Teachers’ Perception of Difficulties in Teaching English for Elementary Students in SD Kristen Satya Wacana

Abstract

Nowadays, English becomes an International language that is used as a tool to develop some important aspects of life (Lauder, 2008). Knowing this issue, parents in Indonesia enroll their children to the school where English becomes a compulsory subject as early as possible starting from elementary even preschool. However, the teachers find it difficult to teach English for young learners. The aim of this study was to find out teachers’ perception of difficulties in teaching English at SD Kristen Satya Wacana. An in-depth interview of a sample of English teachers in SD Kristen Satya Wacana (3 participants) was conducted, focusing on teachers’ difficulties in teaching English. There were seven major difficulties faced by the participants in teaching English for elementary students. Those were the abolishment of bilingual class, Students’ background knowledge, the lack of time in English teaching, Classroom management, Children’s characteristics, slow learners VS fast learners, the role of parents.