AN INVESTIGATION OF
STUDENTS’ SPEAKING
CHALLENGES IN ACADEMIC SPEAKING CLASSES
THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of
Sarjana Pendidikan
Mega Artika Setyasari
112014063
ENGLISH LANGUAGE EDUCATION PROGRAM
FACULTY OF LANGUAGE AND ARTS
UNIVERSITAS KRISTEN SATYA WACANA
iii
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT
This thesis covers no such materials as has been submitted for examination in any
courses or accepted for the fulfillment of any degree or diploma in any university.
To the best of my knowledge and my belief, this contains no material previously
published or written by any other person except where due to references is made
in the text.
Copyright@2018. Mega Artika Setyasari and Yustinus Calvin Gai Mali,
M.Hum.
All right reserved. No part of this thesis may be reproduced by any means without
the prior permission of at least one of the copyright owners of the English
Language Education Program, Faculty of Language and Arts, Universitas Kristen
Satya Wacana, Salatiga.
v
TABLE OF CONTENT
An Investigation of Students’ Speaking Challenges in Academic Speaking
Classes
COVER PAGE ….……….. i
APPROVAL PAGE ……….……….. ii
COPYRIGHT STATEMENT……… iii
TABLE OF CONTENT…..………...…...………….. v
ABSTRACT………...……...…….... vii
INTRODUCTION ………...……….. 1
Background of the Study ………...……… 1
Statement of the Issue ...………. 1
Research Questions …...………. 2
Objective of the Study ………...……… 2
Scope of the Study ………...….. 2
Significance of the Study .………...…….…... 2
LITERATURE REVIEW ………... 2
Academic Speaking Class ...……….……..……….………….. 3
Factors that Causes Speaking Challenges ……….……..………...…... 3
Strategies to Deal with the Challenges ………...…... 4
Related Studies on Challenges in Academic Speaking …………...………….. 5
THE STUDY …………..……… 7
Research Design ……….…..………..……….. 8
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Research Participants …….………...………... 9
Data Collection Instruments………..……….………. 10
Data Collection Procedures………...……….………. 11
Data Analysis Procedures………...………... 12
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ………. 13
Speaking Challenges in Academic Speaking Classes …..………..…… 13
Deficiency of Grammar, Vocabulary and Pronunciation ………...….…. 14
Lack of Self Confidence ………...……… 16
Strategies to Deal with the Challenges ………..……….……… 17
Independent Practice ……… 18
Peer Practice ………...……….. 19
Prepare Essential Points ………... 20
CONCLUSION ……….………... 21
Conclusion………..………...……...……….…. 21
Suggestions ………..………..………...….…… 22
ACKNOWLEGMENT………..………...………. 24
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Abstract
This study aims to investigate speaking problems faced by university students and how they dealt with their problems. More specifically, this study was conducted in Academic Speaking classes at English Language Education Program, Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana (ELE-UKSW), Salatiga. Many ELE-UKSW students experience a lot of anxieties when joining Academic Speaking class. Therefore, it is crucial to discover the strategies used by the students to speak English fluently. The participants of the study were forty students of the 2016 academic year at ELE-UKSW. The researcher used qualitative method, and the data for the study were collected using open-ended questionnaire and interview. The analysis of the data showed that the participants experience speaking challenges such as deficiency of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and self-confidence which became the primary factors perceived by the students. Besides, this study seemed to indicate that students had essential strategies in dealing with their speaking challenges. Eventually, this study proposed some strategies to help students minimize their anxieties and master their oral skill. These strategies are independent practice, peer practice and prepare essential points as an attempt to support the development of their vocal ability specifically in Indonesian contexts.
1
INTRODUCTION
Speaking is one of the most critical skills in English as a foreign language
(EFL) (Febriyanti, 2011). It is as the active use of words to convey meaning and
the medium through which a new language is faced, comprehended, applied, and
taught (Al Hosni, 2014). People can express their opinion, knowledge, and
emotion to others through speaking (Irsyad & Narius, 2013). In general, Ur (1996)
also stated that speaking is the most important skill among four skills; speaking,
listening, reading, and writing. Similarly, speaking becomes one of the essential
skills that has to be mastered in English language learning besides listening,
reading and writing (Irsyad & Narius, 2013). Thus, it is important for EFL
students to learn and enhance their verbal skill.
However, for young EFL students, speaking is difficult (Hosni, 2014).
Besides that, Indonesian students have less exposure to speaking English
compared to students from countries where English is a second language
(Febriyanti, 2011). In fact, Indonesian students find it challenging to talk in
English in their English class. Furthermore, speaking is more difficult than other
skills which are writing, listening and reading (Paakki, 2013). Many students also
experience speaking difficulties at the English Language Education Program in
Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana (ELE-UKSW).
Febriyanti (2011) has looked at the significant benefits of speaking where
students can learn many things by speaking. Speaking is a key for students to
learn their target language (Indrianty, 2016). She further notes that students
2
focuses on investigating speaking challenges faced by ELE-UKSW students in
Academic Speaking classes. More specifically, I aim to answer these research
questions: [1] What are the speaking challenges faced by students in Academic
Speaking classes? [2] How do the students deal with those challenges?
Furthermore, studies concerning the issues of students’ speaking
challenges and strategies to deal with those challenges in EFL classrooms in the
higer education context in Indonesia have not been sufficient. Therefore, this
study aims to fill the gap by investigating speaking challenges faced by university
students in Indonesia and strategies to deal with their speaking challenges. More
significantly, this study examines speaking difficulties faced by ELE-UKSW
students and their strategy in handling the problems. This study is expected to be
useful for EFL teachers and students and hopes to inform EFL teachers about their
students’ speaking difficulties in attending their speaking class. Significantly, they
have to motivate their students by giving them some strategies to uncover the
challenges. Hopefully, it can also help EFL students who are still experiencing
speaking difficulties, so they would be able to speak well by implementing the
strategies.
LITERATURE REVIEW
This section provides all of the information related to the study about
students’ speaking challenges and their speaking strategies. First of all, this part
will explain Academic Speaking class. The second part will describe factors that
3
the challenges. Then, the last part will explain related studies on challenges in
Academic Speaking.
Academic Speaking Class
Academic Speaking class is to help students feel more relaxed in
communication, such as leading and participating in discussions (Christianson &
Watanabe, 2009). They further perceived that Academic Speaking class
implements several teaching techniques like the use of video, recording groups,
and peer review activities. Also, it requires some activities such as mini lecturers,
presentations, class discussions, and group project work as mentioned by Singh
(2013). Other speaking activities are interacting with classmates and asking
questions (Bachman, 1990). It means that in the Academic Speaking class,
students can practice their English with other students by asking and answering
questions related to the topic learned. This is also supported by Basturkmen
(2007) who said that Academic speaking class often report development ideas and
information. Moreover, other types of activities can be implemented in this class.
Thus, it is useful for teachers to know these kinds of activities.
Factors that Cause Speaking Challenges
In English speaking contexts, some factors of speaking challenges faced
by EFL learners includes; inhibition, nothing to say, low or uneven participation
and the use of mother-tongue (L1) (Ur, 1996). This means that students are not
4
mistakes. Secondly, students do not have enough motivation to speak English
because their experience in English is limited. This view is supported by Paakkii
(2013) who stated that one of the factors that students usually have in the speaking
class is lack of practice. Third, students do not have the chance to practice
speaking English because the class has too many students. Fourth, students tend to
use their mother tongue (L1) rather than second language (L2) or English. Not
only that, a previous study has reported that students have some complications in
speaking English. These linguistic difficulties means that students experience
some problems such as deficiency of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation
(Kayaoğlu & Sağlamel, 2013).
Strategies to Deal with the Challenges
To boost students’ speaking skill, teachers have to create a unique teaching
strategy in their teaching (Febriyanti, 2011) by utilizing their approach in their
teaching. Firstly, teachers can ask students to practice their speaking by
emphasizing on fluency and accuracy. Skehan (2009) said that fluency is to
produce speech at a standard speed and without any interruption. On the contrary,
accuracy is the use of English correctly. Secondly, teachers ask students to
conduct a group project. The group project can be a medium where students can
speak in English actively with their friends (classmates). Another strategy dealing
with the challenges according to Huq (2014) is that TTT (teacher talking time)
should be minimized. In other words, STT (student talking time) can be
5
Related Studies on Challenges in Academic Speaking
There is a plethora of research that has been carried out internationally to
investigate students’ speaking challenges. In Banjarmasin (South Kalimantan of
Indonesia), a related study was undertaken by Febriyanti (2011). Her study aimed
to describe what teaching speaking English is and the problems faced by the
teachers and students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The results of her
study showed that firstly, some speaking challenges faced by students were that
they did not want to speak anything in English and they retained on using their
L1. Secondly, their teacher found that it was difficult to handle students in a large
class because it was hard for teachers to manage a class. Thirdly, the materials
given by the teacher did not fulfill the students’ need. Last, students did not have
enough motivation to learn or speak English. This study also suggested that
teachers could apply fun activities to develop their students’ speaking skill. These
activities are discussions, role play, simulations, information gap, brainstorming,
storytelling, interviews, story completion, reporting and playing cards.
Paakki in October 2013 did a research study on the difficulties of speaking
in English. This research was conducted in Finland and Japan. The study was
aimed to discover problems in speaking English. The findings of his study show
that speaking English was difficult for some Finnish and Japanese learners. In
fact, the speaking challenges were remembering words, making sense of (syntax,
grammar, and vocabulary), remembering the tenses, grammar, etc. Third,
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to the Finnish informants who had problems in lack of vocabulary and fear of
errors in grammar and pronunciation.
Another study was conducted by Al Jamal and Al Jamal (2013) in Jordan
(Arab). The primary objective of this study was to demonstrate difficulties that
may be faced in an EFL setting. This study was conducted by using an adapted
questionnaire and interview with a sample of 64 students who were interviewed
and 566 students as questionnaire respondents. The findings of this study showed
some difficulties of EFL students’ speaking skill. It was found that the class
involved too many students (large class), thus results in lack of time and more use
of the L1 which is Arabic.
A related study was carried out by Singh (2013) on Academic Speaking
practices in Malaysia. This study was conducted using an adapted questionnaire
with a sample of 131 international graduate students. The results showed that the
top five challenges in Academic Speaking were communicating ideas fluently,
speaking accurately (grammar), communicating ideas confidently, speaking
clearly (pronunciation) and participating actively in discussions. The other results
found that, strategies on overcoming those Academic Speaking challenges were
practicing discussion orally, forcing students to speak in the class, practicing
spelling and pronunciation, talking to peers, and supplementing linguistic strategy
(e.g., utilizing educational media in oral presentations).
Another study was done by Al Hosni in June 2014 on speaking difficulties
faced by young EFL learners. Five grader students were the participants in the
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speaking difficulties which were linguistic difficulties, mother tongue usage, and
inhibition. For that reason, the study demonstrated that teachers only taught from
the textbook that accentuates on teaching reading and writing rather than
speaking.
To sum up, the following may be said about the previous studies discussed
in this section. All the previous reviews above mentioned that students in
Indonesia, Finland, Japan, Arab, Oman, and Malaysia still faced some challenges
in students’ speaking class. Students’ speaking challenges were insufficient in
their vocabulary repertoire, grammar, pronunciation, motivation to learn and to
practice English. Additionally, students tended to use their L1 rather than L2, and
they did not give more attention to the teacher’s explanation. Last, the materials
given by the teacher did not fulfill the students’ desire. In that case, the teacher
only focused on the textbook and did not focus on the real world context that
students’ desire.
THE STUDY
This section discusses the details of the research methodology was used in
this study which explains the research design, context of the study, research
participants, data collection instruments, data collection procedures, and data
8
Research Design
The study aims to find out speaking challenges faced by ELE-UKSW
students’ specifically in Academic Speaking classes and how they dealt with those
challenges. To achieve the research objective, the study was approached
qualitatively. According to Creswell (2007), some characteristics of the qualitative
research are natural setting, new design, interpretative inquiry and complex.
Naturally, the data of the research was collected by talking directly or face to face
interaction. Second, the process of collecting the data was changed or shifted after
knowing the participants’ responses (e.g., questions from the questionnaire were
changed and modified). Third, qualitative research tends to interpret what the
participants and the researcher mean such as what they hear, see and understand.
Last, qualitative research was a one way to find out detailed understanding of the
difficulties and the strategies. Therefore, by using qualitative research, the
research would be able to explain students’ speaking problems and their strategies
according to some respondents.
Based on this approach, firstly the researcher collected the data by
distributing questionnaires and interviewing some participants directly. Williams
(2003) stated that questionnaires are used to gather information about the views
and behavior of interviewees. Secondly, questions of the questionnaire and
interview were modified if some of the participants did not understand the
questions well. Thirdly, the participants were allowed to interpret what students
hear, see, and follow in Academic Speaking class. Fourthly, the researcher
9
regarding students’ speaking challenges and the strategies to deal with them in
Academic Speaking classes.
Context of the Study
This research was conducted in Academic Speaking classes at
ELE-UKSW, Salatiga. Academic speaking class is one of the language skill courses
offered in the fourth semester. In this course, the students learn English language
aspects through speaking through the language forms that are used in presentation
skills, academic discussion, interview and academic consultation with their
teachers. At the end of this course, ELE-UKSW students are expected to acquire
some speaking competencies. The two competencies were adapted from a
classroom syllabus developed by Sinanu (2015), where: Students’ English oral
proficiency and oral communication techniques in the academic context will be
developed into a standard equal to a post-intermediate level. The reason of
choosing the class was because commonly, most of ELE-UKSW students were
able to speak simple English in the course of Academic Speaking, but some of
them decided to be quiet and not participate in speaking during class.
Research Participants
The researcher implemented quota sampling to select the research
participants. According to Mason (2002) cited by Robinson (2014), quota
sampling is set out on a series of categories. In other words, quota sampling
10
have taken Academic Speaking class and had some speaking problems during the
class. Students of 2016 academic year who have just taken Academic Speaking
class and were still fresh with the course were the participants of this study.
Data Collection Instruments
The research data were collected through an open-ended questionnaire.
This was to receive more complete answers based on the participants’ experience
in Academic Speaking class. Guion, Diehl, and McDonald (2001) stated that
open-ended question allows respondents to answer their questions by using their
own words. Moreover, the researcher used the open-ended questionnaire due to
some benefits. The researcher could response spontaneously, avoid bias and
collect many answers from the respondents (Reja, Manfreda, Hlebec & Vehovar,
2003).
The researcher translated the questions in the questionnaire into
Indonesian. Then, the participants were permitted to fill in written responses of
the questions by using the same language. This is due to the researcher’s aim to
ensure that the participants could wholly understand the meaning of each question
and could contribute clear and deep responses to each question.
The researcher conducted a semi-structured interview to support the
questionnaire data. The semi-structured interview was to specify some areas or
topics that the researcher desired to ask (Rabionet, 2011) and preparation is
needed before conducting the interview (Qu & Dumay, 2011). The researcher
11
researcher asked the questions subsequently (follow-up and probing questions).
Follow-up and probing questions were to prolong the answers of the interviewees
through a critical approach from the interviewer (Qu & Dumay, 2011). Overall,
these cases support the view that was to clarify further information from the
interviewees on the questionnaire (Mali, 2015).
The questions of the questionnaire and the interview were the same. They
contain three items. The questions on the questionnaire and interview have been
successfully applied in some studies. Therefore, the researcher adapted the
questions from previous studies.
Table 1. The Questionnaire and Interview Questions
No Questions Adapted from
1. Tell me your speaking challenges in Academic Speaking class. Academic Speaking class (give some examples to support your answer) .
Data Collection Procedures
Before distributing the questionnaire to the students of 2016 academic
year, piloting was done to ensure that the questionnaire was understandable for the
participants. Participants for piloting were 15 students of 2015 academic year.
After the piloting, the researcher distributed the questionnaire sheets to students of
2016 academic year where they took CISL (Current Issues in Second Language
Teaching) and CIAPL (Current Issues in Applied Linguistics) classes in that
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Speaking class in the previous semester. These are the steps taken to collect the
research data. First, the researcher asked permission to some lectures in the CISL
and CIAPL classes for allowing their students to fill in the questionnaire. Second,
the researcher explained the goal of the study in the class after getting permission
from the lecturer. At that time, the questionnaires were distributed to the
participants.
After distributing the questionnaire, the interview was conducted. The
interview process was recorded using a voice recorder. According to Al Yateem
(2012), recording helped interviewers keep accurate records which supports them
to analyze their data. In the process of interviewing, the participant and the
researcher saw his/her written response to the questionnaire. Also, the researcher
permitted the participants to provide further clarification to what they had written
on the questionnaire by using the same language similar in filling the written
questionnaire (Indonesian). Finally, the recorded oral information was transcribed
and analyzed to support the data obtained from the questionnaire. Guion et al.
(2001) claimed that deciphering was to script out each question and answers from
the interviewee and analyzing was to identify themes from the interviewees’
responses after re-reading the interview transcripts.
Data Analysis Procedures
The data analysis was determined from the questionnaires and
interviewees. Firstly, after the data has been collected from the questionnaire, the
13
interviewed. Secondly, the interviews involved five participants who had many
speaking problems and gave various answers on the written questionnaire.
Consequently, the researcher obtained more affluent speaking challenges from
those participants as her data. Thirdly, several themes emerged from the data
analysis. According to Aronson (1995), thematic analysis emphasize on
identifying themes. It means that thematic analysis developed themes based on the
data that the researcher had. Furthermore, thematic analysis was a method of
analyzing qualitative data by using some steps such as identifying, analyzing and
reporting themes from the data (Braun & Clarke, 2006, as cited by Vaismoradi,
Turunen & Bondas, 2013).
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
This section provides two main sub-sections based on the research
questions, namely the students’ speaking challenges and the strategies in dealing
with the difficulties in Academic Speaking classes at ELE-UKSW. To convey the
trustworthy discussions, the conclusions of each sub-section are supported by
excerpts from questionnaire data (QNR) and interview data (ITW). For this study,
the researcher translated all the passages into English.
Speaking Challenges in Academic Speaking Classes
The data analysis collected on this issue revealed that there are two major
14
Speaking classes. They are deficiency of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and
lack of self-confidence.
Deficiency of grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation
The most apparent speaking challenge encountered by the students was
lack of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. Most of the students shared
about their grammar problem by stating: “When speaking English in Academic
Speaking, our difficulties lie in the grammar that is still often wrong
(students6,18,25,29,36,38,39/QNR/translated by the researcher); because the use
of wrong grammar makes what we want to say cannot be conveyed properly
(students8,11,27/QNR/translated by the researcher); and it is required to speak
English with the correct grammar” (students5,7,23,40/QNR/translated by the
researcher). Further, in harmony with the written responses, one interviewee
clarified how students encountered grammar challenge:
Excerpt 1
I have prepared what I wanted to say in my head. But when we talk about what is on the head sometimes, it comes out differently, for example, like grammar mistakes, I wanted to say something, but it means different. (Nana/ITW/translated by the researcher)
This challenge was also found by Al Roud (2016), where weak grammar is one of
the problems which students have in speaking English in the classroom.
Additionally, Lindblad (2011) claimed that female students are the ones who
usually experience grammar problem in their speaking.
Some of the students also shared their perspectives that vocabulary is one
15
say (students3,6,13,25,32,33/QNR/translated by the researcher); because we are
lacking of vocabulary (students11,15,21,30/QNR/translated by the researcher);
not paying attention to word selection (students7,8,9/QNR/translated by the
researcher); and have difficulty in remembering new vocabulary”
(student40/QNR/translated by the researcher). In the interview, a participant
articulated similar point of views to this vocabulary problems, that sometimes
there may be difficulties in vocabulary but it is still minor (Elisa/ITW/translated
by the researcher). It is also proved by Indrianty (2016) that deficiency of
vocabulary is recognized to lead in speaking anxiety for students in the oral
English classroom.
Besides those two prominent speaking challenges, pronunciation is also an
important challenge that was mentioned by the participants. Concerning this
category, some participants stated that “I felt nervous and scared of my
pronunciation (students4,27/QNR/translated by the researcher); sometimes I am
afraid when my pronunciation is not clearly heard by my friends or lecturer
(students25,29/QNR/translated by the researcher) and that it will sound ridiculous
(student12/QNR/translated by the researcher) because of some inappropriate
pronunciation” (student32/QNR/translated by the researcher). Consistent with the
questionnaire results, a participant conveyed the following thoughts: “Sometimes,
I feel like my pronunciation is wrong” (Veren/ITW/translated by the researcher).
In line with this category, Al Roud (2016) said that lousy pronunciation could
16
stated that male students usually have pronunciation problem in their English
speaking.
Lack of self-confidence
Another speaking challenge faced by ELE-UKSW students is lack of
self-confidence. Most of the students believed that they did not feel confident to speak
in front of their friends and lecturer because of nervousness and fear of making
mistakes. This category covers further statements from the respondents, such as
“When they speak English in Academic Speaking class, their troubles are
sometimes still nervousness (students4,20,31,32,37,39/QNR/translated by the
researcher), not confident to speak English
(students2,3,12,19,21,35/QNR/translated by the researcher); for instance
conducting presentation (students7,9,10,16,22,38/QNR/translated by the
researcher) interview session (student10/QNR/translated by the researcher);
debate (student5/QNR/translated by the researcher); and speech
(student16/QNR/translated by the researcher). However, self-confidence will
affect how fast /slow I speak (student28/QNR/translated by the researcher); in
those cases, we have anxiety when we have to speak English in front of many
people such as friends and lecturer
(students6,19,24,35,38,31,36,39,/QNR/translated by the researcher); our friends
are smarter than us in speaking English (students14,37/QNR/decoded by the
17
explained” (student20/QNR/translated by the researcher). These statements that
emerged from the questionnaire data were in harmony to what two participants
stated in the interviews: “The reason is that if we speak in front of many people
like friends and lecturers, we usually get nervous and it makes us confused about
what we want to speak” (Nana/ITW/translated by the researcher).
Excerpt 2
Some of the speaking challenges that I still remember is speaking fluently in front of friends and lecturer. Then when we made a poster presentation in a formal academic, it was challenging for college students because we must make the poster as creative as possible without decreasing assessment in speaking aspects (Victor/ITW/translated by the researcher).
Similar to Al Nakhalah (2013) who said that lack of confidence usually happens
when students wonder whether their talk has been understood or not by their
audiences. Students have anxiety to speak English especially in front of their
friends and lecturer because of inadequate self-confidence (Abdalla & Elhadi,
2015). They further argued that it is complicated for them when they speak
English in front of their friends and teachers.
Strategies to Deal with the Challenges
It is imperative for ELE-UKSW students to create some strategies in
dealing with their speaking challenges because if they do not discover the
necessary speaking approach, their verbal skill will never improve. More
specifically, the responses of the respondents are classified into three categories,
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Independent Practice
ELE-UKSW students usually practice speaking by themselves. This
category involved the statement, “The effort is to prepare and practice the material
that will be delivered well in order to be confident and better prepared when
speaking in front of the crowd (student16,26,37,39/QNR/translated by the
researcher); I often try to talk to myself in front of the mirror so that when we
speak in class, we will be more confident
(students2,12,19,21,23,24,25,28,39/QNR/decoded by the researcher). For
instance, sometimes it is a nonsense dialogue between me and myself and it helps
me a lot to increase my confidence” (student24/QNR/translated by the researcher).
Other strategies are searching in the dictionary and internet which includes
Google, Youtube and Facebook (students15,18,30,32/QNR/ decoded by the
researcher); singing English songs (student36/QNR/translated by the researcher);
watching videos or movies in English (students11,37/QNR/ transcribed by the
researcher); listening to English songs (students11,26 /QNR/translated by the
researcher); reading many materials and articles in English
(students3,11,13,15/QNR/ transcribed by the researcher). These statements were
in line with those clarified in the interview, as stated by some interviewees:
Excerpt 3
In dealing with my difficulties which are vocabulary, lack of confidence and pronunciation. I like to read some articles in English because by reading the articles it will enhance my vocabulary. For instance, if there is a vocabulary who I do not know, I keep looking for it in the dictionary, then I write it and read it aloud. Then, to deal the feeling of lack of confidence, I give myself a pep-talk that, I can do it/self- motivation (Veren/ITW/translated by the researcher).
Excerpt 4
19
exact pronunciation from watching those videos. The last is that I listen to English songs because I like to listen to songs, I implement it to learn, and practice
pronouncing the words or the sentences that are in the songs (Victor/ITW/translated by the researcher).
Similary, according to Christianson, Hoskins, and Watanabe (2009) who stated
that watching and listening videos helps students improve their language in the
presentation and discussion matters.
Peer Practice
The next strategy would seem to indicate that speaking is not always
practiced alone because there is a need for interaction with other people. This
category is shown by the comments, “I deal with it by asking my friends to
practice together and help correct each other’s vocabulary, grammar and
pronunciation if it was wrong” (students4,29,36/QNR/translated by the
researcher). This category cited by the participants was what has been clarified by
an interviewee:
Excerpt 5
So, the first step to handle with my difficulties is that I practice my speech
contionously probably with friends, professors or others. Furthermore, I was able to pass from this Academic Speaking class because I often consulted with the lecturer. So, if the lecturer gave an assignment, I will regularly consult it with the lecturer. Additionally, I also asked my friends for help if I do not know the projects given by the lecturer. (Victor/ITW/translated by the researcher)
The findings above support the research done by Lindblad (2011) who said that
communicating with friends is one of the ways to practice students’ speaking
ability. Giving peer feedback is a tool for students in enhancing their oral skills
20
their mistakes, especially vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, it would
improve the oral skill better.
Prepare essential points
Another prominent strategy is preparing some critical marks on a piece of
paper before speaking. After writing the significant points, students can memorize
them, and they will be comfortable because they have prepared all aspects of their
talk includ their vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. Some students
conveyed this strategy in their written responses, “We write some key points so
that it will be easy to memorize what we will speak or present about
(students3,5,6,22,33/QNR/translated by the researcher); create my own dictionary
(student3/QNR/translated by the researcher) and write down the new vocabulary
in our notebooks” (students3,40/QNR/translated by the researcher). These
statements that emerged from the questionnaire data were in harmony to what two
participants stated in the interview: “I write some points later on, on this slide I
will say this, and on another slide I add this. So, my slides do not contain text but
more images. Because images help me to be more pro-active in speaking”
(Nana/ITW/translated by the researcher). “I get a new vocabulary if the word is
memorable and I remember it directly. But, if it is too hard to remember I will
write it in a notebook or maybe on my handphone” (Victor/ITW/decoded by the
researcher). These strategies are in line with Erling, Ashmore and Kapur (2016)
who argued that writing critical points before speaking is one of students’
21
strategy will reduce errors in the linguistic aspects such as vocabulary, grammar,
and pronunciation (Al Roud, 2016).
Importantly, the present study highlights the essence of insufficient
grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, and self-confidence in speaking English in
front of other people in Academic Speaking class. Likewise, the previous studies
by Al Hosni (2014); Paakki (2013); Kayaoğlu and Sağlamel (2013) and Singh
(2013) stated that some speaking problems such as insufficient vocabulary
repertoire, speaking accurately (grammar), speaking clearly (pronunciation) and
inhibition (fear of producing mistakes to speak English in front of others). In a
sense, showing strategies to improve students’ speaking challenges such as:
independent practice, peer practice and prepare essential points will help
ELE-UKSW students’ proficiency in speaking English.
CONCLUSION
In light of the findings on EFL students speaking challenges and strategies
in overcoming their problems, several conclusions and recommendation can be
depicted. First, insufficiency of grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation as a
speaking challenge for ELE-UKSW learners makes significant influences in
decreasing their skill. These are supported by Leong and Ahmadi’s (2017)
statement that students’ problems on Academic Speaking are grammar, fluency,
and pronunciation. They further state that self-confidence is considered to be a
factor which affects students’ speaking. Second, insufficient self-confidence to
22
usually happens because learners feel nervous to speak in front of their friends and
lecturer.
Furthermore, the researcher indicates that those speaking challenges
reduce students speaking skill. The result shows that, they could improve their
skill by utilizing some effective speaking strategies. These strategies are
independent practice, peer practice and prepare important points. Additionally,
learners can practice their speaking ability alone supported by all English aspects
(listening, writing and reading). They can also ask their friends to check whether
the grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation is already correct or not. Last,
students can write some aspects that they are going to speak about in their paper.
In conclusion, these approaches are usually used to handle students speaking
challenges on lack of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and self-confidence to
speak English.
This research offers suggestions regarding EFL students’ speaking
challenges and strategies in overcoming their difficulties. First, EFL teachers can
initiate to motivate their students with some strategies to solve their speaking
anxiety. Jamila (2014, p.164) stated that learners who have a minor speaking
problem could speak efficiently. She further mentions that there is a demand to
handle learners’ problem, by practicing their English individually or with peers.
Second, EFL students should not panic if they face many speaking challenges.
They have to uncover suitable strategies for dealing with their problems.
Accordingly, this research is hoped that EFL students are able to develop their
23
scope, students can easily memorize what they would like to present by writing
the information down (Richards, 2008). Third, apart from these practical
recommendations for EFL teachers and students, it is better for EFL students to
practice speaking English frequently. Irsyad and Narius (2013) asserted that
speakers have to present understanding to listeners which makes speaking a hard
task. They further noted that the speakers must make their listeners understand
what they mean by using speaking strategies.
Most importantly, it is necessary for EFL students to develop their oral
skill because this skill supports them to master other English skills (Hosni, 2014).
Lastly further reaserch conducted in a bigger scope would be needed. Future
studies would be better if other reaserchers investigate speaking challenges in
Academic Speaking class based on lecturer perspectives. Investigation of other
strategies in overcoming students’ speaking challenges through a lecturer’s point
24
ACKNOWLEGMENT
First of all, I would like to thank to Allah SWT, for always holding me
tight in His hands and always helping me in making my thesis. I would to say my
gratitude to these marvelous people who give me great support and helps to finish
this thesis. Thanks to my beloved parents for always supporting, motivating and
facilitating me during my study. I dedicate these thesis to you because I learn
much about life from you and I love you more than I love myself.
For my best supervisor who is Pak Calvin, I am glad to have you as my
supervisor. I learn many things about literature from you. I also learn how to be a
great teacher from you. For Ibu Martha, thanks for all your help and your
suggestion for perfecting my thesis. You are a very nice lecture for me.
For my students in ELE-UKSW Putri, Sekar, Adrian, Edi and all friends
who are supervised by Pak Calvin, come on friends finish your thesis soon and
come to the real jungle. Special thanks to Veby, Risma and Henny (2014), you are
25
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APPENDIX
Kepada Para Responden,
Nama saya Mega Artika Setyasari. Pada saat ini saya sedang menempuh pendidikan Sarjana Pendidikan (S.Pd) dalam Program Pendidikan Bahasa Inggris Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana (UKSW), Salatiga. Sebagai bagian dari studi, saya sedang melakukan suatu penelitian tentang kesulitan mahasiswa di kelas Academic Speaking. Oleh karena itu, pada kesempatan ini, saya ingin meminta bantuan Anda untuk dapat menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan dalam kuestioner ini. Saya menggunakan pertanyaan-pertanyaan tersebut untuk mendapatkan informasi mengenai tantangan berbicara dan strategi Anda dalam menghadapi tantangan tersebut.
Ini bukan tes, jadi tidak ada jawaban benar atau salah dalam kuesioner ini. Selain itu, jawaban Anda tidak akan mempengaruhi nilai Anda di kelas Academic Speaking. Oleh karena itu, Anda diperkenakan untuk memberikan jawaban berdasarkan pengalaman Anda dalam mengikuti kelas Academic Speaking. Apabila Anda mempunyai pertanyaan lebih lanjut berkaitan dengan penelitian ini, Anda dapat menghubungi saya di nomor telepon berikut ini:
0856 4066 4443
29
2. Jelaskan upaya Anda dalam menghadapi kesulitan tersebut! (Berikan contohnya!)
Apabila Anda setuju untuk diwawancarai lebih lanjut silahkan lengkapi informasi dibawah ini:
