have to understand the partner of the conversation. They have to know the p
artner’s habit. Moreover, when they are speaking, they have to consider the rule of turn-taking which deals with the timing when to speak. Here, the
speakers should know their chance to speak. In conclusion, speaking is very important because it is used by the
society in order to have relation. Here, speaking can be said as a means of communication. To make the communication run well, students should
acquire the speaking skill. This productive skill, speaking, will help them to deliver their message through the knowledge of grammar, knowledge of
vocabulary, and knowledge of the rules of speaking. They are used to make the students know what to say and how to say. Thus, they can
communicate well.
b. Aspects of speaking skill
There are a lot of essential aspects that have important roles in speaking English. Accuracy and fluency are two aspects which English
teachers concern most when dealing with speaking activities. In creating speaking activities in the class, teachers need to decide whether the
activity focuses on either accuracy or fluency. According to Spratt, Pulverness, and Williams 2005:34 fluency is
speaking at normal speed, without hesitation, repetition or self-correction, and with smooth use of connected speech. Then, accuracy in speaking is the use
of correct forms of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation.
Brown 2001:268 also mentions that both fluency and accuracy are important goals to pursue in communicative language teaching. While
fluency becomes the initial goal in language teaching which means that fluency is needed to be the symbol of automaticity in learning language, the
accuracy is achieved by allowing students to focus on the element of phonology, grammar, and discourse in their spoken output. Both fluency and
accuracy are needed to be acquired by the students in order to speak like a native speaker. When the students speak in fluent and accurate way, it can
be said that they have understood the language. Similar as Brown, Richards 2006: 14 states that fluency is natural
language use occurring when a speaker engages in meaningful interaction and maintains comprehensible and ongoing communication despite
limitation in his or her communicative competence. The activities on fluency reflect natural use of language, focus on achieving communication, require
meaningful use of language, require the use of communication strategies, unpredictable language production, and seek to link language use to context.
Meanwhile, the activities in accuracy reflect classroom use of language, focus on the formation of correct examples of language, practice small
samples of language, do not require meaningful communication, and control choice of language.
Besides fluency and accuracy, I concerned on grammar, vocabulary, comprehension, and pronunciation when teaching English to my students. It
was because I did not want that my students were fluent in speaking English
but knowing nothing about what they were saying. I wanted my students to be able to understand, use and speak English in the correct way.
Furthermore, besides considering the importance of the aspects above, teachers also have to pay attention to the language features which are
necessary for spoken production. Harmer 2001:269-270 suggests four language features as follows.
The first language feature is the use of connected speech. Effective speakers of English have to be able not only to produce the individual
phonemes but also to use fluent connected speeches. In connected speech, sounds are modified, omitted, added or weakened. Because dealing with
connected speech seems to be a complex thing, teachers should provide students with activities which are expected to improve and help them be
familiar with speech connecting. The second feature is the use of expressive devices. Native speakers of
English use expressive devices when they communicate. They change the pitch and the stress of certain parts of utterances, vary the volume and the
speed, and use the facial expressions. By doing so, they are able to express their ideas. Therefore, students are expected to use those devices in order to
be effective communicators. The third language feature is the use of lexis and grammar. The use of
lexical and grammatical features are usually found in a spontaneous speech in the performance of particular language functions, such as agreeing or
disagreeing, expressing surprise, shock or approval.
The last language feature is the use of negotiation language. Usually speakers use negotiation language to seek for clarification. The use of
negotiation language is important for students because they need to ask for clarification when they are listening to someone else. The use of negotiation
language is also used to show the structure of what speakers are saying. In this case, students need to use certain phrases if they want to be understood
by the others.
c. Basic types of classroom speaking performance
