Held at the auditorium of Gedung Bambang Lelono, Fakultas Ilmu Budaya, Unsoed, the Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris study programme conducted a guest lecturer class with the theme Child-friendly Learning Strategies to Teach EFL Young Learners. The event, which took place from 08.30 to 11.30, featured a speaker from Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung, namely Prof. Dr. Sri Setyarini, M.App., Ling. Slamet Riyadi, S.S., M.Hum, Coordinator of the Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Study Programme, opened the guest lecturer class, which was attended by lecturers and students of the Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris study programme from the 2020, 2021, and 2022 cohorts.
On this occasion, the speaker explained the characteristics of young learners, several approaches in Teaching English to Young Learners, and multimodal learning. The speaker emphasized that in order to teach young learners, teachers must have high enthusiasm, a friendly and happy face, as well as engaging expressions and speech intonation. The guest lecturer class proceeded interactively, engaging students to jointly practice several teaching strategies for young learners, namely singing, guessing words, and storytelling with engaging media. Students also practiced several activities that could be conducted as a form of student assessment. Additionally, at the end of the event, students were asked to form groups and then perform chain writing and create a story from the collected vocabulary and sentences. Several group representatives enthusiastically presented the stories they had written.
The students appeared enthusiastic in following the series of guest lecturer classes from beginning to end. By participating in this event, it is hoped that students will be able to apply the knowledge they have acquired when teaching, particularly in teaching young learners.
“I hope many students of the Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Study Programme of Fakultas Ilmu Budaya Unsoed will want to become English teachers for young learners,” said the guest lecturer, Prof. Dr. Sri Setyarini. The Dean of Fakultas Ilmu Budaya, Dr. Ely Triasih Rahayu, M.Hum, who was also present at the event, welcomed the collaboration carried out by the Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Study Programme in organizing this guest lecturer class.