The Function of Speaking

Function of Speaking 

The mastery of speaking skills in English is a priority for many second and foreign language learners. Several language experts have attempted to categorize the functions of speaking in human interaction. According to Brown and Yule there are three function of speaking, “…three part version of Brown and Yule’s framework (after Jones 1996 and Burns 1998): talks as interaction: talk as transaction: talk as performance. Each of these speech activities is quite distinct in term of form and function and requires different teaching approaches.”[1]

1)      Talk as interaction

Our daily communication remains interactional with other people. This refers to what we said         as conversation. It is an interactive communication which done spontaneous by two or more person. This is about how people try to convey his message to other people. Therefore, they must use speaking skill to communicate to other person. The main intention in this function is social relationship.

2)        Talk as transaction

In talk as transaction is more focus on message that conveyed and making others person understand what we want convey, by clearly and accurately. In this type of spoken language, students and teacher usually focus on meaning or talking what their way to understanding.

3)        Talk as performance

In this case, speaking activities is more focus on monolog better than dialog. Function of speaking as performance happened at speeches, public talks, public announcements, retell story, teling story and so on.

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[1] Jack C. Richards, Teaching Listening and Speaking; From Theory to Practice, (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008), P. 21.

Speaking

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There are many experts explain about definition of speaking. Speaking is a productive language skill.[1] It means that speaking is a person’s skills to produce sounds that exists at the meaning and be understood by other people, so that able to create of good communication. It is a mental concept that processed by someone in such a way to form a meaning when uttered.
Chainstand in Hamzah state that “Speaking is learning to speak is obviously more difficult than learning to understanding the spoken language.”^[2] On the other hand, we can say that speaking is learning about how to speak, and it is so hard better than knowing what other people saying.

A S Hornby has explained that speaking is “to say exactly what you think, in every direct way”[3] it means that speaking is skill that has meaning which appears directly from our mind to convey messages to other people. In other words, speaking a way to say what you feel now, and it is appears from our mind.

Wendy and Listbeth state that speaking is perhaps the demanding skill for the teacher to teach. In their own language children are able to express emotions, communicate intonations and reactions, explore the language and make fun of it, so they expect to be able to do the same in English.[4] In other words, speaking activity must be done on fun situation that make the students feel enjoy to learn it. When the condition of the learning process class are good, enjoy, fun, full of spirits, etc. it will make the brain’s of the students are processed, so that acquisition process of the students run effectively. 

Based on the definitions above, it can be inferred that speaking is a basic of person skill to produce language that has meaning and be understood by other people about what the speaker says. It is a skill of speaker to give information to a listener or group of listeners by transfer it effectively. And speaking activity must be set on fun situation.

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[1] Sanggam Siahaan, Issues in Linguistics (Yogyakarta: Graha Ilmu, 2008), p. 95.

[2] http://achankprima.blogspot.com/2011/01/definisi-of-speaking.html (October 1, 2011)

[3] A S Hornby, Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Six Edition, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), p. 1289.

[4] Wendy A. Scott and Listbeth H. Ytreberg, Teaching English to Children. (New York: Longman), p. 33.

Harris’s oral English rating scale frame

No	Criteria	Rating Scores	Description
1	Pronunciation	5	Has few traces of foreign language.
		4	Always intelligible, thought one is conscious of a definite accent.
		3	Pronunciation problem necessities concentrated listening and occasionally lead to misunderstanding.
		2	Very hard to understand because of pronunciation problem, most frequently be asked to repeat.
		1	Pronunciation problem to serve as to make speech virtually unintelligible.
2	Grammar	5	Make few (if any) noticeable errors of grammar and word order.
		4	Occasionally makes grammatical and or word orders errors that do not, however obscure meaning.
		3	Make frequent errors of grammar and word order, which occasionally obscure meaning.
		2	Grammar and word order errors make comprehension difficult, must often rephrases sentence.
		1	Errors in grammar and word order, so, severe as to make speech virtually unintelligible.
3	Vocabulary	5	Use of vocabulary and idioms is virtually that of native speaker.
		4	Sometimes uses inappropriate terms and must rephrases ideas because of lexical and equities.
		3	Frequently uses the wrong words conversation somewhat limited because of inadequate vocabulary.
		2	Misuse of words and very limited vocabulary makes comprehension quite difficult.
		1	Vocabulary limitation so extreme as to make conversation virtually impossible.
4	Fluency	5	Speech as fluent and efforts less as that of native speaker.
		4	Speed of speech seems to be slightly affected by language problem.
		3	Speed and fluency are rather strongly affected by language problem.
		2	Usually hesitant, often farced into silence by language limitation.
		1	Speech is so halting and fragmentary as to make conversation virtually impossible.
5	Comprehension	5	Appears to understand everything without difficulty
		4	Understand nearly everything at normal speed although occasionally repetition may be necessary
		3	Understand most of what is said at slower than normal speed without repetition
		2	Has great difficulty comprehend. social conversation spoken slowly and with    frequent repetition
		1	Can not be said to understand even simple conversation.

How to Assess speaking skills

Speaking is a central yet complex area of language acquisition. The assessment of this crucial skill is not easy. Nevertheless, it does not mean speaking test cannot be measured in correct way. Assessing should be careful and meticulous currents tests of speaking. Assessment are used for correct placement in a class, to pre-test and post-test, and to evaluate students.

Assessment of speaking is the activities undertaken to acquire and streamline the information about the speaking learning outcomes of the students at grade level during and after the teaching  and learning activities. The test speaking performance can be done by discussion, problem-solving, role-plays, conversations, speeches, such as retell story, story telling, and so on. According to David P. Harris, “speaking is a complex skill requiring the simultaneous use of different ability which often develops at different rates”.

He states that there are five components are generally recognized in analyses of the speech process are:

1.      Pronunciation, including segmental features, vowels and consonants, and the stress and intonation patterns

2.      Grammar

3.      Vocabulary

4.      Fluency

5.      Comprehension 

The oral test divided into five elements; pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. Each elements characteristics are then defined into five short behavioral statements as stated in the frames above. This helps to make the test reliable, since it avoids subjectivity because it provides clear, precise and mutually exclusive behavioral statements for each point of the scale. The writer will objectively see the characteristics of each student. Speaking ability whether they achieve 1,2,3,4 or 5 score. Then, it can easily calculate the score. The amount of maximum scores gained is 25.