Should English Be Taught to Kids at Kindergarten?

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Nowadays English becomes one of international languages and it has been learnt by many people around the world. Many phenomena arise in term of learning and teaching English. Considering the significance of English, some countries whose first languages others than English try to apply some policies in learning English. One of discussions nowadays is that English should be taught to kids at kindergarten?. This question is often asked by many teachers, instructors and stakeholders of education in many countries over the time. Consequently, there are pros and cons to teaching English for kids at kindergartens. Some people disagree about teaching English for children at early ages. Knowing that English is not their mother tongue language it can encumber the children in the process of learning (Krisna, 2011). But it is not totally true; I strongly believe that English should be taught at kindergarten. It is supported by the statement of Samway and McKeon (1999) that learning a second or foreign language is almost similar as learning a mother language, the language must be connected to the real life.

Cameron (2008) claimed that early age is a good phase to learn a language. It can be seen that children in 1 to 3 ages are able to acquire 1,000 to 3,000 words in simple form such as one word to sentence. While children in 3 to 5 ages, it is the years when they are in kindergarten, they tend to be able to use the language by considering rhymes and phonology aspects such as the words that have similar sounds. In these ages, students are also able to acquire the basic grammar of English. Although they still make some problems in some situations but it can be understood by listeners such as in irregular verbs or nouns; taked instead of took and foots instead of feet. Some research also indicates that students who learn more than one language at preschool are able to understand much spoken language even as many as thousand words and they can produce hundred words ( Hart and Risley 1995, as cited in California Department of Education, 2009).

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Early age students have better memories than adult students. In term of mastering vocabularies, they do not have memorized them like adults do, because they just learn English from basic language continuously. Mostly, they learn English that connect to their daily life then it builds the habits sustainably. Besides, children who learn English at early ages have more time than those who learn at primary and secondary school. Yamada (1980) claimed that students who learn a foreign language at adult age tend to face more difficulties than kids face. It is stated because preschool students have better rote memory and motor ability than adults. Children’s brain is also more flexible that adults’ brain because the function of their brain indicate for new things. Surprisingly, they are able to acquire seven languages before they reach puberty (Glisan, in Chuang 2011).

In other sides, adult students often care about the errors in practicing spoken English. Sadly, it becomes an obstacle to use English actively. They are always worried about the grammar rules, word choices and others in speaking. While the preschool student, naturally, never care about making mistakes in speaking. It makes them be more active than adults. Making mistake in speaking for kids is not a big problem as long as they ability is increasing year by year. The aim of learn English for kid is not to measure their competences, but to involve in process of using English sustainably. In other sides, a research from Harvard university indicates that learning foreign language at early age creates critical thinking, creativity, and flexibility when students are teens (Ford, 2014).

Students who learn English at early ages also have higher level of proficiency than students who learn at young or adult ages. It can be shown by some research that bilingualism children have higher scores on standardized test than monolingualism children. It is also supported by a report from College Senior Bound in 2007 says that young students who have studied a foreign language more than four years have 140 points higher than students who have only spent one years to study a foreign language. In addition Duncay (2011) said that students’ reading ability grows from their experiences of using foreign language, as they grow older the ability of reading increase continuously.

Learning English at early ages make children be able to speak like natives. Naturally, children are always mimicking what they hear. This kind of activity makes their pronunciation and accent of foreign language better that adult learners. The process of mimicking continuously creates a habit in the brain. Thibaut (1973) explained that learning at adult ages make students produce pronunciations differently, because good pronunciations produce before critical period ends. This critical period ends when learners are 12 or 13 ages. It is a biological time for language acquisition. He also categorized two model of learning language in brain; brain’s left hemisphere stores language, while Brocas area stores pronunciation and grammar.

In conclusions, although some people have different perceptions on learning English at kindergarten because of some factors, learning at early age is very important for children. Considering that English has significant roles for daily life in era of globalization nowadays. Besides, English is also crucial for student in future for further education. But, to apply this model of learning especially in Indonesia needs a lot of efforts. This learning must be supported by many aspects in education such as Curriculum, methods, strategies, books and also social daily life. Teachers and parents has important role in controlling and guiding preschool students in learning a foreign language. These all aspects will determine the good impact of learning English at kindergarten for children at early age.

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References
Cameron, Lynne. (2008). Teaching languages to young learners. (10th ed). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Chuang, Mei-Ling. (2011). Teaching and learning English in kindergarten in Kaohsiung. (Doctoral disertation). The University of Bielefeld, Germany. Retrieved from http://webdoc.sub.gwdg.de/ebook/fk/2003/uni-bielefeld/disshabi/2002/0056.pdf

Darwish, S. (2012). Kindergarten children and language learning: Missing pillars for language acquisition. International Jurnal of Higher Education, 2(1). http://dx.doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v2n1p44

Duncay, T. (2011, November 25). Advantages of learning a foreign language at early age. Today Zaman. Retrieved from http://www.todayszaman.com/

Ford, C. (2014, October 10). Children should start learning language at age three. The Telegraph. Retrieve from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Samway, K., & McKeon, D. (1999). Myths and realities: Best practices for language minority students. Portsmouth: Heinemann.

Thibaut, F. (1973). Learning a second language at early age. Retrieved January 13, 2016 from http://www.newsforparents.org/expert_learning_second_language.html

Yamada, et. Al (1980). On the optimum age for teaching foreign vocabulary to children. Applied Linguistic in Language Teaching, 18(3), 245-247. Retrieved from http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ234413

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Regard,
ALFYD, English Language Teacher