A Success Story
of a Young ESL Learner’s Literacy in the Australian Mainstream Classroom:
Some Insights
for the Teaching of ESL/EFL Literacy in Developing Countries
Bambang Yudi Cahyono
One thing considered important for
successful development of literacy learning in a second language is how
pedagogical activities in the classroom are carried out. Pedagogical activities
which are supportive of second language learners will enable them to learn
second language literacy successfully. This paper synthesizes two research
reports regarding literacy learning of Aida, an Indonesian young English
language learner, who was mainstreamed in an Australian primary school in the capital
city of Victoria, Melbourne. The first report, based on a
nine-month longitudinal study (Cahyono, 2003),
focused on Aida’s early development of literacy learning in English as a second
language (ESL). The second report, based on research conducted at the end of
Aida’s third year learning of ESL (Cahyono,
forthcoming), described Aida’s development of more advanced literacy learning
and of learning how to learn. In light of the results of these two research
studies, this paper highlights supportive pedagogical activities which
contributed to Aida’s successful literacy learning of ESL in the Australian
mainstream classroom. This paper suggests that supportive pedagogical
activities in the Australian classroom have been made possible by the policy of
literacy education. For example, the “Early Years Literacy Program” implemented
in Victoria requires primary schools to allocate two hours daily, called
“two-hour literacy block”, for structured literacy teaching activities. These
activities have benefited not only mainstream students, but also ESL learners.
Reflecting on the literacy education policy in Australia
and its successful implementation in the classroom, as experienced by Aida,
this paper offers some insights regarding the teaching of ESL/EFL literacy in
developing countries, more particularly in Indonesia.
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Cahyono, B. Y. (2005). A success
story of a young ESL learner’s literacy in the Australian mainstream classroom:
Some insights for the teaching of ESL/EFL literacy in developing countries.
Paper presented at the 1st
International Literacy Seminar. State
University of Semarang, Indonesia.
Website: www.geocities.com/eltindonesia
Email: eltindonesia@yahoo.com