Sunday, October 12, 2014

Ideas How to Teach Bahasa and English to Your Young Children


Having an 11 months little daughter, and knowing that soon it will be her golden age, I begin to think how to teach Bahasa and English to her.  Thank God a time ago I learned Applied Linguistics and find some information about it. Hopefully this information I about to share to you will be fruitful, especially for those who have the same exciting experience like me.
There are several kinds of approaches that can be used in teaching reading to young children:
Basal reading programs: The characteristic is a large-scale system of preparatory texts, graded readers, work books, tests, and other materials. The advantages are a) comprehensive; b) graded; c) carefully planned; d) that children get to know the characters, setting, etc. On the other hand, the disadvantages are a) expensive; b) it can be used inflexibility; c) it does not promote an exploratory use of language outside the scheme. (mmm.., sounds doesn’t work for me. What about you?)
Language experience programs: The characteristic is integrating work in listening, speaking, reading and writing, using a variety of materials and activities relating to the child’s own world. The advantages are a) catering for individual differences; b) promoting creativity, confidence, and meaningful activities. On the other hand, the disadvantages are a) little grading of structure; b) difficult to evaluate progress; c) little motivation to read outside the child’s immediate world. (Good idea! I’ve done it to my daughter, and it works!)
        Individualized programs: the characteristics are a) that children select their own reading based on interests and ability, and read at their own pace; b) that each child has its own program, using checklists and charts, and discusses reading with the teacher. The advantages are a) maintaining interest; b) fostering independence and confidence; c)  flexible; d) making no public distinction between good and bad readers. On the other hand, the disadvantages are a) difficult to organize book availability, record-keeping, discussion time with teacher; b) no systematic development of skills.  (worth to try...)
                Each approach has its own advantages and disadvantages; therefore, there is no ‘right way’ which approach is suitable to teach reading for young children. It depends on the situation and condition. Besides, a range of approaches should be available to suit the needs of individual children. Some teachers believe that reading is essentially the skill of decoding written symbols; for others, it is a means of discovering the meaning ‘behind’ the symbols. In this deeper view, reading plays a fundamental role in promoting children’s critical and imaginative thinking, and thus  their intellectual and  emotional development.
                There are two contemporary preoccupations for teaching reading to young children. First, there is a focus on the need to motivate children to read by providing materials and activities that are interesting. Second, there is an emphasis on training the cognitive skills that children need in order to read efficiently.
                Children may be taught to read according to the four-phase program developed by Steinberg. These phases are 1) Word Familiarization; 2) Word Identification; 3) Phrase and Sentence Identification; and 4) Paragraphs, Stories and Book Reading. Each phase involves meaningful language and is ordered so that a preceding phase as a prerequisite for the next phase. The  three phases  I am about to apply are:
Phase 1: Word Familiarization
                The purpose of this phase is to introduce children with the shapes of written words and to have them become aware that different spoken words of the language have different written manifestations. At the beginning of the program of young children, the teacher might introduce word cards to let the children experience printed materials. For example: The teacher could label objects such as tables, chairs, blackboard, window, door, pictures, plants, books, shelves, by making word cards, laminating them, and hang them up round the classroom.
All of these visual aids would attract children’s attention and help them make the links between spoken and written forms.
                Activities may be done with word cards around the room, such as Room Object Pointing, and Word Card Sticking. In Room Object Pointing, the child points to the written word and the object to which it is attached. Pointing to written words brings the words to the child’s attention and gives them importance. The children will realize that different words are associated with different objects. In Word Card Sticking, the child is given a word card and asked to place it on an object that is named. The child will see again that different words go with different objects.
Phase 2: Word Identification
                In this phase, the child learns which particular written words are associated with which particular spoken words or objects. Here the child must store a particular visual configuration and remember what particular spoken word it represents. For example, when seeing the written word ‘apple’ in isolation, the child is expected to be able to point the object ‘apple’ (or its picture) or to say ‘apple’.
                Once the child begins to learn some written words, most of which will be nouns, then the other types of words - verbs, and adjectives should be introduced. Function words such as prepositions and articles should only be introduced in context through phrases and sentences.
Phase 3: Phrase and Sentence Identification
                In this phase, the purpose is for the children to read the largest basic linguistic unit, the sentence. In teaching phrases and sentences, it is not necessary that phrase teaching precede sentence teaching. Rather, whichever unit is of interest for a particular situation is what should be taught, e.g. ‘a big dog’, ‘Diana fell’. 

Source: Cook, G. (2003). Applied Linguistics. Oxford: Oxford Univeristy Press.

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Hello everyone, my name is Imron Setiawan and I teach English in SMA Al Hikmah Surabaya. Well, I also work as advisor of Students Affair (or you may say OSIS). That makes me feel close with my students. In addition, I create this blog in order to facilitate my students so that they can learn not only in the classroom but also everywhere. Well, lastly, I hope this blog can help my students and you readers. Ciao!