Where we’re going: Factors to be Taken into Account in Developing English Curriculum for Primary School

Sri Sumarni

Teaching English in Primary School has been carried out for nearly ten years after being legitimated by the Ministry of Education and Culture through the Decree no. 060fU/1993. Even though English is suggested to be an extra subject (local content subject) in this level, the fact shows that almost every primary school in towns makes big efforts to include English as a part of its curriculum. In spite of that eagerness, some serious problems come up such as: no specific curriculum developed by the Curriculum Center, lack of competence of English teachers to deal with primary school children, and many others. Those have created a more serious problem; many primary school teachers got confused about what is to be taught and how it is to be taught when they are teaching English. A study on the existing English Local Content Curriculum Documents for Primary Schools in Jakarta revealed that the curriculum doesn't cover clear guidelines for teaching English as a foreign language for young learners. Classroom observations done in three primary schools in East Jakarta found that teaching English is dominated by teaching grammar through non contextual learning activities. This paper is an attempt to share some factors to be taken into consideration in developing Primary School English Curriculum so that what students need to learn and how they learn best about English as a foreign language can be clearly identified.

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Sumarni, S. (2004, February). Where we’re going: Factors to be taken into account in developing English curriculum for primary school. Paper presented at the national conference on Teaching English to Young Learners: Why and How, Bandung, Indonesia.

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