11
CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW
In this section there are several theories presented concerning this study. The theories are used to answer the first research questions and to develop the
same understanding related to the study. The theories discussed here are communicative competence, young language learners, and language testing.
A. THEORETICAL REVIEWS
The theoretical review starts with the theories as the basic of this study. They are also used to answer the previous research questions and it ends with the
theoretical framework of this study. The following section will discuss more about them.
Language is viewed as an organized system which is used by people with certain goal or function. Halliday, in his book An Introduction to Functional
Grammar, proposed language referred to four views. First, language is “as text and system”. Second, “as sound, as writing, as wording”. Third, “as structure –
configurations of parts”, and fourth “as resources – choices among alternative” Halliday: 19. Language as system and language as a set of text cannot be
separated Halliday: 26. They have close relationship; the system is essential potential of a language. Texts are various and their varieties are categorized by
their context in used Halliday: 27. Halliday also points out that a text which is associated with a given type of context must contain a description of the grammar.
It means the text must be “coherent, comprehensive and richly dimensioned” Halliday: 5. This is to say that grammar is viewed as the working system to
make and understand the meaning Halliday: 5. It means that every part and the interaction among language pattern play significant part in building the meaning.
In a simple way we can say people can understand what others say by understanding the meaning of the sentences. “ .... The analysis points up how the
interaction among patterns at different strata plays a significant part in the construction of meaning” Halliday: 41. It is seen that grammar is functioned as
the working system which form the text and can be understood in certain situation or context. Therefore, the text will be coherent and comprehensible.
Starting from the definition proposes by Halliday it is inferred beyond the structure of the language there is an important meaning to be understood by the
hearer. It means people used the language to send their message to others. Then there is modern understanding about language view. Since meaning of the text
also depends on the context so the view of language use is also changed. There is a view of what are going to say is more important than how to say it. When people
exchange information or message each other it means they communicate. It is obvious that people use the language as a media of communication. The structure
of the language is also important to make the communication more effective. Thus the meaning of the sentence becomes the priority in the communication. In this
case, language has its function that is functioned as a media of communication with certain purposes.
Starting from Halliday’s point of view then there are some language theories related to the function of language. There are some changes on the
language view. Previously language program is done to make the learners become native speakers like. They have to master the grammar rules in order to be able to
communicate in English. The view has changed. There is deeper expectation about the language program. Now the most important objective is how people can
use the language to communicate with others. The ability to communicate in a target language can be interpreted as a communicative competence.
The term “competence” was introduced by Chomsky along with performance. There is a difference between competence and performance.
Competence refers to the language system. In this context competence relates to one’s knowledge about grammar rules while performance refers to the use of the
language. In some context performance is about one’s speech perception and production in the real situation. In Chomsky’s theory, competence is considered
stronger than performance. According to Chomsky, competence focuses on the linguistic competence, “...Noam Chomsky who focuses on linguistic competence
and claimed that any consideration of social factors was outside the domain of linguistics” Celce-Murcia: 42.
The term competence according to Chomsky emphasises on the linguistics competence. In other words competence is one’s ability to
communicate each other effectively which emphasis on the grammatical correctness.
Chomsky did not directly mention the term of communicative competence. But he had introduced the term competence as the starting point of
some theorists to define the communicative competence. There are some definitions about communicative competence that have been proposed. Those
definitions and their aspects will be presented in the section below.
1. Communicative Competence Theories
To define the communicative competence that answers the research question, it is appropriate to review some theories of communicative competence
proposed by some experts. There are, among others, five experts who have defined the term communicative competence and its aspects.
a. Hymes 1972
Hymes defined the term of communicative competence in 1972. Communicative competence refers to two competencies, linguistics competence
and sociolinguistic competence. Linguistic competence focuses on knowledge of the grammatical components and the use. This competence also includes the
selection of the grammar related to its appropriateness in the context. Sociolinguistics refers to the knowledge of the rule of the language use. In other
words sociolinguistics competence is the ability to understand the social situation in which communication takes place. This ability includes the participants to share
the ideas or information. Furthermore Hymes gives his review on the relation of the linguistic role
in the communicative system. They are correctness, feasibility, appropriatness and occurance. Correctness refers to the use of grammar in the communicative
system. Feasibility refers to the acceptance of the grammar use which is implemented in the communication. Appropriatness relates to the use of the
grammar in the contextual features. Occurance refers to the ability to use other knowledge unconsious knowledge in communication Hymes, 1972: 284-286.
In conclusion, Hymes’s view about communicative competence covers two competence, they are linguistics competence and sociolinguitics competence.
From his definition it is summarized, the communicative competence is the ability to use the language based on the linguistic role to communicate in a certain social
situation and context. It means the learners can communicate to each other by using appropriate language in a certain context.
Figure 2.1 Dell Hymes’ model of communicative competence
b. Canale and Swain 1980
The term competence refers to personal ability. Canale and Swain point out that there are three aspects of communicative competence; they are
grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence, and strategic competence. 15
system. Feasibility refers to the acceptance of the grammar use which is implemented in the communication. Appropriatness relates to the use of the
grammar in the contextual features. Occurance refers to the ability to use other knowledge unconsious knowledge in communication Hymes, 1972: 284-286.
In conclusion, Hymes’s view about communicative competence covers two competence, they are linguistics competence and sociolinguitics competence.
From his definition it is summarized, the communicative competence is the ability to use the language based on the linguistic role to communicate in a certain social
situation and context. It means the learners can communicate to each other by using appropriate language in a certain context.
Figure 2.1 Dell Hymes’ model of communicative competence
b. Canale and Swain 1980
The term competence refers to personal ability. Canale and Swain point out that there are three aspects of communicative competence; they are
grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence, and strategic competence. Communicative
competence
Linguistics competence
Sociolinguistics competence
system. Feasibility refers to the acceptance of the grammar use which is implemented in the communication. Appropriatness relates to the use of the
grammar in the contextual features. Occurance refers to the ability to use other knowledge unconsious knowledge in communication Hymes, 1972: 284-286.
In conclusion, Hymes’s view about communicative competence covers two competence, they are linguistics competence and sociolinguitics competence.
From his definition it is summarized, the communicative competence is the ability to use the language based on the linguistic role to communicate in a certain social
situation and context. It means the learners can communicate to each other by using appropriate language in a certain context.
Figure 2.1 Dell Hymes’ model of communicative competence
b. Canale and Swain 1980
The term competence refers to personal ability. Canale and Swain point out that there are three aspects of communicative competence; they are
grammatical competence, sociolinguistic competence, and strategic competence. Sociolinguistics
competence
Grammatical competence
Grammatical competence refers to the one’s knowledge about lexical items and morphology use, syntax, sentence-grammar semantic, phonology. The
grammatical competence is very important to help the learners produce and express accurate literal utterances. Therefore, the utterances can be understood
easily. Sociolinguistic competence consists of two components, sociocultural
rules of use and the rules of discourse. Sociocultural rules relate to the selection of utterances to be produced and understood appropriately. The main focus of this
component is how far the utterances will be appropriate in the communication in a certain context or situation. While the discourse rules refer to the cohesion and
coherence. Cohesion refers to the knowledge of grammatical links, coherence refers to the appropriate combinations of communicative function.
Strategic competence refers to verbal and nonverbal communication strategies. These strategies will help the speakers to negotiate with others in a
breakdown communication. These strategies will occur when the learners communicate in the real situation.
Figure 2.2 Canale and Swain’s model of communicative competence
Communicative competence
Grammatical competence
Sociolinguistics competence
Strategic Competence
Grammatical competence refers to the one’s knowledge about lexical items and morphology use, syntax, sentence-grammar semantic, phonology. The
grammatical competence is very important to help the learners produce and express accurate literal utterances. Therefore, the utterances can be understood
easily. Sociolinguistic competence consists of two components, sociocultural
rules of use and the rules of discourse. Sociocultural rules relate to the selection of utterances to be produced and understood appropriately. The main focus of this
component is how far the utterances will be appropriate in the communication in a certain context or situation. While the discourse rules refer to the cohesion and
coherence. Cohesion refers to the knowledge of grammatical links, coherence refers to the appropriate combinations of communicative function.
Strategic competence refers to verbal and nonverbal communication strategies. These strategies will help the speakers to negotiate with others in a
breakdown communication. These strategies will occur when the learners communicate in the real situation.
Figure 2.2 Canale and Swain’s model of communicative competence
Strategic Competence
Grammatical competence refers to the one’s knowledge about lexical items and morphology use, syntax, sentence-grammar semantic, phonology. The
grammatical competence is very important to help the learners produce and express accurate literal utterances. Therefore, the utterances can be understood
easily. Sociolinguistic competence consists of two components, sociocultural
rules of use and the rules of discourse. Sociocultural rules relate to the selection of utterances to be produced and understood appropriately. The main focus of this
component is how far the utterances will be appropriate in the communication in a certain context or situation. While the discourse rules refer to the cohesion and
coherence. Cohesion refers to the knowledge of grammatical links, coherence refers to the appropriate combinations of communicative function.
Strategic competence refers to verbal and nonverbal communication strategies. These strategies will help the speakers to negotiate with others in a
breakdown communication. These strategies will occur when the learners communicate in the real situation.
Figure 2.2 Canale and Swain’s model of communicative competence
c. Savignon 1972, 1983
People need a language when they interact to each other. The purpose is to understand and to be understood by other people. Understanding what other
people say will make the interaction effective because each person can understand and give responses to others. It means people often use language to communicate.
That is why Savignon’s theory about communicative language teaching is based on a view of language as communication. This means language is used as a means
of communication with other people orally or in writing. “...language is seen as a social tool that speakers use to make meaning; speakers communicate about
something to someone for some purpose, either orally or in writing” Savignon, 1983: 6
The concept of communicative competence in language teaching has broader meaning than the linguistic theory. In communicative competence people
and languages they use are viewed in the social context or setting Savignon, 1983: 16. While linguistic theory sees people as the ideal speakers and listeners.
In these conditions the grammatical correctness becomes the main concern. Therefore, sometimes the meaning or message itself is delayed. People incline to
focus on the grammar structures rather than to the meaning itself. There are three main focuses of communicative competence proposed by
Savignon. The first one is the use of the language. She explains in using a language the message in it is more important than the grammar, “... a view of
language learning is going from the surface grammatical structures to meaning” Savignon, 1983: 30. That is to say that it is more important that the learners
understand what they say and what is said by other people in the target language. The second one is the view of language acquisition, “language acquisition is seen
as proceeding from meaning to surface structure”. It means that the focus in using language as a means of communication is that learners understand “the meaning
or getting one’s message across” Savignon, 1983: 35. The third one is specification of context. In this view the language should be taught in the correct
way. It means the communicative purpose or function should be the main concern. Therefore the language used becomes meaningful for the learners because they
use the language based on the contexts. There are some components of communicative competence. Savignon
proposes four components of communicative competence. They are grammatical competence, discourse competence, sociocultural competence, and strategic
component. The components above are interrelated each other. Every component takes an important role in the development of the language learners.
Grammatical competence refers to the grammatical forms of the sentence. Savignon argues “the ability to identify the lexical, morphological, syntactical and
phonological features of language, “ and “to make use of those features to interpret and form words and sentences” Savignon, 1983: 9. It means how
second or foreign language learners are able to use grammatical features to form words or sentences and to interpret the words or sentences. Furthermore she states
grammatical competence is not related to the theory of grammar or the ability to state the grammatical rules.
Discourse competence relates to “the interconnection of a series of utterances or written words or phrases to form a text, a meaningful whole”
Savignon, 1983: 9. The texts are various. They can be a poem, an email message, a sportscast, a telephone conversation, or a novel.
Sociocultural competence refers to ability to understand the social context in which language is used. Social context consists of the role of the
participants, the information they share, and the function of the interaction. By possessing sociocultural competence the learners are able to communicate in
many different situational contexts. Communicative competence also includes “a willingness to engage in the active negotiation of meaning” Savignon, 1983: 10.
Strategic competence refers to the ability to cope strategies that someone uses in unfamiliar contexts, “with constraints arising from inadequate knowledge
of rules or such impediment to the applications as fatigue or distraction “Savignon, 1983: 10.
From the explanation above it can be concluded that communicative competence means the ability to understand, identify and use language or
language features as a whole meaning to communicate one another in different situational contexts.
grammatical competence,
Figure 2.3 Savignon’s model of communicative competence
d. Bachman and Palmer 1996
Bachman used communicative language ability to refer to the communicative competence. He defined communicative language ability ‘as a
concept comprised of knowledge or competence and capacity for appropriate use of knowledge in a contextual communicative language use” cited in Bagaric:
2007. Bachman and Palmer propose four areas of language knowledge that
should be included as cited in McKay, 2006: 183. They are grammatical knowledge, textual knowledge, functional knowledge, and sociolinguistic
knowledge. The grammatical knowledge and textual knowledge are called as the organisational knowledge while the functional knowledge and sociolinguistics are
called as pragmatic knowledge. Grammatical knowledge includes areas of knowledge such as knowledge
of vocabulary, syntax, phonology and graphology. McKay points these areas of knowledge needs to grow and deepen Bachman and Palmer in McKay, 2006:
183. In this area, the children need to sharpen their abilities in both producing and understanding sounds, words, and sentences. It means that the children learn
how to “utter sounds, words and sentences clearly with appropriate 20
communicative competence
grammatical competence,
discourse competence
sociocultural competence
strategic component.
Figure 2.3 Savignon’s model of communicative competence
d. Bachman and Palmer 1996
Bachman used communicative language ability to refer to the communicative competence. He defined communicative language ability ‘as a
concept comprised of knowledge or competence and capacity for appropriate use of knowledge in a contextual communicative language use” cited in Bagaric:
2007. Bachman and Palmer propose four areas of language knowledge that
should be included as cited in McKay, 2006: 183. They are grammatical knowledge, textual knowledge, functional knowledge, and sociolinguistic
knowledge. The grammatical knowledge and textual knowledge are called as the organisational knowledge while the functional knowledge and sociolinguistics are
called as pragmatic knowledge. Grammatical knowledge includes areas of knowledge such as knowledge
of vocabulary, syntax, phonology and graphology. McKay points these areas of knowledge needs to grow and deepen Bachman and Palmer in McKay, 2006:
183. In this area, the children need to sharpen their abilities in both producing and understanding sounds, words, and sentences. It means that the children learn
how to “utter sounds, words and sentences clearly with appropriate 20
strategic component.
Figure 2.3 Savignon’s model of communicative competence
d. Bachman and Palmer 1996
Bachman used communicative language ability to refer to the communicative competence. He defined communicative language ability ‘as a
concept comprised of knowledge or competence and capacity for appropriate use of knowledge in a contextual communicative language use” cited in Bagaric:
2007. Bachman and Palmer propose four areas of language knowledge that
should be included as cited in McKay, 2006: 183. They are grammatical knowledge, textual knowledge, functional knowledge, and sociolinguistic
knowledge. The grammatical knowledge and textual knowledge are called as the organisational knowledge while the functional knowledge and sociolinguistics are
called as pragmatic knowledge. Grammatical knowledge includes areas of knowledge such as knowledge
of vocabulary, syntax, phonology and graphology. McKay points these areas of knowledge needs to grow and deepen Bachman and Palmer in McKay, 2006:
183. In this area, the children need to sharpen their abilities in both producing and understanding sounds, words, and sentences. It means that the children learn
how to “utter sounds, words and sentences clearly with appropriate
pronunciation and intonation” 183. Besides, the children also need to understand others’pronunciation and intonation clearly.
Textual knowledge refers to the ability to speak in ways which are cohesive and well-organized. Textual knowledge can be applied to comprehend or
produce texts. It is necessary for the children to use and understand the connecting words that combine sentences and paragraph together. In this area the children
also “need to learn how to refer back to other parts of the sentence” 183. In listening they need to sharpen their ability to use textual knowledge to understand
what is being said Bachman and Palmer in McKay, 2006: 183. Functional knowledge refers to the ability to use language for many
different functions. They learn how to use language to get what they want, to learn, to imagine things, to think about things Bachman and Palmer in McKay,
2006: 183. On the other side it is also essential for the children to understand the purposes behind the language even when the speakers do not state the purpose
directly. Sociolinguistic knowledge refers to the children’s ability “to use oral
language appropriate to the language use situation that they are in” Bachman and Palmer in McKay, 2006: 184. They need to use and understand expression
and culture references. Also children learn to communicate and act in ways which help them to reach out people from different culture Bachman and Palmer in
McKay, 2006: 184. From the discussion above there are four areas of children’s spoken
competence. Those abilityies are useful for the children in order to develop their
spoken ability. These abilities also facilitate the children to use the language appropriately. Bachman and Palmer’s model of communicative competence is
intended directly for children. This model is acceptable for children whose first language is not English.
Figure 2.4 Bachman and Palmer’s model of communicative competence
e. Celce-Murcia 2008
Celce-Murcia elaborates communicative competence into six aspects. They are sociocultural competence, discourse competence, linguistic competence,
formulaic competence, interactional competence and strategic competence. “Sociocultural competence refers to the speaker’s pragmatic knowledge”
Celce-Murcia, 2008: 46. It means the speaker’s ability to communicate effectively inside the social and cultural context. This kind of competence
consists of three variables Celce-Murcia, 2008: 46. The first is social context factors. This factors include the “participants’ age, gender, status, social distance,
and their relation to each other”. The second is stylistic appropriateness. These
factors include “politeness strategies, a sense of genres and registers”. The third is cultural background factors. These factors include “background knowledge of the
target language group, major dialects or regional differences, and cross cultural awareness” Celce-Murcia, 2008: 46.
Discourse competences are defined as the ability to select, sequence, and arrange the words, structures, and utterances to achieve a unified spoken message
Celce-Murcia, 2008: 46. The combination of them can express the speakers’ messages and create coherent texts. The sub- areas of the discourse competence
proposed by Celce-Murcia 2008 are: 1 cohesion, some rule related to the “use of reference, substitution, conjunction, and lexical chain” pg. 47, 2 deixis
refers to the “situational grounding achieved through use of personal pronouns, spatial terms, temporal terms, and textual reference” pg. 47, 3 coherence,
refers to the expression of goal or intent through “proper content schemata, organizing of old and new information, maintaining temporal continuity and other
organizational schemata through conventionally recognized means” pg. 47, 4 generic structure refers to the “formal schemata which permit the user to identify
an oral discourse segment as a conversation, nrrative, interview, service encounter, report, lecture, sermon, etc”.
Linguistics competence consists of four types of knowledge, they are phonological, lexical, morphological, and syntacttic. Phonological knowledge
refers to “both segmental knowledge like vowels, consonants, syllable type and suprasegmentals such as stress, intonation, and rythm pg. 47”. Lexical refers to
the “knowledge of both content words noun, verbs, adjectives and function
words pronouns, determiners, prepositions, verbal auxiliaries, etc pg. 47”. Syntactic refers to “constituentphrase structure, word order both canonical and
marked, basic sentence types, modification, coordination, subordination, and embedding”.
Formulaic competence refers “to those fixed and prefabricated chunks of language that speakers use heavily in everyday interaction” pg. 49. This
competence has four aspects, they are routines such as fixed phrases, collocations such as verb-object, idioms, and lexical frames.
Interactional competence consists of three sub-component, they are actional competence, conversational competence, and non-verbalparalinguistics
competence. Actional competence is defined as “knowledge of how to perform common speech acts and speech acts sets in the target language involving
interactions” pg. 48. The interactions in communication are like information exchanges, interpersonal exchanges, expression of opinions, and feelings,
problems, and future scenarios. Conversational competence is the knowledge of the turn-taking system in conversation. Non-verbalparalinguistic competence
refers to the body language, haptic behaviour, and non-linguistic utterances. Strategic competence refers to cognitive, metacognitive, and memory-
related. Cognitive strategies are defined as the ability to “use logic and analysis to help oneself learn a new language through outlining, summarizing, notetaking,
organizing and reviewing materials” pg. 50. Metacognitive refers to strategies of one’s planning, monitoring, and compensating about their learning. Memory-
sociocultural competence,
discourse competence,
related refers to the “strategies that help learners recall or retrieve words through the use of acronyms, images, sounds, or other clues” pg. 50.
Figure 2.5 Celce Murcia’s model of communicative competence
2. The Young Learners
Young learners are children who are at the ages of five and eleven McKay: 5 while young language learners are children who study a foreign
language or a second language. They learn the language because it is taught in the school. They learn it because of the school policy, so they sometimes do not have
specific reason and need in learning certain language. In Indonesia young learners mostly study English as a foreign language. English is a foreign language in
Indonesia because this language is only spoken in the classroom. Children do not speak English outside the classroom.
Children around the world share the same characteristics. The issue of multiple intelligence theory by Gardner also needs to be considered related to the
development of the characteristics of the children. Multiple intelligence theory shows that every child possesses different kind of intelligence. There are eight
Communicative competence
discourse competence,
linguistic competence
Formulaic competence,
interactional competence
related refers to the “strategies that help learners recall or retrieve words through the use of acronyms, images, sounds, or other clues” pg. 50.
Figure 2.5 Celce Murcia’s model of communicative competence
2. The Young Learners
Young learners are children who are at the ages of five and eleven McKay: 5 while young language learners are children who study a foreign
language or a second language. They learn the language because it is taught in the school. They learn it because of the school policy, so they sometimes do not have
specific reason and need in learning certain language. In Indonesia young learners mostly study English as a foreign language. English is a foreign language in
Indonesia because this language is only spoken in the classroom. Children do not speak English outside the classroom.
Children around the world share the same characteristics. The issue of multiple intelligence theory by Gardner also needs to be considered related to the
development of the characteristics of the children. Multiple intelligence theory shows that every child possesses different kind of intelligence. There are eight
interactional competence
strategic competence
related refers to the “strategies that help learners recall or retrieve words through the use of acronyms, images, sounds, or other clues” pg. 50.
Figure 2.5 Celce Murcia’s model of communicative competence
2. The Young Learners
Young learners are children who are at the ages of five and eleven McKay: 5 while young language learners are children who study a foreign
language or a second language. They learn the language because it is taught in the school. They learn it because of the school policy, so they sometimes do not have
specific reason and need in learning certain language. In Indonesia young learners mostly study English as a foreign language. English is a foreign language in
Indonesia because this language is only spoken in the classroom. Children do not speak English outside the classroom.
Children around the world share the same characteristics. The issue of multiple intelligence theory by Gardner also needs to be considered related to the
development of the characteristics of the children. Multiple intelligence theory shows that every child possesses different kind of intelligence. There are eight
types of intelligences, they are linguistic, musical, logical mathematical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic. Each child has
hisher specific characteristics. This condition leads the children vary in their competence.
Children grow cognitively, socially, emotionally, and physically. In assessing young learners it is very important to know their cognitive development
in order to make it suitable with their abilities. McKay, in his book Assessing Young Language Learners 2006, points “assessment task should not extend
beyond the child’s experience of the world”. It means children will not be able to give response if they do not have experience or they have not been told before
about the real objects. Besides, children should not be asked to analyze pictures or ideas or to describe language rule McKay: 8. There are some characteristics of
young learners to be concerned when they are assessed. Those characteristics fall into three general categories. They are growth, literacy and vulnerability McKay:
8. In which these three characteristics give big influences in the assessment. Further discussion is presented in the following section.
a. Children’s Growth
The physical growth of the children is characterized by continuing and rapid development of gross and fine-motor skills McKay: 10. Physically
children are active, sometimes children are restless and like activities which are short. That is why they only have limited span of time. Children are only able to
focus in more or less10 to 15 minutes because children are easily distracted and diverted by other children McKay: 6. They like physical activities.
Emotionally young learners have wide range of emotional needs Ellis et.al: 27. Children are excitable and enthusiastic. On the other hands children
easily get bored and they tend to learn slowly and forget things easily Ellis et.al. 27. The children are interested in something based on what they like and dislike.
Therefore task used in assessment should deal with familiar content, simple genres like children’s stories and folktales. The purpose of using genres is to
achieve particular communicative goal McKay: 10. They continue to develop the ability to work and play with others.
b. Children’s Literacy
The development of foreign language depends on the children’s literacy development on the first language. The background of the first language literacy
development will be brought to develop the improvement of foreign language literacy. At the age 9 to 12 years old children can expand thinking more readily
through writing and reading. In this phase oral ability grows when they interact with other people in conversation in different situations, with different goal and
on different topics McKay: 13. The topics can be home, family, school and other topics which are familiar to the children. In this phase children can also talk in
longer stretches of interactions related to different types of talk beyond narratives and descriptions, such as instructions, arguments, and opinions McKay: 13.
c. Children’s Need
Children are at the age where they need to be supported emotionally. Sometimes they feel so confident at the same time they may be nervous or
unconfident. Therefore they need to be praised and encouraged to develop their self-esteem. Children can succeed if they have good experience in learning.
Therefore it is crucial to make them feel successful and good about themselves. This condition can help the children to keep their interest and creativity.
Therefore, giving a test to the children should provide them a sense of success and progression.
d. The Children Language Development
Severals language theorists are interested to study about children language acquisition. Some of them are Chomsky, Crystal, Aitchison, and Piaget.
From their studies, they have made theories about children’s acquisiton on language. This section tries to review their theories about the development of the
children’s language. Chomsky believes that children are born with an inherited ability to learn any human language. He states that a child possess “language
acquisition devices”. It is known as LAD. In his view, children acquire the language by using their “LAD” system to form a sentence to communicate with
others. It means they do not only imitate from the adults. David Crystal, in Prosodict Development 1979: 37 - 45, defines the
theory about how children learn a language. There are five stages how language is developed. Stage one is where children say something with certain purposes, to
get something they want, to get someone’s attention and to draw attention to something. Stage two is the stage when children start to ask questions, the first
question is “where”. They also begin to learn the opposite word for example updown, bigsmall. Stage three is the stage where children start to have more
complex questions and their questions are signalled with the intonation. Stage four is the phase when children use increasingly complex sentence structures and begin
to explain things, ask for explanation, and make a wide range of requests. In this stage children can use the complex sentences to express wider range of meanings.
They also begin to use the abstract verbs and can comprehend the meaning. Furthermore Crystal points out that in this phase children are able to use auxiliary
verbs and may duplicate modal verbs for example “please, can I, may I”. Stage Five is the stage where children regularly use language to do all the things that
they need. They use the language for asking and giving information, asking and answering questions, requesting directly and indirectly, suggesting, offering,
stating and expressing. Referring to the Piageat’s theory, the language development of children
is influenced by the cognitive development of the children. There are four main stages of the cognitive development of the children. The first stage is
sensorimotor. This stage begins when children are at the age 0 to 2 years old. In this stage children interact and learn by their sensory inputs. They are hearing,
feeling, and seeing. The language development starts from the ability to hear sounds from the environment and then they begin to produce sound by mumbling.
The most important here the children learn to control their own bodies and objects outside them.
The second stage is preoperational. This stage begins when children are the age 2 to 7 years old. In this stage children develop the ability to manipulate
images and symbols, especially language. Children begins to learn something by playing. They begin to see the use of symbolism in pretend play. In this stage
children are egocentric. They view something from their own perspectives. The third stage is concrete operational. The children’s age of this stage
are 7 to 11. Children begin to perform logical operation of the concrete objects. Children sort the things based on their categories. In this stage children are also
able to concentrate on the here and now. Children begin to understand condition from others’ point of view. Children use the language to point specific and
concrete fact. It means children may produce sentences or form a story deals only with facts rather than abstract ideas.
The fourth stage is formal operational stage which begins from age 12. In this stage children start to think logically and abstractly. They are able to
speculate future situation. In this stage they tend to apply their new abstract reasoning abilities to all area of life Sieger and Richard: 913. Children can
manipulate the abstract object into the concrete objects. In this stage children can use the language to express the abstract concepts or theories.
The elementary school children is in the age 7 to 11 years old. In this age children grow phisically and emotionally. Based on Robert Havighurst’s theory
the elementary school children are in middle childhood stages. In the stages the
children are 1 Learning physical skills necessary for ordinary game, 2 Building wholesome attitudes toward oneself as a growing organism, 3
Learning to get along with age-mates, 4 Learning an appropriate masculine or feminine social role, 5 Developing fundamental skills in reading, writing, and
calculating, 6 Developing concepts necessary for everyday living. 7
Developing conscience, morality, and a scale of values, 8 Achieving personal independence, 9 Developing attitudes toward social groups and institutions.
From the stages, it is found children’s physical development are still growing. In other side their emotional development are also growing. This
condition also influences their needs. In this stage they like to have physical activities and like to play games.
3. Language Testing
Applying foreign language program in school covers three main things. They are the objective, process, and assessment. Assessment is used to gather
information about the students’ progress. There are three different definitions of assessment. First, assessment is methods used to gather information about
childrens knowledge, ability, understanding, attitudes, and motivation Ioannou: 4. Second, to assess means an attempt to analyze the learning that a child has
achieved over a period of time as a result of the classroom teachinglearning situation Brewster: 24. Third, assessment is the collection of data on language
use by students in classroom language learning Rea-Dickens and Rixon, 2009: 89. From the definition above it can be concluded that assessment is methods
used to collect information about students’ progress in learning. In this context assessment relates to the students’ progress in language learning.
There are several reasons to assess young learners according Cajkler and Addelman in Brewster. First, formative, it is used to increase motivation by
making assessment a part of the continuous learning process. Second, summative. It gives students feedback on their progress or achievement at a particular point in
time, often done formally through tests of various kinds. Third, diagnostic. It is used to monitor individual students needs and help identify students who need
special support. Fourth, evaluative. It identifies students levels of achievement and select or order students according to merit, to check the effectiveness of
teachers, teaching materials or teaching methods. It can be concluded that assessment young learners are used to monitor and provide information about the
students’ progress and in the other hand it enhances children’s motivation. There are also several kinds of assessment. One of them is giving a test.
Test is characterized as one method to gather information Genesee, 2007:141. There are some aspects which differentiate test from other method of information
collections. Genesee 2007, 142 proposes there are three aspects of test, content, method, and measurement. The content of the test refers to what test is about. It
can be intelligence or foreign language proficiency. The content of the test is “only a sample of the subject matter, skills, or knowledge being assessed” 2007,
142. Test methods refer to the “task that test takers are asked to perform” 2007, 142. Test methods influence the test takers’ scores. Measurement refers to the
description of “attributes or qualities of things and individuals by assigning
numbers to them” 2007, 145. Those numbers then will be interpreted to the qualities or characteristics of the test takers.
a. The phase of the test development.
This section will present the process in designing the test. Bachman and Palmer in Penny McKay 2006: 302 point three phases in test development
processes they are a design phase, an operationalization phase, and an administration phase.
Figure 2.6 Model of test development adapted from Bachman and Palmer in Penny McKay 2006, pg.320
In design phase, the test developer collects information and theories related to the test that will be designed. In this phase the developer begins to
describe the purpose. The purpose of the test must be clear as the basic step to develop the next steps. This step also allows the developer to define the construct.
The clear construction will helps the developer to develop the task types.
design phase
operationalization phase
administration phase
Considerati on of the
qualities of usefulness
In the operationalization phase there are two main steps to be prepared. The first one is describing the test task specification and the second one is
describing the blueprint of the test. In the first step, the developer prepares the specification of the test task. The test task must be described as clear as possible
to make the task more specific based on the purpose of the test. In the second step, the developer describe the blueprint of the test. The blueprint consists of
“information about the structure or overall organization of the test as well as the test task specifications for each task type to be included in the test” McKay,
2006: 321. In the administration phase there are two main steps to be conducted, a
try out and an operational test use phase. A try out is a phase when the test model is tried out. The purpose of this phase is collecting information related to the
model itself. Therefore the test developer gets an objective and accurate data whether the test model neccesary to be revised or not. In the second step, an
operational test use, the test model “is administered as a test” McKay, 2006: 321. This step involves the preparation of test environment, collection of the test
materials, the test is given to the intended test takers McKay, 2006:321.
b. The Test Characteristics
In the past era test was used to measure the students’ knowledge only or performance only. The final result is the most important part to consider because
the children’s quality is determined by the test score whether they are failed or not. In the contrary, postmodern era has put test as an instrument to see the
students’ progress in learning. The test result is used to improve the students’ achievement. Therefore by taking the test the students will have opportunities to
develop themselves and they will become more excellent learners. There are some criticisms about test. One of them is that test is
threatening. Thus, some people do not want children to be tested. But, considering its importance and its usefulness children are recommended to take the test. The
test designed must be appropriate to the children. There are several characteristics of the test for children. The university of Cambridge claims the tests for children
consist of some characteristics Brewster: 252. First, the test must be fun for children to take. The tasks must be varied. Second, the test should be attractive
and colorful to look at. It means the test is based on colorful graphics. Third, the test is interesting in content. The topic areas are familiar and relevant to the
children experiences. Fourth, it is encouraging and confidence building. The test is short and there is enough time allocation to finish it. Besides, the test instruction
and format must be simple. Fifth, the test is relaxed and non-threatening. The listening part must be heard more than once and the speaking part is based on the
activity or activity–based. The other characteristics of the children test are proposed by Zhang Min
2008: 21. First, children’s tests must be fun to take, simple to take - and administer. It means every child will be comfortable when doing the tests because
they do not have difficulties in understanding the instructions and to do the test. Second, the tests must be interesting and stimulating, encouraging and
confidence-building. It means when children take the test they feel challenged and
encouraged so it will give positive impact not only on the cognitive aspect but also the personality development aspect. In other words the test must build the
children as a whole. Third, children test must be culturally fair to all candidates. It means
children from different cultural background must be able to take the test in the same or similar way. Therefore, every child will feel more confidence because by
doing this test the children are accepted to be the world community member. It will convince them that children around the world will have the samesimilar level
of competency although they come from different cultural background. Fourth, the test consists of appropriate topics. The topics in the test are
suitable to the children’s age and characteristics. The topics must be universal to the children around the world but the topics are also contextualized in the
children’s culture. Fifth, the most important is the tests must emphasis on effective
communication and realistic language demands. These characteristics will be adapted to design the iconic model of the spoken English test for elementary
students in Indonesia. c.
Reliability, Validity, Practicality, and Authenticity Despite the aspects above in the other side the tests should be objectives,
easy to mark, and easy to prepare. Tests can be in the form of multiple-choice questions, true-false statements, and cloze - tests. A test must be good and useful.
A good test must have some criteria. The criteria are reliability, validity,
practicality, and authenticity. In this part there are two criteria which represent the criteria of a good test.
Reliability refers to the consistency of measurement Bachman and Palmer: 25. “A reliable test score will be consistent across different
characteristics of the testing situation” Bachman and Palmer: 25. It means when the test is given to the same group of students on different conditions and settings,
the results must be similar or the score obtained must be similar. There are many types of realibility. They are Test- retest reliability, Alternate-forms, Internal
consistency, and Scorer reliability Genesee, 2007: 245 – 246. It is explained further more, Test- retest reliability refers to the range of “consistency of scores
for the same test given to the same individuals on different occasion” Genese:
245. While Alternate – forms Reliability refers to the consistency of test scores
for the same individuals
.
Whereas, internal consistency refers to the degree of consistency of test scores with regard to the content of a single test
.
The last one is scorer reliability
,
that the degree of consistency of scores from different scorers for the same individuals on the same test or from the same scorer for the same
individuals on the same test but on different occasions. Validity means something which is intended to measure. There are three
types of validity. First, construct validity. Construct validity the extent to which people can interpret a given test score as an indicator of the ability, or construct to
be measured Bachman and Palmer: 27. It means the scores obtained can be interpreted as the indicator of one’s competence which is measured.
Practicality refers to five aspects. Firts fairness issue, it refers to the degree to which a test treats every student the same or the degree to which it is
impartial. Second, the cost issue, it refers to the time and funds that teachers’ need in conducting objective test. The third aspect is ease of test construction. It refers
to the number of test questions. The fourth is ease of test administration, this is the degree to which a test is easy to administer and the fifth is ease of test scoring,
it is the degree to which a test is easy to score. While authenticity is mostly related to the use of aunthentic material.
4. Testing Spoken Communicative Competence
Spoken ability is defined as the ability to use language in conversational interaction. In other words the capability to talk and gives responds to others.
Spoken competence involves two skills, they are speaking and listening. Spoken testing combines the listening and speaking activities. Since the test is designed
for the young languange learners therefore the test activities must represent the characteristics of the young language learners. Mckay 2006: 198 presents
assessment activities that can be done in the test. The test activities should be adjusted with the purpose of the language use itself. In other words the test
activities support the learners to be more competent. In this point the learners will be testedto communicate appropriately and effectively with the language that they
are learning. The activities that can be used in the test are presented in the table below.
Table 2.1 Spoken Test Activities Adopted from Penny McKay, 2006: 198
No. Listening
Speaking
1 Listen and do tasks requiring
action responses News telling
2 Action tasks
Story telling 3
Total physical response tasks Pictures talk
4 Listen and do requiring short
language responses Categorization tasks
5 Listening tasks requiring longer
responses Oral presentations
6 Question and answer tasks
7 Oral interviews
8 Mini dialogues and role plays
9 Oral information gaps tasks
10 Partner and group discussion
The table above shows there are some activities that involve listening or speaking only, and also some activities which involve both listening and speaking.
The activities involving both listening and speaking can be question and answer tasks, oral interviews, mini dialogues and role plays, oral information gaps tasks,
and partner and group discussion. Listening is more difficult than the other skills for the students. Moreover
in Indonesia listening is rarely practiced in elementary school. The children only learn listening skill when they hear the teachers’ talk or listen to the teachers’
instruction. The children may listen to some songs or chants but sometimes there are not enough follow up activities which support students’ understanding.
Meaning to say listening test is necessary to be assessed directly. It is useful to measure the children’s understanding about any information they have heard. The
other reason is children must be able to understand any messages and respond them in effective way. By giving listening test, the children’s listening ability can
be measured whether they can understand the message from the listeners and give appropriate responses in communication. It can stimulate and improve their
listening skills.
B. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
There are two important processes in using a language that are, sending and receiving information. To convey information, one must be able to speak or
use words, phrases, and sentences. This ability is referred to language production. While language comprehension is the ability to understand message conveyed by
words, phrases, and sentences. In the post-modern era language is viewed as the means of
communication. The grammar or sentence structures are not the most important things to be mastered. There is another thing should be concerned that is the
meaning itself. The grammar used is actually the working system to form a sentence which is meaningful. Therefore, meaning becomes the most important
part when using a language because people use language to share their ideas, belief, understanding and also their intension. When people understand each other
it means they can communicate effectively although sometimes the sentences are incomplete. That is why, it is crucial for the children to be able to know and
understand how to communicate effectively. The effective communication can be achieved by language competence. The language competence can be measured by
performing the children’s ability. Therefore, it is needed a measurement to elicit the children’s competence. The measurement is developed through the stages,
they are design, operationalization, and administration phase. This study is intended to measure the children’s ability to use the
language to communicate. The ability to use the language language to make effective communication is the definition of the communicative competence.
From theories of communicative competence the writer adapts Bachman and Palmer’s theory about communicative competence. This theory is more aplicable
and appropriate for young language learners in Indonesia. More over the components of the language knowledge are acceptable for the children who are
still learning English as a foreign language. The characteristics of communicative competence which will be useful for children in Indonesia consist of
Organizational knowledge and Pragmatic knowledge. The organizational knowledge covers two areas, they are grammatical and textual knowledge while
the pragmatic knowledge covers functional knowledge and sociolinguistic knowlwedge. These competence areas will be adjusted with the characteristics of
the young language learners. Young language learners have special characteristics. Their characteristics determine their interest on the topic areas to
be learned. Children focus in learning when the topics are simple, familiar and they have experienced it. The theories discussed above become the basic to step in
developing a test. The test developed is the integrated test. The test developed is
the combination of listening and speaking because language is used integrated and not separately.
The main product of this study is the test prototype. The test prototype will be in the form of a set of test. The test developed measures the students’
ability to understand and produce meaningful text. Understanding the text means the ability to give appropriate responses. While producing text means the students
are expected to produce the meaningful text to express their interest or intention. The test prototype must cover the children characteristics and represent the
authentic competence of the students. This test prototype covers both listening and speaking skills. The test is designed by considering many aspects. They are the
theories about the young language learners, the communicative competence, the language testing, the practice of teaching English to young learners and the
condition of the school. These aspects become the basic theories to formulate the test purpose and indicators. These indicators can be used to measure the students’
spoken competence. The test prototype would not only to be a tool to measure the students’ competence but also become the tool to make the students more
competence. In which it would lead and encourage them to be more self- actualized now or in their future.
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CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY
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