According to Harmer, the following activities are helpful in getting students to practice „speaking-as-a-skill‟:
28
- Information gap activities
- Telling stories
- Favorite objects
- Meeting and greeting
- Survey
- Famous people
- Students presentations
- Discussion
- Competition
- Role-play
4. The Problems in Speaking Activities
According to Ur, there are some problems in speaking activities in the classroom, as follow:
a. Inhibition. Learners are often inhibited about trying to say things in
foreign language in the classroom: worried about making mistakes, shy and fear.
b. Nothing to say. Learners often complain that they can‟t think of anything
to say: in other word they can‟t express themselves. c.
Low or uneven participation. Learners can‟t participate well because they only get very little time to talk. It is caused by some learners to dominate,
while others speak very little or not at all. d.
Mother tongue use. When the learners share the same mother tongue, they may tend to use it because it is easier and doesn‟t make them feel
unnatural to speak to one another.
29
28
Jeremy Harmer, How to Teach English Oxford: Pearson Education Limited, 2007, p. 129
29
Penny Ur, A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory, p. 56
These problems usually happen to the students who do the speaking activities. He can‟t participate well because afraid of making mistakes, afraid to
be laughed at by others and don‟t feel confident or sometimes they seem no ideas
in their mind if they are asked to practice speaking.
C. Contextual Teaching And Learning
1. Definition of Contextual Teaching and Learning
Contextual Teaching and Learning CTL is first introduced by John Dewey that he had suggested a curriculum and teaching methodology which is
connected with the student environment and experience.
30
There are some definitions given about CTL.
According to Sears, CTL is a concept that helps teachers relates subject matter to real-world situations.
31
From this definition we can see that a teacher should be able to stimulate his or her lesson based on the real world situations. So,
the students can apply and experience what is being taught in the real conditions.
Johnson states that CTL is a holistic system that helps students see meaning in the academic material they are studying by connecting academic
subjects with the context of their daily lives.
32
In this understanding, by using CTL system, students are able to connect the subject materials with the context of
their daily life. It means the subject materials should go along with daily needs. In addition, CTL is a conception of teaching and learning that helps
teachers relate subject matter content to real word situations: and motivates students to make connections between knowledge and its application to their lives
as family member‟s citizens and workers and engage in the hard work that learning requires.
33
Based on this definition, CTL can help the teacher relates his or her subject to real world situation and also can motivate students to make
connections between the material that is being learned and their prior knowledge.
30
Trianto, Model-Model Pembelajaran Inovatif Berorientasi Konstruktivistik Jakarta: Prestasi Pustaka, 2007, p. 101
31
Susan Sears, Contextual Teaching and Learning: A Primer for Effective Instruction Indian: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation Bloomington, 2002, p. 32
32
Elaine B. Johnson, Contextual Teaching Learning: What It Is and Why It Is Here to Stay California: Corwin Press, inc., 2002, p. 43
33
http:www.cew.wisc.eduteachnetctl
