Language Learning Strategies Used to Improve Speaking Ability

15 language, so they can use this strategy. The learners can say some statements such as “It’s OK if I make mistakes” or “Everybody makes mistakes; I can learn from mine” before they do difficult language activity. They can also say the statements such as “I did a good job” after doing a good performance.

6 Social Strategies

These are strategies that help learners to be able to communicate with many people by giving them opportunities to practice their speech production Oxford, 1990. Cooperating with others is the example of social strategy which can develop learners’ speaking skill. The learners are required to interact well with their friends such as having temporary pair or small group. Besides, they are also required to interact with skilled and experienced language users such as having conversation with native speakers outside the classroom. By having conversation with them, learners can learn how to listen to them, ask questions, and analyze natural feedback given during the conversation such as gesture, facial expressions and body language. The strategies above are important for language learning because they make the language learning easier, more enjoyable, and more effective Oxford, 1990. Besides, they are tools to develop communicative ability. Doing appropriate language learning strate gies will improve students’ ability. In other words, students’ speaking ability will be better if they develop the right strategies. c. Factors Influencing the Use of Language Learning Strategies According to Oxford 1990, there are some factors that influence the use of language learning strategies and determine their speaking performance. They 16 are motivation and personality trait or anxiety. Motivation is the primary source which contributes to individual language learning. Learners who have high motivation seem to use greater range of appropriate strategies Oxford, 1990. It is one of the factors that has a significant role in individuals’ effort and achievement Schunk, Pintrich Meece, 2008. According to Gardner 1985, motivation determines the amount of some components, namely goal, want, effort and attitudes toward the learning activity. Dornyei 2001 also states that motivation determines how long they are willing to continue the activity, and how hard they are going to pursue it. In fact, goal is not a measure of motivation but it is a stimulus that can increase motivation. Individuals with high motivation have stronger desire to learn language, invest more effort to attain the goal when they encounter difficulties and have more positive attitudes towards the learning situation. Gardner 1985 also states that highly motivated individuals are more active in language classes and more successful in learning foreign language. Besides, they are more excited to participate in foreign community and interact with members of that community. Another factor is anxiety which is one of the factors of success in second language learning. Anxiety can affect learners’ productive skill such as speaking skill, including the language learning strategies Horwitz, 2001. Learners with low anxiety will succeed in their language learning because they tend to use various language learning strategies Oxford, 1990. Anxiety is not only feeling anxious, but it also includes the feeling of doubtful, fearful, and even stressed. That will influence learners’ belief on their capability in speaking English. Those PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 17 feelings appear when individuals have beliefs in being not confident in their ability, being embarrassed and confused that they will make a mistake when performing challenging task. When they are less confident, they will be less willing to take risks and experiment with new ways of expressing themselves in the target language MacIntyre Gardner, 1991. Therefore, learners must be able to control their beliefs by being confident in their ability to achieve the expected outcomes and prevent the unexpected ones because it makes them can do their task well to reach their goals.

2. Self-Efficacy

In this section, the researcher presents the description of self-efficacy is discussed in this research. There are two points to be discussed in this section. They are the nature of self-efficacy and dimensions of self-efficacy.

a. The Nature of Self-efficacy

People often do not perform optimally in accomplishing performances even though they know well what to do. Some people consider that it is enough to only have knowledge and skills for attaining expected achievement. In fact, besides having knowledge and skills, it is necessary for people to have belief of their capabilities which is well known as self-efficacy. According to Wortman Loftus 1985, as cited in Mumandari 1998, individuals have different beliefs in their capabilities which make them respond differently in the same situation. Self- efficacy refers to individuals’ beliefs in their capabilities to manage something and do some actions in order to achieve certain accomplishment 18 Bandura, 1997. Self-efficacy is concerned not with the number of skills people have, but with what people believe they can do with what they have under particular situation. It means that self-efficacy is not a measure of the skills one has but it is a belief in what one can do under certain conditions with whatever skills one possesses Bandura, 1997. Bandura 1986 states that self-efficacy makes a difference in how people feel, think and act in the same situation which will determine the expected outcomes. In terms of feeling, self-efficacy relates to depression, anxiety, and helplessness which appear when individuals have beliefs in being not confident in their ability that they will make a mistake when performing challenging task. Therefore, learners must be able to control their beliefs by being confident about their ability to achieve the expected outcomes and prevent the unexpected ones because it makes them can do their task well. In terms of thinking, self-efficacy relates to quality of decision making and academic achievement whatever the underlying skills might be. It shows that self- efficacy helps individual to reach their achievement in all English skill including speaking skill. Besides, in Pajares 1996 study, self-efficacy really works out when one deal with difficult academic tasks, such as mathematics. Therefore, self- efficacy also works out when people deal with English which is a difficult subject as mathematics. Moreover, in terms of action, self-efficacy relates to motivation which will determine one’s choice of action, efforts, persistence and control. It means that self- efficacy influences one’s choice of activities, effort and how long she or he 19 will persist in achieving the targets and goals. Those will determine the level of indi viduals’ self-efficacy which can be high or low. The table below summarizes how self-efficacy influences some aspects according to Eggen Kauchak 1997 and Bandura 1986. The influence on those aspects makes difference in setting targets and goals, using strategies to achieve the targets and goals, putting effort and persisting when difficulties appear, believing what individuals’ can succeed, and performing after developing strategies. Table 2.1 The Influence of Self-efficacy High Self-efficacy Individuals Low Self-efficacy Individuals Task orientation High self-efficacy individuals have high targets and goals. Not only having them, they do some things to achieve their targets and goals. They consider those targets and goals as challenges not as burdens. Low self-efficacy individuals have low targets and goals. Some of them may have high targets and goals, but they will do fewer things or even nothing to achieve them because they have low estimations of their capabilities to perform something. Effort and persistence High self-efficacy individuals put more effort and not easily give up when facing obstacles. Low self-efficacy individuals easily give up and lose their spirit to keep trying when facing obstacles because they have doubt about their capabilities to perform something. Strategy use High self-efficacy individuals are likely to do some actions or useful strategies and have high commitment to achieve their targets and goals. Low self-efficacy individuals are not likely to do some actions or useful strategies and have weak commitment to achieve their targets and goals. Beliefs High self-efficacy individuals have high self-confidence that they will be able to achieve their targets or goals. Besides, they can control their stress and anxiety when they cannot achieve their targets and goals yet. Low self-efficacy individuals have low self-confidence that they will be able to achieve their targets or goals. Besides, they cannot control their feeling, so they will feel anxious and depressed when they cannot achieve their targets and goals yet. Performance High self-efficacy individuals have higher performance than low self-efficacy individuals. Low self-efficacy individuals have lower performance than high self- efficacy individuals. 20 Bandura 1986 also states that individuals can get better understanding and determine their self-efficacy by analyzing aspects influenced by self-efficacy, namely task orientation, effort and persistence, strategy use, beliefs, and performance. Information in table 4.1 can be used to help individuals understand and determine their self-efficacy. Table 4.1 shows that individuals who use strategies more efficiently, do activities to achieve targets and goals willingly, expend greater effort, persist longer even if difficulties appear, believe that they can succeed and perform better than other people are individuals with high self- efficacy.

b. Dimensions of Self-efficacy

There are several dimensions of self-efficacy which a ffect individuals’ performance, namely level, strength and generality Bandura, 1986. 1 Level Level refers to the degree of task difficulty an individual believes he or she is able to deal with. Individuals’ self-efficacy of a certain task level determines the expectation of being able to perform at the level. When they perform something in easy level, they will believe that they can do that because that is easy. The level of difficulty causes the individuals to choose tasks which they think can be performed or they will avoid the tasks because they doubt their capability. 2 Strength Strength refers to the degree of confidence individuals have about their beliefs in capabilities. This confidence will determine their effort and persistence. Individuals who have high confidence put more effort and not easily give up when 21 facing obstacles. However, individuals who have low confidence easily give up and lose their spirit to keep trying when facing obstacles because they have doubt about their capabilities to perform something. Moreover, the strength of individuals’ belief in their capabilities will determine the degree of relationship between self-efficacy and performance. 3 Generality Generality is the idea in which individuals’ self-efficacy is not limited to a certain situation. It refers to various situations to which the self-efficacy beliefs can apply. Individuals may belief that he or she is able to produce the intended result only in certain area or in various activities and situations. In short, individuals’ performance may be different because it depends on their beliefs in their ability when they are given certain tasks which vary in level of difficulty.

B. Theoretical Framework

In this research, there are two formulated problems. The first research problem is the language learning strategies were applied by the students to improve their speaking ability in Speaking I class. To answer the first formulated problem, the researcher used Oxford’s theory about language learning strategies related to speaking. Oxford 1990 states that language learning strategies are divided into direct strategies and indirect strategies. Memory strategies, cognitive strategies, and compensation strategies belong to direct strategies while PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI