Instructional Methods in Speaking Classes: Reviewing Literature
Veni Nella Syahputri1* & Nyak Mutia Ismail2
1Universitas Teuku Umar, Meulaboh, Aceh, Indonesia
2Universitas Serambi Mekkah, Banda Aceh, Aceh, Indonesia
*Corresponding Author: venninellasyahputir@utu.ac.id
Abstract
This review article presents varied perspectives on teaching methods used in speaking classes. The aims of this study is to give insights on teaching methods that can be adopted, combined, or adapted in accordance with the actual condition of the classes. This information is considered to be important for English teachers, specifically, and for all language instructors and researchers, in general. There are 12 research articles being reviewed in this article under the topic of teaching methods in speaking. These articles were summarized to see the essentials being delivered, challenges presented, and further queries left unanswered which are beneficial for further research to be explored. The result shows that the most striking element in speaking classes is verbal oral expression. All teachers must encourage their students to speak. Later, it is psychological aspects (moods) and learning environment. Mostly, happy environment—not stiff and meticulous environment—brings more willingness for students to speak. Last, not giving them pressure on grammatical aspects is also a spur towards their motivation to speak.
Keywords: Teaching Speaking, Learning Speaking, ELT Methods, and EFL Methods
1. Introduction
The use of language is enormously important to the human experience. Language affords humans the opportunity to carry out social interactions and maintain cultural relevance in the most effective manner possible. Everyone on Earth needs to be able to adapt to the rapid pace of change in order to survive in this era of globalization—this later implies that human has to continuously learn. This is basically a quick pace at which some developments have taken place, notably those in the realm of science. In keeping up the pace with this, like other science, the language that is utilized will likewise exhibit a greater degree of variety—particularly English. English is the language that is utilized as a working language for worldwide communication. Consequently, the teaching of English has now been included into all aspects of the educational system in the entire world, including in Indonesia.
Speaking is one of the language abilities that is considered to be one of the most difficult. Because the ability to communicate effectively in English is the single most crucial factor determining whether or not a student will be successful in learning a foreign language, it is a language skill that must be acquired properly (Ellis & Jean, 2002;
Halliwell, 1992). Students are able to convey their thoughts both at school and with native speakers of other languages if they have an eloquent command of speaking abilities.
But the fact is that learning to speak presents a number of challenges. While this is the case, students frequently encounter challenges when attempting to learn how to speak since they have not learned the pronunciation and vocabulary of the English language.
Students, in addition, report lower levels of confidence when it comes to attempting to
communicate using English. In general, they are able to engage with one another in a natural way. However, they are only able to communicate in Indonesian language or their other tongue; but they are unable to use English in such the same way. One of the reasons for this is that there are some of them who continue to believe that English is a foreign language that is better to be avoided to learn (Saputra, 2017).
Looking at the curriculum, the prior competency-based learning approach (competency-based curriculum) has committed to cope a large coverage in teaching and learning in order to emerge an expertise of students regarding their fields of knowledge, attitudes, and abilities. According to Sudjana (2012), there is a certain term used to define the concept of skill: it is a pattern of deliberate behavior that calls for the manipulation and synchronization of previously acquired information. The acquisition of skills progresses from very simple to highly complicated levels. There are two distinct types of skills, which are known as psychomotor skills and intellectual skills—which should be covered both in teaching and learning speaking.
The skills of students can be improved through learning activities, and when learning activities are taking place, teachers are able to communicate the level of achievement that is expected for the students, provide demonstrations regarding the important aspects to be evaluated, provide students with basic training, provide additional training and appropriate evaluation, and provide feedback to students to improve their skills.
Because the teacher has the highest position in the learning process, offering instruction and guidance as well as beginning and finishing the learning process, the teaching system in the classroom offers the teacher a highly significant role. According to Hamalik (2008), because of the importance of the teacher, it is necessary for there to be instructors who are knowledgeable in the learning process. The pedagogical expertise that one possesses may be broken down into three categories: material elements, mental readiness, and operational abilities. The material part includes determining how to capture the attention of students to the learning content, delivering the information in a methodical manner, and concluding the discussion. The issue of mental readiness is concerned with the many attitudes that the instructor has to pay attention to when learning is taking place. These attitudes include motion, sound, differences in the media, and variations in the teaching styles. The operational component includes the abilities necessary for engagement during the learning process, such as opening up, offering motivation, involving students, asking questions, replying to students, and bringing the learning experience to be more meaningful in the wrap (Hamalik, 2008).
In this instance, communication plays a significant part in the educational process, as teaching and learning cannot exist independently of activities involving the exchange of information. As a matter of course, a teacher communicates with students whenever they are providing them with new material for learning activities. The communication that is carried out varies, of course; teachers in elementary school, high school, and special schools all have distinct communication personalities. Additionally, the means and procedures of communication in learning will vary.
Despite these variations, all learning activities are inextricably linked to the communication process that takes place between teachers and students. To be more specific, speaking skill is a highly crucial fundamental language aptitude since learning a language must begin orally or through speech in order to be mastered because spoken language is the foundation of language learning. The capacity to communicate orally is a linguistic talent that has to be acquired correctly.
This skill is the single most critical factor that determines a student's performance, especially in the area of English instruction. If students have mastered their speaking abilities, they are more likely to be able to convey their thoughts, both within and outside of the classroom with native speakers of different languages, and to establish positive relationships with other people. According to Ur (1996), when a person has mastered a language, he/she is
innately competent to speak that language in its native tongue. This perspective makes it very evident that a person's capacity to talk can be indicative of their knowledge of a language. In addition to this, one's capacity to communicate verbally can also serve as a vehicle for educational purposes.
Based on the rationale, this article further describes some of relevant literature on teaching and learning of speaking skill. The following is the formulation of the research questions in this study: "What are the variations of relevant literature found in teaching and learning in speaking skills, including the important essence, challenges, and potentials that can still be explored in future research?"
2. Methods
A literature research or review was conducted for the purpose of this study. A review of the relevant prior literature is an essential step in the beginning stages of the majority of academic investigations. It is the responsibility of the researcher to conduct an exhaustive review of the pertinent information in order to evaluate the relevance, reliability, and authority of the research project, which will be used to put the theories into practice (Anderson & Allen, 2021).
The researcher has to stay current on the many sources of information and keep track of when and where material is obtained as a research endeavor moves from general fundamental notions to more particular academic results. As a consequence, the findings of the research that were described in this article are the precursor to more research that will be conducted in the future.
3. Results and Discussion
After reviewing the relevant literature, there are three major issues to be resulted, they are the essentials, challenges, and future potentials. The three results are elaborated in the following sub-sections.
Essentials
It is necessary to have an understanding of the communication principle in order to comprehend the character of communication. According to Baker and Westrup (2003), there are four different types of communication principles. These include, but are not limited to the following: communication is a process, in which communication is a continuous process that has no start and finish and changes; communication is a system, in which communication comprises various elements, and each of these components has their own duties to fulfill in order to create an information exchange; communication is interaction and transaction, in which communication is the act of exchanging communications; and communication is interaction and transaction. When a message with a particular objective is sent to the receiver who was envisioned for it, this is an example of intentional communication. Unintentional communication, often known as communications that were not sent on purpose or that were not meant for a particular individual to receive them, falls under this category.
On the basis of the aforementioned communication principles, one may draw the conclusion that the principles of learning how to improve one's public speaking abilities must also be synergistic with the communication principles. This includes a number of aspects, including the fact that communication is a process, which indicates that it involves several communication components during a process, then communication is a system, which illustrates that communication includes activities that involve communication components, the tasks of these components each have a role, and are interrelated to
accomplish goals (Boonkit, 2010). Interaction in communication can take place with two- way communication, meaning that at least two people are exchanging information, which results in responses, opinions, and responses from both parties, namely the communicator and the communicant. Communication is both an interaction and a transaction. Even if the communicant's actions are passive, his ideas and interpretations are active.
Communication transactions only go in one direction; therefore the communicant is both active and passive at the same time.
Last but not least, intentional versus unintentional communication, intentional communication is intended to provide actual information to the communicant so that the communicant understands and understands the contents of the message, whereas unintentional communication is the activity of the communicator to convey information accidentally but is taken seriously by the communicant, for example, the communicator waves hand accidentally, but the communicant accepts that the movement is addresser, while intentional communication is intended to provide actual information to the communicant.
In addition to that, while one is speaking, one must pay attention to the linguistic component because the factor of language in communicating is also vital (Kunlum, 2007;
Trianto, 2012). The first is the appropriate way to pronounce it. When someone is speaking, the other person should be able to hear the accurate pronunciation of the words they are saying. Pronunciation is concerned with getting the words and their pronunciation correct. The second component is the accentuation. Word stress, also known as accentuation, does not differentiate the meaning of a word in Indonesian; nonetheless, in general, the word emphasis falls on the syllable that comes before the last syllable.
Therefore, the application of this accentuation can help break up the monotony of someone's information or message delivery.
The third step is to take a break. In most cases, a person's dialectic, namely the local language, cannot be separated from their terminations or pauses. The capacity to frame words depends on a person's sense of language; however this talent may be developed through practice by comprehending the meaning of each meaning contained inside each word in a sentence link. The fourth category is diction. The appropriate use of words is called diction. The vocabulary utilized must to be specific, unambiguous, and diverse. The intonation may be found near the rim. The listeners will be able to grasp the content and the attraction will improve, which will result in the listeners feeling joyful, proud, and satisfied after watching the program. This may be accomplished by using good intonation.
Pressure, tone, pace, and pause are the four aspects of musical performance that make up intonation. Later comes enunciation. It is the clarity of a word's pronunciation as well as the precision of sentence fragments—referred to as enunciation. This is vital in the process of communication, particularly when giving a speech in public using text; hence, a manner of speaking is required by paying attention to using the appropriate words. And last, we come to the efficient utilization of language. It is possible to determine whether or not a sentence is successful by determining whether or not the listener understands what the speaker is saying. Effective sentences contain messages are basically clear to understand.
Challenges
When it comes to teaching speaking, there are numerous aspects that continue to be difficult. According to the findings that Saputra (2017) obtained in speaking activities in pairs, specifically when students are doing speaking activities, there are some students who are very enthusiastic in speaking English, even though there are still deficiencies in their pronunciation. This is based on the fact that when students are doing speaking
activities, there are some students who are very enthusiastic in speaking English.
However, there are still a number of other students who have a lower level of self- assurance and struggle with correctly pronouncing English words, which means that their pronunciation is still not very excellent. When it is requested of students that they practice basic dialogues in pairs, they continue to experience feelings of confusion, and there are numerous students who are still not serious about learning these easy dialogues.
At this point in the process assessment, there are many students who are still having difficulty and are apprehensive to demonstrate the dialogue in pairs in front of the class. This is because the demonstration requires them to speak in front of their peers.
Even when the instructor is evaluating the technique being practiced when speaking, many students nevertheless manage to disrupt the focus of their fellow classmates. In addition, there are some pupils who are still not familiar with the English names of several sports. Even when they are only showing simple dialogues with a partner, they still need to read with the assistance of writing or dialogue text.
On the basis of motivation and confidence, there are still many students who have difficulty practicing speaking with new applications. This is because these students still experience feelings of shyness, fear, and doubt, while there are also those students who interrupt their mates who are doing the speaking process test. As a result, students have a difficult time communicating themselves and say simple sentences that they acquire.
Potentials
It is generally agreed upon that out of the four linguistic abilities, speaking is the most crucial one. Many students claim that they have spent a significant amount of time learning English, but that they are unable to speak the language in a way that is suitable and easily understood (Bueno, Madrid, & Mclaren, 2006). As a result, there are some hypotheses that may still be explored further with relation to the qualities of individuals involved in the process of teaching and learning how to speak (Tuan & Mai, 2015). They are devoid of fear and motivation, which contributes to their lack of inhibition. Students struggle with inhibition right away as they enter the classroom for the first time. They are sometimes prevented from speaking their minds in the classroom despite having the desire to do so. For the talent of public speaking that might be encountered by educators when assisting pupils to speak in the classroom. Students are generally concerned about making errors and afraid about receiving negative feedback. They are self-conscious about the attention that the other pupils are paying to them. According to Littlewood (2007), pupils in a language classroom may experience inhibitions and fear as a result of the classroom environment.
The components of language acquisition have the ability to affect as well as be influenced by motivation. According to Merisuo-Storm (2007), having an integrative and friendly approach towards the people whose language is being taught makes it easier for learners to become attentive to the audio-lingual components of language as well as making them more sensitive to the pronunciation and accent of language. If students approach the target language with a hostile mindset, it is unlikely that they will make significant progress in learning the language's various facets. The phrases that were just read provide evidence for the concept that it is not necessary for learners to only have communicative competence in order to increase their speaking skill. Learners will not be able to achieve their goal of speaking if they do not adopt a positive attitude regarding their performances in speaking.
The fear of speaking English might be relevant to certain aspects of a person's personality, such as anxiety, inhibition, and risk taking. Anxiety might arise from having to speak a foreign language at times. Extreme anxiety can, on occasion, bring about feelings of hopelessness and an overall sense of failure in students (Bashir, Azeem, & Dogar 2011).
According to Woodrow (2006), anxiety has a deleterious influence on the oral performance
of English speakers. When adults communicate, they are extremely cautious to avoid making mistakes in anything they say. They believe that errors demonstrate a level of unawareness, which might make it difficult for them to communicate effectively in English in front of other people. Anxiety over public speaking may have its roots in the environment of the classroom, which includes the varying levels of language learners. The students are separated into two distinct groups: the strong ones and the weak ones. Strong students typically have an advantage over slower or less capable students. Because the weaker students do not want to embarrass themselves in front of the stronger students, these students typically remain silent during the entirety of the activity.
Last, it is inhibition. Inhibition is a sense of fear that prevents people from saying or performing what they want to. Every single human being engages in a series of defensive maneuvers in order to preserve their ego. When one is learning a new language, making errors is an inevitable part of the process. As a result, there is a good chance that doing so might lead one's ego to be damaged. These threats discourage the English language students from using the language, and they would rather remain silent than risk being reprimanded in front of a big group of people (Brown, 2000). Taking calculated risks is essential to healthy self-respect and inhibition. Learners of English as a foreign language who lack a healthy regard for themselves are more likely to avoid situations in which they could make a mistake when speaking, which inhibits the development of their speaking ability (Mahripah, 2014).
4. Conclusions
It is possible to draw the conclusion, on the basis of the theoretical studies and research findings collected by the authors, that from the point of view of literature, there are a number of different approaches in teaching and learning speaking. In this age of globalization, having a strong command of the English language is an absolutely necessary skill to possess. The position of the instructor who acts as a facilitator in the classroom is a crucial one, particularly in terms of the students' ability to speak English fluently.
Teachers, and especially those whose specialty is teaching English, are being challenged by the fact that students' enthusiasm to speak English is at an all-time low—in particular, instructors of English who are knowledgeable in this particular area. And it is a task for English teachers to help pupils have the confidence to speak using a range of fascinating and enjoyable learning approaches in order to meet this challenge. A student's drive to improve their speaking skills is of the utmost importance in the process of learning to improve their communication skills.
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