Teaching English in Primary Schools: Benefits and Challenges

Abstract

Teaching English in primary schools relates to the readiness of the schools and the students' proficiency levels. If the schools have the sufficiency of English teachers, media, and textbooks, they will be ready to teach English. It is because primary schools deal with young learners aged 6-12 years and this period is believed as the best moment to gain knowledge. It is in line with the basic principle stating that young learners can learn English better [11]. Teaching English in primary schools provides both benefits and challenges. The benefits are reported by Moon [16], Singleton [10], and Read [18], and the problems are pointed by Copland, et al. [9], Khamari et al. [8], and Wei-pei [7]. Regarding the issue, this article identifies the benefits and challenges based on theories and research findings and then proposes several solutions of the difficulties which can be the references for the schools to provide high-quality English teaching and learning.

Strategies Implemented in Teaching English for Young Learners in Primary School

“…It because of students will obtain the benefits of learning English. The most needed of primary school students in learning languages is to communicate (Cahyati & Madya, 2019). Thus, general purpose of language learning is to develop students to communicate in order to they can fluently pronounce English as a provision in the future to face the global world as nowadays.…”

English Teaching Reconstruction at Indonesian Elementary Schools: Students' Point of View

“…According to this theory, there is a biological timetable for foreign language acquisition, which can be done more optimally between three to six years of age. Children learn a foreign language in the same method as they learn their first language (Cahyati & Madya, 2019). Some researchers highlight that the development of language learning is in line with the learners' biological development.…”

Parents Perspective on Translation Quality of Children Bilingual Storybooks

“…Learning English as a foreign language at an early age improves the communicative competence in that foreign language, but it also helps to understand better their mother tongue (Blázquez, 2016). Teaching English at the primary level provides children more opportunities to understand foreign cultures and be more tolerant of others (Cahyati & Madya, 2019).…”