LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODOLOGY

   

LANGUAGE TEACHING METHODOLOGY

Using Community Language Learning (CLL) for Teaching English Speaking to Students in Indonesia

                                                                                                                    

     By :

Tiyas Fauziah

  (2201411005)

  205 - 206

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT

FACULTY OF LANGUAGES AND ARTS

SEMARANG STATE UNIVERSITY

2014

I

INTRODUCTION

A.      Background

There are four skills in English communication that are expected to be mastered by the students in Indonesia. They are listening, reading, writing, and speaking. Listening and reading are included into passive communication, which we only accept what we listen and what we read. While writing and speaking are included into active communication, where we have to produce something to communicate.

Usually, students in Indonesia are easier to do passive communication. Because, they just listen and read. However, they are rather difficult in doing active communication such as writing and speaking. Moreover, in doing speaking activity.

There are many things and factors that become the basic why students in Indonesia have difficulties and problems in speaking English. That factors can come from the students themselves, or come from other people.

The factors which come from the students themselves, for example, they are shy or afraid to try to speak English in front of their friends or their teachers. The factors which come from other people that can influence the ability of senior high school students in speaking English, for example, the unwanted responds that they get from the people around them when they are trying to speak English.   

B.       Arguments

     The teachers, or people that have responsibility for teaching English speaking to students should eliminate, or, at least minimize the factors that can hamper the students in learning English speaking. If they do not do something to eliminate or minimize those factors, it may make students are obstructed in improving their ability for English speaking.

     There are many efforts that can be tried to minimize the inhibiting factors of students in learning English speaking. One effort is, make the teaching and learning process of speaking English as interesting as possible. Besides that, teachers also can try to make the teaching and learning process of English speaking as comfort as possible for the students, so they do not feel shy or afraid in delivering their idea through speaking when they follow the teaching and learning process.

     How to make teaching and learning process of English become interesting and comfort? Teacher can use many methods of teaching and learning English that are available nowadays. One example of teaching and learning method for English is Community Language Learning or it is famous with the abbreviation CLL. It is one example of language and teaching method that can be applied in teaching and learning speaking English for students in Indonesia.     

C.      Reasons

     This essay entitled “Using Community Language Learning for Teaching English Speaking to Students in Indonesia”. I choose this topic for my essay because teaching and learning speaking English for students in Indonesia still become a current issue in the society. As we know, the fluency in speaking English can be one measurement to know whether a person mastering English or not. If a person is fluent in speaking English, it is possible that the person is mastering English.

     Talking about speaking, it is not easy to make the speaking ability of students in Indonesia becomes better. On the other side, it also not too difficult to make the speaking ability of students in Indonesia improves. As what I wrote before, teachers can use many teaching and learning methods that are available nowadays, one example is Community Language Learning (CLL).

Why should Community Language Learning? Because Community Language Learning is one method in teaching and learning language that can make the students use the target language communicatively (in this case, English is the target language). Not only that, through CLL method, students also can do a kind of counseling-learning with their teachers so that it is possible to know the problem of students in learning speaking and it is also possible to minimalize their fear or shyness in learning and practicing English speaking.

               

II

OBJECTIVES

There are some objectives of this essay. The objectives are as follow :

1.    To know what are the possible factors that can obstruct students in learning English speaking.

2.    To give a brief explanation about Community Language Learning (CLL).

3.    To give a brief explanation about the connection between teaching English speaking and CLL method.

4.    To give an idea to the people about interesting and comfortable method in teaching and learning English speaking.

                 III

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Keller and Warner (1988) found “the beginning of a conversation is usually the most difficult part for most people” (p. 5). English is of course different with our mother tongue, that is Indonesian language. We can easily start a conversation with Indonesian language, for example, because we have been accustomed with it since we are in our early age. Of course, it is different with English. Many of us are just know English as long as we entered the school.

Why does the beginning of a conversation in English become the most difficult part for most people? According to me, it is just because they are still have not accustomed to English yet. Let us imagine, if a person is going to start a new conversation by using English, usually they have been thinking much about “Is my grammar good or not?”, or “How if my English is bad?”, something like that. That are the problems. Usually, people judge themselves first before they speak. They think they cannot start a conversation with English. Karundeng (2012) found “Many Indonesian think that their English is imperfect. (p. 01). That is one thing that become the problem of students in speaking English. They underestimate themselves first.

There are many possibilities why students in Indonesia underestimate themselves in speaking English. It can be caused by the way they speaking in English. As we know, sometimes Indonesian people speak English with their accent and dialect. Moreover, Javanese people. Usually they speak English by their accent that we call “medhok”. Many Indonesian people think that if they speak English with their Indonesian accent, it does not sound good. So, that’s why they underestimate themselves in speaking English.

Besides underestimating themselves first before speaking English, there also some psychological factors that become the problems in speaking English of students in Indonesia. According to Juhana (2012), “The study revealed that psychological factors such as fear of making mistakes, shyness, anxiety, lack of confidence and lack of motivation hinder the students from speaking in English class” (p. 100). That is another problem of students in Indonesia in speaking English. They are too afraid if they make mistake. They are afraid if they make some mistake in speaking English in the class, the teacher will angry with them, or maybe their friends will laugh at them. From that, we can take a conclusion that many students in Indonesia are not ready to make any mistakes in speaking English. However, we all know that sometimes making mistakes is needed in studying to improve our knowledge and ability.

Another problem that is found by Zhengdong Gan in the students’ ability of English speaking is that they are shy if their intonation in speaking English is not as good as the native. Gan’s (2012) study found the following: Most of the students admitted that they had not developed a command of the native-like intonation. They thus regarded intonation as one aspect of their English that needed improvement. (p. 51). That is the problem. Many of students think that it is good if their intonation in speaking English sounds like the native. So, they think it is not necessary to speaking English if their intonation is not good. In addition, they prefer to silent to try to speak English. That is the problem. Let we think, how do we know our intonation is good or not if we do not try to speak?

Many students in Indonesia want to have a good pronunciation in speaking English. We can take this conclusion from what Mohammad Azeem found in 2011. He stated, “ They regarded speaking as the most important skill they can acquire and they assess their progress in terms of their accomplishments in spoken communication.” (Azeem, 2011, p. 38). “They” in Azeem’s statement refers to students. Many students think that it will be good if they have good pronunciation in speaking English. That’s why many of them think that it is impressive if a person can speak English as good as native speaker.

Actually, the main problem in speaking English of students in Indonesia is their shyness in trying to speak English in front of other people. The possible way to make students not shy to speak English in front of other people or in front of class is to make the situation around them as comfort as possible, so they are not afraid and shy in trying to speak English.

Community Language Learning (later, it is called CLL), is one example of method for language teaching and learning. It can be used to teach English speaking for students in Indonesia. CLL is a method which teaches students who to use the target language communicatively by using the counseling-learning theory so that the teacher will be able to reduce students’ fear (Faridi, 2012, p. 41). In other word, CLL method is not only can be used as a method for teaching language, but also can be used as a mean for students to share their problem in learning language with their teacher. From that sharing, it is expected that the students will get advice from their teacher to overcome their problem in learning language, so that their ability in language will be improved.  

IV

ANALYSIS

            CLL can be stated as a teaching and learning method that suits for teaching English speaking for students in Indonesia. As we know, many students in Indonesia have problem in learning speaking. Most of their problem are their shyness or their fear in trying to speak in front of other people. By using CLL, it is expected that their problem will be minimized or may be eliminated as the time goes by in the language teaching and learning process.

            How can CLL method suit the teaching and learning process of English speaking for students in Indonesia? It can suit the teaching and learning process of English speaking for students in Indonesia by, like what it is stated before in section three, doing sharing between students and teachers about the problem in learning language, so that the teachers know the difficulties of the students and it is expected that the teachers can help the students to overcome the problem in learning language.

            Besides that, CLL method is done in the community of the students themselves. Usually, students feel more comfortable if there are in their own community. Let me give an illustration about the application of CLL for learning and teaching of speaking English. In the beginning of the class, the teacher tells the students about what they are going to learn. For example, they are going to learn about conversation, they are asked to make a conversation with their friends.

            In CLL method, students follow the teaching and learning process by making some groups or communities. In this method, teachers are not the center of the lesson, this is not teacher-centered method. The students are learning by themselves and their community. By letting the students learning in their own community, it can make them feel free to sharing their idea about the lesson or material without feel shy or fear because they feel comfort in their own community. Moreover, this method also can make students independent because they do not depend on teachers’ instruction.

            What is the teachers’ role in the CLL method? In this method, teachers have role as the counselor. The teachers help and support the students in learning and mastering the target language. If students find any difficulties in the teaching and learning process, they can ask and share with the teachers about the problems and teachers give them advice about how to overcome their problem. This method is helpful for teaching and learning process of speaking English. Because, as we know, the students’ problem in learning speaking English is not only about the material, but also can be in the form of their shyness or fear in trying to speak English. By using this method, students can consult about the problems that come from themselves with their teachers as the teachers have role as the counselor in teaching and learning process of speaking English.

            Make the students become more independent in the classroom is one strength of this method. It can be applied in English speaking. This method can make the students become more independent in trying to speak English. Another strength of this method is, the students can enrich their vocabulary and their grammar from the conversation that they had with their friend before. They can learn how to pronounce words that they may have not heard before, or they can learn about grammar together with their friends. Over all, the CLL method is appropriate for teaching and learning process of speaking English for students in Indonesia.

            On the other hand, this method also has some weaknesses. One example of this method weakness is, it make the teachers less role in the teaching and learning process. Since the teachers only become the counselor teachers, they just observe the students and help the students if they ask or they need guidance about the material. It will make the students who have difficulties in learning English speaking but they do not have chance yet to ask to the teachers feel more difficult in learning English speaking.

            Another weakness is, this method might not appropriate for all students in a language classroom. As this method is not a teacher-centered, so this method can be stated as student-centered. One thing that becomes the problem is, not all students can get the same portion of roles in the classroom. The active students might take most of the role in the classroom and the passive students might just sit and listen to the active students. If this problem is met by the teachers, they should try to divide the same role for all the students in the classroom, so that every student can have chance to do English speaking practice.               

V

SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION

There are many factors that can obstruct students in Indonesia in speaking English. The factors can come from themselves, and also can come from other people. That factors can be the problems for them in speaking English.

The most common factor that become the problems of students in speaking English their shyness or fear. Many of them are rather difficult to make their shyness dissappear when they speaking English. It is better to find the possible ways that can decrease the problems of students in Indonesia in speaking English. For example, make the situation in the class, for example as comfort as possible to decrease their syhness and fear in trying to speak English.

The use of Community Language Learning (CLL) method can be one way to help students in practicing English speaking. Because, in this method, students are not only practice English speaking, but they also can share and tell about their problem in learning English speaking with the teachers. By sharing their problem and difficulties in learning English speaking with their teachers, it is expected that students will decrease their shyness and fear and speaking English.

Although this method can be the best way to help students in practicing English speaking, this method has some weaknesses. For examples, it make the teachers have less role in the classroom and make some students just sit and listen to other students. If the problem is found, it is better for teachers and students to share about it and find the solution together.

The CLL method is suitable for all grades of students in Indonesia. However, it seems that this method is more suitable for students of elementary and junior high school, because it is easier to make the students be brave in trying to speak English when they are in elementary or junior high school. Moreover, it is expected that if they had have courage to speak English from the elementary or junior high school age, they will not find any difficulties in learning English speaking when they are in senior high school.

If teachers want to apply the CLL method in their classroom, it is better for them to consider the condition. The condition here can be the condition of the students, like their ability, their level of courage in speaking English, and their grade. The teacher themselves also should consider their own ability, like their ability in giving counseling to the students about the problem in learning English speaking, and their ability in guide and support the students in learning English speaking. Over all, the Community Language Learning (CLL) method can be a good method to encourage students in Indonesia in speaking English. It can be tried to all level of students by considering the ability of students and teachers.

REFERENCES

Azeem, Muhammad (2011) ‘Factor Effecting Students’ English Speaking Skills’ British Journal of Arts and Social Sciences pp. 36-39.

Faridi, Abdurrahman (2012) Language Teaching Theories. Semarang: Unnes Press (pp. 41-43)

Gan, Zhengdong (2012) ‘Understanding L2 Speaking Problems : Implications for ESL Curriculum Development in a Teacher Training Institution in Hong Kong’ Australian Journal of Teacher Education pp. 49-54.

Juhana (2012) ‘Psychological Factors That Hinder Students from Speaking in English Class (A Case Study in a Senior High School in South Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia’ Journal of Education and Practice pp. 101-105.

Karundeng, Ninoy N. (2012) You Know Your English is Still Indonesian English bahasa.kompasiana.com (Access date 14 September 2013).

Keller, Eric and Warner, Sylvia T. (1988) Conversation Gambits. Canada: The Canadian Government Publishing Centre (p. 5)