The Nature of Speaking

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CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

As what is stated in the previous section, the aim of this action research study is to improve the students’ speaking ability through information-gap activities. Consequently, this chapter focuses on theories related to speaking, teaching speaking, information-gap activities and the psychology of learning of junior high school students. Besides, at the end of this chapter there is a conceptual framework and the hypothesis of the research.

A. Theoretical Description

1. Speaking

a. The Nature of Speaking

Brown and Yule 1999 define the term speaking by first distinguishing the differences between spoken and written language. They argue that so far, what has mostly been taught in language classrooms is the written language which is characterized by well-formed sentences integrated into highly structured paragraphs. Further, they declare that spoken language, on the other hand, consists of short, often fragmentary utterances, in a range of pronunciation. It differs from written language primarily in the way information is less densely packed. Besides, they argue that different from written language whose rules are rather well known and well described, spoken 9 language appears very variable and is very different from one dialect area to another. On the other hand, Nunan 1993:9 states that the differences between spoken and written language are not absolute, and they might be interchangeable in some ways. However, he still distinguishes the two languages in terms of their grammar, lexical density, and situation. In terms of grammar, linguistically, written language tends to consist of clauses that are internally complex, whereas with spoken language, the complexity exists in the ways in which clauses are joined together. In terms of lexical density, Halliday in Nunan 1993: 12 suggests that the spoken form of language is in a more basic sense than the written form. Finally, in terms of situation, there is no common situation in the written language as there is in face-to-face oral interaction. Consequently, spoken language allows the hearers to negotiate the meaning being conveyed in the interaction. In terms of a teaching context, Brown and Yule, in Nunan 2001: 26, declare that teachers who concern on teaching spoken language have to consider: 1 the appropriate form of spoken language to teach, 2 how the pronunciation model should be, 3 whether or not pronunciation is important, 4 whether or not the teaching spoken language is more important than teaching appropriate handwriting in the foreign or target language, 4 whether or not it is okay to teach the spoken language in terms of the language structure, 5 whether or not the language structure in the standard grammar is the structure that students have to produce in their spoken language, and finally 6 10 how to give the students opportunity to produce spoken language in a meaningful way. In terms of having a good speaking ability, Nunan 2001: 32 states that there are two approaches that can be applied. Those approaches are bottom-up approach and top-down approach. The bottom-up approach to speaking suggests that people start with the smallest units of language, i.e. individual sounds, and move through mastery of words and sentences to discourse. On the other hand, top-down view suggests that people start with the larger chunks of language, which are embedded in meaningful contexts and use their knowledge of these contexts to comprehend and use correctly the smaller elements of language. Further, Nunan states that proponents of a top-down view of language development suggest that rather than teaching students to make well- formed sentences and then putting these to use in discourse, teachers should encourage them to take part in discourse and through discourse, help them to master sentences. However, there is also the third approach to speaking i.e. interactive approach. This approach allows students to begin with either the smallest unit of sentence or use their background knowledge first in speaking, and then use both top- down and bottom- up view interactively. According to Nunan 2001:32, there are ten features of a successful oral communication. Those are: 1 the ability to articulate phonological features of the language comprehensibly; 2 mastery of stress, rhythm, intonation patterns; 3 an acceptable degree of fluency; 4 transactional and interpersonal skills; 5 skills in taking short and long speaking turns; 6 skills 11 in the management of interaction; 7 skills in the negotiating meaning; 8 conversational listening skills; 9 skills in knowing about and negotiation purposes for conversations; and finally 10 using appropriate conversational formulas or fillers. On the other hand, Harmer 2001: 271 states that a speaking activity involves a mental or social processing which includes language processing, interacting with others, and on- the-spot information processing. Language processing refers to the ability of a speaker to process language in their own heads and put it into coherent order so that it comes out in forms that are not only comprehensible but also convey the intended meanings. Next, the point of interacting with others means that an effective speaking also involves a good deal of listening, and understanding of how the other participants are feeling, and some knowledge of how linguistically to take turns or allow others to do so. Finally, apart from the speakers’ response to others’ feelings, they also need to be able to process the information that the addressees tell them at the moment they get it, and therefore are required to be able to respond well toward it. The implication of these suggestions is that for teachers, in some way, to cover all of these points in teaching speaking to the students. In conclusion, spoken language as used in a speaking activity differs from written language in some ways as has been elaborated earlier. Thus, there are certain points to consider in teaching speaking. Regarding teaching speaking, two approaches proposed by Nunan need to be considered. In addition, as has been explained earlier, an interactive approach might be the best approach to 12 master speaking since it allows the speakers to go back and forth in performing to speak. Last yet importantly, teachers need to consider the ten features of a successful oral communication proposed by Nunan and what a speaking activity involves proposed by Harmer in helping their students to be able to perform their speaking well.

b. The Basic Types of Speaking