Second Language and Foreign Language Learning Contexts Practice with Both Fluency and Accuracy

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. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 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