English for Children (EFC) in Practice is one of the subjects in the English Department of Tidar University. The aim of this course is to provide the students with real and practical teaching experience. This course requires the students to behave the experience of teaching English for young learners in the formal setting (elementary school). Dr. Dwi Winarsih, M.Pd. said that “Students have to take CLTM (Children Language Teaching Methodology) and Program Development as the prerequisite subjects for taking EFC in Practice subject.”
Kardoko, M.Pd. as the EFC in Practice lecturer said that “EFC in Practice is used to give the students experience of teaching English in elementary school. There are four schools become the partner-schools in implementing this subject. Those schools are SDN Kemirirejo 3, SDN Mertoyudan, SDN Blondo 3, and SDN Muhammadiyah Mungkid. This semester, there are 13 students who take this subject.”
Students who take this subject will get real situation of teaching-learning process in elementary school. They will get benefits in relation to the characteristics of elementary school students, the real atmosphere of this grade, and how to manage teaching-learning process in elementary school level. Before doing the practical activities, students have to prepare the material and the teaching design. They also have to consult to the elementary school teacher where they do teaching practice.
The activities of EFC in Practice subject are divided into two main activities, preparation activities and practical activities. The preparation activities are used to prepare the material and the teaching design. The practical activities are related to the outside activities which are meant that students do teaching practices in the elementary schools. As the results, the elementary school students and English Department students become addicted, happy, and enjoy the teaching-learning process.
Sofiyatunnisak, one of the students of EFC in Practice subject, said “I enjoy this subject because basically I love to teach children, but unfortunatelly the allocation time per meeting is only 35 minutes and I don’t think that enough for doing all activities in the English lesson. Then, a funny impression when I teach elementary school students is when a student cry while I’m handling the other students of that class.”
What a great response! (ER)
