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INCREASING THE SPEAKING FLUENCY

OF THE SECOND GRADE STUDENTS OF SMA NEGERI 1 MAOS

A THESIS

  Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree in English Language Education

  By Margaretha Marganingsih

  Student Number: 031214096

  

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

  

INCREASING THE SPEAKING FLUENCY

OF THE SECOND GRADE STUDENTS OF SMA NEGERI 1 MAOS

A THESIS

  Presented as Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements to Obtain the Sarjana Pendidikan Degree in English Language Education

  By Margaretha Marganingsih

  Student Number: 031214096

  

ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM

DEPARTMENT OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS EDUCATION

FACULTY OF TEACHERS TRAINING AND EDUCATION

SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY

YOGYAKARTA

  

STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY

I honestly declare that the thesis, which I wrote, does not contain the

works or part of the works of other people, except those cited in the

quotations and the references, as a scientific paper should.

  Yogyakarta, April 24, 2008 The writer

  Margaretha Marganingsih 031214096

  

LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN

PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH UNTUK KEPENTINGAN AKADEMIS

  Yang bertanda tangan di bawah ini, saya mahasiswa Universitas Sanata Dharma: Nama : Margaretha Marganingsih Nomor Mahasiswa : 031214096 Demi pengembangan ilmu pengetahuan, saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma karya ilmiah saya yang berjudul:

  

Increasing the Speaking Fluency of the Second Grade Students of SMA

Negeri 1 Maos

  beserta perangkat yang diperlukan (bila ada). Dengan demikian saya memberikan kepada Perpustakaan Universitas Sanata Dharma hak untuk menyimpan, mengalihkan dalam bentuk media lain, mengelolanya dalam bentuk pangkalan data, mendistribusikan secara terbatas, dan mempublikasikannya di Internet atau media lain untuk kepentingan akademis tanpa perlu meminta ijin dari saya maupun memberikan royalti kepada saya selama tetap mencantumkan nama saya sebagai penulis. Demikian pernyataan ini yang saya buat dengan sebenarnya. Dibuat di Yogyakarta Pada tanggal : 12 Mei 2008 Yang menyatakan (Margaretha Marganingsih)

  It becomes a bridge to step forward….

   And It is not too soon or too late….

  This thesis is dedicated to: Jesus Christ, My Parents, My Brothers and My Sister,

  My Love, Brian…

  

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  First of all, I would like to thank God Almighty, Jesus Christ, for His grace which empowered me to finish this thesis. I thank Him for accompanying me when I felt down and hopeless, so that I could still smile and be stronger than before.

  I would like to thank F.X. Ouda Teda Ena, S.Pd., M.Pd., my major sponsor, who guided me in writing this thesis with diligent care and effectiveness. I would also like to thank Made Frida Yulia, S.Pd., M.Pd., my co-sponsor, who helped me in taking care of the language. Without their deep concerns, I am sure that this thesis would never be completed.

  I would like to show gratitude to Drs. Muryanto, the Head Master of SMA Negeri 1 Maos, who gave me the permission to conduct the research. I would also express gratitude to Heri Mustiko Hadi, S.Pd. who had the willingness to give his time to guide and to help me when I was conducting the research at SMA Negeri

  1 Maos. I am also sure that this thesis could not be finished without the presence of second grade students (Class XI-IA.2) at SMA Negeri 1 Maos as research participants. They helped me to gather the data which were needed to accomplish this thesis. I thank them for being my cooperative students.

  I give deep appreciation to my lovely parents, Henricus Rusbadi and F.R. Lastri, who always become the shelter and who always take care of me with their endless love. I thank them for the prayers and for everything. I also dedicate this thesis to my sister, Monika Avianthi, to my brother, Dion Ardi Cahyono, and to my brother in-law, Saptono Roso Adi, who always support me.

  To my cute niece, Wendy, I thank her for being an angel in our family.

  This thesis is also dedicated to Brian “Pip” Tamtomo who supports me in every single thing and who always be my diary. I thank him for loving me, for giving “colors” in my life, and for the Mt. Gede and Mt. Slamet adventures. Those were awesome things that made me awake from the powerless and hopeless. To

  

‘koko’ Marvin, mas Chris, and mas Yoyok, I would like to thank them for being a

  bridge to reach my unsinkable dream!! Finally, I would like to thank all friends at the English Language Education

  Study Program ’03, such as Nicko, Ardi, Dudi, Anash, Leli, Uci, Linda, Utiek, Yusta, and Wiwit. I thank Nina and Tony for the computer and the printer (without their presence, this thesis could not be accomplished!). I thank my friends at KB 4( Shanti, Yuni ‘Djowo’, Yuni ‘Klmntn’, Dewi, Nina, Gita and Qon) for being my nice neighbors. I would also thank Irene for accompanying me and for the printer.

  Margaretha Marganingsih

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Page TITLE PAGE .................................................................................................. i APPROVAL PAGES ...................................................................................... ii STATEMENT OF WORK’S ORIGINALITY ............................................... iv DEDICATION PAGE ..................................................................................... v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................ vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................ viii LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................... xii LIST OF FIGURE ........................................................................................... xiii LIST OF APPENDICES ................................................................................. xiv ABSTRACT .................................................................................................... xv

  ABSTRAK ........................................................................................................ xvi

  CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study .....................................................................

  1 B. Problem Formulation ..........................................................................

  5 C. Problem Limitation .............................................................................

  5 D. Objectives of the Study .......................................................................

  6 E. Benefits of the Study ...........................................................................

  7 F. Definition of Terms .............................................................................

  7 CHAPTER II. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE A. Theoretical Description .......................................................................

  10 1. The Nature of Speaking ................................................................

  10 2. Principles for Teaching Speaking .................................................

  11 a. Second Language and Foreign Language Learning Context ..

  12

  c. Opportunities for Students to Talk by Using Group Work or Pair Work and Limiting Teacher Talk ............................................

  13 d. Negotiation for Meaning .........................................................

  13 e. Provide Transactional and Interactional Speaking Activities .

  13 3. Problems During Speaking Activities in the Classroom ...............

  14 4. Factors in Increasing Students’ Speaking Fluency .......................

  14

  a. Motivation ............................................................................... 15 b. Speaking is a Fundamental activity ........................................

  16 c. Psychological Factors in the Classroom .................................

  16 5. Techniques in Teaching Speaking ................................................

  17 a. Information Gap ......................................................................

  18 b. Jigsaw Activities .....................................................................

  18

  c. Role-plays ............................................................................... 18

  d. Simulation ............................................................................... 19 e. Contact Assignments ...............................................................

  19 f. Language Games .....................................................................

  19 1) Card Game ........................................................................

  20 2) Puzzle ................................................................................ 21 3) Picture Game (Find the Differences and Similarities) ......

  21

  6. Teaching Speaking Based on Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan (KTSP) in Senior High School ......................................................

  21

  a. The Objectives of Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan in Senior High School .................................................................

  22

  b. The Teacher’s Role in Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan Pendidikan in Senior High School .............................................................

  23 B. Theoretical Framework .......................................................................

  23 CHAPTER III. METHODOLOGY A. Method of Research ............................................................................

  25

  C. Research Instruments ..........................................................................

  27

  1. ACTFL proficiency guidelines of Speaking from California University of Pennsylvania ...........................................................

  27 2. Field Notes ....................................................................................

  28 3. Open-ended Questionnaire ............................................................

  29 4. Speaking Fluency Rubric ..............................................................

  30 D. Data Gathering Technique ..................................................................

  32 E. Data Analysis Technique ....................................................................

  33 F. Research Procedure .............................................................................

  33 CHAPTER IV. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION A. The Research Findings ........................................................................

  35 1. The First Cycle ..............................................................................

  35 a. Problem Identification .............................................................

  35

  b. Making a Lesson Plan and Selecting the First Technique (Role- play) ........................................................................................ 37 c. Applying the Technique ..........................................................

  38 d. Monitoring and Noticing the Fact Findings ............................

  38 2. The Second Cycle .........................................................................

  40 a. Problem Identification .............................................................

  40

  b. Revising the Lesson Plan and selecting the Second Technique (Card-game) ..........................................................

  41 c. Applying the Technique ..........................................................

  42 d. Monitoring and Noticing the Fact findings .............................

  42 3. The Third Cycle ............................................................................

  45 a. Problem Identification .............................................................

  45 b. Making a Lesson Plan .............................................................

  46 c. Applying the Technique (Card-game) ....................................

  46 d. Monitoring and Noticing the Fact Findings ............................

  47

  CHAPTER V. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS Conclusions ..................................................................................................... 51 Suggestions ..................................................................................................... 52

REFERENCES .............................................................................................. 55

APPENDICES ............................................................................................... 57

  

LIST OF TABLES

  Page Table 3.1 The Format of Field-notes.............................................................

  29 Table 3.2 The Format of Questionnaire ........................................................

  30 Table 3.3 Speaking Fluency Rubric ..............................................................

  31 Table 4.1 Students’ Speaking Fluency Development in the First Cycle.......

  40 Table 4.2 Students’ Speaking Fluency Development in the Second Cycle ..

  44 Table 4.3 Students’ Speaking Fluency Development in the Third Cycle .....

  48

  

LIST OF FIGURE

  Page Figure 3.1 The Reflective Cycle of Classroom Action Research ...................

  26

  

LIST OF APPENDICES

  Page Appendix 1: Letter of Inquiry to Conduct a Research ....................................

  57 Appendix 2: Letter of Permission ...................................................................

  59 Appendix 3: Letter of Recommendation that the Research has been Conducted ................................................................................... 61 Appendix 4: Teaching-learning Journals ........................................................

  63 Appendix 5: Attendance Lists ......................................................................... 67 Appendix 6: Syllabus ......................................................................................

  71 Appendix 7: Lesson Plans ...............................................................................

  75 Appendix 8: Teaching Materials (Handouts) ..................................................

  82 Appendix 9: Questionnaires ............................................................................

  89 Appendix 10: Field-notes ................................................................................

  98

  

ABSTRACT

  Marganingsih, Margaretha. 2008. Increasing the Speaking Fluency of the Second

  

Grade Students of SMA Negeri 1 Maos . Yogyakarta: English Language Education

Study Program, Sanata Dharma University.

  The research focused on how to increase the speaking fluency level of the second grade students of SMA Negeri 1 Maos. The research was aimed at finding out the students’ speaking fluency level and the appropriate teaching technique to increase students’ speaking fluency level. There were two problems in this research, namely: 1) what is the speaking fluency level of the second grade students of SMA Negeri 1 Maos? and 2) what is the appropriate teaching technique to increase the speaking fluency level of the second grade students of SMA Negeri 1 Maos?

  At the initial stage the problems occurred in the classroom were the students spoke in a very low voice and unclearly, their pronunciation were incomprehensible, they spoke choppily, and they used a very limited range of vocabulary. To solve the research problems, the researcher conducted Classroom Action Research with the second grade students of SMA Negeri 1 Maos as the subjects. The number of participants were eight out of forty-seven students of class XI-IA.2. There were three cycles in this classroom action research. The data were obtained by making use of ACTFL guidelines, field notes, an open-ended questionnaire and speaking fluency rubrics as the research instruments.

  At the beginning of the research, the researcher found out that most of the students were novice mid level students. Eight students were novice low level students and they became the point of attention in this research. The researcher applied role-play technique in the first cycle and card-game technique in the second and third cycle. After reflecting on the fact-findings, the researcher concluded that card-game technique was the most appropriate technique to be implemented in speaking class, in order to increase the speaking fluency of the second grade students of SMA Negeri 1 Maos. After conducting card-game technique, the eight students could increase their speaking fluency level. Six students increased to novice mid level and two students increased to novice high level.

  

ABSTRAK

  Marganingsih, Margaretha. 2008. Increasing the Speaking Fluency of the Second

  

Grade Students of SMA Negeri 1 Maos . Yogyakarta: Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris,

Universitas Sanata Dharma.

  Penelitian ini menitikberatkan pada bagaimana cara untuk meningkatkan tingkat kelancaran berbahasa Inggris pada siswa kelas XI di SMA Negeri 1 Maos. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui tingkat kelancaran berbicara siswa dalam Bahasa Inggris dan untuk menemukan teknik mengajar yang paling tepat untuk meningkatkan tingkat kelancaran berbicara dalam Bahasa Inggris. Dalam penelitian ini terdapat dua pokok permasalahan, yaitu: 1) apa tingkat kelancaran berbahasa Inggris yang dimiliki oleh siswa kelas XI di SMA Negeri 1 Maos? 2) teknik mengajar apakah yang paling tepat untuk meningkatkan tingkat kelancaran berbicara Bahasa Inggris pada siswa kelas XI di SMA Negeri 1 Maos?

  Pada tahap awal ada beberapa masalah yang muncul di kelas adalah para siswa berbicara dengan suara yang sangat pelan dan tidak jelas, pelafalan mereka sulit dimengerti, mereka berbicara terbata-bata, dan kosakata mereka sangat terbatas. Untuk menjawab pokok permasalahan tersebut, peneliti mengadakan sebuah penelitian yang disebut Classroom Action Research, dengan siswa kelas XI di SMA Negeri 1 Maos sebagai subyek atau partisipan dalam penelitian ini. Jumlah partisipan dalam penelitian ini adalah 8 dari 47 siswa yang hanya diambil dari satu kelas, yaitu kelas XI-IA.2. Dalam penelitian ini terdapat tiga siklus. Dalam penelitian ini penulis menggunakan ACTFL Proficiency Gudelines, field-

  

notes, an open-ended questionnaire dan speaking fluency rubric sebagai alat

untuk memperoleh data yang dibutuhkan.

  Pada awal penelitian, peneliti menemukan bahwa sebagian besar siswa berada pada tingkat pemula sedang dan 8 siswa berada pada tingkat pemula rendah dan kedelapan siswa ini menjadi pusat perhatian dalam penelitian ini. Peneliti menggunakan role-play sebagai teknik mengajar pada siklus pertama dan

  

card-game sebagai teknik mengajar pada siklus kedua dan ketiga. Setelah

  merefleksikan penemuan dan data yang diperoleh, peneliti menyatakan bahwa

  

card-game adalah teknik yang tepat untuk meningkatkan tingkat kelancaran

  berbicara bahasa Inggris pada siswa kelas XI di SMA Negeri 1 Maos. Setelah menerapkan teknik card-game, kedelapan siswa dapat meningkatkan tingkat kelancaran berbicara bahasa Inggris mereka. Enam siswa meningkat menjadi tingkat pemula menengah dan dua siswa meningkat menjadi tingkat pemula atas.

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION This chapter presents the background of the study, problem identification,

  problem formulation, problem limitation, objectives of the study, benefits of the study, and definition of terms.

A. Background of the Study

  Speaking English is one of the four basic skills which should be mastered by the students at SMA Negeri 1 Maos because of its importance in communication. Moreover, in the national final examination speaking is also tested, in which the students should perform their speaking ability. This requirement leads the students to have the ability to speak English fluently. Another reason why the ability to speak English is important to learn is that it is very beneficial for the students who later after graduating from Senior High School will work. Their ability in speaking English will be used in some activities, such as job interview and presentation (especially for those who work in marketing). Therefore, being able to speak English is a must nowadays.

  The students have to devote all of their energies to study harder in speaking English because they assume that speaking English is difficult to learn.

  In order to be able to speak fluently, the students should have strong motivation to learn and to practice speaking. Yet, the teacher also plays an important role in the implement an appropriate technique in teaching speaking and also should be able to provide communicative activities which can encourage the students to speak actively during teaching-learning activities, so that the students can improve their speaking fluency.

  There are some communicative activities which can be used by the teacher in teaching speaking. One of those activities may help the students to increase their speaking fluency. However, not all activities are suitable and effective to be implemented in class. Therefore, the teacher should consider the problems which may influence students’ fluency in speaking. It helps the teacher to choose the activity which is appropriate and effective to be implemented in the class to overcome the problems, as well as which helps the students to increase their speaking fluency level.

  The problems in teaching speaking may come either from the student him/herself or the students’ friends. By knowing the problems which occur during teaching-learning activities, the teacher can implement a proper teaching technique to solve the problems. The teacher can also develop students’ strengths and minimize students’ weaknesses.

  The problem which occurs frequently in speaking class is the unwillingness of the students to speak during speaking lesson. When the teacher intends to make an interaction with the students in the target language in order to build a communicative situation in the classroom, the students tend to keep silent.

  There are some reasons why the students keep silent. One of those reasons is they

  As a teacher, s/he should be able to encourage the students to speak actively in speaking activities. As the researcher explained before, the teacher can use some activities which are considered as communicative activities. By using these communicative activities, the students are encouraged to speak. By speaking actively during speaking lesson, they have chances to practice speaking English more. The students can also express their thoughts or their experiences in the target language, even though it is hard for them. Thus, it is important for the teacher to choose and to provide a communicative activity which is suitable with the students’ characteristics and which can be implemented effectively, so that it can reinforce the students to speak actively in the target language and can improve the students’ speaking fluency level.

  Littlewood (1981: 20) divides the communicative activities into two types; those are functional communicative activities and social interaction activities.

  Functional communicative activities involve mainly the sharing and processing of information and are structured in such a way that the learner has to overcome an information gap or solve a problem. Social interaction activities involve social context, so that the learner has to pay greater attention to the social as well as functional meaning to which language conveys. The activities included in social interaction activities are role-plays, simulation, and conversation or discussion session.

  The teacher should choose wisely one of those activities, because a particular activity is not always appropriate to be used in different schools even in the students’ proficiency level or the students’ characteristics and the characteristics of the activity itself. The teacher has to match the students’ characteristics and the characteristics of the activity, so that the activity which is implemented can be effective. An activity which is considered difficult should not be implemented in the class with low background knowledge students. Therefore, it is better for the teacher to know the characteristics of all activities then defines one of those activities, which is suitable to students’ characteristics and which motivates the students to speak as the most appropriate one.

  The students’ motivation plays an important role in the success of the activity because motivation influences students’ performance in class. Adelman and Taylor (1983) as cited in (Evans, S., Evans, W. and Mercer, C., 1986: 64) state that a student who has motivation often can do much better than those who do not have motivation. To build students’ motivation to speak in every speaking activity, it is very important for the teacher to provide an interesting activity. An interesting activity enables the students to be more interested and motivated to speak.

  Building a good atmosphere during teaching-learning activities is also an important thing which should be done by the teacher. Having a good atmosphere in the class makes the students feel comfortable to do the activity, to speak, to express their thoughts or ideas, even to perform in front of the class. The comfort makes the students have the willingness to speak without anxiety.

  In this research, the researcher is going to measure the students’ speaking the class in order to increase students’ speaking fluency level. To measure the students’ speaking fluency level, the researcher uses some research instruments such as ACTFL proficiency guidelines and speaking fluency rubric. Meanwhile, to increase the students’ speaking fluency level the researcher will try to implement some teaching techniques which provide communicative activities and which will motivate the students to speak actively during the lesson.

  A. Problem Formulation

  The research has two problems which can be formulated as follows:

  1. What is the speaking fluency level of the second grade students of SMA Negeri 1 Maos?

  2. What is the appropriate teaching technique to increase the speaking fluency level of the second grade students of SMA Negeri 1 Maos?

  B. Problem Limitation

  Since there are some demands of passing the examination and looking for a job, there is no exception for the students not to cope with speaking skill. In speaking class, there are several problems which are faced by both the students and the teacher. That is why the researcher tries to solve the problems which occur during speaking activities, which become a barrier for the students to increase their speaking fluency.

  In this research the researcher is concerned with the speaking fluency level can be implemented in speaking class in order to increase students’ speaking fluency level. To limit the scope of the study, the research is conducted in SMA Negeri 1 Maos in the form of Classroom Action Research with the second grade students as the participants. The researcher decides to conduct the research in SMA Negeri 1 Maos because of its accessbility, so that more or less the researcher knows the condition and the students’ characteristics in that school.

  The researcher chooses the second grade students as the participants because they have already experienced the teaching techniques which were used by the teacher when they were in the first grade. After conducting this research, both the researcher and the teacher of SMA Negeri 1 Maos will know which technique is more appropriate to be implemented in speaking class. It will help the teacher in SMA Negeri 1 Maos to develop his/her teaching technique in increasing the students’ speaking fluency level.

C. Objectives of the Study

  In the study the researcher has two objectives which are stated below: 1. to find out the speaking fluency level of the second grade students of SMA

  Negeri 1 Maos 2. to find the appropriate teaching technique to increase the speaking fluency level of the second grade students of SMA Negeri 1 Maos.

  D. Benefits of the Study

  The research is expected to give positive contribution not only to English teachers who want to teach speaking but also to those who are interested in developing students’ speaking skill, especially students’ speaking fluency. The study may also give benefits to teacher candidates or scholars who deal with teaching-learning activities, especially in teaching speaking.

  For the students of the English Language Education Study Program who will conduct a research in speaking, hopefully the research gives additional information which is beneficial for their research. The research is also beneficial for the teacher or the teacher-researcher who wants to create an interesting atmosphere in speaking class. Thus, the students have motivation to speak in speaking activity and they are able to improve their speaking fluency.

  For English teachers at SMA Negeri 1 Maos, hopefully the research helps the teachers to solve the problems which occur during teaching-learning activities especially speaking activities. This research may also help the teachers in creating speaking activities to increase students’ speaking fluency. Therefore, the teachers can increase the students’ quality at SMA Negeri 1 Maos, especially in speaking.

  E. Definition of Terms

  The research mainly concerns some terms. Therefore, the researcher defines those terms which will be used in this research, in order to avoid any misconceptions due to the lack of information on the terms to be discussed later

  1. Speaking

  Nunan (2003: 48) states speaking as “the productive aural/oral skill.” This skill consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning.

  Speaking happens in real time and when the speaker speaks, s/he cannot edit or revise what s/he wishes to say. In this research, speaking means an activity in which in this activity the students utter words, phrases, or sentences which convey a certain meaning and the students can transfer the information they have orally.

  To practice speaking, the teacher can provide some speaking activities. Harmer (1998: 87) defines speaking activity as an activity or a task which asks the students to have speaking ability to communicate, express thoughts, ideas or feelings orally. The activity or task is aimed to provoke the learners to speak or to communicate actively. In this research, the researcher will apply some speaking techniques such as games, telling story, role-plays and discussion, which provide speaking activity.

  2. Speaking Fluency

  According to Hornby (1995: 451), the word “fluency” means “the quality or condition of being fluent.” While, fluency in speaking is the ability of the speaker to utter or to speak the language smoothly, with little hesitancy and pauses (Nunan, 2003: 55). When the speaker speaks smoothly, it can be said that the speaker speaks fluently. For the second grade students of SMA Negeri 1 Maos, it is expected that they can transform the information or express their ideas

3. SMA Negeri 1 Maos

  SMA Negeri 1 Maos is a Senior High School which is located at Jl. Raya Maoskidul, Maos, Cilacap, Central Java. The researcher chose SMA Negeri Maos because of its quality. Since SMA Negeri 1 Maos has good quality, SMA Negeri 1 Maos is seen as the appropriate school to be researched. The researcher sees many opportunities to develop the students’ ability and quality in English. Therefore, the researcher conducted the research at SMA Negeri 1 Maos.

CHAPTER II REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE This chapter consists of theoretical description and theoretical framework. The theoretical description presents the definition and discussion of some theories

  which are related to the nature of speaking and teaching speaking. The theoretical framework presents the summary of all relevant theories which help the researcher to solve the problems.

A. Theoretical Description 1. The Nature of Speaking

  Nunan (2003: 48) defines speaking as “the productive aural/oral skill.” This skill consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning.

  Speaking happens in real time and when a speaker speaks, she/he cannot edit or revise what she/he wishes to say. Paulston (1976: 55-56) in her book defines speaking as a competence or an ability to communicate in the target language.

  The National Capital Language Resource Center (2004), as cited in “The Essentials of Language Teaching – Teaching Speaking” (http://www.nclrc.org.

  /essentials/speaking/spindex.htm) states that speaking involves three areas of knowledge; those are mechanics, functions, as well as social and cultural rules and norms. Mechanics deal with pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary. The speaker should know how to use the right words in the right order with the correct produced might be meaningless. The speech may have transactional or interactional function. The speaker should know when clarity of message is essential (transaction/ information exchange) and when precise understanding is not required (interaction/ relationship building). Social and cultural rules and norms are related to turn-taking, rate of speech, length of pauses between speakers, relative roles of participants. Social and cultural rules and norms deal with the understanding on how to take into account who is speaking to whom, in what circumstances, about what, and for what reason.

  Speaking English is regarded as a skill which is difficult to learn because when people speak to someone, they have to know how to pronounce, how to deliver the message of the speech and also how to use the rules of speaking. Thus, the students regard speaking as the most important skill they should acquire, because knowing a language can be measured by their ability to speak (Celce- Murcia, 1991: 125).

2. Principles for Teaching Speaking

  There are five principles that should be considered by the teacher in teaching speaking (Nunan, 2003: 54-56). The principles are very useful for the teacher, especially for a new teacher who will teach speaking in her/his class. Therefore, those principles can be used as a guideline for the teacher, so that the teaching-learning activities in speaking class will be successful. Those five principles are as follows:

  a. Second Language and Foreign Language Learning Contexts

  Speaking is learnt in two broad contexts. They are foreign language and second language situations. A foreign language (FL) context is one where the target language which is learnt is not to be used as a language for communicating in the society. A second language (SL) context is one where the target language which is learnt is used as a language for communicating in the society.

  This “second versus foreign” distinction is often confusing to both the teacher and the students. Nevertheless, it is important to understand the difference, since these terms appear so often in language education field. The difference between learning a second language and learning a foreign language is usually defined in terms of where the language is learnt and what social and communicative functions the language serves there. A second language has social and communicative functions within the community where it is learnt. In contrast, a foreign language does not have immediate social and communicative functions within the community where it is learnt.

  b. Practice with Both Fluency and Accuracy

  In teaching speaking, the teacher should encourage the students to practice in both speaking fluency and accuracy. What is meant by fluency is the ability of the speaker to use language smoothly and confidently, with few unnatural pauses. While the extent to which students’ speech matches what people actually say when they use the target language is called accuracy.

  

c. Give Opportunities for Students to Talk by Using Group Work or Pair

Work, and Limiting Teacher Talk

  A language teacher should be aware of how much time the teacher spends to talk in class so that the students still have time to talk in class. The teacher should increase the amount of time for the students to speak in the target language during lessons, so that the students can practice to speak more in order to be able to speak both fluently and accurately.

  d. Negotiation for Meaning

  In teaching speaking, the teacher should provide time which involves the process that is called negotiating for meaning, in which the students make progress in speaking by communicating in the target language to understand and make themselves understood. It can be done by asking for clarification, repetition, or explanations during conversations.

  e. Provide Transactional and Interactional Speaking Activities

  Harmer (1998: 87) says that “speaking is not only let the learner say a lot of sentences using a particular piece of grammar or particular function.” When the students talk with someone else outside the classroom, they usually do speak for some purposes. It can be interactional or transactional purposes. That is why in teaching speaking the teacher should design classroom activities which encourage the students to do both interactional and transactional speech, so that the students the students communicate with others for social purposes, such as for establishing and maintaining social relationships. While in transactional speech, the students communicate to have something done or to deliver some information.

  3. Problems During Speaking Activities in the Classroom

  During the lesson, the teacher should be aware of the problems which occur in the class. The problems which occur may come from the student himself, their friends or the teacher. There are several problems which occur during speaking activities that influence students’ speaking fluency. Lawtie (2004) as cited in “Teaching Speaking Skills 2 – Overcoming Classroom Problems” (http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/speak/speak_skills2.shtml) writes that there are three problems which often occur during speaking class. Those problems are:

  a. students do not want to talk or say anything because they are afraid of making mistake or because they are not interested on the topic, b. when students work in pairs or groups, they just end up chatting in their own language, c. when all students speak together, it will be too noisy and out of hand, and sometimes the teacher lose control of the classroom.

  4. Factors Which Influence Students’ Speaking Fluency

  The problems which occur during teaching-learning activities especially in the students’ speaking ability and fluency. There are three factors which play an important role in increasing students’ speaking fluency. Those three factors are the students’ motivation, the students’ perception toward speaking as a fundamental activity, and psychological factors in the classroom.

a. Motivation Motivation plays an important role in achieving the success of the study.

  Nunan (1991) as cited in Lawtie (2004) “Teaching Speaking Skills 2 – Overcoming Classroom Problems” (http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/think/ speak/speak_skills2.shtml) writes “success is measured in terms of the ability to carry out a conversation in the target language.” If the students do not practice or learn how to speak or the students do not have any opportunity to speak in the target language in the classroom, they may soon be de-motivated and lose interest in learning. It means that if the students are de-motivated and lose interest in learning, they have no willingness to follow the lesson, even to do the activities during the class. If it happens in speaking class, the students will be reluctant to speak in speaking activities and it is impossible for the students to be able to speak English fluently.

  Lumsden (1994) as cited in “Students’ Motivation to Learn” (http://www. nwrel.org/reqest/oct00/references.html#lumsden) says that “motivation naturally has to do with person’s desire to participate in an activity.” This motivation concerns the reasons and goals that underlie one’s involvement or noninvolvement in that activity. People tend to have motivation if they have a be able to speak English fluently because they will go abroad or because they want a job in which the ability in speaking English is required, they will push themselves to do or practice more than those who do not have any motivation.

  There are two kinds of motivation. They are intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Deci and Ryan, as written in Woolfolk (1995: 332), state “intrinsic motivation is the natural tendency to pursue personal interests and exercise capabilities and in doing so seek out and conquer challenges.” While, “extrinsic motivation is caused by any number of outside factors or external reinforces” (Harmer, 2001: 51).

  b. Speaking is a Fundamental Activity

  If the goal of language teaching class is truly to enable the students to communicate in the target language, then speaking skill should be taught and practiced more in the classroom than the other skills. Therefore, the teacher should speak in the target language as much as possible in the classroom, so that the students are encouraged to speak in the target language too. If this happens, then speaking in the target language becomes the primary activity to be done and the students will be reinforced to be able to speak in the target language.

  c. Psychological Factors in the Classroom

  Littlewood (1981: 93) writes “the development of communicative skills can only take place if learners have motivation and opportunity to express their be able to build a learning atmosphere which provides them a sense of security and value as individuals. It also needs the existence of interpersonal relationships which do not create inhibitions, but are supportive and accepting in order to make them feel comfortable to express their thoughts or ideas.

5. Techniques in Teaching Speaking

  Based on the explanation above, there are some techniques which can provide speaking activities which are suitable to the principles of teaching speaking and the curriculum. Harmer (1998: 87) defines speaking activity as an activity or a task which demands the students to have speaking ability to communicate, express thoughts, ideas, feelings orally. He also states that in a speaking activity the students are using any and all the language at their command to perform some kind of oral task and that a good speaking activity can and should be highly motivating.

  Therefore, the teacher should implement a technique which provides an activity or task which is aimed to provoke the learners to speak or to communicate actively. Later, this activity is called communicative activity. Some techniques in teaching speaking which provides communicative activities and which can be implemented to motivate students to speak actively in speaking class are information gap, jigsaw activities, role-plays, simulation, contact assignments and language games (Nunan, 2003: 56). In this research, the researcher implemented role-play and language game (card-game) technique.

  a. Information Gap

  Information gap is a technique in which one person has information that the other lacks (Nunan, 2003: 56). In this activity the students must share the information using the target language. By exchanging or sharing the information they will attain the complete information.

  b. Jigsaw Activities