Teachers Beliefs in Teaching English to Young Learners in Indonesia

Nurfitri Habibi
nurfitrihabibi@gmail.com

Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia

Abstract
Teaching English to Young learners (TEYL) is something fresh and fruitful research area since its
practice needs careful considerations. It has just become popular since 2001, where English as a
foreign language in Indonesian context is taught as a local content in elementary schools. However, it
is stated that the practice of teaching English to young learners in Indonesia differs considerably
from the theory of TEYL. Therefore, this study intends to find out the philosophical background of
teachers beliefs in TEYL by investigating teachers beliefs and factors influencing their beliefs. This
study involves six elementary teachers in Bandung. The questionnaire and interview are used to
collect information needed regarding to teachers belief in TEYL. The findings show that teachers
have limited knowledge of teaching English to children leading to some misconception of the
principle of TEYL. Those misconceptions influence their belief in TEYL caused by some reasons
educational background, teaching experiences, and authorized curriculum .
Key words: Teachers beliefs, philosophical background, and TEYL

In 1994, English subject should be taught in elementary level as a local content

(Ratminingsih, 2014), which means the local government has a right to decide how many
hours English should be taught in elementary school (Jalal & Musthafa, 2001). Since that
time, Teaching English to Young Learners (TEYL) in Indonesia has become popular.
Musthafa (2010, p. 120) claims, The public interest of English for young learners (EYL) has
enhanced. It is shown by numerous studies that have been conducted in regards to TEYL
practice (Musthafa, 2010; Damayanti, 2008; Shin, 2006; Garton, Copland, & Burns, 2011;
Thomson, 2010; and Fitrawati, 2013).
However, teaching English to young learners is not a simple instance. To achieve successful
instructional process, it requires teachers adequate knowledge and clear concept about young
learners and teaching English to young learners. It is because young learners and adult
learners differ in nature of learning, especially learning English, which is notably a Foreign
Language in Indonesia context. Harmer (2007) states that students at different age have
different characteristics leading to differences in the way teachers teach them. To teach young
learners, Linse (2005; p. 2) argues, teachers should be aware of children basic physical and
psychological needs. By virtue of that, Linse further states the educational experiences have
to be adjusted to meet the development stages of every child.
Therefore, theoretically, teachers have to know children learning development before they
teach English to children. In addition, they should have ideal concepts or beliefs in teaching
English to young learner. In regard to the situation aforementioned, this study aims at
investigating the philosophical background of teachers beliefs in teaching English to young
learners in Indonesian context by answering the following questions:
1.
2.

What are teachers beliefs in teaching English to young learners in Indonesia

context?
What are philosophical backgrounds underpinning the teachers beliefs in TEYL in
Indonesia context?

By answering the research questions proposed, it will give information of the philosophical
reasons of the beliefs that elementary teachers have in teaching English to young learners in

Indonesia context; hence, the problems of TEYL in Indonesia could be identify and the
solutions could be suggested in creating a betterment of instructional practice related to
TEYL in Indonesia context.
Literature Review
Philosophical Concept in Teaching English to Young learners
In teaching English to young learners, the first and the most aspect that teachers need to know
is children learning development. Piaget (in Pinter, 2006) proposes four stages of children
cognitive developmentsensory motor period (birth to 2 years), pre-operational period (2
years to 7 years), concrete operation (7 to 11 years), and formal operation (11 years to
adulthood). At each stage, Cameron (2001) states; children will be able to react at certain
ways of thinking but still incapable of others. It means children will not have types of
thinking in, for example, concrete operation stage, until they reach and step on that stage. The
way children think will develop gradually until they reach the final stage of formal thinking.
Moreover, teachers should not only understand children cognitive development in teaching
children, but they should also be aware of their social/ emotional, physical, and moral
development (Brazelton & Greenspan, 2000; in Linse, 2005). By knowing all of those
developments, teachers will be able to provide appropriate learning experiences for young
learners (Linse, 2005). In addition, by knowing those developmental aspects, teachers will
recognize some fundamental requirements should be possessed in teaching English to young
learners.
In accordance to the fundamental aspects in TEYL, Musthafa (2010) proposes five principles
should be comprehended by teachers to teach Indonesian children learning English as a
Foreign language at elementary level. Those principles are teachers have to know basic
knowledge of (1) who children are, (2) how children learn and develop, (3) how children
learn language, (4) how children learn English as a foreign language (EFL) and (5) what
teachers (adults) can do to facilitate children learning English as Foreign Language. By
knowing those principle, teachers are able to provide successful instructional process of
teaching English to young learners.
History of English Language teaching in Indonesia
English language teaching in Indonesia has been existed since the Dutch colonial period in
Indonesia, yet in Nippon colonial period, English was banned to be used and to be taught in
Indonesian schools (Hunayn, 2012). After Indonesias declaration of independence in 1945,
English language teaching was brought back. Since that day, the curriculum of English
language in Indonesia developed gradually. Sundayana (2009) states that there are five
periods of English curriculum development in Indonesia, which are curriculum 1975,
curriculum 1986, curriculum 1994, curriculum 2004, curriculum 2006 (KTSP), yet now
Indonesia government is developing a new curriculum, namely, curriculum 2013.
Each curriculum determines the approach underlying the English language teaching in
Indonesia. Sundayana (2009) reveals that there are three approaches underpinning the
developments of curriculum in 1963-2006, which are audio-lingual approach underlying the
curriculum 1963-1975, communicative approach underlying the curriculum 1986-1994, the
combination approach between communicative approach and literacy approach underlying
curriculum 2004 and 2006, and genre based approach and scientific approach underlying
curriculum 2013. Those approaches will influence the teachers beliefs on the nature of
language, the nature of language learning, and the applicability of both in pedagogy settings
(Brown, 2001, p. 16).

Although English language teaching has been implemented since the Dutch colonial period ,
English was taught officially as a foreign language at primary level (SMP) and secondary
level (SMA) in Indonesia in 1967 (Hunayn, 2012)while, the policy of English taught in
elementary level as a local content was just validated officially by ministry of education in
1994 (Ratminingsih, 2014). However, the demands of teaching English at elementary level
have just developed massively in 2001 (Musthafa, 2010). Therefore, it seems that the
implementation of teaching English to young learners in Indonesia is considered new.
Understanding the concept of teaching English to young learners and the history of language
teaching in Indonesia will trigger certain beliefs hold by teachers in teaching English to
young learners. Beliefs can be defined as mental construction of experience which is not
only cognitive constructs, but also social constructs arising from experiences (White, 2008, p.
121), which discover how teachers conceptualize their works (Richards, Gallo, & Renandya,
2001). Owing to aforementioned definition, it is clear that beliefs hold by teachers in teaching
derives from their experiencesboth experiences in teaching and experiences in learning. In
addition, the beliefs hold by teachers will determine the way they teach, the approach, the
method, and the techniques they will choose and use in teaching. Therefore, it is important
for knowing philosophical background of teachers beliefs in teaching English to young
learners to portray the underlining reasons of the TEYL practice in Indonesia.
Methodology
In order to answer the research questions, which are, What are teachers beliefs in teaching
English to young learners in Indonesia context?, and What are philosophical backgrounds
underpinning the teachers beliefs in TEYL in Indonesia context?,six teachers who teach in
elementary school in Bandung are involved in the study. Those teachers are chosen
purposively to meet specific goal (Yin, 2011), which is knowing the practical phenomenon of
TEYL in Indonesia. There are two reason they are selected. First, they still contribute in
teaching English to young learners (Sugiyono, 2013). Second, their educational background
are different. The instrument used in the study are open-ended questionnaire and interview.
Some questions formulated in the questionnaire adapt the principle of TEYL proposed by
Musthafa (2010). After all of the data from the questionnaire are collected, interview is
conducted as well in order to validate the answer from the questionnaire; hence, in depth
participant views and opinion on the topic being discussed (Sugiyono, 2013; and Creswell,
2003) would be achieved. After all of the data needed are collected, those data are
categorized and analyzed by relating them to the existing theory of the requirement of TEYL
mainly proposed by Musthafa (2010).

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

Teachers beliefs of TEYL in Indonesia context
Finding out the teachers beliefs in teaching English to young learners means some aspects
related to the principles of teaching English to young learners should be put to the fore. The
first thing that teachers should bear in mind is knowing who children are. By knowing who
children are, they will be able to treat and appreciate children appropriately (Musthafa, 2010).
From six teachers investigated, three of them affirm that children are the ones whose age is
about 3-12 years old. They do not give any further information about it. Meanwhile, the
others three elaborate that children are little creatures who have bigger curiosity, like playing,

and reminders for adults to enjoy their life and improve themselves. From the responses, it
seems that the participants do not realize that children is childrennot adults, which have
their own way of thinking and perspective about the world that is different from that of adults
(Musthafa, 2010).

The second things should be revealed is to what extent teachers know the nature of English
and the nature of English learning. In terms of the nature of English, all of teachers articulate
that English is a foreign language and it is used over the worlds as an international language.
However only two of them state clearly that English have certain rules or grammatical
patterns that should be followed in using English. The other two believe that English is an
adjustable language, which can be arranged in various genres and be interrelated with other
subject. Another teacher states that English is a language that is rich of vocabularies.
In terms of the nature of English learning, five of teachers claim that they have to teach
grammar implicitly to young learners, while the other one argues that it is important for
teachers to teach grammar explicitly by simplifying the explanation to young learners. In
accordance with those answers, it indicates that they are obviously aware that English is not
used as daily and official means of communication since it is considered as foreign language
(Hunayn, 2012; Musthafa, 2010). However, only two of them realize that English has its own
grammatical patterns and they have to be taught implicitly to elementary student from the
first to the fifth grade, while the sixth graders should be introduced grammar explicitly. Those
decisions are made by considering children cognitive development, in which only at formal
operation stage children are capable slowly to acquire abstract concepts (Cameron, 2001).
Before that stage, children are only able to comprehend a language through direct experience,
which means they coin knowledge from what they see, what they feel, what they smell, what they
hear, and what they actually really do and now context of situation (Musthafa, 2010).
The third stance, which should be exposed is the best characteristics of teaching and learning
English to young learners. It is found that five out of six teachers utter that teaching English
to young learners should involve various, interactive, and interesting activities by providing
games and engaging students physically. It indicates that most of them are aware of children
attention span, which is considered short15-20 minutes; therefore they have to provide
numerous activities in the classroom (Musthafa, 2010). On the other hand, one of them that
TEYL should be simple, understandable, while another one believes besides involving the
aforementioned characteristics; teachers should provide a good role model of using English.
However, no one expresses that teachers have to promote exposure of English in the
classroom. It means they still have a lack of knowledge that English should be exposed by
providing useful, acquisition-promoting routines, and reiterating some useful expression or
vocabulary items in order to be familiar with the language and understand the communicative
function (Musthafa, 2010).
To sum up, those articulated understanding of the teaching English to young learners give clearer
descriptions on teachers beliefs in teaching English to young learners in Indonesia context. Although
the findings show some of the participants have already had enough knowledge in TEYL, the
misconceptions could not be avoided. Those misconceptions of TEYL will shape certain beliefs to
teacher in TEYL since belief is constructed through both social and mental experiences (White, 2008).

The philosophical background influencing teachers beliefs of TEYL

The beliefs expressed by investigated teachers in teaching English to young learners seem
due to some factors, which are educational background, experience of teaching children, and
the curriculum applied by Indonesia government.

Concerning educational background, it seems that educational background has a significant

correlation with the establishment of teachers beliefs in teaching. It is found that five out of
six teachers graduated from English Education program, while one of them graduated from
public relation program for undergraduate study and technology program of education for
post-graduate study. The five teachers graduated from English education, where TEYL is one
of compulsory course should be taken, indicate that they have already known some principles
of teaching English to young learners; nevertheless only two out of five teachers have enough
understanding of the principle underpinning TEYL. On the other hand, one teacher whose
educational background is not related to English education shows that he/she has very limited
knowledge on how to deal with TEYL. This finding supports Klieme & Vieluf (2009)
statement, which argues that professional competencies, including content knowledge and
pedagogical content knowledge, have crucial effects on teachers belief in teaching. Richards,
Gallo, & Renandya (2001) further claims that teachers beliefs are regarded as the results of
professional lives.
Experience in teaching seems contribute to the developments teachers beliefs in teaching as
well. The longer they teach, the more information about teaching English to young learners
they get. It is shown that five teachers whose teaching experiences are about 5-11 years have
some knowledge about teaching English to young learners, even for the teacher whose
educational background is not related to English education. For the teachers whose
educational background is not related, but his/her experience of teaching is around 11 years,
he/she will acquire some knowledge of TEYL from his/her experiences. It is found that
experienced teachers understand how to make a quick decision through the analysis of
classroom situation and the theory of children and their development. This leads to their
success in generating and developing classroom management. On the other hand, the
teachers whose educational background is related to English education, but his/her experience
of teaching is less than one year will only understand few simple principles of TEYL. It is
found that this teacher understands that teaching English to young learners should cover
concrete concept, interesting, and simple. Therefore, it is clear that experience of teaching can
conceptualize how far they have done in teaching (Richards, Gallo, & Renandya, 2001). It
means the articulated knowledge that both teachers have are also influenced by their
experiences in teaching.
Moreover, in regard to curriculum development, it is found that the beliefs that teachers
possessed are also influenced greatly by legalized curriculum. It is found that the way they
teach children are relevant to the approach underpinning the curriculum. Since there are two
curricula used in Indonesia nowcurriculum 2013 and curriculum 2006, the approach used
by investigated teachers are either communicative approach or scientific approach. The
teachers who teach in a school where the curriculum 2013 is implemented will follow
scientific approach principles, while teachers who teach in a school where the curriculum
used is 2006 will follow communicative approach. However, all of investigated teachers
articulate that all of the curricula developed in Indonesia do not really support English
language teaching to young learners, since the allocated time for English subject is limited
two to four hours lesson a week. This allocated time does not enough to develop students
skill entirely (Musthafa, 2010). In addition, those teachers view the curricula developed in
Indonesia do not support teaching English to young learners practice. It is because they think
the curricula do not promote a fun, integrated theme for children and provide irrelevant as
well as difficult materials for young learners. Therefore, their attitude toward curricula
developed in Indonesia drive them to have certain belief in teaching as well.
CONCLUSION

From the discussion elaborated, it can be seen that educational background, teaching
experiences, and curriculum developments in Indonesia are philosophical background of
teachers beliefs in TEYL in Indonesia context. In other words, those philosophical
backgrounds play crucial role in the development and establishment of teachers beliefs.
Therefore, in order to crate successful environment of TEYL in Indonesia context, it seems
that those three aspects should be improved by involving all parties in education.
In addition, the discussion serves some implication to the TEYL practice and to other
researchers who will be interested in conducting similar study. In terms of TEYL practice, it
is imperative for educationists to enhance professional developments for elementary teachers
in teaching English to young learners and to review the curriculum developed or being
developed. In regards to further study, it is better if the further study could give more
comprehensive on different perspective and focuses with more representative sample in
investigating teaching English to young learners practice.
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