Different Approaches

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (Kemendigdasmen) no longer focuses on grammar in school English lessons. Instead, they focus more on active speaking. They believe this is effective for elementary and junior high school students.

On the other hand, alternative education centers like RBB (Rumah Belajar Bersama) do the opposite. They design lessons so elementary school students can memorize grammar, especially tenses and their changes. For them, this is the most basic material for understanding sentences.

If students learn too much grammar, will their speaking skills become slow?

The answer can be yes if the lesson only focuses on grammar. However, the answer is no if the lesson also includes reading and speaking.
Then, how can students answer test questions correctly if they do not know basic grammar, such as parts of speech and tenses? Do elementary and junior high school English tests focus on speaking?

To answer the first question: written tests always require correct grammar. The only exception is multiple-choice questions, where students just click the answer they think is right. In multiple-choice tests, if students do not know the answer, they can guess. There is a chance to get it right by luck. However, on essay questions, the chance of guessing correctly is very low.

To answer the second question: speaking tests are not common yet. This is because the current school curriculums (K13 and Merdeka Curriculum) still use written formats. Even at the university level, TOEFL tests do not always include a speaking section.

The Solution

Adeeva, a 4th-grade student, has memorized English tenses perfectly. Is her speaking rigid because she learns too much grammar? Not at all. Before learning grammar, she finished two English reading books. In the first book, she practiced reading aloud and understanding the meaning. In the second book, she answered questions based on stories. In this second stage, basic grammar was introduced because she needed it to write the correct answers.

Now, she is reading her third book, Pre-Intermediate Reading, where the questions require more than just basic tenses.

The benefit for Adeeva is that her speaking is more structured and organized. She feels more confident to speak because she knows what she says is correct. This is because her Reading, Speaking, and Grammar lessons work well together.
By keeping grammar in the lessons, our students will also have a great chance to write essays, articles, or other texts. Writing is an important part of academic life. We can encourage children and teenagers to write down their ideas and even write books.

Elementary school students have a great opportunity to be like Adeeva. They can master tenses without missing school curriculum targets, as long as we combine different English lessons properly.

By 2027, the Ministry will implement English lessons starting from the 3rd grade of elementary school. They hope this will help students speak actively. After that, they will evaluate the pros and cons of the curriculum. Then, they can design a more comprehensive learning system to create globally competitive students.
Will grammar get more attention in the future? Let’s wait and see.

Overall, we may take different steps, but we have the same goal: to educate our nation’s children.

Zulkarnain Patwa
Tuesday, May 19, 2026