JOURNAL OF INNOVATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF COMMUNITY SERVICE RESULTS e-ISSN 3025-2334 Vol 1(1), June 2023, 35-41 DOI: https://doi.org/10.61650/jip-dimas.v1i1.192 a s s yf a . c o m Improving English Language Skills in Early Childhood at SPS Mawar Kebonagung Through English Day Activities Putri Endah Karunia 1 , Ilmiyatur Rosidah 2 , Restiti Dewi Vebruary 3 , Anggitya Oktafisari 4 , Adinda Syalsabilla Aidha Vedianty 5 1, 2, PGRI Wiranegara University Pasuruan, Indonesia * Corresponding author: putriendahkarunia@gmail.com KEYWORDS Early childhood English Day Upgrading SUBMITTED:08/28/2023 REVISED: 5/09/2023 ACCEPTED: 7/09/2023 ABSTRACT In the eyes of society, universities are considered only to teach theory without any form of application when viewed from the perspective of social life. This can be seen from the surrounding conditions where not many university graduates can apply this theory in the field. This activity aims to bridge learning at SPS Mawar, Kebonagung Subdistrict, Pasuruan City, with a service learning approach in the English Day program to provide training for SPS Mawar Kebonagung Early Age Children (AUD) in improving their English language skills by introducing several new vocabulary through singing and fun game. This activity involved a lecturer, four PGRI Wiranegara University students, AUD SPS Mawar students, and teachers. A participatory approach is also used in this service activity to attract students' attention and make it easier for students to remember new vocabulary. Students are directly involved in the learning process. The success of providing English language teaching can increase AUD's ability or vocabulary in English by providing new inspiration in teaching children English skills with fun learning. © The Author(s) 2023. 1. INTRODUCTION This is an Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License Putri Endah Karunia, Ilmiyatur Rosidah, Restiti DV, Anggitya Oktafisari, Adinda SAV ││ English Language Skills Upgrading… In the eyes of society, universities, if viewed from the perspective of social life, are considered only to teach theory without any form of application (Darmayanti et al., 2023; Riono et al., 2023a; Sari et al., 2023). This can be seen from the surrounding conditions where not many university graduates can apply this theory (Kurwiyah et al., 2023; Sudiantini et al., 2023; Suharsiwi et al., 2023). Education is essential and cannot be separated from human life (Khoiriyah et al., 2022). Education is received from young to old (Hasanah et al., 2022; Humaidi et al., 2022). Early childhood education units (PAUD) teach the basics of numbers and letters (Sungkawati et al., 2022; Triono et al., 2023; Zahroh et al., 2023), as well as how to read and write (Inganah et al., 2023), to children from an early age (Mustafa et al., 2023). English is one of the languages introduced and taught by educators to children (Arif et al., 2022; Vidyastuti et al., 2018). One way for children to learn English is by introducing English at an early age as a form of initial preparation (Cholily et al., 2021; Sugianto et al., 2022; Yuniwati & Afdah, 2021). Songs, chants, and rhymes (songs and chants) can teach children English (Ahmed et al., 2021; Riono et al., 2023b). Learning a new language while singing is one of the most successful activities for early childhood language learning, especially for children who cannot develop new vocabulary in a language (Duff, 2017; Fägersten, 2017). Singing exercises to help children learn (Margić, 2018). can improve language and psychomotor development, especially with music and dance. Additionally, singing practice can help children with various learning methods, including visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic (Farrell, 2020). As a result, songs, chants, and rhymes can be used to introduce English to children. These exercises can help children learn English in a fun and efficient way. early age and is essential today. Therefore, PGRI Wiranegara University KKN students, Kebonagung Subdistrict, created an English Day work program to introduce essential vocabulary to young children in the Kebonagung subdistrict. The theme raised is English Day for the Golden Generation, which means English Day or English for the Golden Generation. 2. METHOD The service method we use in English Day is the Service Learning method. The Service Learning method is a method used to apply material from college to solve problems that occur in society. This method is used to help overcome the obstacles for young children in recognizing vocabulary in English at SPS Mawar Kebonagung. This activity aims to bridge learning at SPS Mawar, Kebonagung Subdistrict, Pasuruan City, with a service learning approach in the English Day program to provide training for SPS Mawar Kebonagung Early Age Children (AUD) in improving their English language skills by introducing several new vocabulary through singing and fun game. This activity involved a lecturer, four PGRI Wiranegara University students, AUD SPS Mawar students, and teachers. A participatory approach is also used in this service activity to attract students' attention and make it easier for students to remember new vocabulary. Students are directly involved in the learning process. The focus of the service on English Day is to increase young children's vocabulary. To achieve the objectives of this activity, this activity uses a participatory approach involving SPS Mawar Kebonagung to participate in English Day. Community Service on English Day can be seen in Figure 1. Preparation Developing children's language skills (Jiang, 2019) involves listening, speaking, writing, and reading. The ability to pronounce words is the result of learning by imitating the sounds heard by other people (Chou, 2018; Jang, 2020) The study findings (Chien, 2020) show the importance of language in everyday life, especially for children. It is essential to encourage children's language development at an early age because language development occurs rapidly during the golden period. It is essential to improve language skills during preschool, which lasts from 0 to 6 years (Jones et al., 2022). However, in some early childhood education units, basic vocabulary in English is still not introduced, which means that when children continue their education to a higher level, they will find English difficult and unfamiliar even though English is a language that must be introduced from an Action Reflections Figure 1. Flow of Implementing English Day Figure 1 is a step in implementing service learning with three stages of our service using the Service Learning method, including (Dahliani, 2020; Eriyanti et al., 2022): 1. Preparation Researchers carried out observations to discover the problems in SPS Mawar English learning. Researchers made observations through interviews with SPS Mawar teachers. 36 JIPDIMAS: Journal of Innovation and Development of Community Service Results | 35-41 Putri Endah Karunia, Ilmiyatur Rosidah, Restiti DV, Anggitya Oktafisari, Adinda SAV ││ English Language Skills Upgrading… 2. Action In implementing English Day, the researcher's target was AUD at SPS Mawar. The implementation of the Game-Based Learning learning model is combined with singing. The songs used in learning are, of course, in English. Some children have criteria that can receive learning through songs and games. So, by playing and singing English songs, AUD can increase vocabulary. 3. Reflections The reflection activity on English Day is reviewing the learning material that has been provided. At the end of the activity, the researcher prepared a board, which would later be filled with colors from AUD's hands and stamped using watercolors. 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Implementation of Activities the English Day work program for early childhood at SPS Mawar Kebonagung located in Kebonagung sub-district, Purworejo District, East Java Province. The targets for this work program are early childhood children, namely golden-age children or children aged 3 to 4 years at SPS Mawar Kebonagung. In this case, the hope of PGRI Wiranegara University KKN students, Kebonagung Village, is that early childhood children at SPS Mawar Kebonagung can become more familiar with English vocabulary. An approach to teaching English that uses music as a support. Considering that English is a foreign language in Indonesia, learning English requires a constant and successful strategy. Songs are an excellent instrument to help AUD in the process of learning English. The song is intended to stimulate AUDs as they learn English. Songs are essential in learning English because songs make AUD more sensitive to sounds, and learning English is nothing more than learning various relevant sounds. Songs can also make learning more fun and exciting. AUD will enjoy the songs educators teach and feel happy and eager to learn. That is when AUD indirectly learned vocabulary in English. Learning English using songs as a learning tool can encourage AUD's enthusiasm for learning English. AUD responds more to songs than to educational things. The teacher's ability to choose songs and design movements appropriate to the child's developmental age will also influence the effectiveness of the English learning process for children after preschool. Educators can increase interest in learning AUD by using songs and various learning activities, making it easier for children to absorb the educational material. AUD becomes happy, not bored, and enthusiastic about participating in the learning process. To introduce learning to teaching materials, teachers can use songs as a means of introduction. For example, when teaching with a color theme, the teacher can invite AUD to sing What The Color It Is Red, Red Blue, Blue Yellow, Yellow Green, Green Purple, Purple Black, Black Orange, Orange White, White There are many colors, There are many colors Implementing the English Day work program with the theme English Day for the Golden Generation to introduce English to children from an early age. This activity targets young children who attend school at SPS Mawar Kebonagung in Kebonagung Village, Purworejo District, Pasuruan City. Implementation of this activity starts from 13 August 2023 to 15 August 2023. It is straightforward for young children to learn new things, especially remembering new vocabulary. This English Day activity helps AUD to solve problems in learning English vocabulary. Some of the things taught in the English Day work program with the theme English Day for the Golden Generation are the vocabulary of fingers and the vocabulary of colors in English. However, the English Day work program emphasizes learning English vocabulary and psychomotor activities for early childhood so that preparation is not just about the material that will be provided but also about preparing fun teaching media for young children. There are several fun ways of teaching English to young children that researchers use when providing teaching at AUD SPS Mawar Kebonagung, as follows: Teaching English Using Song Media Apart from that, the researchers also invited AUD SPS Mawar Kebonagung to sing songs accompanied by movements to make it easier for AUD to learn new vocabulary in English. One example is a song in the form of an action song, such as the song Five Little Fingers. Sing a song Where is Thumbkin? Where is Thumbkin? Here I am. Here I am. How are you today, sir? Very well, I thank you. Run away. Run away. Where are Pointers? Where are Pointers? Here I am. Here I am. How are you today, sir? Movement (shows thumb) (shows thumb) (run in place) (run in place) (shows index finger) (shows index finger) (run in place) 37 JIPDIMAS: Journal of Innovation and Development of Community Service Results | 35-41 Putri Endah Karunia, Ilmiyatur Rosidah, Restiti DV, Anggitya Oktafisari, Adinda SAV ││ English Language Skills Upgrading… Very well, I thank you. Run away. Run away. Where is Tallman? Where is Tallman? Here I am. Here I am. How are you today, sir? Very well, I thank you. Run away. Run away. Where is Ringman? Where is Ringman? Here I am. Here I am. How are you today, sir? Very well, I thank you. Run away. Run away. Where is Pinky? Where is Pinky? Here I am. Here I am. How are you today, sir? Very well, I thank you. Run away. Run away. Where is the whole family? Where is the whole family? Here we are. Here we are. How are you today, sir? Very well, we thank you. Run away. Run away. (run in place) (shows middle finger) (shows middle finger) (run in place) (run in place) (shows ring finger) (shows ring finger) (run in place) (run in place) (shows ring finger) (shows ring finger) (run in place) (run in place) (waves hand forward) (waves hand forward) (run in place) (run in place) From the results of the implementation that the researcher has carried out, some of them are: a. Early childhood children are thrilled with the English language skills improvement activities held by researchers. b. Early childhood children can directly understand and understand the material provided by the researcher c. Young children can get to know various kinds of English vocabulary through the songs that have been given Learning in an exciting and fun way improves AUD learning outcomes. Teaching English to AUDs by combining learning skills through fun play is very important to support learning English vocabulary (Akmaliyah, 2021; McClain, 2020). If AUD likes learning, then they will be motivated to take part in learning so they can learn well. Playing techniques (games) can be used in initial learning activities as motivation and awareness to warm the classroom atmosphere before entering basic learning activities (Elek et al., 2020; Tremblay-Perreault, 2020). In basic learning activities, play techniques play an indirect role in helping AUD relax when educators introduce complex topics. Apart from games at the beginning of learning, there are also many games that teachers can use at the end of a learning activity. One example is the one used by researchers when upgrading their English language skills at SPS Mawar Kebonagung. At the beginning of the learning activity, to increase AUD's enthusiasm for learning English, the researcher invited AUD SPS Mawar Kebonagung to play. The game provided imitates the movements of the Baby Shark song. In its application, AUD will follow the movements that researchers have practiced. Then, at the end of the learning activity, the researcher invited AUD SPS Mawar Kebonagung to play finger painting. The way to play is to smear your palms on the prepared colored paint and then stick your palms onto the prepared board. However, before AUD SPS Mawar Kebonagung chooses the paint that will be smeared on one of the palms of their hands, they must state the desired color in English so they can remember ( recall) the material provided by the researcher during the lesson. (Daubert, 2019; Ou et al., 2019). English Day activities emphasize introducing vocabulary in AUD so that the English Day work program implementation focuses on early childhood. Figure 3: English Day Activities Using Game Media Figure 2. English Day Activities Using Song Media Learn English by Using Game Media So, apart from English Day activities, young children must be given motivation to continue to be enthusiastic about learning to use English. The success of providing English education can 38 JIPDIMAS: Journal of Innovation and Development of Community Service Results | 35-41 Putri Endah Karunia, Ilmiyatur Rosidah, Restiti DV, Anggitya Oktafisari, Adinda SAV ││ English Language Skills Upgrading… strengthen the abilities and vocabulary of SPS Mawar Kebonagung's early childhood children in English so that they can have good basic English skills when they start school. Figure 4. Results of English Day for Golden Generation activities 4. CONCLUSION English Day activities are learning activities that aim to introduce essential vocabulary to young children. English Day activities at SPS Mawar Kebonagung have a significant influence on improving the English language skills of young children. Through this game, children can increase their confidence in speaking, listening, and interacting in English. They can also hone their creativity and collaboration skills in a supportive environment. 5. 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