Finally, the more students have opportunities to activate the various elements of language they have stored in their brains, the more automatic their use of
these elements become. From the reasons above, we can know about their speaking ability. How
they use their language, it can help us to give feedback to them and give more corrections about their speaking.
c. Characteristics of Teenage Learners
In Indonesia students usually achieve a pre-intermediate level between the ages of 13 to 15. This age group is very interesting to teach, but they can
also present the teacher with more problems than other age groups. But what do we mean by a ‘teenage’ or an ‘adolescent’?
Harmer 2001: 39 states that one of the key issues in adolescence is a search for individual identity, which is gained among classmates and friends.
For teenage students, therefore, the approval of their peers may be considerably more important than the attention of the teacher. Komorowska 2001: 35 adds
that during puberty, students are often under tremendous peer pressure, and are afraid to express their opinions if they are different from those of their peer
group. As a result, they are unwilling to share their ideas in the classroom. To deal with this problem, the teacher may organize more pair-work and
small-group discussions, rather than force students to speak in front of the whole class.
At the same time, teenagers need to be noticed, and often aim to gain the
attention of their peers – often by indulging in inappropriate and disruptive behaviour. The teacher must take care to pay attention to individual students, to
treat them as individuals, and remember to give praise, ask for opinions and use learners’ first names, etc. The teacher cannot forget that adolescents need to
be viewed positively by their peers, and that they are easily prone to humiliation if the teacher is careless with criticism. Disruptions should be dealt
with in a supportive and constructive way, without discouraging or humiliating students Harmer, 1991: 39.
Another challenge of teaching adolescents is their low boredom threshold, which may be a further reason for disruptive behaviour. If the level of the class
is too low, they may simply switch off. If it is too high, they may become discouraged and demotivated. Teachers must ensure that the lesson and the
material used are pitched at the right level – neither too easy nor too hard. In addition, the teacher must place language in interesting and authentic contexts
in order to motivate students to complete and accomplish the task. Similarly, Harmer 2001: 39 notes that teenagers have a great capacity
for learning, great creativity, and a passionate commitment to things which interest them – providing they themselves are involved. They prefer to respond
to texts and situations with their own thoughts and experience, and prefer real-life tasks to abstract learning activities. Students become engaged when
they work with material which is relevant and involving, and pitched at the right level for them. Tasks which are too difficult or inappropriate only
discourage them.
d. Teaching Speaking for Junior High School
According to Peraturan Menteri Pendidikan Nasional 23 of 2006, the curriculum that is used in the school is KTSP Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan
Pendidikan. The goal of the teaching English in the scope of speaking is the students are able to express the meaning in transactional and interpersonal
formally and informally in the form of recount, narrative, procedure, descriptive, and report in the daily life context. The expected speaking
competence of Grade VIII students of junior high school in the second semester is displayed in the table below.
Table 1: The Standard of Competence and Basic Competence of Grade VIII Students of Junior High School
Standard of Competence Basic competence
9. Expressing the meaning in simple
transactional and
interpersonal conversations to interact
with the
closest environment.
9.2 Expressing the
meaning in
transactional to get things done and
interpersonal social
conversations using a variety of simple
spoken languages
accurately, fluently,
and acceptably to interact with the
closest environment involving expressions of asking and giving
opinion,
responding to
a statement,
paying attention,
starting, expanding, and ending a telephone conversation.
12. Expressing the meaning in short functional texts and
simple monologue texts in the form of recount and
narrative in daily life context. 12.2 Expressing the meaning in simple
monologue texts using a variety of spoken languages accurately,
fluently, and appropriately in the form of recount and narrative text
