Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Local
It is obvious that the need for English in the Sri Lankan society is growing in a

variety of different directions every day. Yet, although English is regularly taught in all

schools from the nursery to the tertiary levels, the learners suffer from a great lack of

fluency in their oral communication. They are generally competent in their cognitive skills

but weak in their communicative skills. In that context, this paper deals with issues and

problems faced by secondary level students in mastering the oral skills in English and to

investigate the effectiveness of Cooperative Learning (CL) strategy. The main aim of

the study was to determine how cooperative learning is an effective approach to develop

and enhance the speaking skills. In order to analyze the hypotheses developed in this

concern, a quantitative survey and a qualitative survey are used along with a

questionnaire as an instrument for obtaining data from a group of 50 students from five

schools. to the results, it was discovered that the majority of the students cannot speak

English properly, as they suffer from a sense of insecurity caused by several language

deficiencies. But through cooperative learning, students interact and express According

themselves more to their peers or classmates. The approach served also as a venue for

reluctant and fearful students which enable to intensify their self-esteem. Therefore, in

conclusion, the paper suggests a cooperative learning strategy to promote oral skills.

Since the present study had as its main objective, the preparation of instructional

material in English for adults to develop their language skills, a review of related literature

will have to be extensive enough to cover many areas. The fact 'that the concepts and

practices advocated by educational technologists have been accommodated into the

preparation of the instructional material calls for further comprehensibility in the review.

Considering the diversity of dimensions involved in the present study, some sort of

grouping had to be undertaken to present the review in a manner that would be both valid

and neat. To facilitate this purpose, the review is being presented under the following sub-

titles.

(i) Communication skills in English for adults (general)

(ii) (ii) English language skills for special purposes.

(iii) (iii) The use of different media for language development,

(iv) (iv) Auto - instructional programmers in English.

Each of the sub-titles is further divided into two representative categories;

(a) Indian and (b) Western studies.

2.1 COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN ENGLISH FOR ADULTS (GENERAL)

Since communication refers to both the verbal and written modes of expression,

the present investigation has tried to concentrate on both these aspects of

communication® Although most of the literature reviewed focus on the oral skills in

language development there are a number of studies take into consideration writing skills

along with oral skills too.

(a) Western Studies:

Viney and Curtin (1980) after extensive research prepared a short intensive

course for adults who need English for practical purposes such as business trips,

professional work and everyday communication in English-speaking countries.

The approach, is situational with the emphasis on developing listening and

 speaking competence. "Survival English" consists of a student’s work book, c65

cassette, student’s key book and teacher’s guide.

Morrow and Johnson (1980) prepared an intermediate level course, illustrating

the use of English in a variety of social situations for a variety of purposes.

’Communicate' was designed particularly for adult students visiting or intending to

visit Britain for business, pleasure or study. The course is a product of

comprehensive research and tackles the language needs of adults from two

angles. Each main unit is divided into two parts; one of these is situational, teaching

adults the language they will need in a range of places such as shop and railway

stations or to talk about a number of topics such as food or travelling® The second

part of the unit is functional, teaching students how to use English for a variety of

purposes to complain, to apologize, to appreciate, etc.

2.2 ENGLISH LANGUAGE SKILLS FOR SPECIAL PURPOSES

In recent years, there has been a groining interest in the area of English for specific

purposes and a relatively large number of studies have been undertaken and books

published and a flourishing industry has grown which provides for English language

teaching for overseas learners in Britain. Ever since the first perspective of Chomsky's

transformational grammar gained acceptance in linguistic and educational circles,

there has been increased efforts towards better communication-skills in English.' Not

only in the West, but the world over considerable work is done to help people in

different walks of life to master the English language that would help them in their

different fields of knowledge, places of employment, etc. ESP refers to a limited range

and pattern of communication.

 ’English for secretaries’ was researched, developed and written hy the Oxford

University press English language teaching development unit in 1978. It is an

intermediate language course designed to help the foreign secretary who needs

English in order to function effectively and confidently in her job. It is assumed that the

secretary already has basic knowledge of English. The course includes practice in

pronunciation, remedial grammar, exercises and drills, situational dialogues and

rhythm, intonation and stress exercises.

In the area of teaching and learning language especially English, there have been

some research conducted with the purpose of finding the effective and suitable media

to increase the learning and teaching process. It cannot be denied that media is

needed to support the process of transferring the material from teacher to student to

gain the aim of learning and teaching itself. Moreover, they compare done media with

another to get the most effective media to reach the goal. In this research the writer

use some local and international journal as the references in doing his research.

The first was a study entitled A Classroom Action Research: The Use of

Language Chunks to Develop Students’ Speaking Skill in Year Five Students of

Elementary School conducted by Lasriati Manulang (2010). Her study aimed at finding

out how language chunks were effective in teaching speaking for young learners. Based

on her study, the teacher can use language chunks as medium to

improve students’ ability in speaking, especially for young learners.

Compared to my study, Larasati’s study focused on Elementary School students while

my study focused on Junior High School students.

 Second reference was a study entitled: The Use of Language Chunks in

Teaching Transactional Spoken Text to Improve Students’ Speaking Skill (An

action Research at the Eight Grader Students of State Junior High School

01 Pecalungan Batang in the Academic Year of 2011/2012) conducted by Burhanudin

(2012). His study aimed at finding out the students‟ improvement in speaking English

and the effectiveness of using chunks in teaching speaking. Based on his study the use

of lexical chunks was effective in improving students‟ speaking skill. This study has

similarities with my study as the media used in this study was chunks or lexical bundles

and the study focused on eight grader students of Junior High School.

The third reference was a study entitled: The Use of Single Slot Substitution Drills to

Teach Simple Present Tense for The Seventh Grader Students of SMP N1 Bawang,

Batang in the academic year of 2010/2011 conducted by KakarizaPurwito (2011). His

study aimed at finding out the contribution of single slot substitution drills to the

development of the students’ mastery in simple present tense.

Speaking skill is the most important goal in Language learning. It is important

because people are stating their thought in their native language through spoken

language. As stated by Celce-Murcia (2001: 103) “for most people, the ability to speak a

language is synonymous with knowing that language since speech is the most basic

means of human communication”.

Mastering speaking skill in a second or foreign language is not easy. It

is because speaking is an oral language expression which involves other languageelem

ents such as grammar, rhythm, fluency, pronunciation and intonation. Furthermore,

Bailey and Savage (in Celce-Murcia, 2001: 103) said that “speaking is an activity
requiring the integration of many subsystems…. all these factors combine to make

speaking a second or foreign language a formidable for language learners…. yet for

many people, speaking is seen as the central skill”. To be able to master speaking skill,

language learner need to be fluent in speaking English. Teachers are expected to

encourage their students to practice in both fluency and accuracy.

ONE often hears comments about high school graduates of yesteryears having a better

command of the English language than the college graduates of today. This

deterioration is manifested in several ways incorrect grammar, lack of fluency in the

language, poor reading comprehension skills and poor writing skills among others.

Clearly, Filipinos are losing their competitive edge with regard to English abilities. Our

claim that we are the third largest English speaking country in the world does not live up

to its rank.

Today, we hear anecdotal reports of call centers accepting a very small portion of

those who apply because only three of 100 applicants are proficient in English.

University professors lament the inability of college students to comprehend and

express themselves in English. The most alarming, however, is the SWS survey

commissioned by Promoting English Proficiency (PEP) in March 2006. The largest

deterioration was in the self-assessment of ability to speak in English which fell from

54% in September2000 to 32% in March 2006, a deterioration of 22% in six years. Now

considering this, have you not thought how much would it decrease in another six

years? 12 years? 18 years? There are many reasons bandied about to explain the

decline in English proficiency in the Philippines. In the government‘s desire to e

 stablish better our national identity, they increased the use of Filipino as medium

of instruction sacrificing English along the way. The proliferation of television shows in

Filipino and Taglish is another attributor.

Let‘s face it the Filipino workforce is the richest resource of the country. This

workforce must maintain good communication skills in English, which will ultimately help

the country, attain competitive edge in the global economy. Our ability to communicate

in English is one reason Filipinos are very much sought after by foreign employers.

Filipinos are easily to communicate with. There are lots of places in the

Philippines that the English language is their mode of communication. Other

nationalities come to the Philippines to study English language and to travel.

Good communication is indeed needed to further understand each other. In the

Philippines, we have different dialects but we still understand each other by speaking

our native language which is Tagalog. It is just the same when we are communicating

with foreigners who stay in the Philippines, we understand each and every one by

speaking in English which is a globally known language. When you talk with a Filipino

you will feel the hospitality that made us known all over the world. The English language

is now widely spoken in our country that is why it easier for other nationalities to

communicate to Filipinos.

Schools, businesses, offices and other institutions use the English language as

the medium of communication. They use this language when they communicate through

emails, meetings, classes, and even when they talk in person. English has been the

business language almost the companies in our country. Based on my observation, you

will be more competitive if you use and continuously practice this language.
Other nationalities such as Koreans, Chinese, and Japanese come to the Philippines to

study the English language. They have many options where they want to do their study,

they can choose whether in Baguio English schools, Cebu English schools, or Clark

English schools and many more Philippine English schools. They can probably improve

their English communication skill because they will be given quality education.

The decline in competence of its facility will bring negative effects on our

opportunity to compete in progress with other races. A shrinking English proficient

workforce would dissuade international companies from investing in the Philippines. We

cannot afford to lose what we already have. Hence, we need to relearn our English

before we lose it.

While high school students have received formal instruction in reading and

writing, few have received much formal instruction in speaking and listening skills: this

paper supports the call for required courses in oral communication. In recent years, the

need for instruction in oral communication has been emphasized in many reports on the

direction of education. Adler (1982) in The Paideia Proposal recommended speech

communication for all students. The College Board (1983) listed listening and speaking

among the six basic competencies needed for college. The National Commission on

Excellence in Education (1983) recommended oral communication be included in the

high school English program (Book & Cooper, 1986). According to the 1984 Committee

on Science, Engineering and Public Policy, recent studies from employers have

documented the fact that large numbers of young people graduate from high school

lacking the essential basic educational skills. Among those basic skills are speaking and

Oral Communication 7 listening. Yet while "speaking and listening skills are probably the
most widely used and least recognized skills essential to education" (Rhodes, 1987)

schools that do not require courses in oral communications often are not teaching these

skills in other classes either. As a result of these and other studies, it becomes clear

that a renewed emphasis on communication education is needed. While many schools

have oral communication courses as a requirement for graduation, others have

relegated speech communication instruction to either an elective course or an

extracurricular activity (Brooks, 1969; Book and Pappa, 1981; Rubin, 1985; Rhodes

1987). Yet studies have shown that an independent course in oral communication best

meets the needs of students (Swanson, 1984; Boileau & Bath, 1987; Zabava-Ford &

Wolvin, 1992, 1993). A renewed emphasis on communication education is needed. As

early as 1978, legislation from Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

Public Law 95-561 called for "...elementary and secondary education to improve

instruction so that all children are able to master Oral Communication 13 the basic skills

of reading, mathematics, and effective communication. Both written and oral [Emphasis

added]" (Boileau, 1984).

Humans are social beings who are in continuous communication and interaction

with each other. For that reason, it is important to foster situations in which learners can

face real communication in a foreign language. An argument that supports this view is

found in Bygate (1987: 1), who states: “Our learners often need to be able to speak with

confidence in order to carry out many of their most basic transactions. It is the skill by

which they are most frequently judged, and through which they make or lose friends.”

“In interaction students can use all they possess of the language, all they have

learned or casually absorbed in real life exchanges” (Rivers, cited in Brown, 1994,
p.159). This quote addresses the importance of real interaction which gives the learners

the opportunity to demonstrate what they can do in the foreign language. Interaction is

the basis of human communication and all elements of communicative and interactive

competence (grammar, discourse, sociolinguistics, and pragmatics) are involved in

human interaction. They must work together for successful communication to take

place. An examination of oral communication education in Alabama (USA) identified

four critical concerns. (1) Today's college students are not getting adequate oral

communication education. (2) Oral communication education is being relegated to a

(Emanuel, Received 23 August 2010; Revised 25 October 2010; Accepted 30

November 2010)“module” in another discipline-specific course. (3) When an oral

communication course is included in the general education curriculum, that course

tends to be narrow rather than broad in scope. (4) An increasing number of college

faculty who teach oral communication courses do not have a graduate degree in the

discipline. These concerns may be indicative of similar issues affecting oral

communication education throughout the United States and beyond. Solutions to each

concern are offered, and suggestions are provided about how decision-making bodies

like state departments of education, regional accrediting agencies, the National

Communication Association, and the like can address these concerns. This paper first

examines the essential role of oral communication before identifying four critical

concerns and offering suggested solutions for oral communication education in

Alabama. These concerns may be indicative of similar issues affecting oral

communication regionally, nationally, and even internationally. If so, then the suggested
solutions offered herein may provide direction. If not, then being proactive rather than

reactive may prevent some or all of these concerns from becoming reality.

A semi-structured interview is usually based upon an interview guide where

researchers have listed topics and questions which are to be covered within the

interview. However, the interview guide does not have to be followed religiously.

Questions may be added or the question order might be changed depending on the

(NWAMAKA, FEBRUARY, 2009.) provided by the interviewees (Bryman, 2015: 471).

When creating the interview Guide for this study an initial question was asked: “Just

what about this is puzzling [us]?” (Lofland and Lofland 1995: 78). From our very first

day at the Indian School we were puzzled by the confidence with which the students

were speaking in English, which is not the students’ mother tongue, when standing in

front of over 2400 people. This confidence that we observed among the students

became the foundation of our interview guide, where all the questions aim to find out

how this confidence is developed and what strategies the teachers are using to make

the students confident speakers. Furthermore, when creating the interview guide all

the basic elements presented by Bryman (2015: 473–474), such as not asking leading

questions as well as creating a flow between our topics and questions were included.

The main aim of educational administration is the arrangement of the human and

material resources and programmers available for education and carefully using them

systematically for the achievement of well-defined objectives. In order to achieve this

aim, the school administrator must work with various individuals in the school as well

as the community. As administrative decisions affect people, so programmers and

policies are influenced through communication which is a process of interaction. Good

communication skills are fundamental to all relationships and prerequisite to

educational success. The way principals communicate their thoughts and feelings and

how they manage their differences facilitate quality relationships in the school. When

principals fail to communicate, many things will be affected such as reduced academic

standard, diminished self-esteem and lowered organizational morale. The aim of this

paper is to present how Oral Communication is an integral part of creating Oral

History. The conveyance and the presence of Oral History cannot exist without the

“ingredients” of communication. The paper presents how both the transmitter and the

receiver have responsibilities without which a communication cannot be successful.

In order to succeed this, these responsibilities need to be known and paid attention

to. e English language has an important standing in global communication, hence both

oral and written English skills are essential around the world. However, to many,

speaking English seems to be a very challenging task. Since the aim of English

education is not only to develop knowledge of grammar and written skills but also to

teach oral English skills, this problem needs to be studied in order to remedy the

situation. The aim of this study was to discover if adult learners of English experience

problems in speaking English, and if so, what types of problems and why. In addition,

especially in Finland, the interest in English language media has become stronger,

hence it was an additional aim to learn if this has created pressure for English studies

and for what type of accent the learner should have. The problems experienced in

studying English as a foreign or second language have been studied somewhat, but

the problems that Finnish and Japanese learners, in particular, experience in speaking

English should be studied more. In this study, these problems were analyzed
according to second language acquisition theory, and the factors affecting them were

categorized in line with Moyer's (2004) classification. Previous research on attitudes

towards speaking English and English accents, for example Leppänen et al. (2009),

was a background for comparison in discussing the results, as was Garant's (2008)

study that compared Finnish and Japanese English educational systems.