LUKITASARI (2008) “FOCUSING ON

THE STUDENTS’ STRATEGIES IN

OVERCOMING SPEAKING
PROBLEMS IN SPEAKING CLASS”
REPORTERS:
FRANCIS EDWARD L. CAMBA
VINCENT R. CAPANANG
DESIREE H. ESPINOZA
 “FOCUSING ON THE STUDENTS’ STRATEGIES IN
OVERCOMING SPEAKING PROBLEMS IN SPEAKING
CLASS”
ENGLISH IS TAUGHT AS AN INTEGRATED SUBJECT TO DEVELOP THE
STUDENTS’ LANGUAGE COMPETENCES. IT IS LEARNT BY THE
STUDENTS IN ORDER TO BE UTILIZED IN COMMUNICATION. THE
ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE, INCLUDING THE ABILITY TO SPEAK
ENGLISH IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE IT ENABLES THE STUDENTS TO
INTERACT WITH OTHERS. TO INCREASE THE SPEAKING ABILITY, THE
STUDENTS SHOULD PRACTICE IT REGULARLY.
 “FOCUSING ON THE STUDENTS’ STRATEGIES IN
OVERCOMING SPEAKING PROBLEMS IN SPEAKING
CLASS”
THIS STUDY FOCUSED ON STUDENTS’ STRATEGIES IN OVERCOMING
SPEAKING PROBLEMS AT SPEAKING CLASS AT FIRST SEMESTER STUDENTS
AT ENGLISH DEPARTMENT, AT UNIVERSITY OF MUHAMMADIYAH
MALANG.CONSEQUENTLY, THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO KNOW
WHAT PROBLEMS OF LEARNING SPEAKING ARE AND TO KNOW WHAT THE
STRATEGIES TO COPE SUCH PROBLEMS ARE. THERE WERE NINE CLASSES OF
SPEAKING AND THE RESEARCHER TOOK TWO CLASSES AS THE SAMPLE OF
THIS STUDY.
 “FOCUSING ON THE STUDENTS’ STRATEGIES IN
OVERCOMING SPEAKING PROBLEMS IN SPEAKING
CLASS”
THE RESULT OF THIS STUDY SHOWED THAT THE STUDENTS HAD PROBLEMS

WITH THEIR SPEAKING ABILITY, PARTICULARLY, INHIBITION, NOTHING TO

SAY, LOW OR UNEVEN PARTICIPATION, AND MOTHER TONGUE USED. IT WAS

BECAUSE THEY DID NOT MASTER THE THREE PRIMARY ELEMENTS OF

SPEAKING NAMELY, VOCABULARY, GRAMMAR AND PRONUNCIATION. AS A

RESULT, MANY STUDENTS’ SPEAKING ABILITY WAS NOT REALLY GOOD.

 “FOCUSING ON THE STUDENTS’ STRATEGIES IN
OVERCOMING SPEAKING PROBLEMS IN SPEAKING
CLASS”
ACCORDING TO LUKITASARI (2003) STUDY, EFL STUDENTS
FACE SOME SPEAKING PROBLEMS INCLUDING
PSYCHOLOGICAL PROBLEMS, (ANXIETY, FEAR, SHYNESS,
INHIBITION, AND LACK OF MOTIVATION). HIS STUDY AND
SARUDIN, ZUBAIRI AND ALI’S STUDY (2009) ALSO REVEAL
THAT STUDENTS’ SPEAKING PERFORMANCE IS NOT GOOD
BECAUSE OF LINGUISTIC PROBLEMS (LACK OF
VOCABULARY, MISPRONUNCIATION AND GRAMMATICAL
MISTAKES.)
 “FOCUSING ON THE STUDENTS’ STRATEGIES IN
OVERCOMING SPEAKING PROBLEMS IN SPEAKING
CLASS”
FURTHERMORE, THE RESULT OF THIS STUDY ALSO REVEALED THE
STRATEGIES USED BY STUDENTS TO COPE WITH THE PROBLEMS:

1. THE PROBLEM OF INHIBITION WAS SOLVED BY INCREASING THEIR

ENGLISH BY SPEAKING ENGLISH OUT OF CLASS WITH THEIR FRIENDS.
WHEN THE STUDENTS HAD NOTHING TO SAY, THEY WERE DRILLED TO
BE MORE ACTIVE AND CONFIDENT IN SPEAKING IN CLASS AND TRIED TO
UNDERSTAND ABOUT THE DIFFICULT TOPIC.
 “FOCUSING ON THE STUDENTS’ STRATEGIES IN
OVERCOMING SPEAKING PROBLEMS IN SPEAKING
CLASS”
2. THE PROBLEM OF LOW OR UNEVEN PARTICIPATION WAS
SOLVED BY PREPARING THE MATERIAL AT HOME.

3. THE PROBLEM OF MOTHER TONGUE USED WAS SOLVED

BY PRACTICING THEIR ENGLISH NOT ONLY ON ENGLISH
DAY BUT THEY USUALLY SPOKE ENGLISH WITH THEIR
FRIENDS EVERYDAY.
 “FOCUSING ON THE STUDENTS’ STRATEGIES IN
OVERCOMING SPEAKING PROBLEMS IN SPEAKING
CLASS”
1. TO COPE WITH THE PROBLEM RELATED TO SPEECH ACT, THEY JOINED
SOME ENGLISH CLUBS IN CAMPUS AND ALSO PRACTICED IT EVERYDAY
BY SPEAKING WITH THEIR FRIENDS. THEY ALSO OFTEN LISTENED TO
NATIVE SPEAKER CONVERSATION.

2. TO COPE THE PROBLEM RELATED TO PRONUNCIATION, THEY TRIED TO

PRONOUNCE A NEW WORD EVERYDAY AND OFTEN ASKED AND
ANSWERED QUESTIONS IN CLASS.
 “FOCUSING ON THE STUDENTS’ STRATEGIES IN
OVERCOMING SPEAKING PROBLEMS IN SPEAKING
CLASS”
3. TO COPE THE PROBLEM RELATED TO GRAMMAR, THEY STUDIED HARD ABOUT
TENSES IN ORDER TO MAKE THEIR SPEAKING BETTER.

4. TO COPE THE PROBLEM RELATED TO VOCABULARY, THEY MEMORIZED THE

VOCABULARY AND OFTEN USED DICTIONARIES IF THEY FOUND A NEW
DIFFICULT WORD.

5. IN ORDER TO COPE THE PROBLEM RELATED TO ORAL COMMUNICATION, THEY

OFTEN LISTENED TO WESTERN SONG AND ALSO WATCHED WESTERN MOVIES
IN ENGLISH AS LANGUAGE. THEY ALSO TRIED TO SPEAK WITH NATIVE SPEAKER.
REFLECTION
Nunan (1991) wrote, "success is measured in terms of the
ability to carry out a conversation in the (target)
language." Therefore, if students do not learn how to
speak or do not get any opportunity to speak in the
language classroom they may soon get de-motivated and
lose interest in learning. On the other hand, if the right
activities are taught in the right way, speaking in class can
be a lot of fun, raising general learner motivation and
making the English language classroom a fun and dynamic
place to be.
REFLECTION
These are just some of the problems that teachers with
large classes face when teaching speaking activities in the
classroom. These problems are not new nor are the
solutions offered above. Teachers all over the world
continue to face the same hurdles, but any teacher who
has overcome these difficulties and now has a large class
of energetic students talking and working in English in
groups together will tell you it is worth all the trial and
error and effort at the outset.