Background of the Study

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CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents some important points to initiate a discussion of the main problem of this study. They include the background of the study, the problem identification, the problem limitation, the problem formulation, the objectives of the study, the benefits of the study, and the definition of terms.

A. Background of the Study

Today, as the world is becoming more globalised, the needs, demands, and aspiration of the society let a new trend taking place. Zarefsky explained that today’s society undergoes a shift in economy, from “dominance in economy to dominance by information” Zarefsky, 1996: 5. In Grice and Skinner, Hasling 1990 also pointed out that in a civilized culture, to defend our lives, the verbal ability is the one which we rely more than our physical strength, properties, and principles. Clearly, good communication skills, including oral communication both interpersonal and public, listening, and written communication, play a critical role in this era. People are facing greater competitive pressures in many aspects of life, such as in school, communities, or workplaces. Therefore, only those who are well-prepared and multi-skilled will be able to survive. Possessing good communication skills is inseparable from mastering language. The mastery of language will surely be a valuable asset for those who wish to be able to remain competitive. English is considered to be a lingua franca in this global era. In Indonesia, mastering English is no longer a luxury, yet it is a must, a minimum requirement for people who wish to stand out. According to Lazaraton 2001, for most people, knowing a certain language means being able to speak that language. Even speaking is viewed as the most demanding, most language learners also feel it to be the most difficult skill to master. This is even felt by those who specially learn this language in their education, such as students of English Letters or English Language Education Study Program. While there are classes which are specially designed to promote student’s oral skill, they still find difficulties to organize their ideas and express them orally, especially when they face real situation such as to speak in public or interact with others outside the class. This phenomenon leads us to look in depth about what happen in a common speaking class. When someone learns to speak a certain language, she has to get used to the elements of that language, such as vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, expression used, and the manner of using it. A speaking class provides all those elements in its materials and instructions. Students are equipped with materials which focus on knowledge of language elements as well as language functions and then practice to use it continuously through a variety of tasks, such as games, role play, and discussion. To assure that students speak in the target language all the time, speaking is taught exclusively, meaning to say that it is taught with little presence of another skill. The tradition of teaching the language skills in segregated fashion brings about assumption that the presence of other skills such as listening, reading, and writing is considered less significant to the learning of speaking. It potentially limits students’ chance to speak and distract students’ attention to the speaking process. The description above provides an overview on the instruction and materials given in a speaking class. We may conclude that a speaking class commonly tends to have segregated-fashion teaching and focus on linguistic functions. Oxford 2001 pointed out that learning the language in a segregated fashion, meaning to say to put a heavy focus on one specific skill and eliminate other skills may be considered as less meaningful to the learning process. She also stated that learning language skills in a segregated fashion which was believed to maximize the learning would not ensure adequate preparation for later success in the use of the language in everyday life. It is contrary to the integrated way that people use language in normal communication. The materials which are often limited to functional linguistic and task- based oriented do not allow students to develop their critical thinking. There are very few materials related to a more in-depth discussion on certain theme or topic. Whereas, exposing students to certain topic or theme is widely known to have some advantages, such as providing a wider knowledge, developing their thinking and collaborative skill, and furthermore, using the language to fulfill a real purpose. Practicing memorized expression is considered not challenging, although practicing those expressions is important because it might lead to boredom and the use of L1 since the use of such expressions were not a new thing for them. As Oxford 2001 stated that incapability of using language in a real life was caused by a heavy focus on learning about and analyzing the language itself with little emphasis on authentic communication. From the discussion above we may conclude that not only that it is found to be less meaningful, a speaking class which has segregated-fashion teaching and focuses on functional linguistic is also found to be less relevant and efficient. Thus, integrating the speaking skills to other skills such as listening, reading, and writing will surely promote the meaningfulness of learning. Integrating all four skills together with characteristics of the teacher, the learner, the setting, and the relevant languages is known as integrated-skills approach Oxford: 2001. The integrated-skill approach exposes English language learners to authentic language and challenges them to interact naturally in the language. It is authentic because it reflects how we really use the language. As it was described in the previous paragraphs, besides the instructions carried out, kinds of materials plays significant role in language learning. Careful selection on kinds of materials used is necessary. The use of authentic materials which shows the real use of language has been suggested by language teaching experts for years. Exposing students to a certain theme or topic provides advantages which are valuable for students’ development; moreover it is relevant to the real life situation both on their daily and academic life. This approach is known as content-based instruction. As discussed in the previous paragraph, it has advantages such as provide a wider knowledge and develop students’ thinking and collaborative skill. Based on the explanation above, the innovation of using integrated-skills approach and content-based instruction with interesting authentic materials will give significant contribution on student’s competence in English. The advantages gained of using integrated skills approach and authentic materials considered being able to promote English proficiency of students of English Language Education Department of Sanata Dharma University. This study was intended to design supplementary materials for students of English Language Education Department of Sanata Dharma University based on integrated skills approach. The materials designed in this study are particularly for the speaking IV subject on English Education Department.

B. Problem Identification