12
students should learn pronunciation depends on how they want to speak. The teacher can not expect them to speak like native speakers or as long as
their pronunciation can be understood. Harmer 2007: 245 explains that the students should be able to use
pronunciation which is good enough for them to be understood. But there are still problems in teaching pronunciation. Some of the problems are
what the students can hear and what the students can say. Non native English speakers usually have problems in different sounds. They need to
differentiate the sounds. Harmer 2007: 250 proposes that the teacher can show students how sounds are made through diagram, illustrations and
explanation. Learning a foreign language gives students difficulty to make sounds using some parts of the mouth. The teacher should be able to
explain and show where the sounds are produced, in what parts of the mouth. Thus teaching pronunciation is considered necessary to support
speaking skills.
e. Teaching Speaking for Junior High School Students
Grade VIII Junior High School students are categorised as young learners or older children. Putcha and Schratz 1993: 4 in Harmer 2001:
39 states that the teenage problems brought in the class as the result of the teachers’ failure to build bridges between what they want and have to
teach and their students’ worlds of thoughts and experiences. Thus,
Harmer 2001: 39 strengthens that students must be encouraged to respond to texts and situations with their own thoughts and experiences,
rather than just by answering questions and doing abstract learning activities.
Teaching speaking for Junior High School students has the essential aim that is to facilitate students to learn. As stated by Brown
2004: 7-8, teaching is guiding and facilitating learning, enabling the learner to learn, setting the condition for learning. He 2004: 7-8 also adds
that teaching is defined as showing or helping to learn how to do
13
something, giving instructions, guiding the study of something. It can be concluded that the teacher ought to be the guide, facilitator and instructor
to help students learn language. Teacher needs also to consider the age of students. As proposed by
Harmer 2007: 81 that age is the consideration how to treat students, and different ages of students have their own needs, competence and cognitive
skills. Lightbrown and Spada 2006: 67-764 in Harmer 2007: 81 considers that adolescence and older children make more progress than
young learners. Teaching older children is expected to be easier and it would help teacher to teach grade VIII students.
f. The Characteristics of Junior High School Students
Junior High School students are categorized as adolescent learners. Most of them understand what to do in learning. But we cannot deny that
there are still challenges to teach adolescent learners. Harmer 2007: 83 also states that adolescent is bound to a search of identity and in the needs
of self-esteem. They tend to prioritize approval from their peers and give less attention to the teacher. That is why the students pay less attention to
the class while the teacher is explaining. Putcha and Schratz 1993: 4 in Harmer 2007: 84 explains more
that the problems in adolescent are because the failure of the teacher to link between what teachers want to and must teach and what learners’
world of thought and experience. Students then are expected to react to texts and situations based on their own thought and experience. It means
also that the teacher should try to provide them with meaningful tasks and activities that are closely related to their experience and thought and they
are able to do.
g. The Roles of Teacher
