Inhibition in Speaking Performance Isna Humaera (Email) : Vol. 1 No. 1, September 2015 ISSN XXXX-XXXX

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Vol. 1 No.

1, September 2015 ISSN xxxx-xxxx

____________________________________________________________________

INHIBITION IN SPEAKING PERFORMANCE

Isna Humaera
Faculty of Education and Teaching, IAIN Kendari
(email)
Abstract

The most common problem encountered by the learner in the language


acquisition process is learner inhibition. Inhibition refers to a temperamental
tendency to display wariness, fearfulness, or restrain in response to
unfamiliar people, objects, and situations. There are some factors that cause
inhibition, such as lack of motivation, shyness, self-confidence, self-esteem,
and language ego. There are also levels of inhibition, it refers to kinds of
inhibition and caused of inhibition itself. Teacher can support their students
to reduce their inhibition effect by many ways, one of them by creating good
classroom management including establishing good rapport between teacher
and learners.

Keywords: Inhibition, Speaking Performance.

Abstrak

Masalah yang paling sering ditemui oleh pelajar dalam proses pembelajaran
berbahasa adalah inhibisi. Inhibisi berhubungan dengan kecenderungan
tekanan perasaan dalam menunjukkan kekhawatiran, ketakutan,
mengedalikan responnya terhadap orang-orang, objek, dan situasi yang
masih asing baginya. Ada sejumlah faktor yang melatari munculya inhibisi,
misalnya kurang motivasi, keseganan, kepercayaan diri, bangga diri, dan ego
berbahasa. Inhibisi memiliki level yang beragam, bergantung pada jenis dan
penyebab inhibisi itu sendiri. Pengajar dapat mendukung peserta didiknya
untuk meredam inhibisi mereka dengan berbagai cara, salah satunya adalah
membuat manajemen kelas yang baik termasuk menciptakan hubungan yang
baik antara guru dan peserta didiknya.

Kata kunci: Inhibisi, penampilan bertutur.

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LANGKAWI Journal of The Association for Arabic and English Vol.1 No. 1, September 2015

INTRODUCTION

This paper is about inhibition in speaking performance by students. This explanation

will cover a simple explanation in understanding about inhibition, factors that cause

inhibition, level of inhibition, strategies to overcome the inhibition causes, and strategies to

lower inhibition. The elaboration of each item will be in the following paragraph.

Inhibition is condition which someone or students are losing face, worry about

making mistakes and afraid of the attention that their speech attraction (Ur, 1996, p.

121). Others, Kagan et all. (1988), pointed out that inhibition refers to a temperamental

tendency to display wariness, fearfulness, or restraint in response to unfamiliar people,

objects, and situations. These describe that inhibition affect to students’ language

learning specifically in performing their language comprehension.

Inhibition is the most crucial in language learning either other physical

problems. Speaking activities require a learner to have all eyes on him; exposure to an

audience can often give learners stage fright. They may be also be worried about

making mistakes, being criticized or losing face in front of the rest of the class. This

results in their performance where either they make a lot of mistakes in spite of having a

very good knowledge in the area or totally keeping silent.

Those arguments indicate that inhibition is important factor that hinder the

students in their language acquisition and should be solved by teachers and students

itself. The students with inhibition will be exercising self-control in speaking English.

Students with inhibition will protect their ego in language acquisition or produce

something (Brown, 2000a, p. 149). Meanwhile, students’ language ego is important in

students speaking performance especially in taking risk.

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LANGKAWI Journal of The Association for Arabic and English Vol.1 No. 1, September 2015

According to Kurtus (2001), inhibit to speak come together with fear of mistakes

that will become the primary reason that students are afraid of looking unwise in front

of other people, then they are disturbed about how other will see them. Inhibition

makes students cannot do something. Ur (1996) said that students who are inhibited in

their speaking activity generally are afraid of making mistakes, losing face, and fearful

in saying or doing something. It really disturbs their personality. It caused by many

factors. The following paragraph will explain factors that cause inhibition.

INHIBITION IN SPEAKING AND STRATEGIES TO OVERCOME IT

Factors That Cause Inhibition

Generally, there are two main elements that cause inhibition, cognitive factors

and affective factors. Clearly Mohseni and Ameri (2010, p.44) categorize source of

attitude problems included of inhibition are the following:

a. Cognitive Factors

1. Grammar

Grammar was an element of language that presents the pattern of language.

Thornbury (2006, p. 144) explained that grammatical structure was crucial in language

learning but it did not took up that grammar should be the starting point of learning. It

means that grammar is not the only one of language component that need to be mastered

by the students. In the development of communicative competence, students do not to

be worry about grammatical mistakes that are made. Avoiding misconception of

students, teachers need to encourage students to think of how language is used in

communication without being isolated in the language structure. Additionally, Harmer

(2006) points out that grammar is not only eventually focused on syntax but also how to

put the language form in the way of communication (p.343).

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LANGKAWI Journal of The Association for Arabic and English Vol.1 No. 1, September 2015

However, knowledge of grammar rules helps students to form correct sentences.

It is useful to determine communication both in written and spoken language. By

acknowledging the grammatical rules, students can know the appropriate language use

where they are taking part. Other, Cook (1996) views that grammar is the structure

knowledge of language that the users possess in their brain (p.33). Students need to

understand the implication of language to develop their language awareness and to

create meaningful communication.

Most students assume that in taking conversation or speaking English, they have to say

in right way with structured. Students’ grammatical judgment inhibited them to take a part in

a conversation because of afraid to produce some words ungrammatically. In line with Cook

(1996), Chomsky (2002) points out, speakers’ grammatical consideration not only retains for

the sentences that the students have said or heard before, but also retains for those that the

students have never said or heard before (p. 103-104). However, Thornbury (2006) pointed

out that grammar is language component that should be mastered by students but it doesn’t

mean that they have to say something grammatically in communication. Consequently,

teachers have to bring the students understand and aware that speak grammatically is not an

obligation but should be tried as possible as them.

2. Vocabulary

Students will be working with words to produce sentences. Cook (1996)

highlights that vocabulary is amount of words that has meaning (p. 49). Students need

vocabulary to produce language. It is determining that vocabularies are supporting

factors for language users both in receiving and producing language. Thornbury (2006)

points out that gradually students are emphasized to activate new vocabulary and

structures more freely and to integrate them into the language production. Furthermore,

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LANGKAWI Journal of The Association for Arabic and English Vol.1 No. 1, September 2015

the knowledge of grammatical structure and vocabulary mastery do not guarantee that

students will be good language users. It needs production and implementation in the

process of learning. Becker (1997) said that students’ lack of vocabulary is the main

causes of students academic failure. Lack of vocabulary that faced by the students

make them cannot arrange a sentence, share their idea and build communication.

Hence, why vocabulary becomes one causes of students’ problem in speaking activity.

3. Pronunciation

Pronunciation is the important part in oral communication to produce accurate

information and meaningful communication (Kelly, 2000, p.11). Students with

mispronounce a range of phonemes can be extremely difficult for the listener to

interpret the speaker means. It is determining factors for language users both in

receiving and producing language. It is essential for students to possess pronunciation

ability as much as possible to support them communicate using target language.

Students’ difficulty in pronouncing the words will affect their performance. They

could not say something to other people when they afraid in mispronouncing the words.

Teachers should familiarize students with pronunciation to enlarge their bravery in oral

communication. It could be minimized by supporting students to be aware of some variables

that affecting students’ speaking (Brown, 2000b, p. 283). The variables of pronunciation that

affect students speaking are native language, age, experience, inherent phonetic ability,

identity and language ego, and the last is motivation and concern for good pronunciation.

b. Affective Factors

1. Lack of Motivation

Motivation and successful learning are intimately linked. Cook (1996)

emphasizes that high motivation is one component that prompts successful in learning

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LANGKAWI Journal of The Association for Arabic and English Vol.1 No. 1, September 2015

and however, vice versa. Motivation certainly plays a very crucial role in learning and

teaching a foreign language. Grabe and Stoller (2003) say that motivation is an

important key to learn that has significant contribution associated with interest, self-

efficacy, involvement, and self-concept. Motivating means creating the need of the

students to learn and become actively involved in the lesson. Every student has their

own way to deal with their own knowledge development. If this happens the process of

learning and teaching will be much easier and full of fun. The students who are

motivated help their teachers in understanding teaching materials and can learn better.

Nunan (1999) stated that motivations concerns to the compounding of hope for

reaching the goal of learning the language and affirmative attitudes in the direction of

language learning (p. 232-233). The sign of success can be seen from students’ own

self-motivation to learn and to associate with knowledge. On the other hand, teacher’s

role is needed to support students on the right track in their learning. Cook (1996)

suggests that regarding to the individual differences between students, in teaching,

teachers are hoped to recognize the students through allowing for opportunities for each

them to gain in their own way. Teachers need to be conscious that they also have a

significant impact on students’ motivation in learning process. Establishing an effort to

cover students’ motivation, they should cater for the difference of personality types in

the same classroom.

2. Shyness

Shyness is an emotional thing that many students feel from at some time when

they are required to speak in English class. This indicates that shyness could be a source

of problem in students’ learning activities in the classroom especially in speaking class.

Therefore, Gebhard (2000) points out that paying attention on students’ shyness is also

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LANGKAWI Journal of The Association for Arabic and English Vol.1 No. 1, September 2015

quite important in order to help the students do their best in their speaking performance

in the classroom. This is in line with Baldwin (2011) statement that speaking in front of

people is one of the more common phobias that students facing and feeling of shyness

makes their mind go blank or that they will forget what to say.

This theory is also supported by some research (Nurdin, 2014) in which most

students fail to perform the speaking performance at their best. As they said, their

inability to show their ability in speaking is also influenced most by their feeling of

shyness. In other words, it can be said that shyness plays an important role in speaking

performance done by the students.

3. Self Confidence

It is commonly understood that students’ lack of confidence usually occurs when

students realize that their conversation partners have not understood them, or when they

do not understand other speakers. In this situation, they would rather keep silent while

others do talking showing that the students are lack of confidence to communicate. In

response to this, Tsui cited in Nunan (1999) points out that student who lack of

confidence about themselves and their English necessarily suffer from communication

apprehension. That shows that building students’ confidence is an important part of

teachers’ focus of attention. This means that the teacher should also learn from both

theories and practical experience on how to build the students’ confidence.

According to He and Chen (2010) the main cause of students’ confidence is their

low ability in speaking English. In this case, as they add, many students think that their

English is bad and feel that they cannot speak English well. The other cause of

students’ lack of confidence also deals with the lack of encouragement from the teacher

(Brown, 2007, p. 168). In this context, many teachers do not think that convincing

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LANGKAWI Journal of The Association for Arabic and English Vol.1 No. 1, September 2015

students that they are able to speak English is important. As a result, as Brown adds,

students find the demotivating learning rather than motivating. This suggests that

encouragement becomes a vital thing in order to build the students’ confidence.

Therefore, giving students’ encouragement and showing that they will be able to

communicate well in English plays a role in students’ success of learning.

4. Self Esteem

Self-esteem is a personal judgment of worthiness that is expressed in the attitude

that the individual hold towards himself. Self-esteem is abstract just like it can be felt

but it cannot be seen. Self-esteem can make a person judge himself weather is good or

not before another person giving opinion on him. Everyone holds their personal

opinions about who they are. These opinions are at the heart of self-esteem and affect

someone feeling or values. Self-esteem is not static or fixed; someone beliefs about

himself can change throughout his life as a result of circumstance and experience. High

or low self-esteem that produced by students will influence their feelings and beliefs.

Students with lower self-esteem will not know what they have made, meanwhile the

higher one will know about their weaknesses and mistakes that they have made

(Chamorro, 2013).

In second language acquisition and performing language, self-esteem has important

role. Brown (2007, p. 156) points out that second language acquisition is influenced by both

intrinsic and extrinsic affective factors that contribute to the success of language learning.

Self-esteem is one of intrinsic personality factors. Afterwards, Brown explains that global

self-esteem derives from the accumulation of inter and intrapersonal experiences, and from

assessments people make of external world. It is a very significant factor because no

successful cognitive or affective activity can be carried out without some degree of it.

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Students perform well when they have high global self-esteem, or they may have a high

global self-esteem because they perform well.

5. Language Ego

The other personal factors that affect students in second language acquisition

and performing their second language is language ego. Brown (2000b, p.16) states that

language ego is the way of someone in developing their personal mode of thinking,

feeling and acting in second identity. Language ego has positive and negative side in

language acquisition. Generally language ego brings negative side in second language

acquisition such easy create students sense of fragility, defensiveness, and rising of

inhibitions. Students sometimes feel silly when they are learning second language.

Students with lack of language ego will be losing face to face communication.

Most importantly, Dornyei (1998, p. 177) stated that without adequate

motivation, self-confidence and language ego even individuals with the most

remarkable abilities cannot accomplish long-term goals, and neither are appropriate

curricula and good teaching enough on their own to guarantee students achievement.

c. Classroom Interaction

Good relationship of classroom members is important key to create teaching

environment. The interaction between learners and the teachers include asking question

and answer, guidance in language learning, and solving problem. Interaction between

learners and teachers that is not developed well become the cause of inhibition in their

speaking activity. Students feel uncomforted to share or asking the teacher’s help when

they find some difficulties in language learning process. Classroom interaction includes

how the teachers provide good opportunity to students performing their language and

personality. According to Reeve (2006) when teacher-students interaction go well,

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LANGKAWI Journal of The Association for Arabic and English Vol.1 No. 1, September 2015

teachers function both as guide to structure students’ learning opportunities as well as

support system to encourage students’ interest and enable students to internalize new

values, develop important skills, and develop social responsibility. So, teacher as guide

for students should be sensitive in analyzing the learners need.

d. Fear of Language Evaluation

Inhibition can appear form language testing. In language testing, the greater the

degree of students’ evaluation and the more unfamiliar the test tasks and formats, the

more the learner inhibited produced. Students also experienced inhibition when they

spend hours studying the material emphasized in class only to find that their test assess

different material or utilize question-types with which they have no experience.

Further, teacher and peer corrections are horrible thing that produce students’ inhibition

in language learning activity. However, for some students believe that assessment can

improve them. It is similar to what pointed out by Cohen in Celce (2001, p. 515) that

students face language assessment as a threat to their competence, because they are

afraid about lack of English performance. For this reason, teacher and other students

should pay attention fully to feedback or assessment that they provide for the students.

Level Of Inhibition

Nigg (2000) explained that level of inhibition affected by kinds of inhibition and

caused if inhibition itself. Kinds of inhibition are inhibition that related to cognition

such as executive inhibition, automatic ihibition of attention, and motivational

inhibition more influence language learners than psychopatological inhibition (p. 220).

Meanwhile, Brown (2000a) points out that inhibition level are affected by students’

language ego and self-esteem. Hence, students with weaker self-esteem will maintain

walls of inhibition to protect their selves and neither language ego.

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High or low inhibition that faced by students will influence their language

performance. Inhibition comes together with psychological factors more influent

students in learning process than skill factors. The mental inhibition such lack of self-

confidence, learning motivation, anxiety, losing face of correction and shyness more

inhibit students in show off their personality even though they have comprehension in

language skills such as vocabulary, pronunciation and grammar.

Brown (2007, p. 155) state that learners with a weak self-esteem will feel more

inhibition to perform, and will put up barriers to protect themselves against failure. They

might not be prepared to take risk, such as making intelligent guesses or experimenting with

the language they already know for fear of making mistakes and subsequently feeling

embarrassed. This uneasiness is anxiety, the fear of not being able to perform to

expectation, expectation which may often be imposed by the learner himself. The negative

effect of low self-confidence, inhibition and anxiety on language learning may lead to non

performance, the denial to carry out certain task, as learners fear portraying an image of

incompetence when dealing in social and professional situation.

Strategies To Overcome The Inhibition Causes

To overcoming inhibition that perceived by students, they have to have personal

ways to do it. Some experts have proposed several strategies to overcome inhibition

causes that can be tried by students to lower their inhibition prolem. In the following

ways, the students can try to solve their personal inhibition based on the causal factors.

a. Inhibition that caused by language capability

In order to increase their box of vocabularies, grammar comprehension and

pronunciation ability, the students can follow some tips as advised by experts. Porter

(2003, p. 1-3) proposed some ways to improve students box vocabularies. Firstly is

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LANGKAWI Journal of The Association for Arabic and English Vol.1 No. 1, September 2015

using dictionary. Dictionary can be used by students to decide the words categorical, in

order to help them to understand the words, to remember them more easily, and to use

them correctly. Moreover, the students also can find the way how to pronounce the

words itself. Next, reading more. Through reading activity, the students can find the

new words in the text. Reading not only help the students to find new words, but also

how the words use in the sentence. The, write down the new words in different example

of sentence to help students remember its meaning and finally, note down any

dependent prepositions or collocations to help students use the words correctly.

Meanwhile, Green (2004) suggested listening to radio and television programs and use a

words three times by heard them frequently, read them frequently, teach them to others

and use them in speaking and writing practices.

b. Inhibition that caused by psychology

Kondo and Ling (2003) proposed five strategies to reduce psychological factors

that perceived by students. They are preparation, relaxation, positive thinking, peer

seeking and resignation.

The first category, preparation, refers to attempts at controlling the impending

threat by improving learning strategies ( e.g. studying hard, trying to obtain good

summaries of lecture notes). Using these strategies would be expected to increase

students subjectively estimated mastery of the subject matter, and hence reduce the

inhibition associated with the language class.

The second category, Relaxation, involves tactics that aim at reducing

unconfidence. Typical items are “I take a deep breath” and I try to calm down”.

The third strategy set, positive thinking, is characterized by its palliative

function of suppressing problematic cognitive processes that underlie students’ self-

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reluctant (e.g. imagining oneself giving a great performance, trying to enjoy the

tension). These strategies are intended to divert attention from the stressful situation to

positive and pleasant cues, and bring relief to the inhibition students.

The fourth category, peer seeking, is distinguished by students’ willingness to look for

other students who seem to have trouble understanding the class and/ or controlling their lack

of confidence. For the anxious student, the realization that others are having the same problem

may serve as a source of emotional regulation by social comparison. The last but not least is

resignation strategy. This category is characterized by students’ reluctance to do anything to

alleviate their language anxiety (e.g. giving up, sleeping in class).

In the same way, Premuzic (2013) advised that to overcome the low self-esteem

that felt by someone, they can use; believe in one’s own, letting go on past hurts and

forgiving others, loving and accepting someone unconditionally, planning and setting

achievable goals in life, visualizing someone achieving and succeeding in life and

internalizing positive affirmations that help someone believe in everyone.

c. Inhibition that caused by classroom interaction

Scrivener (2005) suggests a number of things that can do to create a positive learning

atmosphere, and by extension, to establish rapport. These include: showing respect, being fair,

really listening to the students, giving clear, positive feedback and the last be being oneself.

Scrivener believes that those activities can stimulate the students to build good relationship with

other classroom members, and those also create a positive classroom climate.

Brown (2001) proposed that there are three tools for creating a classroom

climate that is positive, stimulating, and energizing. Positive can be build through

establishing rapport. Rapport is a somewhat slippery but important concept in creating

positive energy in the classroom. Rapport is the relationship or connection between

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LANGKAWI Journal of The Association for Arabic and English Vol.1 No. 1, September 2015

teacher and students, a relationship built on trust and respect that leads to students’

feeling capable, competent, and creative. Teachers can set up such connection to the

students by showing interest in each student as a person, giving feedback on each

person’s progress, openly soliciting students’ idea and feelings, valuing and respecting

what students think and say, laughing with them and not at them, working with them as

a team, and not against them, and developing a genuine sense of vicarious joy when

they learn something or otherwise succeed.

Stimulating means balancing praise and criticism. Part of good classroom

management is creating rapport based on delicate balance between praise and criticism.

Genuine praise, appropriately delivered, enables students to welcome criticism and to

put it to use (Brown, 2001). The last is generating energy. Energy is the electricity of

many minds caught up in a circuit of thinking, talking and writing. Energy is an aura of

creativity sparked by the interaction of students. Energy drives students toward higher

attainment. Students and teachers take energy with them when they leave the classroom

and bring it back the next day (p. 203).

d. Inhibition that caused by language evaluation

Negative evaluation sometimes makes students personality shy, un-confidence, and

demotivated. To overcome fear of negative evaluation students have to; try and take an

objective more wise in viewing of what happened, recall what happened, then making reflection

(Scrivener, 1994, p. 196-197). Moreover, Scrivener says that through those ways the students

will face negative assessment as something positive and values for their capability.

Strategies To Lower Inhibition

Strategies are plan that is used by teachers or learners in teaching-learning

process. Strategies can be categorized as teaching and learning strategies. Stones and

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Morris (1972) define teaching strategy a a generalized plan for a lesson which includes

structure, desired learner behavior in terms of goals of instruction and an outline of

planned tactics necessary to implement the strategy. Meanwhile, Oxford (2003) defines

language learning strategies are specific attitude or thought processes that students use

to expand their own language learning. This definition is further expanded to include

“specific actions taken by the learner to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable,

more self-directed, more effective, and more transferrable to new situations”(p. 8).

Learning strategies are defined as “specific actions, behaviors, steps, or

techniques such as seeking out conversation partners, or giving oneself encouragement

to tackle a difficult language task used by the students to enhance their own learning

(Oxford, 2003, p. 2). Learning strategies can be classified into six groups, namely

cognitive, Meta cognitive, memory related, compensatory, affective and social. These

six strategies are divided by Oxford in direct and indirect categories. Those three groups

that belong to the direct strategies are memory, cognitive, and compensation. While

Meta cognitive, affective and social strategy includes indirect strategies (Oxford, 2003).

Strategies To Reduce The Inhibition Effects

Teachers as the problem solver and as the researcher in the classroom have to be

creative in identify the students’ problem and find the way to solve those problems.

Related to inhibition in speaking performance, Ur (1996) proposes several activities to

lower inhibition in speaking activity, they are group work and discussion activities.

Further, Ur explains that through grouping activity, the students or learners who feel

inhibited can express their though or feeling to other. Moreover, in grouping activity

the students will get more chance to speak than they learn individually. In this activity

the teacher cannot dominate the class and it means that the students will be doing more

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activity particularly speak to their friends. Hence, Ur stated that discussion as the other

ways to decrease inhibition effect. Then, as defined by Lazaraton (2001) discussion is

identically designed to solve problems about related topics that students are facing with.

Linked to that opinion, under discussion, students can share their though and ideas to

other without depressed. In this activity, the students who inhibit can ask their friends

about their problems’ solution.

Alves (2008, p. 8) and Brown (2001, 2007, p. 146) state that to lower the effect

of inhibition in students’ speaking performance, teachers can build by playing guessing

games, communicative games, do role play activity, simulations, sing songs, group

work, laugh together other students, and have the students share their fears in small

groups. Thornbury (2006) defines role play as an activity where the students pretend to

be someone else (p.98). Role play is a technique which involves fantasy or imagination

to be someone else in a specific situation for a while, improvising dialogue and creating

a real world in a scenario.

Based on definition above and related to Alves and Brown points of view, in role

play activity the students are expected to be more responsible in their duty. Further, Alves

explains that by using role play the students will be more active by sharing ideas to other

group members. Further, Brown (2001) explained that role play minimally involves (a)

giving a role to one or more members of a group ad (b) assigning an objective or purpose

that participants must accomplish. For example: similar dual roles could be assumed with

assignments to others in the group to watch for certain grammatical or discourse elements

as the roles are acted out. Or a group role play might involve a discussion of a political

issue, with each person assigned to represent a particular political point of view. Others,

simulations usually involve a more complex structure and often larger groups where the

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entire group is working through an imaginary situation as a social unit, the object of which

is to solve some specific problem.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A SUCCESSFUL SPEAKING ACTIVITY

Providing students’ exercise and opportunity are important to give the students

challenge and reinforce their comprehension in language particularly speaking. Brown

(2000a) states that opportunity should be given by teachers that enable students speak

English. The teachers have to think beyond in designing speaking assignment that

covers the students’ proficiency level. If teachers give them time to do task that are

higher or lower than their level, they will simply become frustrated and demotivated.

Conversely, it is good to provide the students task at time that challenge them, because

if speaking tasks are always easy, they can also become demotivated, beside the task,

the teachers also have to think about opportunity for students to speak. If teachers give

them little opportunity, they will be inhibited and less practicing. Those are several

other factors that should be considered when designing speaking activities.

Even though the success of speaking tasks depend on many factors, the

following characteristics are common in successful speaking tasks (Ur, 1996, p.120)

a. Maximum Foreign talk

In successful speaking, the students talk a lot in the target language. One

common problem in speaking activities is that the students often reduce one or two

simple utterances in the foreign language and spend the rest of the time chatting in their

mother tongue. Other common problem is that the teachers talk too much of the time,

thus taking away valuable practice time from the students.

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b. Even participation

Given the students equal opportunity in showing their personal ability should be

done by teacher. Even the students put in whole class or small groups, a successful task

should encourage speaking from as many different students as possible. The task

should be designed in a way so that the outspoken students do not dominate discussions.

When necessary, the teachers may interfere ti guarantee equal opportunities for students

of different level.

c. High motivation

Motivation is one of the most important variables in successful language

learning. Teachers can do a lot to increase and maintain the motivation of students by

the types of tasks that they organize in classroom. Students are enthusiastic to speak,

when they realize that the topic is interesting or there is a clear objective that must be

reached. Again, great care should be taken to make sure that the task is in line with the

students’ ability to deal with the tasks. If the tasks are too easy, the students may think

that it is childish and thus will lose interest.

d. Right Language Level

In a successful speaking task, the language is at the right level. The task must be

designed so that students can complete the task successfully with the language that they

have. If the students lack too much vocabulary the task will become frustrating and the

students are likely to give up or take a step back to the native language. Hence,

teachers should take into consideration about language level that they will provide in

teaching and learning process.

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CONCLUSION

Inhibition is one the most crucial aspects in language learning either other

physical problems. Inhibition refers to a temperamental tendency to display wariness,

fearfulness, or restrain in response to unfamiliar people, objects, and situation. It is also

related to condition which someone or students are losing face, worry about making

mistakes and afraid of the attention that their speech attraction will be loose. There are

some factors that cause inhibition, such as lack of motivation, shyness, self-confidence,

self-esteem, and language ego. There are also levels of inhibition, it refers to kinds of

inhibition and caused of inhibition itself. Teacher can support their students to reduce

their inhibition effect by many ways, one of them by creating good classroom

management including establishing good rapport between teacher and learners.

REFERENCES

Baldwin, C. (2011). How to overcome shyness during an oral presentation. Retrieved


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