Abstract

This study attempts to discuss the English language used by Indonesian young learners who come to the US and identify their language learning strategies. Some theoretical issues in second language acquisition related to this topic are discussed and then followed by the discussion on the subjects’ learning strategies and some factors related to the strategies, and the description of the subjects’ language development. The two subjects are good English learners: they had “three variables” of good language learning: aptitude, motivation, and opportunity. They were bright children and they knew how to use their knowledge in learning a “new” language; they were good guessers and risk takers. They were also integratively motivated: they practiced their English; they were expressive and eager to communicate; and finally they had now a good opportunity to learn English in its natural setting. The main implication of this study is on the teaching of English to the Indonesian speakers. It is obvious that the differences between English and Indonesian sentence structures have created difficulties to the learners. A teaching syllabus based on contrastive analysis will be more realistic though only in obvious contrasting features. It should reinforce marked differences in L2, where L1 and Universal Grammar are unmarked – so as to raise learner’s awareness of the new features.

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