The Teaching of English to Fifth Graders at MI Muhammadiyah Sidorejo

ABSTRAK English is a local content subject in Indonesian primary schools. It means that the school can decide to teach English or not. As a local content, English is taught starting from Grade Four but some schools decide to teach English from Grade One. MI Muhammadiyah is one of the schools that teach English from the first grade. The purpose of teaching and learning English for the first grade were only to introduce the young learners to English and more for fun such as teaching songs. The school started to teach English foraccording to the curriculum started from Grade Four. This study was descriptive qualitative research conducted to describe how English is taught in this school. The subjects of this study were the teachers and the students of the fifth grade. The researcher chose two classes to conduct the study. The data were conducted using interview guide, questionnaire, and field notes. The data were analyzed using qualitative data analysis and minor quantification for the questionnaire. Findings showed that the teachers used several techniques such as lecturing, question and answer, some steps of scientific approach like questioning, observing, and exploring; and brainstorming. The teachers used whiteboard/blackboard, LCD Projector, Laptop, and speaker to help them in teaching English to the students. The teachers used text book and CD as the source of the materials. The assessment conducted by the teacher used individual task, vocabulary test, question and answer, and practice speaking. The teachers used English and Indonesian with different proportion but they mostly used English. Some suggestionswere offered to the teachers, the head master, and the future researcher. First, for the teachers, they should use different kinds of techniques that include some activities where the students active and make the class more fun and enjoyable for the students. The teachers should also use different kinds of source to enhance the materials. The head master should provide some media to teach English and make the support the teachers to follow seminar or get more education in the English Language Teaching. Last, future researchers which conduct study in the same field can use interview guide not only for teacher and head master but also some students.It is also recommended future researcher conduct study more than three meetings to make it more accurate