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speaker will produce an utterance while speaking. Seventh, Levelt 1995: 1 makes a definition of speaking; speaking is one of man’s most complex skills. It is
a skill which is unique to our species. So, speaking is a process done by human and it needs more than one skill. Eighth, according to Brown 1994: 9 oral skill
can be defined as a speaking skill. The productive skill of speaking will be oral fluency: the ability to express oneself intelligibly, reasonably, accurately and
without undue hesitation otherwise communication may break down because the listener loses interest or get impatient
2. Speaking Features
Underwood 1997: 9 – 14 defines several speaking features. The speaking
features consist of sounds, stress and intonation, the organization of speech, syntax and vocabulary, pauses
and “fillers,” formal or informal language. Sounds refers to the direct what the listeners hear of English words both
vowel and consonants sounds. Stress is a highlight word which carries the main information to the speakers, and changes the stress of the meaning utterance.
Intonation is more complex, but stressed words can be directed to see the intonation of a sentence. Underwoods also states that syntax and vocabulary is
usually more specific like the use of “it”, “somebody” and “thing” etc. It can be understood by relating them to the immediate context in which they are used. She
also explained that speech pauses is aimed to give the listeners time to think what just been said and what has gone before. The length of pause used will depend on
the speake r’s habits. Long gaps in speech are often filled with fillers. Fillers is an
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expression such as „er; „emm’ etc. It used to avoid long silence and sometimes it makes the speeches feel embarrasses. The last is about formal and informal
language. They are used depending on the social setting, relative ages, and status of the speaker and listeners. Underwood 1997: 11 states that speaking is a
creative process, therefore there is no certain way of knowing how a speaker speech will be organized. The speakers organize their own idea, sometimes the
idea comes immediately and some other time it is difficult to get an idea to speech.
Bygate 1997: 14 – 19 states that one of the most important constrains
which affects the speakers to get their messages is time pressure. The speakers have less time to plan, organize and realize their message. It can be simplify as
follows: a.
Simplifying structures: speakers improve if they use less complex syntax
b. Ellipsis: speakers abbreviate the message and produce „incomplete’
sentences or clauses, omitting unnecessary elements where possible. c.
Formulaic expression: Speakers use fixe conventional phrases d.
The use of fillers and hesitation devices: speakers use these devices to gain time to speak
The statements above called as facilitating features. He also finds that the speakers also compensate for the problems which arise out from pressure. The speakers use
repetition ways or to correct and improve what they have already said.
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3. Speaking Aspects