An Approach to Teaching Speaking

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2. Teaching Speaking

a. An Approach to Teaching Speaking

Communicative language teaching CLT is an approach to teaching language that has a thorough perspective. Madya 2013: 47 says that perhaps because of this thorough perspective, CLT is still widely practiced until now since the first time it was developed in 1960s in Europe. The fundamental belief of CLT is that grammar rules and vocabulary are means of delivering meanings. Freeman 2000 declares that CLT tries to make communicative competence ━ knowing when and how to say what to whom Hymes 1971 in Freeman 2000:121 ━ the goal of language teaching and acknowledge the interdependence of language and communication. This means that language usage is not to be learned and mastered separately. Instead, it is to be used in a communication in the target language. Therefore, in facilitating students to learn, teachers have to relate the language usage to its use in a communication. Richards 2006 states that the current CLT is based on the ten core assumptions as follows. 1 Second or foreign language learning is facilitated when students are engaged in interaction and meaningful communication. 2 Effective classroom learning tasks and exercises give students a chance to negotiate meaning, enlarge their language resources, notice how the target language is used, and participate in a meaningful interpersonal exchange. 3 Meaningful communication occurs because students process contents that are relevant, purposeful, interesting, and engaging. 22 4 Communication is a holistic process that requires the use of several language skills and modalities. 5 Language learning is facilitated both by activities that involve inductive or discovery learning of underlying rules of language use and organization, as well as by those involving language analysis and reflection. 6 Language learning is a gradual process that involves the use of creative language and trials and errors. However, even though mistakes are common in the learning process, the product of the learning process is to be able to use the language both fluently and accurately. 7 Learners develop by themselves their styles of learning the language, progress at different rates, and have different needs and motivation to learn the language. 8 Successful language learning requires the use of effective learning and communication strategies. 9 The roles of teachers in a language class is as a facilitator that set the conducive learning atmosphere that gives students a chance to use and practice the language and to reflect on the language use as well as the language learning. 10 The classroom is a community in which students learn through collaboration and sharing. In addition to this, there are also features of CLT proposed by Celce- Murcia and Littlewood as cited by Madya 2013:48 as presented in the following points. 23 1 The learners’ ability to communicate in the target language is the product of the language learning. 2 The contents of the language learning cover semantic notions and social functions, rather than the language structures only. 3 Students regularly work in pairs or groups to deliver and negotiate meanings in a situation where a student has some certain information that others do not process information-gap activities. 4 Students are frequently involved in role-plays or dramas to enable them to adapt the use of the target language in various social contexts. 5 The learning materials and class activities are authentic to reflect the real world situation and demands. 6 The teachers’ roles are principally as facilitators of the students’ practice to communicate and secondary correctors of mistakes.

b. The Principles of Language Teaching