THE TEACHERS' CHALLENGES OF TEACHING SPEAKING FOR YOUNG LEARNERS: A CASE STUDY AT ENGLISH FIRST (EF)

Introducing English at an earlier age is Important considering as foreign language in Indonesia. As a foreign language in Indonesia, English remains one of the most popular language to learn. In learning English, speaking is one of the important aspects that students need to master. Therefore, this research aims to describe the challenges in teaching speaking for young leraners faced by English teachers and how the teachers solve the challenges in teaching speaking for young learners at English first (EF). The method used in this research is qualitative. The technique used to collect data in this research was interview with theree teachers at English First (EF). To analyze the data, the researcher used descriptive analysis techniques. This result shows that teaching speaking for young learners have several five challenges indications from Nunan (2010) that teachers face in the class, such as : 1) cognitive development, 2) motivation, 3) attention, 4) multi-level group, and 5) assessment. Most of challenges faced by teachers are 1) lack of students self-confidence, 2) unclear students' pronunciation, and 3) parents involvement. The solution of the challenges faced by teachers in teaching speaking for young learners are different. The researcher found the solution that usually used by teachers are 1) grouping active students with students who were not active or lacked confidence, 2) using body gestures or Total Physical Response (TPR) method, and 3) the parents supposed to support to their children in learning English. It can be concluded that teachers face many challenges when teaching young learners to speak, but the eachers can overcome the challenges use the right solutions to overcome challenges and by creating fun, active, and creative learning.