PEMBUATAN BAHAN AJAR ENGLISH FOR YOUNG LEARNERS UNTUK YAYASAN AL-KAHFI CABANG PALEMBANG

Abstract

Regarding the English instruction, Yayasan Al-Kahfi Cabang Palembang (YACP) has seven  problems. The problems include lack of English teachers, lack of knowledge on young leraners’ characteristics and skills in teaching young learners, limited learning resources (teaching materials and media), teaching focus on vocabularies only, inappropriate teaching materials for young learners, ineffective teaching media, and uninteresting teaching strategies. The assigned community service program aims at providing the teachers with  knowledge on young learners’ characteristics and teaching young learners and designing sistematic and contextual teaching materials for young learners in group A (elementary students in years 1, 2, and 3. The program was carried out through discussion and teaching material design. The process of the material design consisted of three main steps: preliminary study, design of teaching material draft, and evaluation and revision of the materials. Through this community service program, four of seven problems faced by YACP can be solved. First, the English teachers’ knowledge on  young learners’ characteristics and teaching young learners increases.  Second, the teacher and the students have the course book ‘English for Young Leraners’ consisting of 12 topics. Third, the materials are sistematic, contextual, and suitable for young learners. Fourth, by using this book, the teachers will teach not only isolated words  but also the use of the words in sentences through four language skills – listening, reading, speaking, and writing. This program will be continued in 2020 with the focus of providing the teachers with the training and coaching to use the course book. Since the book contains some drawbacks and  mistakes probably found when using it, the book revision needs to do.