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2. Syllabus
A syllabus is a plan of work in a language program, which is used by the teachers as a guideline in selecting and organizing the instructional content
Robinson, 1991, p. 34. A syllabus is important in language teaching. It is because it gives a description of what have to be done by the teacher and how the
course will be. In this instructional material design, the writer uses the functional-notional
syllabus since the skill emphasizes is speaking skill. According to Nunan 1988, p. 35, functions can be described as the communicative purposes for which use
the language. While, notions can be described as conceptual meanings, such as objects, logical relationship, state of affair, and else, which are expressed through
language. Therefore, in this design, functional-notions syllabus will consist of a collection of communicative functions and conceptual categories, which is
performed when the language is used. There are five benefits of using functional-notional syllabus according to
Finocchiaro and Brumfit, as quoted by Nunan 1988, p. 36. The benefits are: a
It determines realistic learning tasks. b
It provides the teaching of everyday or real world language. c
It leads us to emphasize receptive listeningreading activities before rushing the students into premature performance.
d It organizes that the speaker must have a real purpose for speaking
and something to talk about.
17 e
Communication will be motivating because it expresses basic communicative functions.
Selecting and organizing topics which were included into the module, the writer decided to use some topics from the available module before. The writer
decided to use those topics since the topics were easy to be learned and understood. Besides, those topics are relatively and commonly used in the
students’ daily life. Hopefully, since the topics are familiar, those can help the students to carry out the communicative purposes which use the language.
After discussing syllabus, the writer needs to discuss the principles of teaching speaking since this study is intended to design English speaking
instructional material. The discussion about the principles of teaching speaking is presented below.
3. The Principles of Teaching Speaking
Many experts often talk about speaking as a technical term which refers to one of the various skills that language learners should develop and have Louma,
2004, p. 20. Bygate 2010, p. ix, in his book entitled Speaking, also says that speaking is a skill which deserves attention every bit as much as literary skill, in
both first and second languages. Students or language learners often need to be able to speak confidently in order to carry out many of their most basic
transaction. Since teaching speaking is not easy thing to do, there are some important
principles which are needed to be known by English teachers. These principles are according to Nunan 2003, pp. 54-55. Those principles will be explained below.
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a. The teachers have to be aware of the differences between second language and foreign language.
A foreign language FL context is one where the target language is not the language in society Nunan, 2003. In the other hand, a second language SL
context is one where the target language is the language of communication in the society. Concerning with this principle, English language teachers must realize
that they are challenged to teach their students by the target language context. They must also realize that it can be a problem which will affect students’ ability
to communicate by speaking.
b. The teachers give practices to students, both fluency and accuracy.
Giving such practices to students, both in fluency and accuracy is also important point. “Accuracy is the extent to which students’ speech matches what
people actually say when they use the target language. While, fluency is the extent to which speakers use the language quickly and confidently with few hesitations
or unnatural pauses, false starts, words searches, etc” Nunan, 2003, p.55. Nunan thinks the learners must be given enough opportunities to develop their fluency
and accuracy. By given fluency-building practice, the students can realize that making mistakes is common or a natural in learning new language.
c. The teachers are providing opportunities for students to talk through group or pair work, and limiting teacher talk.
Nunan says, “It is important for us as language teachers to be aware of how much we are talking in class so we do not take up all the time that students
could be talking.” It means that the students have to speak actively rather than the
19 teacher. He adds that pair or group work activities can stimulate the students to
speak in the target language.
d. The teachers are planning speaking tasks which involve negotiation for meaning.
Negotiation for meaning is a process in which the learners make progress by communicating in the target language because interaction necessarily involves
trying to understand and make the students themselves understood Nunan, 2003, p. 55. The negotiation is aimed to check whether the teacher has understood what
someone has said, and vice versa.
e. The teachers are designing classroom activities which involve guidance and practice in both transactional and interactional speaking.
Nunan says that interactional speech is communicating with someone for special purpose includes establishing and maintaining social relationship. He
adds, transactional speaking involves communicating to get something done, including the exchange of goods and or services 2003, p.55. In his opinion, it is
important to create transactional and interactional speaking inside classroom since the language learners have to speak in the target language in both transactional
and interactional settings. Talking about teaching speaking principles, Rivers 1968, p. 28 states that
to the speaking skill, the teachers should persuade themselves to speak the foreign language all the time in the classroom, and the students will begin to speak it
fluently. It makes the writer inspired to make design English instructional material which encourages both teacher and students to speak in English all the time in the
20 classroom. Therefore, speaking is a part of reciprocal exchange in which the
reception and production play apart Widdowson, 1979, p. 57. In this study, speaking is defined as activity which is completely using words with voice to
express opinion, ideas, feeling, etc. Speaking encourages students to express their idea and meaningfully in their daily life.
4. The Nature of MI
Using MI theory as one of theories used in this research study, there are some points which have to be defined further. The points are about the definition
of MI itself, the goal, the function and benefits of using MI, and also criteria of MI. Below, those points will be discussed.
a. Definition of Multiple Intelligences MI
Figure 2.2 Gardner’s MI