32 experimentation, including a supportive classroom dynamic and a non-
judgmental attitude to error on the part of the teacher. Lastly, speaking tasks should be authentic, meaning that the tasks should have some relation to the
real-life language use.
d. The Principles of Designing a Speaking Technique
In having a certain technique in speaking, there are some principles that should be paid attention to. Those, according to Richards 2006:16, are
focusing on both fluency and accuracy; covering mechanical, meaningful and communicative practice. Fluency is the smooth flow of language production.
When someone speaks fluently, she or he does not need to spare much time to think of what to say. On the other hand, accuracy deals with the correctness of
the language production based on the grammatical rules, pronunciation and other language rules. Both of these are argued by Richards to be balanced.
According to him, accuracy will support the fluency and vice versa. Another useful distinction that some advocates of Communicative
Language Teaching proposed was the distinction between three different kinds of practice
― mechanical, meaningful and communicative practice. Mechanical practice is a controlled practice activity which students can
successfully carry out without necessarily understanding the language they are using. Next, meaningful practice refers to an activity in which a language
control is still provided but where students are required to make meaningful choices when carrying out practice. While communicative practice refers to
33 activities in which the practice in using language within real communicative
context is the focus, in which real information is exchanged and in which the language use is not totally predictable. In addition to all of these, Richards
2008:2 also suggests that speaking tasks should have some information-gap. This refers to the fact that in the real communication, people normally
communicate in order to get information they do not possess before. Besides principles proposed by Richards above, Brown 2000:275
elaborates more particularly the principles for designing speaking techniques to be used in the classroom to teach speaking. Those principles are 1 using
techniques that cover the spectrum of student needs, from language-based focus on accuracy to message-based focus on interaction, meaning, and
fluency, 2 providing intrinsically motivating techniques, 3 encouraging the use of authentic language in meaningful contexts, 4 providing appropriate
feedback and correction, 5 capitalizing on the natural link between speaking and listening, 6 giving students opportunities to initiate oral communication,
and 7 encouraging the development of speaking strategies.
3. Information-Gap Activities
