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BY USING INTERVIEW
OLEH :
KRISTIN RAHAYU
K.2206005
FAKULTAS KEGURUAN DAN ILMU PENDIDIKAN
UNIVERSITAS SEBELAS MARET
SURAKARTA
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
English speaking is an important thing to be mastered nowadays. The
departure of foreign people to Indonesia is a phenomenon that cannot be avoided.
Then, students’ exchange is a common case that often happens in our daily life.
Moreover, the activity of travelling abroad, from Indonesia to foreign country and
vice versa, is not a special thing too. These facts emerge a demand for us to be
able to speak English. Here, speaking English is very useful for helping us in
communicating with people from another country. In this case, speaking becomes
a need that must be mastered in order to be able to share our ideas with them.
As an effort to make the students able to speak English, Indonesian
government declared that English becomes the first foreign language in Indonesia.
It implies that English should be taught as a compulsory subject for the students in
Junior High School up to the University. In Permendiknas article 22 KTSP
curriculum of Senior High School (2006: 308), it is stated that:
Mata Pelajaran Bahasa Inggris di SMA/MA bertujuan agar peserta didik memiliki kemampuan sebagai berikut.
1. Mengembangkan kompetensi berkomunikasi dalam bentuk lisan dan tulis untuk mencapai tingkat literasi informational
2. Memiliki kesadaran tentang hakikat dan pentingnya bahasa Inggris untuk meningkatkan daya saing bangsa dalam masyarakat global
3. Mengembangkan pemahaman peserta didik tentang keterkaitan antara bahasa dengan budaya.
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Based on this article especially point no 1, it can be said that mastering
English includes two abilities; ability in oral and non-oral communication.
Because of that reason, English has an objective to develop four language skills in
order to make the students able to communicate in English. It means that learning
English deals with ability to communicate. Communication itself is the
collaborative exchange of thoughts, feelings, or ideas. So, one who masters
English should have an ability to understand and produce oral and non-oral text
which is realized in four language skills such as listening, speaking, reading, and
writing. So, it is clear that the goal of learning a foreign language is sited on
reaching of the communicative ability. In this case, students are not only expected
to express their ideas, feelings, and opinion in a written form, but also in oral
speaking form.
As stated above, teaching English covers four skills: reading, listening,
speaking, and writing. All of the skills are taught in order to achieve integrated
skill. Among the four skills, speaking is believed as the most difficult skill to be
learned. Brown and Yule in Sari (2007: 1) state that learning to talk in the foreign
language is often considered being one of the most difficult aspects of language
learning for the teacher to help the students. Helping the students develop the
speaking skill not merely so that they can pass examination but also for more
general use when they want to use the English in the outside world. Nunan in
Brown (1994: 255) also notes a further complication in interactive discourse is a
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gauged by the skills of one’s interlocutor. In other words, a learner’s performance
is always colored by that of the person (interlocutor) he or she is talking with.
Related to speaking skill, there are some problems appearing when
students learn to master English. Based on the interview to the teacher and some
students and observation, it is found that the students’ ability in speaking in SMA
Negeri 1 Surakarta is still low. There is strong interference of the students’ mother
tongue in the way they speak. In addition, students are afraid in making mistakes
in speaking. Their motivation in speaking English is not good too. In sum, it can
be said that their motivation and performance in speaking are still low.
The first indicator is that the students’ speaking fluency is low. It can be
seen from the use of too much filler in their speech. When they speak, they often
mention utterance like “umm, e”. There are also too long silence period, and also
unfinished statements they make. This condition implies that they have lack
mastery of vocabulary.
There are also many grammatical inaccuracies in their sentence. From the
observation, it can be seen that the students’ grammar is not good. As they make a
speech, their structure of sentence is false. When they are asked to tell a story,
they often make a wrong structure in making sentences. Then, from the interview
conducted in English with the students, it can also be concluded that their
grammar mastery must be improved. They often use the wrong verb in making
sentences. For example, when the researcher asks “Do you have a willingness to
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answer “Yes, I do”. It means that their knowledge in grammar is less.
The third indicator is that there is a strong interference for the students to
say some sentences in the form of mother tongue. Actually English has the
different system in uttering sentences. For example when the students state noun
phrases, they often say the noun first, and then it is followed with the adjectives.
This way of speaking is actually false because when a learner says English noun
phrase, he or she must state the adjectives first, and the noun must be placed in the
last part of phrases.
The fourth indicator is that there is a tendency of the students to be afraid
of making mistakes. In other words, it can be said that the students are lack of
confidence in speaking English. They will only answer teacher’s question after
they are pointed. This situation can be seen when a teacher ask a question to the
students. In this situation, some students just keep silent and avoid teacher’s sight.
They never answer his question until he points toward one of them. Besides, when
the researcher asks one of the students in the class XI IA 4 of SMA 1 Surakarta
about the reason why they are only keep silent when they are asked some
questions by their teacher, she answers “Takut salah, mbak. Kan malu sama
teman-teman. Takut dimarahi Pak Guru juga.”. Actually, the teacher will not
angry if the students make mistakes. This assumption is also strengthened by
teacher’s statement “Kalau kemampuan sebenarnya ada, cuma kurang pede dan
takut salah saja”. This fear gives a big influence in their speaking skill. If the
condition continuously occurs in a class, it will be only few students who can
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ability.The next indicator is a students’ opinion considering English is a difficult
thing to be studied. This assumption is based on the interview between the
researcher and one of students. She says:
“Bagaimana ya mbak… berbicara pakai bahasa Inggris itu kan memang susah. Kita ini kan orang asli Indonesia, jadi susah bagi kita untuk bicara pakai bahasa Inggris. Kita kan juga tidak punya pengalaman pernah tinggal di luar negeri. Teman-teman kita pun pakai bahasa Indonesia dan Jawa. Intinya kalau kita bukan orang luar negeri ya sulit buat kita untuk ngomong pakai bahasa mereka. Belajar struktur kalimatnya saja sudah susah, apalagi bicara.”
From the interview above, it can be concluded that some students have an
argument that the problem causing the lack ability to master English is the
influence of Indonesian organ of speech. She thinks that Indonesian people cannot
speak as well as native speaker because both have different system in organ of
speech.
The last indicator is that the students’ motivation in speaking English is
low. This belief is taken from the interview with one of students. He said “
Temen-temen pada gak mau diajak ngomong pakai Inggris. Kalau gak ada teman yang
diajak ngomong kan jadi males. Mau ngomong Inggris sama siapa”. From,this
sentence, it can be concluded that, actually, there are two terms that influence the
students’ speech: interlocutor and motivation. Interlocutor is a person who
becomes a conversational partner. The absence of interlocutor may decrease
students’ willingness to speak. In fact, motivation is very essential in learning a
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successful speaking is the high motivation of the students. It means that they are
eager to speak because they are interested in the topic and have something new to
say about it, or because they want to contribute in achieving an objective of task.
So, motivation is a crucial factor that determines students’ willingness to engage
in the process of learning. Motivation also becomes the determinant factor that
explains the success and the failure of learning. Harmer (1998: 4) states that
“There can be no doubt that motivation plays a vital part in most students’ success
or failure as language learners”. This statement is supported by Brown’s opinion
(1994: 152) stating that motivation is probably the most frequently used catch all
of them for explaining the success and the failure of any complex task. It means
that one’s achievement is also determined by his motivation. A person who has a
high motivation will get a good achievement because she or he will do many
things to reach his or her intentions.
After observing and interviewing, it can be said that the factors causing the
problem in speaking ability come from the students themselves. It is found that
students are lack in motivation and performance in speaking. Their focus of their
teaching and learning process is only ability on the written form. In other words, it
can be said that they often neglect that mastering English is not only ability in
grammar, but also ability in communicating.
There are many techniques that can be applied in the classroom.
According to Brown (1994: 48), techniques are the specific activities manifested
in the classroom that are consisted with a method and therefore in harmony with
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They are almost always planned and deliberate. They are the product of a choice
made by the teacher. Klippel in Brown (1994: 279) mentions that there are some
techniques categorized as an interactive techniques believed have a strong
capability in solving students’ problem related to speaking. These are interview,
guessing games, jigsaw task, ranking exercise, discussion, values clarification,
problem-solving activities, role play, and simulation.
In order to overcome the problems related to speaking skill as stated
above, the researcher believes that there must be a new technique implemented by
the teacher in order to increase the lack motivation and dismiss the low ability in
speaking. In this study, the researcher focuses on using the technique of interview
as one of the ways in solving some problems related to speaking.
There are some reasons of choosing interview to overcome the problem on
speaking skill. The main reason is because interviews demand the students to
speak actively. It implies that the students are involved in every activity in the
speaking class. In a common teaching and learning process, it is a teacher who
becomes the only active participant, especially in speaking activity. However, by
having an interview, teacher will invite their intention to speak. It will also useful
for making the learning process becomes more active. Then, interview is not only
considered as a popular activity for work pair, but also appropriate for group
work. Besides, interview is useful at all levels of proficiency. At the lower levels,
interview can be very structured, both in terms of the information that is sought
and the grammatical difficulty and variety. At the higher levels, interview can
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students speak, it is hoped that the topic and technique encourage their interest
and stimulate them to learn enthusiastically. By realizing these situations, the
researcher believes that the motivation of students in learning English will
increase so shat their speaking skill will be improved. As the result, the students
will get satisfying achievement in speaking skill.
B. Formulation of the Problem
The problem of this research can thus be formulated in the three
questions bellow:
1. Does teaching speaking using interview improve students’ English speaking
skill in SMA N 1 Surakarta?
2. What happen in the class when interview is employed in teaching speaking
skill in SMA N 1 Surakarta?
3. What are the strengths and weaknesses of implementing interview in
improving students’ speaking skill in SMA N 1 Surakarta?
C. The Objectives of the Research
The objectives of this research will be the answers to the questions
stated in the formulation of the problem. The objectives of this research can be
stated as follow:
1. To know whether interviews improve students’ speaking skill of SMA N 1
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2. To find out what happens in the class when interview is employed in teaching
speaking skill in SMA N 1 Surakarta.
3. To find out the strengths and weaknesses of implementing interview to
improve speaking skill of the students of SMA N 1 Surakarta.
D. The Benefits of the Research
The result of the research hopefully will be useful for:
1. The students at SMA 1 Surakarta
Through interview, they are expected to have good development in speaking.
The technique of interview used in this research is expected to make the
students to be more active in expressing their ideas and to make their speech
becomes more fluently.
2. The teachers of SMA 1 Surakarta
It is expected that the research can give inspiration to the teachers of SMA 1
Surakarta to have efforts in developing various teaching techniques. It also
expected that the teacher will conduct the same research to improve the
teacher’s professionalism.
3. The principal of SMA 1 Surakarta
It is expected that the principal promotes this research to the teachers and
facilitate them to do the research.
4. The other researchers
This study is one of the ways in improving students’ speaking skill. Hopefully,
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expected that the findings will be used as the development of another research
in order to improve the quality of English Language Teaching.
5. The writer herself
It is expected that this research will give a contribution for improving her
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CHAPTER II
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter provides theories related to the title of the research which
focuses on improving students’ speaking skill using interview. Review of related
literature provides a theoretical and conceptual frame of thinking that become a
guidance of the research.
A. Speaking
1. Definition of Speaking
Burkart in Alfiantoro (2009: 17) states that speaking is an activity which
involves the areas of knowledge, they are the mechanics (pronunciation, grammar,
and vocabulary); it is the use of the right words in the right order with the right
pronunciation. Lewis and Hill (1993: 54) say that speaking is a process that covers
many things in addition to the pronunciation of individual sounds. It also covers
pronunciation stress and intonation. While according to Nunan (1998: 26),
speaking is a process consisting of short, often fragmentary utterances in a range
of communication.
Bernard (1994: 31) has his own opinion about speaking. He calls speaking
as talking as shown in his below statement:
Talking implies more than using words within a structural framework; it encompasses habits of expression and relationship, interactive procedures, and types of social functioning, which cannot be neglected or ignored when designing a language learning method.
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Based on Bernard’s definition above, it can be concluded that speaking
covers the use of words within a structural framework, which is accompanied by
the habits of expression and relationship, interactive procedures, and types of
social functioning. He adds that talking is communication, so it is not an exchange
of linguistic formulae without personal qualities of meaning and value.
Besides, according to Briendley (1995: 19), oral skill can be identified
with speaking skill. His point of view about oral skill is to:
a. express oneself intelligibility
b. convey intended meaning accurately with sufficient command of
vocabulary
c. use language appropriate to context
d. interact with other speakers fluently
He shows that oral skill can be rated into four areas, namely: interactive
communication, which covers fluency or effect on listener, intelligibility, which
covers pronunciation or prosodic features, appropriateness consisting of pragmatic
competence or register, and accuracy including structure and vocabulary
resources. It can be simplified that speaking is a skill, which demands fluency,
intelligibility, appropriateness, and accuracy.
Speaking is productive rather than receptive skill because it is a way in
which the language system is manifested through the use of the organ of speech.
Speaking is called as productive and receptive skill because it is used in
communicative activity. People use it both as listeners or speakers. This is
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“…talking is reciprocal because it takes the form of an exchange between two or more participant with each participant taking turn to say something. Any misunderstandings which arise can be cleared up in the process of the interaction and the participants rely on the ‘feedback’ provided by reaction of the other interlocutors.”
Another definition comes from Underwood (1997: 11) who says that
speaking is perceived as a creative process where speakers are almost always in
the position of formulating what they are saying as they go along and adjusting
what they are saying as a result of the behavior of the listeners or as a result of
added thought of their own. It can be said that speaking constitutes a creative
process which is done by speakers in formulating what they are saying and
adjusting it as the response to the listeners’ behavior toward what the speakers are
saying or as a result of their own additional thought.
Other perception comes from Thornbury (2005: iv), that speaking is
interactive and requires the ability to cooperate in the management of speaking
turns. It implies that speaking is an interactive activity where the speakers have to
be able to manage the speaking turns, when to speak and when to stop, for
instance.
From the definitions above, it can be concluded that speaking is a process
in which the speakers express their idea to the listeners. It is a complex skill,
which requires a creative process of the speaker in formulating what he is saying
in a reciprocal exchange involving reception, and production skill in which
requires adequate vocabulary, intelligibility, accuracy, appropriateness, relevance
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they produce utterances with specific pronunciation of individual sounds. Thus, it
can be concluded that speaking is more than just producing sounds; it is an
activity which involves three areas of knowledge, and they are the area of
mechanics, functions, and social and cultural rules and norms.
2. Speaking Skill
Speaking is one of the most complex skills. It is a skill which is unique to
our species (Levelt 1995: 1). It is the skill by which learners are frequently judge,
as a success learner or not. Thus, being able to use the language becomes the aim
of foreign language teaching.
McLaughlin (in O’Malley and Chamot, 1990: 66) states that speaking is an
example of a complex cognitive skill that can be differentiated into various
hierarchical sub skills, some of which might require controlled processing while
others could be processed automatically. It means that speaking involves several
skills require processing.
Widdowson (1996: 59) defines speaking as an instance of use, therefore, is
part of reciprocal exchange in which both reception and production play part. In
this sense, the skill of speaking involves both receptive and productive
participation.
Bygate (1997: 4) believes that speaking is a skill, which people are most
frequently judged, and through this they may make or lose friends. It is a vehicle
par excellence of social solidarity, social ranking, professional advancement, and
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for many is particularly conducive for learning. He also states that there is a
fundamental difference between knowledge and skill. Both can be understood and
memorized, while only a skill can be imitated and practiced. Furthermore he
clarifies that there are two basic ways in which something we do can be seen as a
skill (1997: 5). The first is motor-perceptive skills that involve perceiving,
recalling, and articulating in the correct order sounds and structures of the
language. The second is interaction skills that involve making decisions about
communication, such as: what to say, how to say it, and whether to develop it, in
accordance with one’s intention while maintaining the desired relations with
others. The notions of what is right or wrong now depend on such things as what
we have decided to say, how successful we have been so far, whether it is useful
to continue the point, what our intentions are, and what sorts of relations we
intend to establish or maintain with our interlocutors.
Based on the definitions above, it can be said that speaking skill involves
the ability in understanding and using the utterances in real communication.
Speaking skill in this study is a creative process in which both receptive and
productive competence taking a part. Speaking skill is productive because one
carries out the activity for using his speech organs successfully, while it is
receptive because it needs someone else to listen to what has been said in order to
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3. Teaching Speaking
Students’ language learning is considered successful if the students can
communicate effectively in the target language. Therefore, this becomes the main
goal of language learning, especially in speaking class. Hadfield (1999: 7) says
that speaking is any kind of bridge for learners between classroom and the outside
world. In order to build the bridge, in the speaking activities the teacher must give
them practice opportunities for purposeful communication in meaningful
situation. It means learning to speak in a second language will be facilitated when
learners are actively engaged in attempting to communicate. Thus, the teacher
should give learners practice and oral exams to actualize their speaking skill.
In teaching speaking skill, the teacher should also recognize the
difficulties, which are encountered by their students. As stated by Thornbury
(2005: 39), the difficulties, which the learner-speaker faces, can be classified in to
two main areas:
a. Knowledge factors: the learner doesn’t yet know aspects of the language that
enable production.
b. Skills factors: the learner’s knowledge is not sufficiently automated to ensure
fluency.
Thornbury adds that the lack of the two factors can result in the lack of
affective factors, such as lack of confidence or self-consciousness, which might
inhibit fluency. Learners can compensate their insufficient knowledge of language
system by using communication strategies, and they compensate for lack of
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premature fossilization of the learner’s inter language. It means that those
strategies can close down the language system development of the learners,
although there can be conversational ‘foothold’ for learners.
Thus, there should be balance between knowledge, which is required for
speaking, and ways that can make the knowledge become available for use.
In terms of knowledge base that enables speech, learners need:
a. a core of grammar,
b. a core vocabulary of at least 1000 high frequency items,
c. Some common discourse markets,
d. a core phrase book of multi word (or chunks),
e. formulate ways of performing common speech acts (such as requesting or
inviting), and
f. mastery of those features of pronunciation that inhibit intelligibility.
The speaker should also take into account context factors, including the
cultural context and the context of immediate situation.
In order to activate these knowledge areas, learners need:
a. to be aware of features of the target knowledge base (awareness),
b.to integrate these features into their existing knowledge base (appropriation),
and
c. to develop the capacity to mobilize these features under real-time conditions
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4. The Problems in Speaking Activity
Learning to talk in the foreign language is often considered to be one of
the most difficult aspects of language learning for the teacher to help the students
with. Besides, many teachers have come across students who do not seem want to
talk in class. There is also an assumption stating that some students find speaking
in the classroom situation is a threat, because there is always an audience. Some
students prefer not to speak at all, and are consequently deny opportunities for
practice.
Moreover, Rivers in Alfiantoro (2009: 22) adds that there are
psychological factors in communication which include:
a. Desire to communicate
As well having something to say, the student must have the desire to
communicate the message to some person or group of persons. Some students
may do not have interest in joining speaking activity for their teacher who does
not show sympathy and their classmates are uncongenial. Others may realize
that they have limitations in the new language and do not want to ridicule.
b.Comprehension as well as expression
Students may have acquired skill in expressing themselves in the new language
code, but have had little practice in understanding the language when it is
spoken at a normal conversational situation.
c.Personality factors
Some students are talkative, others are shy or embarrassed if found to be in
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d.Limitations of expressionStudents may feel frustrated when they know that their choice of expression is
limited. They can not demonstrate the maturity of their thought.
e.Correction of errors
In several societies, people will keep their ideas if expressing them could
cause embarrassment for themselves or for the people with whom they are
conversing. Continual correction sometimes can be very irritating.
Psychological factor is not the only factors that can make speaking
difficult. Brown (1994: 256) mentions characteristics of spoken language that
can make oral performance difficult for students.
a. Clustering
It is important for the students to know that being a fluent speaker is
not produce speech word by word but in phrasal. Students, therefore, must
have the ability to organize their output both cognitively and physically
through such clustering.
b. Redundancy
The speaker has an opportunity to make meaning clearer trough the
redundancy of language.
c. Reduced forms
Contractions, elisions, reduced vowels, etc. all form special problems
in teaching spoken English. Students who don’t learn colloquial contractions
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d. Performance variablesPausing and hesitation can be ignored in the spoken language. English
native speaker insert certain fillers such as uh, um, well, you know, I mean,
like, etc. in their “thinking time”. One of differences between native and
nonnative speakers of English is in their hesitation phenomena.
e. Colloquial language
Students should get acquaintance with words and idiom and phrases of
colloquial language and practice to produce the forms.
f. Rate of delivery
It is teacher responsibility to help learners to achieve an acceptable
speed along with other attributes of fluency.
g. Stress, rhythm, and intonation
Stress, rhythm, and intonation are parts of pronunciation. The patterns
convey important messages.
h. Interaction
It is a must for the teacher to help learners in developing the creativity
of conversational negotiation.
We can point out that much of students’ reluctance to speak in
speaking class has to do with apprehension, fear, nervousness, and worry.
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“Classroom anxiety is a phenomenon that is found in all classrooms. However, this anxiety generated by second- language learning is unique. In learning a language, the student has to master the target language and perform in that language at the same time. This is very unsettling process since they have to perform in a language that they are not competence in and perhaps are struggling very hard to master. This will inevitably make students feel that they are unable to represent themselves fully. This has a tremendous impact on students’ self- perception and self- confidence.” (1995: 87)
From Tsui’s statement above, it can be said that one of the causes of
students’ reluctance to speak in speaking class is their feeling of inability to
perform in the target language. Furthermore, Tsui states that the anxiety is
further exacerbated by the fact that in the language classroom the teacher often
focuses not only on the correctness of student performance in terms of content
but also in terms of form (1995: 87). We can see how teachers sometimes are
very persistent in getting students to speak that are correct in both form and
content, perhaps without realizing that by doing this they could be publicly
humiliating the students.
Another important factor in students’ low skill in the speaking class
given by Tsui is the teacher’s subconscious choice to allocate speaking turns
to brighter students. (1995: 86). The uneven allocation could be in order to
save time so that more can be covered in a lesson, since brighter students are
more likely to provide the right answer and therefore less time will be
‘wasted’ in waiting for the answer, in guiding the student toward the right
answer, or in explaining why their answer is wrong. The uneven allocation
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students will feel ignored, their confidence will be further undermined and
they could become even more reluctant to speak.
Research on anxiety, as quoted by Tsui, makes a distinction between
‘trait-anxiety’ and ‘state-anxiety’. The former refers to a personality
characteristic, for example a person who is generally nervous and tense,
whereas the latter refers to anxiety that is specific to a situation, for example
stage fright (1995: 87-88). Foreign-language classroom anxiety is a kind of
state anxiety that is specific to the foreign-language classroom.
The problem may also come from the teacher. He may give a little
exercise to develop students’ speaking skill. Students of a new language will
not learn to speak merely by hearing speech in class. Rivers says that teacher
will need to give them many opportunities to practice speaking (1968: 188).
They will need to use their imagination in particular situations which provoke
the use of language in the expression of the student’s own meaning.
Another problem of speaking is the lack of material. Materials are one
of the five important components of language instruction: students, teachers,
teaching methods, materials and evaluation. In order to stimulate speaking of
the students, it is necessary to plan motivating, challenging and interesting
lessons with appropriate materials video, computer games, etc that would
stimulate and create a base for the students’ speaking.
Since speaking is not taught as a skill and usually acquired by the
students along with other subjects in everyday school life, there are no
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material is the ones provided by the publisher of the course book to support
the lessons.
The effect of the mother tongue also becomes one of the main
problems in the language classroom. It heavily affects their foreign language
learning. They make up a sentence first in their mother tongue, and then they
translate it into English. For example: Instead of “I like white rabbit”, an
Indonesian student says “I like rabbit white”.
Another problem in teaching speaking is the lack of speaking tests.
Though tests and exams are applied at school, speaking test is not envisaged
within the assessment package. Evaluation of the students’ language
knowledge is limited by grammar and vocabulary which do not reflect
students’ complete language knowledge that is to say, reading, writing,
listening and speaking skills are not evaluated. In connection with this, neither
students nor teachers see the need in focusing on speaking and developing this
very vital skill.
There are various techniques that can be used in a communicative
classroom to foster children’s speaking skills and give them confidence in
speaking in the target language. One of them is interview. Interview is always
popular in a language classroom thanks to its overlap with everyday natural
life and the opportunity of creating relaxed and stress-free atmosphere which
decreases learners’ affective filter and gives the chance to use the target
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5. The Roles of Teachers
Several roles are assumed for teachers in oral lesson. The roles are teacher
as motivator, informant, conductor, corrector, and encourager.
The teacher as a motivator is the most important role. However good at
language the teacher is, whatever technical virtues a teacher possesses, without
motivation, students will never learn. The teacher should provide students’
interests in terms of topic, variety of language points, skill practiced, interaction,
humor, and interesting task.
As an informant, the teacher must give clear explanations of the material
or instructions and remind students of forgotten points. While teacher as a
conductor means the teacher is a person who conducts the lesson. This role is
concerned with the practical things a teacher needs to run the lesson well.
Teacher must also encourage the students. The encouragement involves all
aspects of the teacher’s role. A sympathetic attitude, not demanding beyond the
students’ capabilities, not overcorrecting, and praising what has been well done,
are necessary to be done.
In teaching oral lesson, the teacher should know what their roles are.
Knowing the roles will help the class to minimize the problem arisen. This also
makes the teaching learning process run as well as what has been planned.
According to Byrne (1997: 2), the teachers have specific roles at different stages,
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a. In the presentation stage (when the teachers introduce something new to be
learned), the teachers play a role as informant.
b. In the practice stage (when the teachers allow the learners to work under their
direction), the teachers have a role as conductor and monitor.
c. In the production stage (when the teachers give the learners opportunity to
work on their own). At this stage the learners must work independently in
performing the speaking skill they have.
6. Various Techniques in Teaching Speaking
a. The Principles of Teaching Speaking Technique
Brown (1994: 268-270) says that there are principles, which teachers
must know before deciding technique in teaching speaking, as follows:
1) Technique should cover the spectrum of learner needs, from
language-based focus on accuracy to massage-language-based focus on interaction, meaning,
and fluency
Teachers can use many kinds of attractive language teaching
technique like a jigsaw group technique, play a game, or discuss solutions
to the environmental crises. However, they should make sure that their
tasks include techniques designed to help students perceive and use the
building blocks of language. At the same time, they should not make their
students bored by giving the repetitious drills, but teachers should make
any drilling as meaningful as possible, so students will be interested to the
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2) Technique should be intrinsically motivatingTeacher should try at all times to appeal to students’ ultimate goals
and interest, to their need for knowledge, for status, for achieving
competence, autonomy, and for ‘being all that they can be’.
3) Technique should encourage the use of authentic language in meaningful
contexts
Teachers should provide authentic contexts and meaningful
interaction in the classroom creatively.
4) Provide appropriate feedback and correction
In most EFL situation, students are totally dependent on teacher’s
feedback and correction, because the feedback and correction, which are
given by teachers, will be useful for students’ development in learning
language.
5) Capitalize on the natural link between speaking and listening
Teachers should integrate these two skills because they can
reinforce each other. Skills in producing language are often initiated
through comprehension.
6) Give students opportunities to initiate oral communication
Teachers should provide the conditions, which support students to
initiate oral communication, for example: teachers ask questions, give
directions, and provide information. This technique is expected to be able
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includes the ability to initiate conversation, to nominate topics, to ask
questions, to control conversation, and to change the subject.
7) Encourage the development of speaking strategies
The concept of strategic competence is one that few beginning
language students are aware of. Students can be aware of the oral
communicative purposes by practicing such strategies:
a) Asking for clarification (What?)
b) Asking someone to repeat something (Huh? Excuse me? Pardon me?)
c) Using conversation maintenance cues (Uh huh, Right, Yeah, Okay,
Hm)
d) Getting some attention (Hey, Say, So)
e) Using paraphrases for structures one can’t produce
f) Appealing for assistance from the interlocutor (to get a word or phrase,
for example)
g) Using formulaic expressions (at the survival stage) (How much
does__cost? How do you get to the__?)
h) Using mime and nonverbal expressions to convey meaning.
b. Types of Classroom Speaking Performance
Brown (1994: 266-268) states that there are six types of classroom
speaking performance:
1) Imitative Type
In imitative types, learners spend their time to initiate speech, for
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certain vowel sound, etc. intonation of this kind is carried out not the
purpose of meaningful interaction, but for focusing on some particular
element of language form. A type that can be concluded in this type
and can be classified in the communicative language classroom is
drilling. Drills offer students an opportunity to listen and to repeat
certain string of language that may pose some linguistic difficulty –
either phonological or grammatical.
2) Intensive Type
Intensive type is designed to practice some phonological or
grammatical aspect of language. Intensive speaking can be
self-initiated or it can be even form part of some pair work activity.
3) Responsive Type
Responsive is short replies to teacher or students initiated
questions or comments which are usually sufficient and do not extend
in dialogue.
4) Transactional (dialogue)
Transactional (dialogue) is extended form of responsive language.
It is not just limited to give the short respond but it can convey or
exchange specific information.
5) Interpersonal (dialogue)
Interpersonal dialogue is designed for the purpose of maintaining
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This conversation involves some or all the following factors:
a) A causal register
b) Colloquial language
c) Emotionally charge language
d) Slang
e) Ellipsis
f) Sarcasm
g) A covert agenda
6) Extensive (monologue)
The forms of monologues are oral reports, summaries, or perhaps,
short speeches. These monologues can be planned or impromptu. This
speech is designed for the students at intermediate to advanced levels.
c. Methods in Speaking Activity
Harmer (1998: 131) offers some methods in speaking activity,
1) Use pair works (group work). It will help to provoke quiet students to talk.
When they are with one or two or three other students, they are not under
so much pressure as they speak in front of the whole class;
2) Allow the students to speak in a controlled way. Teacher should give
opportunities to quit students by asking them questions related to the
material given;
3) Use acting out and reading aloud. Getting students to act out dialogue is
one of encouraging quiet students. However, acting out does not just mean
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4) Use ‘role play’. Many students speak more freely when they are playing a
role or when they do not have to be themselves;
5) Use the tape recorder. The teachers can tell the students to record what
they would like to say, outside the lesson. The teacher then listens to the
tape and points out possible errors.
Selecting appropriate techniques in speaking is not an easy task for the
teachers. They should consider some factors. The problems arisen in the class and
the aim of the teaching learning process should be regarded.
B. Interview
1. Definition of Interview
According to Heilke in www.uwrf.edu/ccs,interview isa mutual exchange
of information that has a main objective to communicate information about skills
and qualifications clearly and accurately. Adhisupo (2005: 12-15) also states that
interview is always has an intention to gain news, information, or opinion related
to one’s authority.. Related to this definition, the interviewer should have a
purpose in conducting the interview.
Samin in
http://syamsulbahrisamin.blogspot.com/2008/05/teknik-wawancara.html states:
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Based on this definition, it can be concluded that interview is a technique
that is used to collect information that can be done face to face, or through
medium. This medium can be in the form of phone, internet, or letter.
Farr in Dale (1997: 9) states that interview is a social encounter between
two or more individuals with words as the medium of exchange. It is a peculiar
form of conversation in which the ritual of turn-taking is more formalized than in
the commoner and more informal encounters of everyday life. In this definition,
Farr differentiates conversation and interview. He regards that interview is more
formal than conversation.
Rasyid in http://lgsp.wordpress.com/2006/09/29/teknik-wawancara/ states
that:
Interview atau wawancara adalah salah satu cara mendapatkan informasi bahan berita. Biasanya dilakukan oleh satu atau dua orang wartawan dengan seseorang atau sekelompok orang yang menjadi sumber berita. Lazimnya dilakukan atas permintaan atau keinginan wartawan yang bersangkutan. Berbeda dengan Jumpa pers atau konverensi pers yang dilaksanakan atas kehendak sumber berita.
In this definition, Rasyid says that interview can be classified into two kinds. They
are one to one interview and group interview.
Moleong (2007: 186) states “Wawancara adalah percakapan yang
dilakukan oleh dua pihak yaitu interviewer yang mengajukan pertanyaan dan
interviewee yang memberikan jawaban atas pertanyaan itu dengan maksud
tertentu”. While Iskandar Norman in
http://www.acehforum.or.id/teknik-wawancara-t22798.html says “Wawancara adalah tanya jawab dengan seseorang
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masalah”. From these two definition, it can be drawn a conclusion that a
conversation can be called as an interview if there is a purpose in conducting it.
Interviewing is an interactional communication process between two
parties, at least one whom has a predetermined and serious purpose, that involve
the asking and answering questions (Steward, 2006: 9). This definition
encompasses a wide variety of interview settings that require training, preparation,
interpersonal skill, flexibility, and willingness to face risks involved in intimate,
person to person interaction. Interviewing is learned, not an inherited skill and art,
and perhaps the first hurdle to overcome is the assumption that the people do it
well because they do it so often.
From the definition above, it can be concluded that interview is a
technique that is used to gain information from the interviewee. The interview is
an important means of gathering data about one individual by another or others. It
provides the vehicle which allows one individual to express views and opinions to
others in structured or unstructured ways. This views or opinions here can be in
the form of news, opinion, or comment. The main purpose of an interview is to
enable the exchange of information so that both parties are able to find the
information conveyed in their conversation. As a technique, it is clear that
interview needs an ability to speak fluently and accurately.
2. Parties in Interview
Interview may involve two or more people. However, it never involves
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that two parties, this is no longer called as interview but a small group interaction.
Both parties speak and listen from time to time, are likely to ask and answer
questions, and take on the roles and responsibilities if interviewer and interviewee.
Neither party can sit back and expect the other to make the interview a success
single-handedly. As a result, each communicator has the opportunity to change
how things are going at any time in the process.
Participants' roles are specified, in that one person is the interviewer and
the other is the interviewee (although in practice more than two people may be
involved) and each has a fairly clear idea of the type of behavior which is
expected. The objective for the interviewer is to obtain and interpret information
from the interviewee in order to make a decision or take some action. On the other
hand, the interviewee has a duty to give the required information to the
interviewer.
3. Kinds of Interview
Wallace (1998: 146) classifies interview into three terms. They are:
a. Structured Interview
In this case, interview has a very tight structure, and in which the
questions will probably be read from a carefully prepared interview schedule,
similar to questionnaire but used orally. Structured interviews have therefore
most of the advantages and disadvantages of questionnaires. The main
disadvantage is that it obviously takes much longer to implement
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interview is that misunderstanding, or lack of understanding, can be
immediately sorted out during the exchange.
b. Unstructured Interview
In this format of interview, an interview must have some kind of
structure otherwise it would simply be a conversation. It means that the
interviewer must have a research purpose in mind when initiating the
interview. Another necessary element of structure is that the interviewee must
know that he or she is taking part in an interview, and should preferably also
know what the purpose of an interview is. An unstructured interview can be
quite free-wheeling, without losing sight of the research purpose. Although
this type of interview may seem more casual, the interviewer must still be well
prepared and know the points he wants. This open-ended approach may
engender a relaxed atmosphere where personal data can be revealed which
might otherwise be withheld in a more formal setting.
c. Semi-structured Interview
This type of interview is a blend of the structured and unstructured
formats. There will almost certainly be a prepared interview schedule, but
most of the questions will probably be open questions. Semi structure
interviews therefore combine a certain degree of control with a certain amount
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USC Career Planning & Placement Center (http://careers.usc.edu) classifies
interview into:
a. Traditional Face-to-Face Interview
Most interviews are face-to-face. The most traditional is a one-on-one
conversation. The focus should be on the person asking questions. Maintain
eye contact, listen and respond once a question has been asked.
b. Panel/Committee Interview
In this situation, there is more than one interviewer. Typically, three to
ten members of a panel may conduct this part of the selection process. This is
the interviewer chance to put his or her group management and group
presentation skills on display. In panel interview, the interviewer should
maintain primary eye contact with the panel member who asked the question.
c. Behavioral Interview
The basic purpose of this type of interview is to find past behavior as
the predictor of interviewee’s future actions. It is usually used in job
interview. These types of questions may be asked in any interview format—
telephone, panel or one-on-one. With a behavioral question, the interviewer is
looking for results, not just an activity list. They are listening for names, dates,
places, the outcome and especially what your role was in achieving that
outcome. This type of question generally starts with the words “Give me an
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d. Case InterviewIn some type of interview, the interviewee is asked to demonstrate his
problem-solving skills. The interviewer will outline a situation or provide him
with a case study and ask him to formulate a plan that deals with the problem.
This is the only interview where it is fine, even encouraged, to bring a pad and
pencil. Most interviewers will allow the interviewee to take notes.
e. Telephone Interview
This is an interview which is conducted by telephone. It is usually used
in by organization in recruiting employee. It may be used as a preliminary
interview for candidates who live far away from the job site.
f. Group Interview
A group interview is usually designed to uncover the leadership
potential of prospective managers and employees who will be dealing with
customers. The front-runner candidates are gathered together in an informal,
discussion type interview. A subject is introduced and the interviewer will
start off the discussion. The goal of the group interview is to see how the
interviewees interact with others and how they use their knowledge and
reasoning to influence others.
g. Lunch/Dinner Interview
Lunch/dinner interview is conducted in the meal time. The same rules
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h. Stress InterviewThis form of interview is usually used in job interview, especially in
sales positions and is rare today. The stress interview is usually a deliberate
attempt to see how the interviewee handles himself under pressure. The
interviewer may be sarcastic or argumentative, or may keep interviewee
waiting. The interviewer may also lapse into silence at some point during the
questioning. This may be an attempt to unnerve him.
Example stress interview questions:
1) Sticky situation: "If you caught a colleague cheating on his expenses, what
would you do?"
2) Putting you on the spot: "How do you feel this interview is going?"
3) Popping the balloon: "(deep sigh) Well, if that's the best answer you can
give ... (shakes head) Okay, what about this one ...?"
4) Oddball question: "What would you change about the design of the hockey
stick?"
5) Doubting your veracity: "I don't feel like we're getting to the heart of the
matter here. Start again - tell me what really makes you tick."
Based on the total amount of the participants, Dale (1997: 27) proposes
three types of interview:
a. One to one interview
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b. Panel interviewThe interview is conducted among an interviewee and some
interviewers.
c. Small group
Small group of interviewers can be used to conduct in-depth or
technical discussions with candidates. They also provide a means of involving
staff and key others in the process without giving them direct influence on the
appointment decision.
d. Sequential interview
Sequential interviews are very similar to small group interviews.
Several interviews are held, one following the other, and each is conducted by
one person who explores particular aspects, such as experience, technical
knowledge, managerial approaches, attitudes to quality, etc.
4. Some Activities for Practicing Interviews
According to Heilke in http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/mla/assess, there
are some activities in practicing interview:
a. Teachers or students can identify possible jobs using want ads or government
publications. With a partner, student list questions that they anticipate may be
asked in a particular job interview. They write answers to the questions, and
then take turns role playing the interview. After each interview, they should
review their performance. Students can be chosen to role play good interview
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b. At the beginning of a course, students prepare questions to ask a peer. They
interview the person and, with that information, introduce their partner to the
class. A variation would have students presenting an award to their partner
(e.g., most likely to succeed in the hockey world, the next Oscar-winning
actor, the top engineering graduate). Props, such as home made trophies, can
be presented.
c. Students can role play characters from literature and the media. For example,
Oprah interviews Polonius concerning the relationship between Ophelia and
Hamlet, or Jay Leno interviews Jem Finch ten years after To Kill a
Mockingbird ends.
d. With a partner, students can prepare and conduct a mock telephone interview with a well-known author, sports figure, or literary character.
5. The benefit of Using Interview
Brown (1994: 178) states that interview for pair work enables the students
engaged in interactive communication for a short period of time with minimum
logistical problems. It means that interview invites the students to speak actively
because there is an interesting atmosphere among them. They can share their idea
freely without any pressure from the teacher or any fear of making mistakes.
Interview itself forces the students to speak actively. Interview is
considered as a popular activity for work pair, but also appropriate for group
work. Beside that, interview is useful at all levels of proficiency. At the lower
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sought and the grammatical difficulty and variety. At the higher levels, interview
can probe more complex facts, opinion, ideas, and feelings. People use interview
to establish relationships through personal expression, to find out information, and
to compare views with others. It provides a means for sharing experiences and
solving problems.
The technique of interview can also be used as one of the type of cooperative
learning. McGroarty in Kessler (1992: 2) identifies six primaries benefits of
interview as one technique of cooperative learning for students. They are:
a. Increased frequency and variety of second language practice through different
types of interaction
b. Possibility for development or use of the first language in ways that support
cognitive development and increased second language skill
c. Opportunities to integrate language with content-based instruction
d. Opportunities to include a greater variety of curricular materials to stimulate
language as well as concept learning
e. Freedom for teachers to master new professional skills, particularly those
emphasizing communication
f. Opportunities for students to act as resources for each other, thus assuming a
more active role in their learning.
Kagan and Olsen in Kessler (1992: 7) also summarize the benefits of
interview as one of the type of cooperative learning in three major benefits,
they are:
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b. Addressing content area learning and language development needs within the
same organizational frame work
c. The variety of ways to structure student practice with lesson material increases
opportunities for individualized instruction, such as peer-provided
clarifications
From the explanation of the theories above, it is clearly stated that the
researcher uses interview to improve students’ speaking skill. The researcher uses
this technique by asking the students to be an interviewer and an interviewee.
Then, the students who pretend as the interviewer must ask questions as much as
possible in order to find required information related to the topic. At that time, the
interviewees have to answer the question. After that, they have to change their
position. Here, interview that is implemented is used to measure the students’
speaking skill in appropriateness, vocabulary, grammatical accuracy,
intelligibility, fluency, and relevance and adequacy of content.
C. Rationale
Speaking is a process in which the speakers express their idea to the
listeners. It is a complex skill, which requires a creative process of the speaker in
formulating what he is saying in a reciprocal exchange involving reception, and
production skill in which requires intelligibility, accuracy, appropriateness, and
fluency in its process. However, the results of teaching and learning speaking are
not satisfactory yet. The pre-research shows that the students’ achievement and
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as a technique in classroom action research that is used to improve the students’
speaking skill. Interview itself is defined as a technique that is used to gain
information from the interviewee. The interview is an important means of
gathering data about one individual by another or others. It provides the vehicle
which allows one individual to express views and opinions to others in structured
ways. The main purpose of an interview is to enable the exchange of information
so that both parties are able to find the information conveyed in their
conversation.
Interview is believed as an effective technique that can improve
students’ speaking skill. There are several reasons how interview can improve
students’ speaking ability. Firstly, one of the characteristics of interview is
purposeful talk. It means that it is through language that learners come to
understand ideas. Thus, by giving them a wide chance in the form of interview, it
can improve the students’ speaking skill.
Secondly, in interview learning, students’ accountability is demanded.
Therefore, although a student doesn’t have willing to speak, he will be encouraged
by the situation in this learning since they are demanded to share the idea and
information with each other in order to complete the assignment. Thus, although
students work together, each is individually accountable to the group and the
teacher for completion of his/her own assignment or portion of it and for helping
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In interview learning, there are a lot of interactions happened. Because it
offers a highly interactive learning experience, the interview strategy supports the
communicative approach in language teaching. Each student studies and rehearses
material with a specific purpose of mind: to be able to teach or tell to the others in
the group the main points and important details of his or her own piece of
information and then evaluate and synthesize it in order to learn or complete a
task. Thus speaking ability of the students can be improved.
D. Action Hyphothesis
Considering carefully the theory underlying speaking skill and interview,
the researcher proposes an action hypothesis: interview can improve the speaking
skill of the eleventh year students of SMA N 1 Surakarta in 2009/2010 academic
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CHAPTER III
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
A. Research Setting
1. The Place of the Research
This classroom action research was carried out in SMA Negeri 1
Surakarta. This senior high school is located at Jl. Monginsidi No. 40 Phone
(0271) 652975 Fax (0271) 635227. The location of the class is in a quiet
settlement environment so it is conducive enough to study since it is not so
crowded. It is also a strategic place and easy to be reach since it is near from
highway. Actually, some buildings border SMA Negeri 1 Surakarta. There is SMP
Kristen 3 Surakarta in the north side, Universitas Kristen Surakarta on the east
side, residents’ houses on the south side and SMA Negeri 2 Surakarta on the west
side.
SMA Negeri 1 Surakarta has three grades of class. They are the tenth
grade, the eleventh grade and the twelfth grade. The tenth grade consists of 10
classes of SBI (Sekolah Bertaraf Internasional) and two classes of Acceleration.
The eleventh grade consists of three classes of social classes, seven classes of
science classes, and three classes of SBI classes. The twelfth grade consists of
three social classes and seven science classes. Each regular class consists of 36 up
to 40 students, while SBI an Acceleration classes consist of 26 up to 35 students.
Therefore there are many classrooms in SMA Negeri 1 Surakarta. Beside the
classrooms, there are many buildings in SMA Negeri 1 Surakarta. They are
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teacher office, headmaster office, administration office, library, computer rooms,
language rooms, laboratories, hall, cafeterias, and mosque.
SMA Negeri 1 Surakarta uses KTSP (Kurikulum Tingkat Satuan
Pendidikan) curriculum as the basis of teaching and learning processes.
Instructional processes are done in six days from Monday up to Saturday. The
students start to learn from 07.00 a.m. and they finish the lesson at 13.45 p.m. on
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. While on Friday, they
finish it at 11.00.a.m. SMA Negeri 1 Surakarta has a good accreditation and
achievement because it is regarded as the best school in Surakarta.
2. Time of the Research
The research was carried out since April 2009 – January 2010. This
research was conducted from the time the writer did pre-research, did the
research, and up to the time when she wrote the thesis.
The complete schedule of the research is provided in the table below:
No. Activity Time of Research
1.
Taking the data of the research
Writing report
Dec 2009 - Januari 2010
January 2010
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B. The Subject of the Research
The subject of the research was the eleventh grade students of SMA
Negeri 1 Surakarta. The second grade students of SMA Negeri 1 Surakarta are
divided into seven science classes, three social classes, and three SBI classes.
Each of science classes consists of 36up to 40 students, while social and SBI
classes consist of 26 up to 35 students. In this research, the writer chose class XI
IA 4 as the subject of the research. This class consists of 37 students: 20 boys and
17 girls.
The students of XI IA 4 come from different social backgrounds.
Economically, they are classified into medium to high level. Most of their parents
work in institution and business. Psychologically, the students of XI IA 4 are far
from under pressured condition. They are cheerful and free from threatening
situation, even though there are some students who are shy to actively participate
in teaching and learning process.
The researcher chose class XI IA 4 as the subject of the research based
on a fact that several of the students were clever and very active while the others
were very passive in teaching learning process. It means that the students’
motivation in learning was still low because they had low desire in studying
English. Besides, there was evidence from the pre-test that their achievement in
speaking was not too good. The researcher conducted the study through teaching
and learning process by employing interview in teaching speaking. In this
research, the researcher was as the teacher and the real English teacher there was
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C. The Method Of The Research
The research method used in this study is Action Research (AR). Mills
(2000: 5) proposes action research as systematic inquiry done by the teachers or
other individuals in teaching or learning environment to gather information about
and subsequently improve the ways their particular school operates, how they
teach, and how well the students learn.
Based on the above statements, it can be concluded that action research
is an attempt to improve something in which participants examine their own social
or educational practices systematically and carefully using the technique done by
the teachers or in collaboration of teachers and researchers by means of their own
reflection upon the effect of those action. The fundamental objective of action
research is to improve practice rather than to produce knowledge. It is carried out
to feed practical judgment in concrete situations.
There are many advantages of conducting action research. They are as
follows:
1. The teacher will be more challenged to solve the problem
2. It gives opportunity for the teacher to adapt the theory which they
get in the practices.
3. The result of the study is more significant.
4. It brings the research (research finding) that is really needed in the
classroom
