There is a new disease in town, and it is very contagious! But fear not, this socalled disease will not cause anyone any harm. It is called the “English-for-younglearner fever” (Sugiharto, 2006). Parents all over Jakarta generally believe that the earlier the children are exposed to English, the better they will perform in the language they are learning later on their life.
Teaching English to children has been a growing enterprise with almost primary schools and even pre-schools offering English programs. The demand has been attributed to the policy of the Ministry of Education putting English as one of the main subjects in the new curriculum: Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan (KTSP). |