Revealing Problems on Teaching English for Young Learners at Al – Azhar 55 Islamic Primary School Yogyakarta and How to Solve Them

Abstract

The present paper aims to reveal the problems faced by teachers when teaching English for second – grade students at Al – Azhar 55 Islamic Primary Schoolin Yogyakarta. This bilingual school is considered as a pilot project which began theprogram in July 2016. There are only 2 classes which are the first and second grade.However, this study involved 21 second-grade students, 2 homeroom teachers, and 1native speaker. Qualitative method was applied in this study by combining documentanalysis, observation, and interview both students and the teachers. The results showsome problems occurred during teaching and learning process and how the teachersovercome them. The problems were (1) students’ lack of discipline during teaching andlearning process (2) the variety of students’ English ability, (3) difficulty in creating habit to use English as daily language, and (4) less support from parents. While, the solutions were (1) applying Class Dojo application, (2) providing the preparation class, (3) support and assistance from teachers and friends, and (4) hands – on learning.

Teachers’ Strategies in Teaching English to Young Learners in Private Primary Schools in Yogyakarta

“…When they are at home, they only use their mother tongue. It is in line with Widodo and Dewi (2018), mentioning that English is not a tool of communication for them. It arises a problem for teachers because they have to try harder to make the students use English.…”

“…Another problem faced by English teachers is noisy students because they disturb their friends, as said by Nurasiah (2017) and Widodo and Dewi (2018). When they are noisy, their friends cannot concentrate.…”

Novice Teachers’ Challenges and Problems in Bilingual Schools Context in Bali

“…In addition, the novice teachers will explain carefully since the students are lower primary students who need extra treatment. The same opinion comes from [29], providing preparation class at the beginning of semester for the students who struggle in using English or Bahasa Indonesia to communicate will help the students a lot.…”

“…There are several previous studies related to the problems and challenges encountered by the teachers in bilingual schools conducted by [9], [2], [8], [25], [29], [24], and [6]. From those studies, it is concluded that there are several problems and challenges faced by the teachers in bilingual schools.…”

“…It is supported by [6] and [24], in which bilingual education is a popular topic among educators in today's schools. Besides, the emergence of bilingual schools also become very popular in Indonesia [29]. However, it seems that not all educators know how to handle students in bilingual schools although the teachers' role is crucial on the practical implementation of bilingual education [6].…”