B. Some Basic Concept
2. Teaching Speaking Skills
According to the experience of some foreign language learners, most difficulties are found in the productive skill. According to the Common European Framework, the process of English learning is divided into productive and receptive. Productive skills consist of speaking and writing. These skills are significant because they permit learners to perform in communicative aspects such as oral presentations, written studies and other reports. There are many
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definitions of the word “speak” that have been suggested by researchers in language learning. In Webster's New World Dictionary, speaking is speaking words verbally, communicating as by speaking, to make requests, and to make speeches.
a. Speaking
1) Definition of Speaking.
Speaking is a skill that deserves attention in first and second languages. Learning speaking skills is the most important aspect of learning a second or foreign language and success is measured by the ability to have a conversation in that language (Nunan, 1995). Speaking is one of the most important of the four language skills because individuals who learn language are called language speakers (Ur, 1996).
Speaking is an important skill because it is used as a tool to express opinions directly from the mouth (Idrus, 2019).
Speaking is an oral communication tool that provides information involving two elements, namely speakers who provide messages and listeners who get messages, in other words communication involves productive skills (Widdowson, 1985).
Productive skills or especially speaking involve many components, such as grammar, strategy, sociolinguistics, and discourse (Chastain, 1998). One important aspect of speaking
is the presence of communication or interaction between speakers and listeners, so that it will trigger interest and good understanding of the topic object, (Idrus, 2019).
2) Purpose of Speaking.
Tarigan (1990: 16) states that speaking has three important goals, those are:
a) To Inform.
Speakers inform listeners of everything they want or need, and also inform them of ideas they want to share.
b) To Cheer Up.
Speakers can express their feelings and listeners are expected to know how to comfort them through this mutual communication.
c) To Persuade.
Everyone uses talking to persuade them to do certain activities.
3) Type of Speaking.
In general there are two types of spoken language, as follows (Nunan, 2016):
a) Monologue.
Monologue is a speech in which speakers use spoken language for a long period, such as in speeches, lecturers, reading, new broadcasts, and therefore the like, so
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listeners are required to process the information without interruption, and it will continue. Whether the listener understands or not what the speaker means.
b) Dialogue.
Unlike monologues dialogue is a conversation involving two or more speakers (Nunan, 2016). Instruction can occur in speech when the other person doesn't understand what the speaker is saying. There are two different types of speech, including planned speaking (such as lectures or wedding speeches) and unplanned speech, such as conversations that take place spontaneously (Harmer, 2007)
There are 3 types of speech classified based on the purpose of the assessment, including (Brown, 2020):
a) Imitation
At one end of the range of speech performances is the ability to simply imitate, a word or phrase or perhaps a feeling. This purely phonetic level of oral production, a number of prosodic, lexical, and grammatical traits of language that can be summed up in the performance criteria.
b) Intensive
The second type of speech that is often used in the context of assessment is the production of spoken language designed to demonstrate a competence in a narrow band of grammatical, phrase, lexical relationships from phonological relationships (such as intonation of periodic elements, stress, rhythm, intersection).
Examples of intensive assessment tasks include targeted response tasks, reading aloud, dialogue completion and cue-limited image assignments include simple sequences and relationships to simple sentence level.
c) Responsive.
Responsive assessment tasks include interaction and comprehension tests, but at a rather limited level of very short conversations, standard greetings and short chats, simple requests and comments, and the like.
4) Principles of Teaching Speaking.
There are several principles that must be understood by teachers, so that students learn English more easily. There are several principles in teaching language through speaking to students as follows( Finocchiaro, 1974):
a) The language material described must be in a situation where its meaning is clear. The important characteristics of the sound, structure, words and their
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arrangement in the pronunciation of the language used must be clearly given.
b) Good pronunciation must be shown to students correctly, so that students can distinguish each word and its meaning well when they produce language in speaking. In addition, sound and system, students must be taught structure language systems.
c) Students should be provided with an understanding of word order, inflection, derivation, and other meaningful features of the English language. For example, the teacher can give several sentences that use the same root using different patterns, then students are expected to be curious about the meaning that can be found by observing, asking questions. and finally they will caress the answer for themselves.
d) The essence of language learning through speaking is increasing the ability to ask questions, answer questions, make statements and respond appropriately.
Speaking is different from writing. Finocchiaro (1974:
20) states that the way to answer a question in speaking is usually simple compared to writing using a complete and correct sequence of sentences to answer a question.
e) Confirming student understanding. This can be accomplished using several steps to teach speaking.
First, choose material for an intensive, "active”
presentation. It is intended that students are interested in participating in the class to speak enthusiastically.
Second, rate it according to complexity. Providing material from the easiest to the most difficult. Good organization always makes it easier for students to understand. Third, sort according to the criteria for frequency of use. Fourth, arrange the speech model in such a way that it allows students to observe repetitive features, so that, the main rules can be understood.
f) Learning to speak is not the same as writing. Therefore, learning and practicing language through speaking will also be different. In spoken language, it not only requires competence to master and understand language, but teachers also need to study culture, gestures, and expressions that give additional meaning to words or sentences. The intonation pattern can also indicate how the speaker is feeling. it can suppress certain types of expressions.
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