan
dengan divisi, solusinya, orangtua siswa diberi surat
pemberitahuan bahwa saya akan terlambat karena harus
berpindah tempat. Karena tight schedule itu juga kadang
saya kekurangan waktu buat menyiapkan kelas-kelas
saya.
 Parents Untuk program kindergarten, kami mengadakan ATT

pertemuan dengan orang tua sebanyak 2 kali selama 1
level. Karena ada 28 pertemuan, pertemuan dengan
orangtua diadakan di pertemuan ke 14 dan 28. Laporan
kepada orang tua ini dilakukan untuk menunjukkan
kemajuan yang anak-anak capai di pertengahan dan di
akhir level. Pada pertemuan dengan orangtua ini, anak-
anak juga kami berikan kesempatan untuk menampilkan
apa yang mereka pelajari di kelas. Biasanya story telling
dan songs. Jadi, mereka bisa melihat secara langsung
penampilan anak-anak mereka. Biasanya kan anak-anak
n orangtua ngerasa bangga n seneng bisa melihat
hasilnya langsung. Sejauh ini sih biasanya hubungan
dengan orangtua bisa terjaga dengan baik.
Tapi ya gak selalu juga sih. Beberapa kali, ada orangtua PRO
yang complain juga. Seperti yang tadi, perbedaan saya
dan share teacher saya dalam hal disiplin. Perbedaan
treatment anak-anak di rumah dan di kelas. Mereka
kadang menuntut saya untuk mendisiplinkan anak
mereka dengan cara membentak atau memarahi dan
selalu saya beri pengertian, saya selalu berusaha tegas
dengan anak-anak dan sudah ada class rules yang harus
mereka patuhi. Kalau mereka melanggar, ya ada
konsekuensinya. Konsekuensinya itu biasanya mereka
gak akan dapat sticker. Sticker itu kan menunjukkan
prestasi harian mereka. Jadi biasanya kalau mereka gak
dapat sticker, mereka bakal berusaha lebih keras di
pertemuan selanjutnya.
Pernah juga saya dan partner saya merasa sangat risih PRO
karena seperti dimata-matai salah satu orangtua siswa.
Jadi dia selalu mengintip dari celah pintu dan mencatat
semua aktivitas kelas secara sangat terperinci. Setelah
itu dia juga selalu menanyakan atau konfirmasi semua
aktivitas kelas. Kadang-kadang juga menggurui kami
dengan bilang kami seharusnya begini dan
begitu…hmmph…bikin gak nyaman karena rasanya

semua gerak-gerik diawasi. Kayak dia itu gak percaya
sama apa yang kami ajarkan di kelas. Ngeselin tapi ya
tetep harus sabar, gimanapun juga dia kan customer
kami.
Assessment Setiap menyelesaikan 1 unit materi di buku, kami

biasanya mengadakan assessment untuk anak-anak.
Biasanya dengan merevisi semua materi di dalam 1 unit.
Ini dilakukan untuk mengecek kemampuan mereka.
Mereka masih ingat atau tidak semua materi yang sudah
dipelajari. 1 unit targetnya selesai dalam 9 meeting,
assessment nya ya setiap 9 meeting itu.
Selain itu, biar anak-anak lebih semangat belajar di ATT

kelas, kami juga memberikan sticker di setiap
pertemuan dengan syarat mereka harus berkelakuan baik
di kelas dan menyelesaikan tugas dengan baik. Kadang-
kadang sampai ada yang nangis juga sih karena gak
dapet. Tapi, selalu kami berikan pengertian supaya
berusaha lebih baik lagi di pertemuan selanjutnya. Harus
tegas biar mereka mau berusaha.
Untuk laporan yang lebih resmi dan terperinci, kami ATT

memberikannya pada saat parents’ day. Untuk setiap
kategori penilaian kami memberikan nilai Sometimes
dan Always. Hanya ada 2 macam nilai karena dulu Ms
Vivin membuatnya supaya meminimalisasi persaingan
dan tuntutan orangtua supaya si anak gak ngerasa
tertekan harus mencapai nilai yang bagus n sempurna.
Lagipula, tujuan utama program kindergarten kan untuk
memberikan pengenalan belajar bahasa Inggris dan
membuat mereka menikmati belajar bahasa Inggris.
Observation 1
Date : 19 September 2010

Place : ELTI Yogyakarta
Teachers : Ms Sensi and Ms Pia
Number of students : 7 girls and 5 boys
Level : Orange
16.00 Ms Sensi hasn’t come yet since she has another class at 3 in ELTI Hadi
Darsono so that Ms Pia started the class herself. She greeted the students and
she arranged the messy tables and seats used by previous class. She asked
them to stand up behind the class, then called them one by one to their seats
that she chose for them. Meanwhile, some children who seem very active ran
here and there although Ms Pia told them to calm down and sit on their seats.
16.05 Ms Pia introduced me to the children and asked them to greet me (Say hello
to Ms Atiek) and she introduced me to the children one by one mentioning
their names. She told them that that day they were going to have 3 teachers in
the classroom.
16.08 Ms Sensi came and the children were excited to see her. Then, they were very
eager to share their stories about their experiences at school that day.
Basically, they love talking and showing themselves off.
16.10 The teachers asked them to come in front of the class one by one and stand up
on the chair and asked other students: “What is Cila wearing?”. “She is
wearing a dress”, shouted the others. Most of them were excited to stand up
in front of the class but one student was shy to stand up in front of the class.
Then, one student came late and looked sleepy. The teachers asked the
students to greet the late student, “Say hello to Nashwa.” Then, the Ms Sensi
and Ms Pia kept asking them: “What color is Cila’s dress?”, etc.
16.15 Another student came late and Ms Sensi asked her to sit beside me. Her
name’s Nailu and she had been absent several times before. Ms Sensi asked
her: “Where have you been?” She seemed confused and Ms Sensi tried to
explain her question using simpler words and gestures. “Last week. Were you
sick?” (She pretended to cough and put her hand on her own forehead).
16.18 Another student came late and they greeted her happily. Most of them kept
chatting with their friends and just paid attention to the teachers at a glance.
Moreover, Raisa kept talking and seeking attention from her friends and
teachers.
16.25 They liked shouting to answer the teachers’ questions and the teachers tried
to remind them about the stickers. If they shout and hit the table or chat with
their friends, they will get no stickers.
16.30 Ms Sensi and Ms Pia asked the children to take their notebooks and glue the
today’s lesson. They asked them to ask the paper from Ms Sensi and the glue
from Ms Pia. While gluing, the children kept on chatting with their friends
about anything. Some children who had been absent several times had to glue
some pieces of today’s lesson to study at home. (Some children came to me
and told me about their experiences at their ballet class and I answered in
English although they spoke Indonesian to me). Meanwhile, some students
like coming to the teachers, hugging them, and even sitting on their laps.
16.35 Since most of them kept running round the class, Ms Sensi counted 1 to 10 to
make them sit and be quiet.
16.36 Ms Pia stuck a piece of paper on the whiteboard, then she asked a jacket
picture from Ms Sensi. “Give me a jacket, please.” Then, she stuck on the
jacket-puzzle on the paper. She asked the children: “Do you want to make
it?” They answered eagerly: “Yes.” Therefore, they had to stand in line to ask
the paper and puzzle in turns. Ms Sensi told me that she asked Nailu to sit
next to me to make her quiet because usually she was very talkative.
16.43 They rushed to Ms Sensi and it was hard to make them stand in line to get the
puzzle. Ms Pia quickly helped Ms Sensi and took some puzzles from her to
distribute to the students. 1 puzzle was missing then they told them to wait
while Ms Pia looked for it and it on one of the students’ table.
16.48 Suddenly, Jason hit his friend, Jordan, and made him cry. Ms Sensi asked him
to apologize, shake hands, and make it up.
16.50 The teachers asked them to decorate the puzzle and when they finished, they
had to them in the basket.
16.55 Ms Sensi and Ms Pia asked them to stop working and submitted their work
although some of them had not finished yet. Then, she asked them to clean
up. They said good bye to each other then Ms Sensi and Ms Pia decided who
deserved to get the stickers that day. Those who got the stickers were very
excited but those who did not looked disappointed and even almost cried. Ms
Sensi and Ms Pia consoled them and told them that they would get the sticker
if they behave and perform better next meeting.
17.00 They shook hands with their teachers and went home.
Observation 2 (Videotape)
Date : 29 October 2010

Teachers : Ms Sensi and Ms Eno (she substituted Ms Pia who was
absent that day)
Level : Orange
16.00 Ms Sensi came on time because she did not have to travel today. Since Ms
Via was absent, Ms Eno substituted her and helped Ms Sensi. They greeted
the students and said hello to each other and said hello to Ms Hening too (she
recorded the class). Then, Ms Sensi chose the seats for them.
16.03 The teachers asked them to stand in line behind the class. Ms Sensi held a
rabbit doll and Ms Eno held a cat doll. Then, Ms Sensi sang “This is the way”
song and also stroked the rabbit as she sang the song. Then, they changed the
lyric “rabbit” into dog and cat. The children danced and sang happily.
16.08 They sang another song, “The mother’s in the house,” and they mimed to be a
father, mother, brother, and sister as they sang the song.
16.13 Ms Sensi and Ms Eno put different kinds of animal dolls on the floor and they
gave an example of short conversation. “Ms Eno, I want a dog please.” Then
Ms Eno took the dog doll and gave it to Ms Sensi. “Here you are.” “Thank
you.” “You’re welcome.” Then, they changed the role. Some students were
very excited to come in front of the class and performed the short
conversation. They yelled, me…me…me…and some even came to the front
of the class. Then, Ms Sensi told them, “Ssshh, sit down nicely first.” Then
the students came to the front of the class in pairs and performed the
conversation. Everyone got the turn. While waiting, they of course did not sit
quietly, some ran and talked to their friends. Some of them even posed in
front of the camera.
16.23 Ms Sensi revised numbers by asking the students “What are these?” (showing
her hands) The students answered, “hands”. “How many” “Two” Then, they
asked other objects in the class, such as tables, students, and teachers. The
students even reminded the teachers, “three teachers, Ms, not two” They
laughed and realized that they also counted Ms Hening.
16.25 Ms Sensi took the rabbit doll and put them in different position to revise the
preposition. “Where is the rabbit?” “It’s on the table” “It’s under the table”
“It’s over the table”
16.27 Ms Sensi asked the students to raise their hands and follow her instructions.
“Put your hands over the table/in front of you/under the table/over the table.”
Ms Eno walked round the class to monitor the children. Then, they did the
chant “Over the table” and changed the word “bird” into “hand.”
16.30 They distributed the today’s lesson and the glue and asked them to stick it on
their notebook.
16.32 Ms Hening watched them closer and said hi to them.
16.35 Ms Sensi took a piece of paper and asked the marker to Ms Eno. “Ms Eno,
give me the marker please” “Here” “Thank you” Then, Ms Sensi asked Ms
Eno to put her right foot on the paper. Ms Sensi drew a line along with Ms
Eno’s foot. After she finished, she stuck the paper on the whiteboard and
started to draw a picture and asked the children to guess what it was. “Bird”
“Cat” “Dog” Ms Sensi drew the water bubble, scales, fin, and gill so that they
knew that it was a fish.
16.38 The teachers asked, “Do you want to make it?” “Yes” The students, then,
worked in pairs and did the same thing while the teachers helped them until
all students had their foot print and got ready to decorate the picture. Ms
Hening greeted them, and asked their names. She asked about their work and
they were very proud of to show it off.
16.45 The students were still busy decorating their fish and talked with their friends
about the fish.
16.55 The teachers asked them to stop and reminded them to write their name on
the paper, clean up, and submit it to them.
17.00 They said goodbye, shook hands, and distributed the stickers.
Observation 3 (Video recording)
Date : 1 November 2010

Teachers : Ms Sensi and Ms Pia
Level : Orange
16.00 Like the previous observation, Ms Sensi hasn’t come yet since she has
another class at 3 in ELTI Hadi Darsono so that Ms Pia started the class
herself. She greeted the students and arranged the messy tables and seats used
by previous class. However, some children who are very active ran here and
there although Ms Pia told them to calm down and few of them even carried
the seats over the head and almost hit other students. She kept reminding
them to put the seats on the floor. Few minutes later, Ms Sensi came. After
Ms Sensi and Ms Pia finished arranging their seats, she asked them to stand
up behind the class, then called them one by one to their seats that she chose
for them. Some students protested and asked to move to another seat. Then,
they negotiated and finally everyone sat on his/her own seat.
16.05 The teachers asked them to greet each other. “Say hello to Ms Pia/Ms
Sensi/your friends.”
16.10 The teachers asked them to take their colorful books and open a page. The
children kept asking the teachers to do different activities. “I want to make a
story book.” Some of them went to the teachers and asked them to get the
books. “Okay, then what do you say” “Thank you.” The teachers went round
the class and helped them find the page.”
16.12 Eventually, everyone was ready with their books. Another student came late
and Ms Sensi and Ms Pia greeted her. “Hi, Fafa. Where do you want to sit?”
A student did not bring the book and another student sitting next to her
refused to share the book. Then Ms Sensi asked another student, “Azka, is it
okay if Naylu share the book with you?” Then, they asked the students to
show their point finger, and asked them to point some certain pictures.
“Please, point to the napkin/the plate/the cup.” (A student named Raisa did
not stop seeking attention from the teachers and me. She kept moving,
talking, and posing in front of the camera).
16.15 Another student (Cila) came late. Then, Ms Sensi opened the door and asked
them to say hello to Cila and asked her to sit on one of the seats. A student
(Jason, a bad-tempered student who likes fighting with his friends) was
sneaking out without permission. Ms Sensi and Ms Pia ignored it because he
often did that and they did not give the sticker as the consequence at the end
of the class if he did it many times.
16.18 The teachers asked them to put their books in their bags and asked them to
take their notebooks. Then Ms Sensi took a box of glue and Ms Pia took the
today’s lesson and asked them to stand in line to get them and stuck it on their
notebooks. Some students kept walking round the class and finished the task
very long. Some who were still very young asked the teachers’ help.
Therefore, Ms Sensi reminded them to finish it in the counts of ten. “Finish it
in the count of ten. One, two, three, etc.” (Ms Pia realized that Jason sneaked
out the class and tried to find him and one of the students told her that he
went to the toilet).
16.21 Ms Pia asked them to return the glue and for those who had finished and Ms
Sensi asked them to stand up behind the class.
16.22 The teachers showed some pictures of food and drink and sing a song (It’s a
party). They had to change the lyric if the teacher showed different pictures.
The children were happy and kept dancing and singing.
16.28 The teachers stopped the activity to do the art project. They took the material
for the art project. Ms Sensi took the paper and Ms Pia took the rest. (Raisa
sneaked out the class without asking permission). When she got back, Ms
Sensi warned her to ask permission next time and returned to her seat. She
usually did not give the sticker for any disobedient behavior, especially if
they did it for several times. Hence, they became more disciplined with the
class rules. However, Ms Pia came to Raisa and helped her and Raisa
suddenly hugged her in a spoiled way and Ms Pia hugged her back. Fafa
came to her and Ms Pia also hugged her.
16.30 Ms Sensi stuck a piece of paper on the whiteboard and asked Ms Pia the
napkin shaped rectangle and stuck on the paper, they apparently wanted to
make a napkin collage. After she stuck the paper the children shouted,
“That’s a door.” “That’s a train.” Then, Ms Sensi drew on the napkin and
paper and made at as a glass of orange juice. “Oh, it’s a glass of orange
juice,” they said. Then, they put more examples of napkin collage in the
forms of ice cream, a house, and cake. The children said, “I want to make a
house,” “I want to make a cake,” “I want an ice cream”
16.35 They distributed the material (paper, napkin, crayon, and marker) to the
children. They were very excited and came in front of the class to see the
examples closer. They started to make the art project after getting the material
from their teachers. However, they kept walking round and seeing their
friends’ work. The teachers did the same thing to monitor them.
16.45 Ms Sensi asked the children to show their work to me and told me what it
was. They kept chatting and sharing stories while working. They laughed and
showed off their work to each other. The teachers praised their work showing
the thumbs, saying “good, nice, beautiful” even tapped their back, and hugged
them.
16.55 The teachers stopped the activity and told them that they could take their
work home. They cleaned up the class and the students also helped them put
back the crayon, glue, and marker on the right place. Ms Sensi revised the
lesson pointing the examples on the whiteboard and said, “I have an ice
cream” “I have cake” “I have a glass of orange juice” and asked the students
to repeat her.
17.00 They said goodbye to all and they all got the sticker because they could finish
the art project well. Then, they shook hands with their teachers and went
home.
THE PHOTOGRAPHS
The participant is introducing a story.
The participant with her students and her share-teacher.
155
THE PHOTOGRAPHS
The participant is explaining in front of the class with her share teacher’s
assistance.
A student is making an art-project.
156

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PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

Teaching English to Very Young Learners

Presented as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

Atiek Pratitis Lestari

THE GRADUATE PROGRAM IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE STUDIES

TEACHING ENGLISH TO VERY YOUNG LEARNERS

Atiek Pratitis Lestari

F.X. Mukarto, Ph.D.

TEACHING ENGLISH TO VERY YOUNG LEARNERS

Atiek Pratitis Lestari

Defended before the Thesis Committee

Chairperson : F.X. Mukarto, Ph.D. __________________

Secretary : Dr. B.B. Dwijatmoko, M.A. __________________

Members : 1. Dr. Retno Muljani, M.Pd. __________________

: 2. Dr. Novita Dewi, M.S., M.A (Hons) __________________

Yogyakarta, July 20, 2011

Prof. Dr. Agustinus Supratiknya

understands the full consequences including degree cancellation if she takes

somebody else’s ideas, phrases, or sentences without a proper reference.

Yogyakarta, July 20, 2011

Atiek Pratitis Lestari

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN

Yang bertandatangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma:

Nama : Atiek Pratitis Lestari

Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan

TEACHING ENGLISH TO VERY YOUNG LEARNERS

beserta perangkat yang diperlukan. Dengan demikian saya memberikan hak

Demikian pernyataan ini saya buat dengan sebenarnya.

Atiek Pratitis Lestari

Next, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis advisor, F.X.

Studies for the help during my study.

my younger brother, Yayang, my sisters, and my outstanding nieces.

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION ………………………………………… 1

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW ………………………………... 13

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY ………………………………………. 56

1. Nature of data and data collection technique ……………………... 58

CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS RESULTS ………………………………….. 72

CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ………………... 105

BIBLIOGRAPHY ………………………………………………………… 111

APPENDICES .............................................................................................. 115

Table 2.1 The characteristics of VYLs ……………………………………. 24

Figure 2.1 Samples of Today’s Lesson …………………………………… 29

Lestari, Atiek Pratitis. 2011. Teaching English to Very Young Learners.

what makes me interested in exploring this particular topic of research, the

background of my study, the problem identification, the problem limitation, the

practical benefits of this research.

As a developing country in the extended circle (Kachru 1985), Indonesia is

in a struggle to create a bilingual society by improving its education system. Most

One of the most popular phenomena is the emergence of bilingual or international

students, but also to kindergarten students. Graddol reveals that:

learners in Indonesia as one of countries in the extended circle. Furthermore,

the effectiveness of teaching English to young and very young learners. I am

particularly interested in elaborating it by revealing the lived experience stories of

a teacher teaching VYLs in the kindergarten program of a non-formal English

illustrate whether they are true or not.

environment by interacting with the people around them. The source of

researchers attempt to understand the influence of the children‟s interaction with

He referred to Vygotsky‟s theory of internalization which explains that children

of activities guided by the adults. He, further, emphasized the importance of

learning through interaction.

In my opinion, children learn best through good supervision by the adults.

education institutions). Harmonious cooperation between teachers and parents will

be able to set good learning habits for the children.