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Vol. 5, No. 2, August 2022, pp. 119-128  

        https://doi.org/10.12928/eltej.v5i2.4989         http://journal2.uad.ac.id/index.php/eltej/index          eltej@pbi.uad.ac.id  

Conditions for teaching English to young learners: Indonesian 

teachers’ perspectives  

Diah Royani Meisani a,1* 

a Universitas Brawijaya, Jl. Veteran, Malang 65145, Indonesia 
1 meisani_diah.r@ub.ac.id * 

* corresponding author 

 

A R T I C L E  I N F O 

 

ABST RACT  

 

 

Article history 

Received 10 June 2022 

Revised 23 July 2022 

Accepted 15 August 2022 

 English teachers’ beliefs are one of the captivating topics to study as 
they contribute the quantity of input for reflection and the enhancement 
of English teaching and learning. This case study aims at investigating 
the teachers’ beliefs about the role of exposure, motivation, and practice 
in English class in elementary school and how they translate their 
beliefs into routine instructional actions. Semi-structure interviews and 
classroom observations were conducted to collect the data involving 
three English teachers at a selected private elementary school in 
Malang, East Java, Indonesia. The findings show that all of the 
participants were aware that the role of exposure was essential in 
learning a foreign language, motivation was a vital factor to achieve the 
objective of the learning and practice was a central part of proficiency 
development, and consistent with this, a great deal of effort has been 
conducted to provide exposure to English, to motivate students, and to 
create opportunities for students to use English. Hence, the results of the 
study are expected to give a worthy contribution to teachers of English 
as a second language, especially at elementary schools and other 
researchers dealing with exposure, motivation, and practice in learning 
English. 

 

This is an open access article under the CC–BY-SA license. 

    

 

 

Keywords 

Teaching English to Young Learners 

Conditions 

Teacher’s beliefs 

Exposure 

Motivation 

Practice 

 

 

 

How to Cite: Meisani, D. R. (2022). Conditions for teaching English to young learners: Indonesian teachers’ 
perspectives. English Language Teaching Educational Journal, 5(2), 119-128. 

1. Introduction 

As the first foreign language taught in Indonesia, English has been widely offered in Indonesian 
schools from the elementary level. Different from the secondary school curriculum, elementary 
schools do not include English as a compulsory subject, especially after the 2013 curriculum was 
applied. English which used to be compulsory for grades 4, 5, and 6, is now put in the 
extracurricular program for two reasons: students at elementary school are to be exposed more to 
local content, and subjects at the elementary level are considered overloaded. Even so, many 
elementary schools, especially private ones still offer it as a subject (Meisani, 2020a, 2020b). The 
consideration of introducing English as a second language (ESL) to young learners is in line with Hu 
(2007) and Nunan (2003) who recommend a learning foreign language at an early age.  

The terms English as a second language and English as a foreign language are often used 
interchangeably. According to Willans (2019), English as a second language or L2 means a 
language that a person hears and sees it used all around them in their daily lives but does not speak it 
much at home (Borg, 2001). Instead, English as a foreign language is considered the language in 
which a person’s exposure to the language is primarily restricted to the classroom. In the context of 
the present study, English as a second language refers to any language that is not a mother tongue of 

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120 English Language Teaching Educational Journal   ISSN 2621-6485 

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 Diah Royani Meisani (Conditions for teaching English to…..) 

the speaker and is learned later at school or at any other formal and informal setting (Stefansson, 
2013).  

Discussing about English teaching and learning practices at schools, it is evident that language 
teachers’ decisions about how and what to teach should considerably rely on learners’ differences in 
terms of their age, aptitude, personalities, learning styles, language levels, and motivations (Harmer, 
2001). Furthermore, concerning either internal or external factors affecting second language 
learning, Spolsky (1989) progresses seventy-four conditions that may determine the achievement of 
the various possible outcomes. Among those conditions, five aspects had been taken for further 
study within the Indonesian context by Musthafa and Hamied (2014), are the exposure condition, the 
motivation condition, the opportunity for practice condition, the communication condition, and the 
learning goal condition. A national survey that involved 55 Indonesian secondary school teachers of 
English was conducted to investigate their beliefs towards those conditions and what they do to 
promote students’ learning. The findings show that Indonesian 3 teachers of English considered 
those factors to be important and indirectly trigger them to do significant efforts during teaching and 
learning activities.  

Related to the above findings, it is undeniable that the interaction and integration of a large 
number of factors affect the results of language learning. There are both internal and external factors 
that may become the conditions by which the success of language learning is influenced (Jin et al., 
2014). For this reason, Spolsky (1989) states that good language teachers are the ones who are able 
to be eclectic; language teachers should be able to accept new proposals and be flexible to the 
students’ needs and learning objectives. Related to the above previous research, it is without a doubt 
important to count on teachers’ beliefs since they act as a kind of informative framework through 
which they make sense of what they do in their classrooms. According to Larenaz et al. (2015), 
beliefs are a frame of reference around which many classroom decisions are made and pedagogical 
practices are decided. Beliefs affect practices and some practices affect beliefs causing reorientation. 
Moreover, as the link between beliefs and practice in teacher education is central to understanding 
the quality of language teaching and learning (Farrell & Bennis, 2013), it is noteworthy to conduct 
further studies to investigate teachers’ beliefs in teaching-learning English, especially in the 
Indonesian context.  

Seeing the learners’ differences from any aspect, teaching English as a second language to 
children or young learners requires teachers to use certain approaches by pointing out particular 
characteristics of children that teachers should be aware of and take into account in their teaching 
(Scott & Ytreberg, 1990). Besides the factors that come from the learners and the policy of teaching-
learning English in Indonesia, it cannot be avoided that the problems that occurred from the 
teachers’ side also affect the teaching-learning process and its outcomes. Mismatched academic 
backgrounds, lack of academic qualifications, and inadequate English proficiency are the problems 
related to teachers’ quality (Hamied, 2012). Lengkanawati (2014) adds by pointing out that 
Indonesians’ perspective on the teaching-learning process paradigms is still in the form of 
transferring knowledge by the teacher to the 4 learners; learners are still being spoon-fed and not yet 
accustomed to finding needed information by themselves. In addition, as students spend most of 
their English learning time at school with their English teachers and see their teachers as models in 
learning the language, the teachers’ role becomes very consequential. However, if the class is not 
appropriately designed, it may increase students’ dependency on teachers.  

Responding to the disagreement among decision-makers about the idea of teaching English at 
elementary schools (Meisani, 2020a, 2020b; Setiasih, 2012), seeing the challenges of teaching 
English as a Second Language for children, and seeing the teachers’ knowledge and ability in 
teaching ESL, this study aims at investigating what elementary school teachers of English think is 
important related to the exposure, motivation, and practice (Spolsky, 1989) of teaching ESL for 
elementary schools students and how they translate their beliefs into routine instructional actions. 
Besides, it will see whether any other conditions are underlying the teaching of English to children 
in the Indonesian context (Tseng, Y., 2014). 

The studies examining the teachers’ beliefs as well as their instructional efforts to promote 
conditions in language learning have been conducted by several researchers. Within the Indonesian 
context by Musthafa and Hamied (2014), they are the exposure condition, motivation condition, the 
opportunity for practice condition, communication condition, and learning goal condition. A 



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 Diah Royani Meisani (Conditions for teaching English to…..) 

national survey had been conducted involving 55 Indonesian secondary school teachers of English 
to investigate their beliefs towards those conditions and what they do to promote students’ learning. 
The findings demonstrate that Indonesian English teachers see those aspects as vital and, as a result, 
make great efforts during teaching and learning activities. The second related previous study was 
done by Qadir and Riaz (2014) who did a comparative study on private, public, and madrasa 
institutions in Pakistan. They wrote that a lot of Pakistani students become proficient in English and 
achieve high standards of academic excellence due to the importance and prestige associated with 
the use of English supported by the educational policies; this has motivated the students a lot to 
acquire proficiency in English. In addition, in 2015, Larenaz et al. did a case study on EFL teachers’ 
beliefs about the teaching and learning of English in public education. The findings of this study 
show that beliefs were entrenched in teachers’ semantic retention as cognitive as well as affective 
constructs that embrace diverse degrees of fixation relying upon the teachers’ experiences on 
academic, professional, or personal activities. 

Different from prior research mentioned in the previous section, this study focuses on 
scrutinizing teachers’ beliefs about the role of exposure, motivation, and practice in English class 
and what they do in the classroom related to those beliefs. The level of education which becomes the 
center of attention in this study is elementary school. Thus, it is intended to investigate the beliefs of 
English teachers at a selected Indonesian elementary school which includes English as a compulsory 
subject related to the mentioned conditions. Thus, the problems of the study are formulated as 
follows: 1. What do English teachers at elementary school believe about the roles of exposure to 
English, motivation in learning English, and practice using English? 2. What efforts do English 
teachers at elementary school make to promote students’ English learning given the learning 
conditions which are related to exposure to English, motivation in learning English, and practice 
using English? 

Referring to the objectives of the study, the results of this study are theoretically expected to 
document and provide data about elementary school teachers of English towards their beliefs as well 
as their efforts in English classrooms related to promoting students’ exposure, motivation, and 
practice in English. On the practical side, the results of the study are expected to give a worthy 
contribution to EFL teachers, especially at elementary schools and other researchers dealing with 
exposure conditions, motivation conditions, and practice conditions in learning ESL. Due to the 
limited scope and coverage of the present study, it is suggested that future researchers conduct a 
further study involving both teachers and students to capture teachers’ inner workings of 
instructional decision-making and students’ language learning processes. 

2. Method 

This part describes how the research was conducted. It contains some points related to research 
methodology on how to investigate teachers’ beliefs on the role of exposure, motivation, and 
practice in ESL class. The research design, data collection, subjects, instrumentations, procedure of 
data collection, and data analysis are as follows. 

2.1. Research Design 

The present research is a case study focusing on investigating the beliefs of elementary school 
teachers of English about the role of exposure, motivation, and practice in EFL class. It is a rounded 
study as it approaches the participants and the backgrounds in which they teach. (Mackey & Gass, 
2005; Sealey, 2010; Wei & Moyer, 2008). Figure 1 below shows the overall research design 
implemented in this study and is further explained in the following sections. 

 



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Fig. 1.  Research Design Framework. 

2.2. Participants 

This case study involves three female elementary school teachers who teach English at a private 
elementary school in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. Teacher, I graduated from English Department 
and have been teaching English to young learners for almost 24 years. At the present, she teaches 
grades 4, 5, and 6. Teacher II has gone through five years of formal training at a university level 
majoring in English and has been teaching English to young learners for about four years. At the 
school, she teaches grades 3 and 5. Teacher III had finished her bachelor's degree majoring in 
agriculture. She did not have experience in teaching English before finally being assigned to teach 
English to the second graders starting the academic year when the research was being undertaken. 
Besides teaching English, the participant teachers are also homeroom teachers in grades 2, 3, and 6 
who are given the responsibility to teach all subjects offered for the class and assigned some other 
responsibilities, like being the class coordinator, extracurricular facilitator, and treasurer in the 
foundation under which the school is organized. The Table 1 below summarizes the data of the three 
participants, their teaching hour responsibility, and their usual used methods while teaching English 
in the classroom.  

Table 1.  Participant Teachers’ Data 

 
Teachers’ Data 

Teacher 1 Teacher 2 Teacher 3 

Educational background 

Bachelor Degree in 

English 

Bachelor Degree in 

English 

Bachelor Degree in 

Science 

Age 46 years old 33 years old 36 years old 

Length of teaching experience 25 years 10 years 8 years 

Length of English teaching experience 17 years 4 years Less than 1 year 

Homeroom teacher at Grade 6 3 2 

Total teaching hour responsibility (@35 

minutes) 

29 hours 24 hours 24 hours 

English teaching hour (@35 minutes) 16 hours 8 hours 6 hours 

Other responsibility 

Teaching extra lessons 

for sixth graders 

Cooking Club 

facilitator 

Treasurer at the 

school foundation 

Methods used in teaching English 

Mind map, doing the 

workbook, cooperative 

learning 

Mind map, classroom 

language, TPR, 

quizzes, songs, 

games, doing the 

workbook 

cooperative learning 

Mind map, songs, 

doing the 

workbook 

 

2.3. Research Setting  

This study was administered at a selected elementary school in Malang, East Java, Indonesia—
one of the private schools that offer English subjects as a compulsory subject starting from grade 2. 



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This school which was founded in 2003 has become one of the favorite elementary schools in the 
municipality and earned predicate ‘A’ from the National Elementary School Accreditation Board. 

Although English was not explicitly mentioned in the curriculum, the school initiated offering 
the subjects and hired two teachers who graduated from English Department to teach the subject. As 
the school grew and its classes expanded, the two English teachers could not keep up with the 
English teaching load. As a result, the school assigned a homeroom teacher to assist with English 
instruction. Given the circumstances, the current study sought to document the teachers’ beliefs and 
efforts in English classrooms related to promoting students’ exposure, motivation, and practice in 
English, as well as to determine whether their different educational backgrounds and length of 
experience in teaching English influenced their teaching practices.  

    

2.4. Data Collection  

This study collected data on teachers’ beliefs as well as their instructional efforts to promote 
conditions in language learning. This was done via the use of teacher interviews and classroom 
observations. 

2.4.1. Semi-Structured Interview 

Semi-structured interviews are frequently employed for classroom research (Wragg, 1999). In 
collecting the data, written questions from the questionnaire modified from Larenaz et al. (2015) and 
Lin (2008) were given to the interviewees to encourage engagement between the researcher and 
respondents in natural conversation while having the interview. 

The interview that involved two parts concerned the participant teachers’ background in the first 
section and the second addressed their perspective on the role of exposure, motivation, and practice 
in language learning. The questions were all pre-designed. The focal purpose of the interviews was 
to discover the teacher’s beliefs related to the mentioned conditions in English learning.  

The interview was held to understand the teacher’s educational background and their beliefs 
concerning the mentioned conditions in language learning. Besides using the voice recorders, notes 
were also made to gather data on how the teachers felt about the role of exposure, motivation, and 
practice in English learning. The participants were allowed to talk openly about how they felt 
relating to a certain question. The interview with Teacher I took 1 hour 10 minutes and 50 seconds, 
with Teacher II 25 minutes and 39 seconds, and with Teacher III 14 minutes and 45 seconds. Further 
information was collected through online messages with three teachers. 

2.4.2. Classroom Observation 

In observations, data are obtained by solely watching the participants teaching English in the 
classroom. Classroom observation is conducted to understand the participants in their natural 
environment, without changing or deploying it (Gay et al., 2006). Field notes were used to record 
the observation results. There were around 25 students in each observed class. Field notes were 
undertaken to capture all relevant aspects of the situation observed. The aspects consisted of two 
elementary types of information. They were descriptive information that contained what the 
observer has precisely seen or heard while teaching and learning activities were being conducted and 
reflective information that captured the researcher’s personal reactions, experiences, and thoughts 
during the observation session. 

3. Findings and Discussion 

This section presents the detailed results of teacher interviews and direct classroom observations. 
A cross-case analysis was employed to summarize and classify the characteristics of the three 
teachers. Furthermore, as indicated before that three major propositions have been selected to serve 
as a focus for this study. The following parts present detailed explanations of the participant 
teachers’ beliefs about each of the learning conditions and are followed by the explication of the 
kind of instructional efforts made by those teachers under each condition. 

3.1. The Role of Exposure to English 

Based on the interview results, it can be stated that the participant teachers are mindful that 
English should be used during the improvement of their classes and that language learning relies 



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upon the time students are exposed to English. They also admit that once-a week-class for not more 
than 70 minutes is considered insufficient for students to be exposed to English. Furthermore, each 
participant teacher’s educational background, English teaching experience, and grade at which they 
teach do affect their perception and point of view about English learning at the elementary level.  

All of the participants admit that their responsibilities as homeroom teachers who should teach 
other subjects besides English have made them hardly focus on developing materials and providing 
as much English language exposure to their students. In terms of English skills, they, themselves, 
feel that their English skills do not improve as they teach very basic English (Yildirim, 2008). While 
Teacher I whose teaching hour responsibility is the most of all is inquired to prepare the sixth 
graders for the national examination in which English subject is not included, the other two younger 
teachers whose teaching hour responsibility is lesser are supposed to develop better materials and 
design better learning tasks promoting exposure in the English language.  

In fact, as both the school and the Regional Education Department provide professional 
development in the general subject for elementary school teachers, not by the subject they are 
majoring in, these English teachers undergo a lack of exposure to their own English skill 
development. Dealing with this, Teacher I initiates taking an English course to enhance her English 
skills in order to be able to develop both her pedagogical and content knowledge of English. She felt 
that her language proficiency has weakened to the point that she did not feel comfortable with her 
speaking. She, then, joined the course twice a week after school hour with the expectation that she 
could enhance her English skills, progress information, especially about English, and be able to gain 
new knowledge on English teaching-learning. The updates that she obtained through the course have 
advanced her English teaching skills and been very useful to be implemented in her class; she does 
not limit her teaching to what is in the workbook given by the Local Education Department. The use 
of songs to enrich students’ vocabulary and games to introduce topics and materials is a part of the 
tasks that she has designed to encourage students’ use of English skills. This is supported by Ghosn 
(2019) and Kirkgoz (2019) who suggest that songs, chants, and stories help improve listening and 
speaking skills. They also assist young learners in gradually internalizing foreign language structures 
and patterns, as well as learning specific vocabulary items. In addition, as Teacher I teaches the 
fourth, fifth, and sixth graders who have been exposed to English since they were in the second 
grade, she always tries to demonstrate to use English in functional communication activities in the 
classroom and encourage students to bring a dictionary and teaches them how to use it.  

Not too different from what has been done by Teacher I, Teacher II who also graduated from 
English Department, shared that she always implements the classroom language, useful phrases, and 
expressions in the English language to accustom students to hear. This is supported by Ching & Lin 
(2019) and Scott & Ytreberg (1990) who posit that the use of classroom language potentially brings 
benefits to the process of learning language since pupils are encouraged to learn to communicate 
using simple, meaningful expressions in the target language. Here, Teacher II is aware that using as 
much of the target language as possible is a part of second language teachers’ responsibilities. In 
addition, as the materials and exercises provided in the students’ workbook are considered not 
enough to enhance students’ communicative English skills, she, therefore, has designed various 
activities in her class, such as mind mapping the topic learn to brainstorm the students, applying 
Total Physical Responses (TPR) approach, conducting both written and oral quizzes to evaluate 
students’ comprehension and improve their confidence, creating songs, and applying cooperative 
learning to develop social interaction among peers. In addition, she considers that sometimes it is 
required for the students to see and listen to how English is spoken and used by the natives. Since it 
is not easy to have native speakers in the classroom, she instigates appropriate related-topic videos 
of native speakers to be exposed to the students. It is in line with what Donaghy (2014) writes on the 
BBC site that films, TV shows, as well as videos, are an essential part of students’ lives so it makes 
impeccable sense to bring them into the language classroom. Besides making the language learning 
process more amusing and pleasant, they also offer a source of authentic and wide-ranging language 
as examples of English used in actual situations outside the classroom, predominantly interactive 
language–the language of real-life conversation. Through videos and films, students are also 
exposed to natural languages and the natural flow of speech (Meisani, 2021). In addition, as these 
students are not living in an English-speaking setting, English films and videos can provide them 
with this real-life language input.  



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On the other hand, Teacher III whose major is not English and is assigned to help the other two 
English teachers to teach English to second graders considers that her English is quite enough for 
teaching this level. She studies the students’ workbooks to improve her English and does not 
essentially use methods in teaching. The students’ workbook is her focus and during the English 
class, the students are busy doing the exercises in the workbook. Although in some topics she 
creates songs for the students and sings together in the class, she does not surely expand the 
teaching-learning activities. She considers that vocabulary building should be done first among 
others; unfortunately, the tasks designed to expose students to vocabulary are not done 
meaningfully—vocabulary is not given with the context, within meaningful activities, or students’ 
related experiences. Furthermore, she claims that in the second grade, learners’ academic and social 
backgrounds in English are so limited, it is impossible to use English as a means of instruction and 
communication. It is a surprising contradiction to know that even though Teacher III does not use 
the target language, she considers the language as a tool that benefits students’ learning. 

3.2. The Role of Motivation in Learning English 

Good teachers are the ones who are aware that they play essential roles as teachers and have the 
important task of convincing learners that they always have to learn beyond what is taught (Larenaz 
et al., 2015). Teachers should understand that they are not the central agent in pedagogical practices. 
Based on Burns & Richards (2009), teachers act as role models, guides, facilitators, prompters, and 
mediators in the classroom. Dealing with this, all of the participant teachers agree that students need 
to have motivation both personal and external ones to trigger them to learn English. All of them 
reported that the students are highly motivated in learning English with them. This is a very good 
point since it can be said that students, at a very early age, have built personal enthusiasm for 
learning a second language. From the class observation and field notes, this occurs because of 
teachers’ openness to welcome any of the students’ questions, complaints, and sharing. In the class, 
three of them are very helpful and patient in assisting students’ learning.  

As the most experienced, Teacher I always help the students to see the useful things in what they 
learn in English class, especially the sixth graders who are going to secondary school in the 
upcoming year. She encourages the students to see the value in using English as much as possible to 
prepare them for the higher level of English at the secondary level. The most interesting part about 
her belief related to motivation is she believes that every child is unique. For this, when the students 
get stuck, face difficulties, and do not feel confident with their English, this teacher supports them 
by convincing them that English is not our language, as we are learning, difficulties and mistakes 
normally exist. If they feel that they are not good at English, she motivates them by saying that they 
must be good in other subjects, and that is fine. She said that these words work a lot to trigger and 
induce the students to be positively interested in learning English.  

Teacher II motivates the students by demonstrating to the students that they can benefit much 
from being proficient in English. She enthusiastically uses English as much as possible in the class, 
provides videos of native speakers to enhance students’ listening and speaking skills, and designs 
interesting tasks to attract students’ engagement in class activities. It is also very interesting to know 
from the interview that Teacher II has identified students in her classes who are highly motivated are 
the ones whose parents are actively involved in learning. This positively correlates with Meisani 
(2018) and Setiasih (2012) who state that not only school and educational facilities, but parents’ 
support also determines the success of students’ English literacy.  

On the contrary, Teacher III, who is not truly experienced in teaching English, does not make any 
momentous efforts related to motivation in learning English. In general, she believes that the 
students are fully engaged and interested in studying English with her, even they always look 
forward to having the English subject that is taught once a week. She considers that this is because 
English is a new subject for the second graders; they did not have it in the former grade. 

3.3. The Role of Practice Using English 

Practice is extremely important for learning English. The point is teacher should provide the 
opportunity for the students to practice what they have learned in learning English. Similar to the 
previous conditions, all of the participant teachers agree that the role of practice is major. In terms of 
the actions, all of them reported that they assign students to do the exercises in the workbook that 
can be done both in and outside the classroom during the English subject or after school. 
Furthermore, through songs, games, and other cooperative learning activities they design, students 



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are given opportunities to speak, listen, read and write in English. Although most of the students at 
the elementary level need guidance from their teachers, students should still be given space to 
practice and appreciated for any efforts they make in learning the language.  

4. Conclusion and Recommendation 

This present case study has discussed the results of the research focusing on investigating 
elementary school teachers of English about the role of exposure, motivation, and practice in ESL 
learning. Based on the data presented and analyzed in the previous sections, the conclusions are 
formulated as follows.  

Although this study involved only three Indonesian teachers of English at a selected private 
elementary school and the results are not obviously generalizable, they are valuable to other teachers 
in the sense that each individual ESL teacher has a teaching approach; each individual ESL teacher 
acts out her beliefs in the classroom and each individual is by some means involved in change as the 
language curriculum proposes innovations to apply.  

In terms of belief, the three participant teachers provide support to the theoretical propositions 
made by Spolsky (1989) especially those related to exposure, motivation, and practice. They are 
aware that the role of exposure is essential in learning a second language, motivation is a vital factor 
to achieve the objective of the learning and practice is a central part of proficiency development. 
Consistent with this, regardless of their different educational background and their length of 
experience in teaching English, three of them have made a great deal of effort to compensate for the 
number of boundaries they face in their own instructional situations. Although many believe that 
early language learners do not understand the purpose of learning English, the participant teachers 
seem to feel a strong sense of concern to motivate students, which may refer to their willingness to 
expend a good deal of energy in planning and teaching a range of activities in the classroom. In the 
classes which were observed, teachers worked very hard in preparing the lesson before the class and 
ensuring the lesson was well-organized, engaging, and intensive. Besides that, the classroom 
language which is applied by the teacher is advantageous to provide students with simple and 
meaningful expressions in English. Designing tasks and activities to create opportunities for students 
to use English at their level and providing continuous supports in various forms by understanding 
that their students are early English learners therefore they need to ensure that every one of them 
learns interestedly and meaningfully are also other important efforts made by the teachers.  

It is also necessary to know that the literature on teaching English to young learners has 
identified a number of unyielding encounters. The case in this school where the research was 
conducted is that English is introduced as a compulsory subject without due consideration of who 
will teach it. The overwhelming duties have made the school assign a mathematics teacher (Teacher 
III) to help the two English teachers teach English. As a result, as a severe deficiency of trained 
teachers of English, the mathematics teacher did not teach the language meaningfully like the other 
two. As professional development to enhance teachers who teach English is not supported, the 
teachers may find themselves teaching English either without sufficient preparation in teaching 
young learners, specifically in teaching English to young learners (Meisani et al., 2020a, 2020b). 
Nevertheless, it is good to see what has been done by Teacher I and Teacher II dealing with the 
development of English proficiency and teaching skills. It is their own willingness and awareness to 
see the importance of improving both their pedagogical and content knowledge of English that 
indirectly brings advantages to enhance what they can do in their English class with the students.  

Hence, it is obvious that the efficient reflection of the association between beliefs and practices 
can help teachers cultivate an understanding of both what they want to do in their classrooms and the 
changes they want to apply to their approaches to teaching and learning (Farrell & Bennis, 2013). 
Due to the limited scope and coverage of the present study, it is suggested that future researchers 
conduct a further study involving both teachers and students to capture teachers’ inner workings of 
instructional decision-making and students’ language learning processes. In-depth interviews with 
both teachers and students might also be conducted to uncover the motives and reasons behind both 
their observable and covert decision-making activities during the class. 

 



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