The Characteristics of Young Learners

Young learner are someone who learn  when they are young or we can say that young learner is children who learn. Teaching English for Young Learners is guiding and facilitating. Young learners in aging 7-12 years old, from their activities in learning, knowing, understanding, and comprehending ideas, attitudes, values, skill, and information of English using tricks and strategies which will be used in changging and redefining their thought forward their daily surrounding situation as a foreign languages learners.

The range of age for young learners is 7-12 years old. From  that range we can say that they are kid. In that age, the concentration and their focus are not same with adult. Young learners will only focus on what attract their attention. They only focus on it around 10-15 minutes and then neglect it. They are curious about everything and never hesitate to ask everything about it even critical sometimes because of their high curiosity. They also learn and memorize very quickly, especially from their own experience in doing something.

Another characteristics of young learners are they are very active. They are less shy than older learners. They are imaginative. The teacher can use realia or pictures to teach new vocabulary related to concrete meaning. They enjoy learning through playing and they learn best when they learn through games. Let games be an essential part of your teaching. They also enjoy imitating and skilfull in listening accurately and mimicking what they have heard.

From those characteristics we found that there are many differences between young learners and adult, who has reverse characteristics from young learners, we have to make a different way to teach them. We have to know their needs, emotion and their interest in order to success teaching them. We also have to adjust our self with them so they can learn the material given by us.

As a teacher, we have to prepare something that suit on their characteristics when we want to teach them. When we teaching young learners, we are not just making them understand about the material but also making the information or the knowledge stay on their mind. They are easily curious. We can use something to draw their attention in learning, such as using game, picture, music, film, etc.

Wendy A. Scott and Lisbeth H. Ytreberg says, ”Lessons will be much easier and much more exciting for the children if you make full use of things and objects as well as language to get your meaning accros.” (hal.108). Based on the statement above we can’t use monotone and passive method to teach them, they won’t pay attention. We have to make it interesting and fun for them. Using colorful and toys may be the advantages for us when teaching them, this strategy will increase teachers’ effectiveness in teaching.

As a teacher we have to manage the classroom well because they are very active.When we want to teach them we have to make them quiet and focus on our material by maintaining the classroom environment in good atmosphere for them.

We have to make joyful atmosphere for each of them. We have to help them anytime and We also have to give them reward for every positive things that they have done in learning because they are very like rewards. Giving them good score, presents, even praise will increase their will in learning. So It will make us easier to teach them.