Essay

English for Young learners: Why is It Important?

English is known as the international language because it has been spoken almost all of the people in the world. Recently, many people interest to learn English as their second language (ESL) or foreign language (EFL). The number of English learners in each country whole of the world is increase every year.

Because of many importances of English as International language, the learners of English language is not only adult people but also youth. The point of learning English is knowing how to use English language rather than just knowing it (Lightbown & Nina, 1999:161). In order to reach the maximum of learning English, it is essential to introduce English in the early age of young learners. There are several reasons why it is important to learn English in the early age.

Learning English language in the early age is easier than in the old age. As Scott and Lisbeth (1995:2) state, “the children in the early age use language skills long before they are aware of them. They also will have some sort of language awareness and readiness which they bring with them into the foreign language classroom.” Besides, Lightbown and Nina (1999:4) said in her article that there was no proof that a child’s brain had a limited capacity for languages just like their knowledge of one language must disappeared if their knowledge of the other language grew. So, young learners are able to learn English language easily. They can memorize a lot of vocabulary, and they can practice to use English as soon as possible.

The next reason of the importance in learning English in the early age is the speaking English ability of young learners. Because language is a habit, it is good for young learners to speak English in their daily life as much as possible. When people start to learn English language in their early age, they have more time to practice their English ability. It will be different if people start to learn English when they become adult because they have little time to practice English language. Therefore, learning English for young learners is important in order to develop their English speaking ability.

The readiness in facing era globalization is one of the importances why English language is learnt in the early age. In this era globalization, we should compete each other to get the best in any field. We need to face many things and many people whole of the world in order to reach our goal. English is used as the international communication. So, if we don’t know anything about English language, of course we can’t face the challenges in this era globalization. We also can’t reach our goal. Otherwise, we are able to face and get our best in any kind of field if we learn English language in the early age. Beside that, we will have good English skill to communicate with the entire people whole of the world. That’s all because we learn English language in the early age, so we have readiness in using English language to face era globalization.

In order to widen the knowledge, we should have good skill of English language. In this time, almost all of the knowledge sources are written or spoken in English such as Internet, newspaper, news on television, books, encyclopedias, etc. Then almost all of the education institutions use English as the standard language of study (http://www.saching.com). The teachers speak English in teaching, and the books are also written in English. From the fact above, English language is really needed for us to get more knowledge. So, by learning English language in the early age, we have already had good skill to get and develop our knowledge.

The last reason of the importance in learning English for young learners is the possibility that English is required for job fields. Now days, a lot of companies are looking for the employers who are able to speak English. The skill of English language will determine the quality of the employers. By learning English language, we will have good English skill. If we learn English language in the early age, our English ability will improve day by day. Then we will ready to use English language when we are adult. Having a good skill in English will help us to find a good job. In another word, having good English skill will brighten our future.

In conclusion, English for young learners is really important because of some reasons. By learning English language in the early age, people have more time to develop their speaking English ability, and they can get good both education and job. Finally, they will ready to face era globalization.

REFERENCES

Lightbown, Patsy M. & Nina Spada. 1999. How Languages are Learned. New
York: Oxford University Press.

Scott, Wendy A & Lisbeth H.Y. 1995. Teaching English to Children. England:
Addison Wesley Publishing Company.

http://www.saching.com/Article/The-importance-of-English-Language-/3556