Pojok Karya Guru dan Karyawan

THE WAY TO IMPROVE OUR SPEAKING SKILL

By: Erika Nova Aryana

The Understanding of Speaking

Speaking is the most natural way to communicate. Without speaking, people must remain in almost total of isolation from any kind of society. For most people the ability to speak a language in the same with knowing language since the speech is the most basic means of human communication. When we speak, a great deal more than just mouth is involved such as nose, pharynx, epiglottis, trachea, lungs, and more. But, speaking is not just making sound. Birds, animals, babies make sound and though it may be communication of sorts, it’s not speaking.

Actually, what is the meaning of speaking which is kind of English Language Skill, according to Henry Tarigan (1981: 15), speaking is a skill of conveying what a sound of articulation to express or to deliver ideas, opinions or feeling. In addition, Oxford Dictionary states that “speaking is to make use of language in an ordinary, not singing to state view, wishes etc or an act of spokesman.”

So we can conclude that basically speaking is a way to communicate with the other person that is actually has a purpose.

Problem in Speaking Activities

There are any factors that affect student oral communication ability. There are:

1.      Inhibition

Learners are often inhibited about trying to say things in a foreign language in the classroom: worried about making mistakes, fearful of critics or losing face, or simply shy of the attention that their speech attracts. Please don’t afraid being mistakes.

2.      Nothing to say

Even if they are not inhibited, you often hear learners complain that they cannot think of anything to say: they have no motive to express themselves beyond the guilty feeling that they should be speaking. It usually happened because we never or never research about everything so that we know nothing. It relates with the reading and listening because by those kinds of activities we know about information and the actual event or the important thing.

3.      We know but it is difficult to show up whatever we think

Sometimes it happens to the person who actually they want to speak out but they can’t speak although they have information. It relates to the confident of the people. Just believes that we can speak out and built our confident. If we never built our confident it means that we never speak out. Let’s we speak because nobody’s perfect so don’t afraid if there any mistake.

4.      Mother-tongue use

In classes where all, or a number of, the learners share the same mother tongue, they may tend to use it; because it is easier, because it feels unnatural to speak one to another in foreign language. We can’t also translate word by word our mother language to the foreign language, remember it.

How to Improve Our English Speaking Skill

1.      Practice where we can, when we can

Any practice is good whether we speak to someone who is a native English speaker or not.

2.      It’s important to built our confidence

We should try to become more hesitant and more confident.

3.      Try to use the word, phrase, or expression of English that we know

Use words and phrases that we know in new situations. Native English speakers are more likely to correct us if we have the wrong word than if we use the wrong grammar. Experimenting with vocabulary is a really good way of getting feedback.

4.      Try to respond to what people say to us

We can often get clues to what people think by looking at their body language. We should respond to them in a natural way.

5.      Try not to translate into and from our own language

This takes too much time and will make you more hesitant.

6.      Don’t speak to fast

It’s important to use a natural rhythm when speaking English, but if we speak too fast it will be difficult for people to understand us.

7.      Try to relax when we speak

We’ll find our mouth which most of the pronunciation work for us. When we speak English at normal speed, we’ll discover that many of the pronunciation skill, such as linking between words, will happen automatically.

8.      Don’t be shy to speak

The more we do it, the more confident we’ll become.