The Purpose of Teaching Speaking

Table 2.5 Oral Proficiency Scoring Categories Pronunciation Score Proficiency Description 1 Errors in pronunciation are frequent but can be understood by a native speaker used to dealing with foreigners attempting to speak his language. 2 Accent is intelligible though often quite faulty. 3 Errors never interfere with understanding and rarely disturb the native speaker. Accent may be obviously foreign. 4 Errors in pronunciation are quite rare. 5 Equivalent to and fully accepted by educated native speakers Table 2.6 Oral Proficiency Scoring Categories Task Score Proficiency Description 1 Can ask and answer questions on topics very familiar to him. Able to satisfy routine travel needs and minimum courtesy requirements.Should be able to order a simple meal, ask for shelter or lodging, ask and give simple directions, make purchases, and tell time. 2 Able to satisfy routine social demands and work requirements; needs help in handing any complication or difficulties. 3 Can participate effectively in most formal and informal conversations on practical, social, and professional topics. 4 Would rarely be taken for a native speaker but can respond appropriately even in unfamiliar situations. Can handle informal interpreting from and into language. 5 Speaking proficiency equivalent to that of an educated native speaker. However, there are six components usually used to analyze speech performance, they are grammar, vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, pronunciation and task. The scoring also can include accuracy, articulation, eye contact, expression, intonation and gesture of the speaker. The researcher uses those speaking scoring rubric to collect data.

B. Small group Discussion. 1. The Definition of Small Group Discussion

According to Kidsvatter as quoted by Argawati that a small-group discussion dividing the large classroom into small groups of students to achieve specific objectives permits students to assume more responsibility for their own learning, develop social and leadership skills and become involved in an alternative instructional approach. 11 Refer to Bany and Johnson in their book, a group may be said to exist when two or more persons have as one quality of their relationship some interdependence and posses some recognizable unity. 12 Group discussion refers to one or more meetings of all small groups of people who thereby communicate, face-to-face, in order to fulfill a common purpose and achieve a group goal. The key concept in the definition of group discussion is communication. The practice of group discussion requires, therefore, an understanding of communication theory and an ability to communicate. In the A System Approach to Small Group Interaction on chapter 1 page 6 th , Forsyth in 1999 said that there are five different considerations in identifying a small group discussion. They are 1 interaction do groups members communicate with each other?; 2 structure how are the members 11 Ningtyas Orilina Argawati, Improving Students’ Speaking, ELTIN JOURNAL, Volume 2II, 2014, p.3 12 Mart a. Bany Lois V. Johson, Classroom Group Behavior: Group Dinamic Education. New York and London: The Macmilan Company, 1964, p. 31