Establishing a Rich Language Learning Environment to Support Young Learners’ English Literacy Skills in Bali

Abstract

This paper reports on a study that examined how a ‘rich language environment’ could help Balinese primary school students progress with their literacy skills in English. The language environment comprised various texts from which learners were expected to work independently on reading and writing. The materials were graded in terms of complexity: word, sentence and text levels. The study employed the distinctive development model proposed by Dick and Carey (1990). The development of text materials and activities was preceded by a needs analysis and piloted in five primary schools in Bali. The impact of intensive exposure to a rich language learning environment beyond the classroom was found to have a positive impact on student literacy skills. The findings also reveal that the more difficult the text-related activity, the slower the improvement in literacy skills. Nevertheless some improvement was observable even for the most challenging task of writing in English.