Chapter I. How to improve speaking skills

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................2
CHAPTER I. HOW TO IMPROVE SPEAKING SKILLS
1.1. Pronounce words correctly and listen to spoken English…………...…………7
1.2. How improve speaking skills with reading aloud, building vocabulary, working on any speech impediments which are significant in this ability………..11
1.3. The most effective methods of speaking English…………………………………………………………………………….13
CHAPTER II. TEACHING SPEAKING-TIPS TO DEVELOP THE SPEAKING SKILLS OF YOUR STUDENTS
2.1. Teaching speaking as a set of competencies…………………………………16
2.2. Effective methods of teaching speaking in primary schools…………………20
2.3. Speaking activities for primary classes………………………………………23
CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………….....27
REFERENCES……………...…………………………………………………...29
INTRODUCTION
The importance of the course work: Since the world language is English, a person who wants to be aware of every event in the world should know English. That is why there are many people learning English today. It is in Uzbekistan that attention is paid to learning foreign languages, especially English. Nowadays, in our country, children are taught English in the form of game-style lessons and oral speech, starting from pre-school education. In addition, English language teaching is carried out orally in primary grades, namely in the 1st grades. Therefore, English teachers should first of all develop English speaking skills in children. For this, it is necessary to communicate more in English in the class. Audios in English language appropriate to the age and subject of elementary grades must be given to the children every day by the teacher. These audios can be in the form of songs, poems, texts, cartoons, riddles, fairy tales. It is through these processes that children learn to speak English correctly.
Language is one of the most important tools used in communication. People can convey their feelings, thoughts and beliefs through language (Demirel & Şahinel, 2006).¹ Speaking is one of the most important language skills for individuals to express themselves properly in social life. Speaking, which effects success or failure in school, family, work and community life, can play a very important place in the social and interpersonal interactions (Erdem & Deniz, 2008; Temizkan, 2009).² Children and adults use speaking skill more than the other language skills. The acquisition of speaking, one of the expression skills and the acquisition of listening as one of the comprehension skills, occur earlier than the other language skills. The child comes to school having already mastered listening and speaking skills to a certain extent (Tompkins, 1998).³ Speech acquired through informal education is not at a sufficient level for effective use. It is possible to have students reach a more active level of using speaking skill with the education provided in schools (Demir, 2010).⁴ With the start of the school, the acquisition of the language skills that students have randomly developed up to that time should be addressed in a planned way and attention should be paid to language teaching. At schools, language teaching should be systematic and given correctly and effectively, with the grace and beauties of the language (Sever, 1993).⁵ Correct and effective speaking skills can be developed through school-type learning and individual efforts (Sever, 2011).⁶ For this reason, various methods, approaches and techniques should be used while imparting language skills to students (Akyol, 2011).⁷ In order to motivate students and enrich the content of lessons, it is necessary to draw on different approaches and teaching methods.⁸
There are four language skills which need to be achieved in order to complete communication. They are listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Actually all of the English skills are important, but speaking skill is the most important skill that should be mastered by English learners since the goal of learning a language is speaking. In the international relationship, English speaking skill is required by people in the wider world of work. This reality makes teachers and parents think that English speaking skill should be mastered by their students and children. In Indonesia, English language has been long taught formally from kindergarten level up to university level. But it is no wonder that most Indonesian students cannot speak English language fluently. In general, some people realize that there are some factors which make the students difficult to speak English language. They are internal and external factors. The internal factor comes from the students themselves. It is about their motivation to learn and practise. External factors come from out of the students. The external factors concern with the teaching approach/method/technique and the environment itself. The teacher’s approach/method/technique in teaching English speaking skill should be so attractive to the students that they will actively participate in the classroom activities. Environment also plays a crucial role in learning English language. Based on the writers’ observation to the fifth grade students of State Primary School 028226 Binjai Class V-1 in the Academic Year of 2019/2020, the writers found some problems in the learning teaching process of speaking skill. Firstly, the English teacher hardly gives the students various activities, such as games, students’ project, delivering speech, presentation and discussing some issues outside classroom activities. The class is monotonous and less fun. DOI : https://doi.org/10.33258/birle.v2i4.552 In addition, the students do not try to find out the materials by themselves to suffice or to accommodate their own needs in learning English. Secondly, the students’ speaking skill is relatively low. They have difficulties in expressing their ideas and opinions orally as they are afraid of making mistakes, and lack of confidence to speak English. They still have difficulties in pronouncing certain English words, for examples: introduce, myself, people, call, study, etc. To be able to speak, a large amount of vocabulary is also important, because without adequate vocabulary there is nothing to say. However, most students lack of vocabulary mastery and only few students in the classroom consult a dictionary. Their competencies in grammar are also poor. Therefore, they prefer to be silent and not fully participate in the classroom activities. Teaching English for young learners is different from teaching English for adults. A teacher should be aware that the learners are children and they are different from adults. Teaching English for young learners needs to consider children’s emotional, cognitive and physical development (Linse, 2005:3).⁹ Considering the English speaking problems faced by the fifth grade students of State Primary School 028226 Binjai Class V-1 in the Academic Year of 2019/2020, the writers aroused to implement Talking Stick method to improve their English speaking skill. This research needs to be carried out because if it is not conducted the writers will not be able to know the students’ real problems in English speaking skill and will not be able to give any treatment in order to improve their English speaking skill. Meanwhile if this research is carried out, it will give some positive significance to the writers and the English teacher so that they know how far the students have improvement in their English speaking skill. Through this research, the students will get a new experience to improve their English speaking skill through the implementation of Talking Stick method. Teaching English for young learners is not an easy task. There are so many aspects which need to be considered. The main objectives of this research is to prove that the application of Talking Stick method could improve the students’ English speaking skill and to describe the students’ responses to the implementation of Talking Stick method in the learning teaching processes of English speaking skill. The writers strongly believe that the implementation of an approprite teaching method can improve students’ motivation and interest in learning English speaking skill. If the students’ motivation and interest in learning English speaking skill improve, their English speaking skill will definitely improve. The strong belief made the writers interested in conducting a research entitled Improving Students’ English Speaking Skill through the Implementation of Talking Stick Method to the Fifth Grade Students of State Primary School 028226 Binjai.¹⁰
The most important thing is that the student can speak English independently. The student should be able to express his opinion in English correctly, without mistakes. He should be able to follow the rules of pronunciation, accent, and intonation in the process of English speaking.