CONVERSATIONAL SKILLS USED IN
THE CONVERSATION OF PAIRED
STUDENTS OF DIFFERENT
ENGLISH MASTERY
A THESIS
Submitted to the Graduate Program of English Applied Linguistics
In Partial Fulfillment for the Degree of
MASTER IN HUMANITIES
BY
ARMINA
Registration Number : 082188310038
ENGLISH APPLIED LINGUISTICS STUDY PROGRAM
GRADUATE PROGRAM
ABSTRACT
ARMINA. Conversational Skills used in the Conversation of Paired
Students of Different English Mastery. Thesis. The Graduate
Department of English Applied Linguistics. State University of Medan (SUT – UNIMED). Medan. 2013
Acknowledgements
Thesis writing is not as easy as it seems because of several factors. First, it
requires serious thinking about choosing the topic to be discussed. Second, there
should be a deeper understanding of the research procedures. Third, there should
enough motivation to complete the academic assignment to earn a degree. In this
case, the writer realizes that completing such as a task is difficult as she still lacks
the knowledge to conduct a scientific research which can contribute to the
development of knowledge. Despite the many difficulties she was convinced that
she would be able to accomplish it by the assistance of her professional lectures.
This thesis of course would not have been completed as it is without their
assistance.
On this particular occasion, the writer would like to thank her first
consultant, Prof. Dr. Lince Sihombing, M.Pd, who has given her valuable time to
check the contents of this thesis as well as guided her to finish it in due time. She
has always provided information and advice in dealing with the procedures of
doing the research. Avery special appreciation and appraisal is especially directed
to her for being such a wise lecturer and great care to her students.
Also, she feels obged to thank her second consultant, Prof. Dr. Berlin
Sibarani, M.Pd, for his invaluablthe criticism and contribution to make the thesis
scientifically worthwhile as required by the state university of Medan. His sincere
attention to her is highly appreciated. Similarly, she whishes to express her thanks
to Prof. Dr. Busmin, M.Pd, Head of the English Applied Linguistics Study
Program for his professional guidance and support in settling the administrative
procedures. Also, she is obliged to thank her husband Rajes Tampubolon, for her
sincere attention and love to her needs so that she could achieve the success in
completing her studies at State University of Medan.
Next, she should express her gratitude to her beloved mother Loide br
Pangaribuan and parents-in law Pdt. K. Tampubolon and L. Br Silaban who have
given her the best education to be more mature and responsible for the future life.
Their never-ending love is the inspiration that has led her to realize her power in
Further, her thanks also go to Dra. Renata Nasution, M.Si, Principle of
SMA Negeri 19 Medan, for her cooperative attitude in allowing her to continue
her studies and conduct the research in the school. All the writer’s friends and other lectures whose names are not mentioned her should also receive his
appreciation for their encouragement that has made her achieve the success.
Finally, the thesis is dedicated to those who wish to learn more about
reading comprehension. All the errors in this thesis are her sole responsibility.
Medan, Oktober 2013 The writer,
Armina
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.5 The Significance of the Study ... 10
CHAPTER TWO : REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.5 Different Mastery of English ... 47
2.6 Gender ... 51
CHAPTER FOUR : DATA AND DATA ANALYSIS 4.1 The Development of Conversational Skills . 57 4.2 Students’ Reasons for Using the Skills ... 74
4.3 The Findings ... 76
4.4 Discussion ... 78
CHAPTER FIVE : CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 5.1 The Conclusions ... 80
5.2 The Suggestions ... 80
REFERENCES ... 82
APPENDIX 1 : Conversation (high vs high) ... 85-87
APPENDIX 2 : Conversation (medium vs medium) ... 87-90
APPENDIX 3 : Conversation (low vs low) ... 90-91
APPENDIX 4 : Conversation (high vs medium) ... 91-94
APPENDIX 5 : Conversation (high vs low) ... 94-95
APPENDIX 6 : Conversation (medium vs low) ... 95
APPENDIX 7 : Rubric for Assessment on Conversational Skills .. 96
APPENDIX 8 : Interview Summary on Students’ Reasons to
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1The Background of the Study
Students who are required to speak English especially in a conversation
must face many problems. First, they should know the two main functions of
language namely interaction and transaction (Yule, 1985:54). The interaction is
aimed at building a social relation among the speakers of the language. Social
interaction requires the students to understand the cultural norms and values of the
people who use the language. In a conversation, for instance, they have to be
familiar with expressions that deal with personal feelings. Second, they should
know the difference between interaction and transaction which can occur
separately or at the same time. The transaction has the purpose of transmitting
information. Therefore, the students ought to know the certain expressions that
can convey the meaning of communication. Scientific discussion is an example of
transaction.
In fact, the interaction and transaction can occur in the same conversation.
For instance, they can start the talk by using the greetings and social expressions
that make the personal relation more intimate. Later they can exchange
information that is essential to their life development and progress. The pressure
of life requires them to know as much information as possible.
Speaking is a difficult skill to acquire. There are several reasons that can
ready to welcome the ideas of other people. They should also feel confident in
expressing themselves by using the common expressions. If they cannot maintain
the conversation, the speakers will not feel satisfied.
In terms of communication, the problems are mainly concerned with the
nature of the conversation. A conversation is an exchange of information that
should be familiar with them. Thus, there is a topic to discuss between the two
speakers.
In the process of speaking English, the conversation can be maintained to
the end when the topic is well understood by the two speakers. The topic becomes
the center of the conversation.
The procedures of conducting a conversation may be seen as a continuum.
First, one speaker starts the conversation by uttering a greeting or any
expression that attracts the attention of another speaker as a listener. The second
speaker then responds to the utterance either by uttering another greeting or any
expression that makes the conversation interesting to be maintained. An
interesting conversation is needed when the two speakers want to express more. It
motivates them to contribute something to the interaction.
Second, the two speakers will take turns in expressing themselves. There
can be a clue or signal that one speaker hear before he takes his turn. For example,
the second speaker as the listener may feel that he should say something new or
different to what the first speaker has said. In this case, turn-taking is an important
aspect of the conversational interaction. If one speaker just keeps silent most of
conversation becomes boring because the two speakers give unequal amount of
information. In other words, one speaker should be able to read the signal when he
will take his turn. He cannot be silent all the time. The speaker who takes his turn
normally knows when to interrupt the conversation.
Third, when the conversation goes on, the two speakers are supposed to
enjoy it. The exchange of information goes from one speaker to another in the
form of take-and-give manner. One speaker can tell more about the topic being
discussed, however, the other speaker should also use his right or privilege to say
something else. There can be an argument between the two. But that is not the
main thing to notice in the conversation. It is the process of starting and ending
the conversation which becomes the focus of attention.
When one speaker has to say something different, this is the time of
changing or shifting the topic. This is possible because the mind of the speaker is
creative. He can relate one idea with another. Some information is related to some
ideas in the form of a continuous interaction. Topic shifting is another aspect of
the conversational interaction. It is not easy to predict when one speaker shifts the
topic. But it is possible to know if there is topic shifting during the conversation.
The key words related to the topic can show if the topic has been shifted or not.
Topic maintenance is focused on the constant contribution to the content of the
topic. A speaker may say more on purpose or spontaneously to make the
conversation more interesting and open another chance for the other speaker to
Certainly there are factors that influence the process of the conversation in
the communicative interaction. Since the conversation is in English, the grammar
of the language is an essential requirement for the speakers. When a sentence is
grammatically wrong, the meaning can be confusing. The meaning of the sentence
is a contributing factor to the success of making a conversation. Another factor is
concerned with the vocabulary or words that are used. This is the concern of
diction. The vocabulary used should be related to the topic being discussed.
General vocabulary is mainly about daily activities such as “ go, walk, sit, sleep”
and so on. Academic vocabulary consists of words that are mainly used for
academic purposes by university students and lecturers such as “rotate, facilitate,
consume, organize ” and so on. Technical vocabulary deals with specific words by
experts of a particular science or technology such as “bluetooth, internet, gadget,
conductor” and so on.
The other factor is concerned with the pronunciation of the words. Since
English is unphonetic, it is important for the speakers to pronounce words. The
wrong pronunciation can create the wrong meaning and misunderstanding
between the two speakers. However, in the interaction, there is a clarification
about the meanings that exist in the conversation. The clarification can be applied
to the topic itself or to the mispronunciation of the words that the two speakers
know.
In the writer’s observation, these things are not practically applied.The
third year students (12th graders) of SMA (Senior High School) have a hard time
vocabulary and certain expressions for the purpose of communication. According
to the SMA curriculum, the students ought to be able to express simple ideas
about their personal experiences. This is the reality in the field. The writer has
seen the weakness of most of the students who are not very proficient in this
international language. Despite the given materials that are sufficient for the
practice and exercises of conversation, this reality exists most of the time. It
needs a kind of resolution.
Textbook conversations can be modified to meet the purpose of
communicating well. There can be expressions that should be introduced to them
at an early stage of learning English. The conversational skills are also the
element of success in conducting a conversation.
Certainly, the gap between the reality and expecatation is the problem to
be solved in the field. The reality is clear enough when the writer has practiced the
conversations with her students at school. The expectations are those things that
have been mentioned earlier. They should be able to talk in English without much
hangup or discontent. Doing a research in this area can help the writer find the
solution to the existing problem. The writer should get the data in the form of
conversation for the analysis of the facts discovered in the conversations.
The success of the conversation depends on the conversational skills
applied by the two students or speakers. The skills can make them maintain the
conversation to the end until the two speakers are satisfied. Such skills can be
various expressions by one another, the speakers will get the meanings of
sentences more clearly.
It is true that in a conversation or speaking interaction, speakers are not
always aware of the grammatical mistakes. But they surely know what message
they want to express. In other words, they know the “what” to say but they lack
the knowledge of “how” to say in the linguistic sense. This is due to the fact that
they have not mastered the grammar of English. Often they translate their native
language expressions into English which lead to more confusion. When they are
criticized for being unable to produce correct expressions, then, they will
withdraw from the action. As a result, the speakers tend to be passive and timid in
performing the conversation.
In the writer’s opinion, students of Indonesian language should be taught
certain skills for maintaining a conversation. They need to know what makes them
unable to contribute to an interesting conversation. These skills will be familiar
with them when they have the chance to practice their English in daily
conversations. In this case, the writes wants to make a research on what skills the
students use and develop to maintain conversations in English.
The skills that the students use in maintaining their conversations can be
observed or evaluated from the nature or theory of conversation. Basically, there
are 3 discourse structures of a conversation namely turn-taking, topic shifting and
encyclopedic knowledge (Hudson, 1980:134). These 3 structures will appear in the
conversation that can lead the speakers or students to apply the conversational
The skill for turn-taking is important because a speaker should know how
and when to interrupt the other speaker. It is quite boring when only one speaker
dominates the conversation. The interesting conversation as the two speakers
really want to experience is when they can contribute something equally. Of
course, there is no clear-cut fifty-fifty between the two. However, the speakers
know that they should enjoy the conversation through the sharing of ideas
(Hudson.1980:136)
The skill for topic-shifting is another one to be noted. The students who
have the chance to express themselves will automatically have the desire to shift
(change) the topic so that their conversation will be interesting. The more
information there is, the better for them to communicate with each other. In other
words, the emphasis of communication is on the content of the language. The
topic is in the center of the conversation which can be shifted so that there will be
more information exchanged. However, the students should be able to use
meaningful expressions to show the shift. For instance, the expressions like “
Talking about...”, “By the way...”, “Do you mean that....?” can suggest the
possible topic shift in a conversation (Hudson, 1980:160)
The skill for encyclopedic knowledge in this case can be divided into 2
skills such as the topic clarification and topic maintenance because the topic
contains the knowledge to be shared. If one speaker wants to contribute more to
the conversation, he can do it in two ways -- by clarifying what has been talked
about through question and by adding more knowledge as the spontaneous
been given to make the conversation go on. The topic clarification can go on from
one topic to another or within the same topic depending on the amount of
knowledge being transmitted. In the topic maintenance, the speaker adds more
and more information by assuming that the other speaker has no confusion about
the given information. When one speaker is not satisfied with the explanation of
the other speaker, then, topic clarification may help to bridge the gap between the
two speakers. The gap is concerned with the amount of knowledge that one
speaker has. (Hudson, 1980:167)
The gap can be acceptable because it is a fact that every speaker has a
different amount of knowledge. It is said that, in the case of a class, one student
may be cleverer than the other. The evidence is that one student may know the
answer to a difficult question while the other student just keeps silent. Thus, the
encyclopedic knowledge is all the information that one speaker can disseminate to
his speaking partner. By applying the topic clarification and topic maintenance
skills, the gap of knowledge can be minimized so that the conversation will be
balanced.
The scenario of the conversation can be described as follows: two students
of the same or mixed gender speak to each other in English. They have a desire to
maintain the conversation and make it an interesting one. After some greetings or
opening phrases, the two students get involved in talking about a certain issue or
topic. The two may agree either to maintain the conversation to the end without
shifting to another topic or to shift the topic so that more knowledge is shared and
two students can have the same perception or opinion about the topic. They must
have the same basic knowledge or background in order to maintain the
conversation to the end. The satisfaction is achieved when the two agree
instinctively or on purpose to end the conversation. As the conversation goes on,
there is a process of turn-taking, topic shiting and topic clarification and topic
maintenance happening to end the conversation.
For the purpose of research, the writer believes that whatever the students
say in a conversation must be taken into account. The utterances in the form of a
word, phrases, sentences or expressions can be regarded as the data for the
analysis on the students’ conversational skills.
Thus, the purpose of the research is to find out the conversational skills
that are used and developed paired students of different English mastery in their
daily or free conversations, and then the writer can understand more about the
nature of conversation and the challenges that the students face in mastering
English. Certainly, a new discovery can contribute more information about the
problems of conducting a conversation between two or more speakers or students
in general. The writer hopes that this reaserch will show how the students actually
attempt to maintain a conversation through the three skills as mentioned in the
theory of conversation.
1.2The Problems of the Study
1) How do the 12th - grade students of SMA Negeri 19, Medan with
different mastery of English develop the conversational skills?
2) Why do they use the skills the way they do?
1.3 The Objective of the Study
The objective of this study is to find out how conversational skills are applied
or developed by the students in conducting their conversations in English and by
two students of different proficiency level or mastery of English.
1.4 The Scope of the Study
Conversational skills consist of three discourse structures of a
conversation. The turn-taking, topic shifting and encyclopedic knowledge (topic
clarification and topic maintenance) are interwoven in a conversation. It means
that the four skills are needed to maintain a conversation so that the speakers feel
satisfied at the end of the talk. The application of these skills can be observed and
evaluated by analyzing all that has been uttered by two students. The utterances
are the data for the confirmation of the conversational skills as found in the
transcriptions of the recorded conversations.
1.5The Significance of the Study
The results of analysis in this research will be useful and meaningful for:
1) Teachers of English who want to improve their students’ conversational
skills by understanding the conversational skills that can be taught to them.
2) Students who will experience and enjoy the daily and free conversations in
which they can learn how to contribute more information to maintain the
conversation for the satisfaction of the speakers.
3) Textbook writers who will design conversations not only for the teaching
of grammar but also for the application of the effective conversational
skills.
B. Practically
1) Teachers who can use the effective conversational skills as explained in
this study for the students’ practice through the demonstration of conducting
the conversations.
2) Students who will practice the daily and free conversations which give
them a chance to share knowledge.
3) Readers in general who will be able to understand the nature of
conversation as a means of disseminating knowledge.
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS
5.1 The Conclusions
The six conversations transcribed showed the existence of the four
conversational skills applied by the 12th graders of SMA Negeri 19, Medan.
The turn-taking was dominantly initiated by patterns of question and
answer pattern, interruption and elicitation. Cooperativeness was also
demonstrated. The topic shifting was initiated by the need to switch to another
topic based on the key words provided in the prevous sentence which triggered a
comment. The topic clarification was initiated by questions and statements. The
topic maintenance was initiated by personal opinions. The students had varied
reasons which reflect the psychological problems in speaking English.
Conversation is not taken for granted. It is a complex social and pragmatic
interaction in which the speakers are required to know more about a topic and
contribute more information to the topic for the maintenance of the conversation
to the satisfaction of both speakers.
5.2 The Suggestions
Improving the skills to speak English rquires some knowledge about the
nature of conversation. It is, therefore, important to know the skills so that the
students can speak fluently. Considering the problems dealing with the skills, the
1) Students should be able to know the discourse structure of a conversation
which can also be regarded as the conversational skills.
2) Students should be encouraged to tell anything or everything they think is
relevant to the topic.
3) Students should be motivated to try their expressions in the interaction
with their partners for more effective communication.
4) Teachers should learn how to handle a conversation so that they can also
teach it more effectively.
5) Teachers should explore the different skills so that they can teach the
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