Teaching English for Young Learners Using Educational

Home made Film.

Vincencia Chrysantika K.P. (10620026)

A. Introduction

English is one of International Language which used by people around the

world, for some countries at west side from this earth use English as their nationality

language, and it is different with Indonesia. In Indonesia English is foreign language,

so it would be difficult to teach English for Indonesian students, especially young

learners, as a teacher, we must find methods, which make young learners comfortable

to learn English. When we teach young learners, we must create fun environment for

them. We can use songs, poems, or storytelling to make the environment more a live

and entertaining to deliver the Lessons, but using that materials are already ordinary

and common to use, In this paper the writer will give the reader vision that teaching

English using video or movie education, it could be fun same as use songs, poems,

and storytelling. However film which have already downloaded from internet,

sometime contains thing which is not appropriate or having relation with teachers

lesson. So, teachers will be wasting their time just for searching that films suitable for

the lesson, to solving that problem this paper will discuss about how teaching english

for young learners using educational homemade film, the writer will explain how

combine educational homemade film with the lesson and how to make home made

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film for your young students. In homemade film already including some aspects,

which needed for young learners, such as young learners could imitate the

pronunciation directly by hearing and watching from the film scene. Young learners

can learn new vocabularies without seeing the dictionary and know the meaning by

understanding the acts of actor and actress in video, and young learners also learn

about humanity behavior by watching the video and movie education.

The importance of this paper is teachers can find media which can make their

students feel comfortable and enjoy learning English, and make the teachers will have

media which made by their selves, it will make them easier to teach and deliver the

materilas. And one of those tools is Educational homemade film.

Young Learners are students who are not adults yet. According to

Read(2011), young leaners is a term used for students who attend the formalling

school at the first year, and they have age around five to twelve years old. Young

learners have some characteristics, they are ; keen and enthusiastic, curious and

inquisitive, outspoken, natural learners, imaginative and creative and learn by doing

or hands on experience, and they have tend to imitating object which they think is

interesting for them (Lefever:2007). Based on that characteristics, to teach young

learners we must use different approaches because every young learners have their

different ability to learn a new language, but the most common technique which using

by young learners is imitating, they imitate a person who use English for

communication, they have ability imitate until they are like the copies of the person.

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They learn new vocabularies by watching and imitating the way to pronounce the

vocabularies, that is way learning from video or movie education can make young

learners more comfortable and enjoy learning English. According to Hyunsuk(2000),

Young learners have interest to learn English through video because video is

combination from moving picture and sounds. For young learners video can show the

language comprehensively and realistically. That is the reason, educational

homemade film could be the most suggest tools to teach young learners because

educational homemade film can show a communication transaction in totality. As we

know, when we talk about young learners we must think something fun to teach

them. Using educational homemade film can be the best way to make young learners

enjoy and feel comfort while learning English. Nevertheless we have already known

that educational homemade can apply in the classrom, do not forget to combine

homemade film with another activity such as playing games, so the students will not

feel boring cause of just watching film. Moon(2005) says, that young learners require

an experiential approach with some of characteristis, they are: contextualized,

focused on communication socially oriented, content or topic-based or cross-

curricular, with a strong oral emphasis initially, especially with younger learners,

plenty of teacher support and scaffolding. That is the reason when teachers use

educational homemade film in classroom, teachers must avoid make the students just

sitting back and watching the screen. According to Ferlazzo(2012), there is

integration between lesson and the homemade film and teacher can apply knowledge

of language to make students understands the function of language in different

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context. In this paper, the writer will discuss about combine educational homemade

film with the lesson and how to make home made film for your young students.

B. Teaching English to Young Learners

Young Learners who are students in early age around six to twelve, Alkhamali

(2013) stated that, Young Learners is a term used to describe children of pre-primary

and primary school age.

Young Learners are often more enthusiastic and lively learners, Cameron

(2002)notes that, Young Learners are like to please their teachers rather than their

friends, they will do any activities even when they do not understand the reason

therefore they also interest more quickly and are less able to keep themselves

motivated on tasks they find are difficult. That are make Young children is very

unique and attractive than adults. Phillips (2003) said that, how Young Learners,

learn a new language, and even the technique to teach obviously depends on their

developmental stage, Young Learners have their own responds to learn a new

language, they react to foreign language according to what they can do with it, rather

than treating it as an intellectual game or abstract system .

Young learners have some characteristics, which must know by their teachers,

they would be understand easily if teacher know well young learners characteristics,

Nunan(2011) mentioned that, there are characteristic of young learners. Young

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learners have a holistic approach to language, which means, that they are understand

meaningful message but cannot analyze language yet, Young learners have lower

levels of awareness about themselves as well as about the process of learning. Young

learners have limited reading and writing skills even in their first language, Young

learners are focus on themselves than others, Young learners have limited knowledge

about the experience of life, Young learners like fantasy, imagination, and

movement.

Usually as teachers we feel confuse how to make our Young Learners feel

comfort to learn foreign language since our Young Learners are very attractive but

also they can feel bored in the same time, In her books “Young Learners”,

Phillips(2011) explain that, there are four ways to make Young Learners feel

comfortable to learn a new language. First, the activities for Young Learners should

be simple enough for the children to understand what expected to them. Second, the

task should be within their abilities, it needs to be achievable but at the same time

sufficiently stimulating for them to feel satisfied with their work. Third, the activities

should be largely orally based-indeed, with Young Learners listening activities will

take up a large proportion of class time. Last, written activities should used sparingly

with Young Learners, Young Learners who are six or seven years old are often not

yet proficient in the mechanics of writing in their own language.

Teachers must understand with the needed of the students, such as

Alkhamali(2013) says, Teachers should to cover the subjects in the text book,

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teachers can expose Young learners to the language of the subject indifferent ways

for example presenting films that cover the subjects in interesting and interactive

way.

Every young learners are born with a language “instinct”, such as like spiders

have instinct to spin webs, and birds are also born with instinct to fly south in the

winter. Young learners learn their first language by listen and see their environment,

like Nunan(2011) says that, “learners could never develop an advanced grammatical

system because the language they hear all around them, the everyday speech of

parents, other adults, and older siblings is fragmentary, imprecise, and in fact, often

ungrammatical.

When Young learners already known their first language properly, it would

not difficult, learn foreign language. We can use the technique of Young learners first

language acquisition by make up the environment to use English as daily language, so

Young learners will be push their self to learn the new language automatically.

In this paper the writer use homemade film to make up the environment for

teaching English to young learners environment, in fact 80% children learn easily by

seeing a film. Film will give experience about English to young learners, film can

represent language in real context, and film can give motivation to use English in

daily communication with their friends, so their English will be improving by

themselves.

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C. Educational homemade film

Film is a story or event recorded by a camera as a set of moving pictures and

shown in a screen, according to Oxford Dictionaries(2013). Educational homemade

film is a film movie, which made by a person or a group whose the main purposes, is

to educate. Educational homemade films have been use in classroom as an alternative

for teaching method. Educational homemade film would help teachers to show video

which could deliver the lesson to students, without waste their time just for searching

and editing the video for mixing with the lesson and curriculum requirement.

According to the writer’s opinion, that teaching Young learners using Educational

homemade film is very entertaining and give much experience both for teachers or

students, for teachers would know how to make a film which integrated with lesson

and curriculum requirement, and for students would now the way to apply English in

daily language with their friends. Film contain authentic sounds which come from the

act of the actor and moving picture which showing the act movement by the actor.

Mc Kinnon(2013) stated that, Film as a listening tool can enhance the listening

experience for our students”. As the record by the writer’s, mostly young learners in

Indonesia are visual learners. Abram(2013) noted that, Visual learners is students just

learn better when viewing animated diagram step by step about how to make

something, and the drama in film. For this reason the writer’s noted that, for young

learner film can stimulate learners’ English vocabulary as naturally, and this become

effective and innovative way for the teachers.

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Make Educational homemade film.

To make educational homemade film, the first think should to do by the teachers is

prepare the materials which want to make into video, become dialogue text, after

dialogue text should edit again and transferred it into blue script, and don’t forget hire

a crew, around ten to twenty person as volunteer and actors. When everything already

have prepared well, let us take action.

For first scene, give brainstorming to actors, for having monolog scene, which

explain about the material. According to Pavlina (2013), brainstorming important, for

developing the next scene and will make the audience understand the reason of

making this video. So students will not forget the important reason, they watch this

video while learning session. After brainstorming let us move to important scene,

which the actors act to deliver materials through the dialogue at blue script. Last, for

finishing don’t forget to edit unnecessary part. And your education film already have

been deserved to watch by students.

This is the simple and easy way to make Educational homemade film for young

learners. This step is good for teacher who amateur and first time to make a film.

D. Conclusion

Young Learners is a term used for students who still 6 – 12 years old.

According to that age young learners can learn new language beside their mother

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language. Teaching English for Young learners, should make entertaining and fun for

them, teachers should take students attention and motivation to learn English.

Teachers could use many tools, but the suggest tools is educational homemade film.

Educational homemade film is different from others, because it made by the teachers

as add tools in class. Educational homemade would help children to increase their

vocabulary. Davies(2013) noted that, educational homemade video helps to raise

students English Acquisition, moving pictures may help aid understanding and

learning of concepts that are difficult to explain verbally, the use of educational

homemade film with text is particularly efficient in enhancing levels of

comprehension, and educational homemade film could increase input through

arousing students interest in English.

Using Educational homemade film for teaching English to young learners

would make teacher more creative and innovative to teach, beside teachers don’t have

to waste the time just for searching video that doesn’t have correlation with lesson.

And students will give more attention and motivation to learn English since they feel

enjoy and fun to learn English through educational homemade film.

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REFERENCE

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Cameron,L. 2002. Teaching Language to Young Learners. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press.

Cherry,K. 2013. What is Behaviorism?. Retrieved June 17,2013 from: World Wide Web:http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/f/behaviorism.html.

Ferlazzo, Larry.2012.Eight Ways To Use Video With English-Language Learners. Retrieved June 6,2013 from: World Wide Web: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/ell-engagement-using-video-larry-ferlazzo-katie-hull-sypnieski

Hyunsuk, Song.2000.Teaching English Using Video. Retrieved May 24, 2013 from: World Wide Web: http//englishdaejin.ac.kr./~rtyson/fall2000/elt/video.html.

Lefever, Samuel.2007.English For Very Young Learners.Retrieved June 10, 2013 from:World Wide Web: http://malfridur.ismennt.is/haust2006/pdf/malfr_27-31.pdf.

Moon, Jayne.2005.Teaching English to Young Learners : The Challenge and The Benefits.Retrieved June 11,2013 from: World Wide Web: http://www.britishcouncil.org/ie2005w30-jayne-moon.pdf.

Nunan,D. 2011. Teaching English to Young Learners. Anaheim. Anaheim University Press.

Oxford Dictionaries Online. 2013. Definition of Film. Retrieved June 18,2013 from: World Wide Web: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/film.

Phillips,S. 2003. Young Learners. New York. Oxford University Press.

Read, Carol.2011. Y is for Young Learners. Retrieved June 10, 2013 from : World Wide Web:http://carolread.wordpress.com/2011/07/25/y-is-for-young-learners/

Abram,S. 2013. Benefits to Ysing Video in The Classroom : 11 Reasons Every Educators Needs a Video Strategy. Retrieved June 23,2013 from World Wide Web: http://stephenslighthouse.com/2012/09/30/benefits-to-using-video-in-the-classroom/

Davies, Renaud. 2013. Teaching with video. Retrieved June 23, 2013 from: World Wide Web:http://edition.tefl.net/articles/teacher/teaching-with-video/

McKinnon,M. 2013. Teaching Technologies: Teaching English Using Video. Retrieved June 23, 2013 from World Wide Web: http://Onestopenglish.htm

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No Name. 2013. The benefits Using Video in Classroom. Retrieved June 23, 2013 from World Wide Web : http://www.zaneeducation.com/education-and-video.php

Pavlina, Jay. 2013. How to make a movie (or short movie). Retrieved June23, 2013 from: World Wide Web:http://www.explodingrabbit.com/articles/how-to-make-a-movie-or-short-film

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