Music And Young Learner

Since English has become an international language, more and more people learn English. The importance of English as a world language has made people to learn English as early as possible. In Indonesia for example, English is taught even before the children enter the playgroup, there is a special class for children who are still around two or three years old. This is supported by the fact that the optimum age for children to learn a foreign language is when they are still in a very young age. This phenomenon has made Teaching English to Young Learners, TEYL, become increasingly famous. There are many English courses and the publication of the course books. Before we go on, it is better to look at the definition of young learners in order for us to have the same perspective and knowledge. The definition of Young Learners is children between the ages of about 5 years old to 12 years old (Rixon, 1999), while according to Lynne Cameron; young learners are those under 14 years old. Moreover, the definition of young learners is mainly based on the years spent in the primary or elementary stages of formal education before the transition to secondary school. This is why the ages of the young learners could be varied from one country to the others. Some psycholinguists say that one of the factors to be successful in language learning is young age. There are some explanations for better learning at young age. First, the brain is more adaptable before puberty than after, and that acquisition of languages is possible without self consciousness at an early age and also because young children have more opportunities than adults. The children are learning all the time without having the worries and responsibility of adults (Brumfit, 1994). “Children learn through play” is a sentence that has guided early childhood educators for decades. The nature of children is that they like to play and have fun than studying. Isenberg also stated that play is a need of every child and it is an important childhood activity that helps children master all developmental needs (1993). Play is the work of childhood and is important for learning and development. One of the forms of play that children are familiar is music, in the form of songs. The singing games and chants are the embodiment of symbolic play and imitation. These activities help the children to

move from sensorimotor experience to a symbolic transformation of it (Isenberg, 1993). Music helps children develop cognitive skills, as well as enhances language skills, by singing song, children learn language appreciation, vocabulary and rhyme (Shipley,1998). Another thing is that songs and rhymes are learned by heart, and this may form part of a child’s linguistic. Thus, through this paper, the writers wants to explain how teachers can use songs to enhance skills to young learners, such as listening, speaking and writing skills.

Source: (Yuliana)

Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Kristen Petra

http://puslit.petra.ac.id/journals/letters/