The Characteristics of Successful Speaking Activity

1Apasraphon Hongwilai and 2Siriprapha Kawboonsai

Faculty of Education, Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University, Thailand.
Email: [email protected], [email protected]

Received March 16, 2022; Revised April 20, 2022; Accepted May 28, 2022

Abstract
The purpose of this article is to present the characteristics of successful speaking activity.
Speaking is often seen as a talent that is inherent in a person. “The ability to speak a language
is synonymous with knowing that language”. It is a fundamental skill that is widely used as a
way to measure the capability of language learner. It promotes the position of speaking in a
second or foreign language has often been viewed as the most demanding of the four skills.
This skill is the most important indicator for students' success in learning foreign language.
Nevertheless, speaking is usually considered as a difficult skill. This is because speaking
combines aspect of other language skills such as pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary.
Unfortunately, in various cases, it is proven that foreign language learners in Thailand
have difficulties in English speaking. English especially speaking for Thai people quite challenging
to be learned. Although most of the high school students have studied English for at least 6
years, the ability and the competence in speaking English are still low. Even worse, this is also
the case for college alumni who took special major in English but have not been able to
express their ideas into English actively after graduated. It explains “Indeed, one frustration
commonly voiced by learners is that they have spent years studying English, but still they
cannot speak it”. So we have to find the characteristics of successful speaking activity for the
students.
Keywords: Characteristics; Success; Speaking Activity

Introduction
Speaking refers to the communication activity that requires the interaction between at
least two people. In this situation, someone who involve in speaking activity can give
simultaneous contribution to the communication discourse that occurs in particular situation
and they also can change and develop the topic of discussion being discussed as the
communication takes place.
According to Carter and Nunan speaking defines as reciprocal and physically situated
face-to-face interaction. Reciprocal means that speakers can give simultaneous contribution to
the discourse and respond to each contribution as soon as possible. Whereas, physically
situated face-to-face interaction means that speakers can see each other thus they can
46 | The Characteristics of Successful Speaking Activity

understand some physical context and physical signal to show their attention to the interaction
and their intention for responding the utterances. (Ronald Carter, David Nunan, 2001)
The definition above explains that speaking is a reciprocal action which means that the
speaker and the interlocutor can make direct contribution to the discourse or to the
information exchange. This situation will bring the speakers to the topic development or
exchange because in oral communication people usually make less predictable interactions
such as making initiation for developing topic, making clarification about some information, or
closing the interaction. Moreover, beside of its unpredictable activity speaking is known also as
dynamic and transient activity because in speaking activity conversations occur immediately and
these utterances/conversations are impermanent which can change as soon as the speaker
produces the other utterances. Furthermore, speaking also defines as physically situated face-to
face interaction which means that both of speaker and interlocutor can see each other. They
can use physical context and physical signal for indicating their attention or intention to the
interaction and for making some contribution or for responding the topic being discussed.
On the other hand, McDonough and Shaw see that speaking is not an oral form of
written language because it requires learners’ ability to use its subskills to form a complete
competency of spoken language. (Jo McDonough, Christopher Shaw, 2003)
With this argumentation can be concluded that speaking differs from oral form of written
language because to achieve speaking competency learners are not only required to be able to
speak but they also need to be able to master speaking sub-skill such as pronunciation, stress,
intonation, turn-taking ability, and so on. When the speakers involve in speaking activity,
speaking sub-skills will give some important contributions for maintaining or managing speakers’
relation with the other speakers in speaking activity. This relation is useful for delivering their
message clearly and for communicating successfully.
Furthermore, spoken language differs from written language not only because of the
involvement its sub-skill but also because of its different characteristics. Spoken language is
considered as more dynamic and transient activity than written language; therefore as the
spoken discourse has been said it will disappear as soon as possible and it cannot be exactly
repeated in the same way. Meanwhile, written language is permanent that the readers can read
it anytime they want or they can reread it many times without worrying about missing any
essential information in the text. This argumentation derives from Hughes explanation that the
nature of speaking is different from the nature of writing in the aspects of production and in the
social aspects. In aspect of production spoken language is context dependent, unplanned,
transient, oral/aural, and dynamic; whereas in the social aspect spoken language is locus of
change, inter-personal, informal, stigmatized, rhetorical, and primary. (Rebecca Hughes, 2002).
From that statement can be elaborated that the characteristic of spoken language in the
aspect of production can be changed depends on its context. Spoken language is unpredictable
that speakers can easily move from one topic to the different topic. Moreover, spoken
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discourse is temporal which means that the utterances being spoken can’t be repeated in the
same way because they disappear as soon as the speakers said them and it delivers through
oral/ aural communication which makes spoken language dynamic and actively change for its
spontaneous material. This condition makes the materials being discussed in speaking activity
can be changed easily based on speakers’ willingness. On the other hand, in the social aspects
the characteristics of spoken language not only require topic exchange between speakers but
also topic exchange between discourse and the things around it.
Moreover, the interaction in speaking activity always occurs between more than one
people and commonly using informal language; therefore, the speakers not only need the
ability to adapt themselves with other speakers or the ability to repairs misunderstanding that
occur between them but they also need to understand communication style which used by the
speakers in order to communicate in effective way.
Furthermore, in “A Communicative Grammar of English” Leech and Svartvik remark that
a conversation is not limited on giving and receiving information only but also including social
interaction and participant cooperation as the basic characteristic of conversation. (Geoffrey
Leech, Jan Svartvik, 2002). This statement explains that communication between the speakers
aimed not only for exchanging information but also for maintaining social interaction and
speakers’ cooperation during the conversation thus demand the speakers to master the ability
for managing turn-taking technique in communication.
Therefore, founded on the three definitions of speaking above can be concluded that
the characteristics of spoken language is different from the characteristics of writing language in
the aspect of production and in the social aspects. Speaking is known as a communicative
activity that requires reciprocal and physical face-to-face interaction between at least two
speakers and in order to master speaking competency learners not only have to be able to
master speaking skill but also to be able to master its sub-skills for maintaining social interaction
between the speakers and for achieving a successful communication.
1. Definition of Speaking.
There are four skills that must be mastered by students, which are listening, speaking,
reading, and writing. According to Jeremy Harmer, the four skill are divided into types. Receptive
skill is a term used for reading and listening, skills where meaning is extracted from the
discourse. Productive skill is the term for speaking and writing, skill where students actually
have to produce language themselves. (Jeremy Harmer,2002:265).
Speaking is a very important skill. As human being, we need to socialize with one
another. One way to socialize is to communicate. There are some ways to communicate. One
of the ways of communication which used most frequently in human’s daily life is speaking. We
can communicate our feelings, ideas, or just information we have to others directly by speaking.
Thus, without an ability to speak well we cannot tell others clearly what ideas we have in mind,
what information we have or even what is our opinions toward something.
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The term speaking has many definitions. Some linguists give definitions of what speaking
is. “Speaking is productive skill in the oral mode. It is like the other skills, is more complicated
than it seems at first and involves more than just pronouncing words”. (British Journal of Art
and Social Sciences, 2011:38). Nunan defines speaking as an ability to carry out a conversation
in the language. It means that a good conversation will occur if people have ability in using
good language or good speaking thus people can add to their understanding toward each other,
they encouraged to express their ideas or opinion by their own language.
McDonough and shaw said “Speaking is a skill used by someone to produce utterance
when genuinely communicates may involve expressing ideas and opinions, expressing a wish or
desire to do something, negotiating and/or solving a particular problem; or establishing and
maintaining social relationship and friendship.” (Jo McDonough and Christopher Shaw,
2003:157).
In line with the definition above, Cameron state, “Speaking is the active use of language
to express meaning so that other people can make sense of them. Therefore, the label of
productive use of language can be applied to speaking”. (Lynne Cameron,2001:40) From this
definition, the writer sees that speaking is a productive skill, speaking is not just saying
something through speech organs, speaking is thinking how to articulate our ideas through
words.
From the four definitions above, it can be synthesized that speaking is the ability to
express our ideas, feelings, or opinions orally in a conversation. It is a productive skill because
when we speak something it means that we think about something. A good speaking event is
when the delivered messages can be understood and is needed by the listener.
2. The Objective of Speaking
Speaking is a purposeful activity. Just like other activities such as listening, reading, and
writing. We have reasons and objectives in speaking, the objective of our speech can define the
strategy we use to do it. Just as stated by Richards and Renandya that Speaking is used for
many different objectives and each objective involves different skill, the different objectives of
speaking are as follow;
a. In casual conversation, for example, our objective may be to make social contact with
people, to establish rapport, or to engage in harmless chitchat that occupies much of the time
we spend with friends.
b. When engage in discussion with someone, the objective may be to seek or express
opinions, to persuade someone about something, or to clarify information.
c. In some other situations, we use speaking to describe things, to complain about
people’s behavior, or to make polite request.
Each of these different objectives for speaking implies knowledge of the rules of how
spoken language reflects the context or situation in which speech occurs. (Jack C Ricahrds and
Willy A Renandya, 2002:201)
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3. Elements of Speaking
According to Jeremy Harmer, there are elements which recognized in speaking skill.
These elements explain that the ability to speak fluently presupposes not only knowledge of
language features, but also the ability to process information and language “on the spot”.
Elements which categorized as language features are as follows:
a. Connected speech
To be able to use connected speech is the ability to modify sounds when we speak. To
modify sounds are by modifying (assimilation), omitting (elision), adding (linking r), or weakening
(through contractions and stress patterning).
b. Expressive Devices
Expressive Devices is the use of pitch and stress, vary volume and speed, and the use of
paralinguistic (physical and nonverbal language) in producing utterance in order to convey the
truth meaning of the message meant by the speaker. By using expressive devices, speakers will
be able to show their feeling to whom they are talking to.
c. Lexis and Grammar
The ability to select the appropriate words and to use different phrases in different
contexts when we speak is very important, because sometimes there is an utterance which
should be said differently when we speak in different situations and to different addresse.
Therefore, it is very important for learners to know a variety of phrases for different functions
such as agreeing or disagreeing, expressing surprise, expressing shocks etc.
d. Negotiation Language
We use negotiation language to give clarification or reformulate what we are saying in
order to be clearer, especially when we see that we are not being understood. Negotiation
language is used because sometimes the listeners did not understand what we have said. It can
be because they did not hear or we talk too fast. (Jeremy Harmer, 2001:269-270)
Besides the language features are discussed above, another element which also very
important is mental/ social processing.
To become effective communicators, those elements explained above are very
important to be considered. A good speaker should understand the knowledge about language
features in speaking such as grammar, diction, knowing how to express while speaking etc. and
moreover, is that he needs to understand the process of speaking itself. Therefore, all those
elements above should be included in every language teaching program in where speaking skills
being stressed.
4. Components Underlying Speaking Proficiency
To be said proficient in speak English, English language learners need to know not only
the linguistic knowledge, but also the culturally acceptable ways of interacting with others in
different situations and relationships. Those abilities that underlying speaking proficiency is also
50 | The Characteristics of Successful Speaking Activity

called as “communicative competence”, Canale and Swain propose that communicative

competence includes;
a. Grammatical Competence
Grammatical Competence is a competence that includes in grammar (morphology,
syntax), vocabulary, and mechanics. In speaking, mechanics refers to basic sounds of letters and
syllables, pronunciation of words, intonation, and stress. In speaking, the learners must
understand how words are segmented into various sounds and how sentences are stressed in
particular ways. Thus, grammatical competence enables speakers to use and understand
English-language structures accurately. (Jack C Ricahrds and Willy A Renandya, 2002:207)
b. Discourse Competence
Discourse Competence is concerned with intersentential relationship. In discourse,
whether formal or informal, the rules of cohesion and coherence apply which aid in holding the
communication together in a meaningful way. In communication, both the production and
comprehension of a language require one’s ability to perceive and process stretches of
discourse, and to formulate representations of meaning from referents in both previous
sentences and following sentences. With discourse competence, learners can manage turn
taking in conversation.
c. Sociolinguistic Competence
Sociolinguistic competence is the competence which involves knowing what is expected
socially and culturally by users of the target language; that is, learners must acquire the rules
and norms governing the appropriate timing and realization of speech acts.
Understanding the sociolinguistic side of language helps learners know what comments
are appropriate, how to ask questions during interaction, and how to respond nonverbally
according to the purpose of the talk.
d. Strategic Competence
Strategic Competence refers to the ability to know when and how to begin a
conversation, how to take the floor, how to keep conversation going, how to end the
conversation, and how to solve comprehension problems in a conversation.
The four competences explained above is essential for English learners to be mastered
in order to perform English speaking skill effectively. The components which underlying
speaking proficiency are linguistic competences and the knowledge of how native speakers use
the language in context.
The linguistic competences are; grammatical competence, discourse competence, and
strategic competence, while sociolinguistic competence is the competence relates to the
learners’ understanding of how native speakers use language in context.
5. Goal for Successful of Speaking
According to Brown and Yule, “The intention of teaching is that the student should be
able to ‘express themselves’ in the target language, to cope with basic interactive skill like
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exchanging greeting and thanks, apologies, and to express ‘his needs’, request information,
service, etc.
6. Techniques for Teaching Speaking
Before discussing about the techniques of teaching speaking skill, it is essential to know
that based on linguistic study human are born with the ability for acquiring the language.
This basic ability is given by God through the existence of human brain. In the early age
of human development, the process of acquiring first language begin by receiving language
input through the interaction of the language users around them.
Furthermore, by the development of their speech organ human begin to produce
utterances from the language input which is known as language output. Based on input and
output theory Harmer suggests the three stages of language teaching and learning to teach
productive skill such as speaking that aimed for increasing communicative competence: first,
Introducing new language; second, practice; third, communicative activities. (Jeremy
Harmer,2001:271) From that classification can be elaborated that in the first stage teachers
should explain clearly the information about the target language including: its meaning, the way
to use the language, the grammatical form of the language, then the pronunciation and the
written form of the target language. Moreover, in the second stage, teachers should provide a
chance for learners to practice the language. In this stage learners will practice to communicate
using the target language in more controlled way. Finally, in the third stage teachers should
stimulate the communication between learners and learners or between learners and teachers
through learning activities. In this activity learners will practice to use the target language in less
controlled way or they are allowed to modify the target language based on their own creativity.
7. The Objective of Teaching Speaking.
Since the development of modern world and competitiveness among global countries,
the need for developing educational quality in Indonesia seems to be important. The intention
for developing Indonesian educational quality can be seen from Educational Ministry serious
action on developing Thai educational curriculum in simultaneous way. Teaching is profession.
Thus, teachers should pursue professional development to sharpen their teaching skills and
maintain the quality of profession. Teaching speaking skill is a very important part of first foreign
language learning. McDonough said that “ with the recent growth of English as an international
language of communication, there is clearly a need for many learners to speak and interact in a
multiplicity of situation through the language, be it for foreign travel, business or
other professional reason.” (Jo McDonough and Christopher Shaw, 2003:156)
However, today’s world requires that the goal of teaching speaking should improve
students’ communicative skill because, only in that way, students can express themselves and
learn how to follow the social and cultural rules appropriate in each communicative
circumstance. (Hayriye Kayi, 2006:132)
52 | The Characteristics of Successful Speaking Activity

Furthermore, there are some experts’ argumentations about the objective of teaching
speaking. Most of them agree that the objective of teaching speaking should be speaking
competency or on the other word capability to communicate through the target language.
In consequence, some of experts’ argumentations about the objective of teaching
speaking which have been mentioned above lead to the conclusion that most of experts agree
that the objective of teaching speaking is developing communication competency or fluency in
speaking. On the other hand, cannot be neglected that some of speaking sub-skills also give
some contributions to the successfulness of communication even though these subskills are
not the main objective of teaching speaking. The argumentations about the objective of
teaching speaking according to the experts actually in line with the objective of teaching
speaking in Indonesia that aimed to achieve transactional and interpersonal function.
8. The Characteristics of Successful Speaking Activity
Every teacher expects to accomplish a successful learning process and in order to know
whether their learning process success or fail, teachers need to know the characteristics of a
successful learning process. In “A Course in Language
Teaching” Ur reports that a successful speaking activity has some characteristic such as:
a. Learners talk a lot. As much as possible of the period of time allotted to the activity is
in fact occupied by learner talk. This may seem obvious, but often most time is taken up with
teacher talk or pauses.
b. Participation is even. Classroom discussion is not dominated by a minority of talkative
participants: all get a chance to speak, and contributions are fairly evenly distributed.
c. Motivation is high. Learners are eager to speak: because they are interested in the
topic and have something new to say about it, or because they want to contribute to achieving
a task objective
d. Language is of an acceptable level. Learners express themselves in utterances that
are relevant, easily comprehensible to each other, and of an acceptable level of language
accuracy. (Penny Ur, 1996:120)
Therefore, from the explanation above can be elaborated that in a successful speaking
activity learners will talk a lot during the learning process and there is no domination of
minority students in speaking activity and every learner participate actively during learning
process or on the other words learners will equally share the opportunity to talk and to make
contribution during learning process.
Moreover, learners’ motivation to speak during speaking activity is high because they are
interested in the topic being discussed then they want to give an active contribution in order to
accomplish learning objective. The last characteristic is learners’ mastery of acceptable
language level which means that learners’ language are easy to understand with the other
participants and they level of language accuracy are good enough.
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In addition, McDonough and Shaw stated: “successful completion of this type of activity
(communication game activity) clearly depends on the effective communicative use of the
language and of the sharing of information amongs the participants”. (Jo McDonough and
Christopher Shaw:2003) From that statement can be elaborated that in communication game
activity the objective of speaking activity only can be accomplished successfully if learners can
communicate effectively through the target language thus with this ability they also can share
the information successfully.
In conclusion, based on the elaboration of the experts above a successful speaking
activity can be indicated by some characteristic such as the amount of communication that
occurs the learners, learners’ active contribution during learning process, learners’ motivation to
accomplish the learning objective, and learners’ ability to communicate effectively through the
target language.

Knowledge from the Study

What can we as teachers do to help students overcome their anxieties related
to speaking? Caroline Thiriau introduces how to create ‘safe speaking environments’
by combining five key elements. Many students measure their progress in English
through their confidence and ability to speak spontaneously when faced with
situations in the ‘real world’, such as, helping a tourist with directions in the street or
greeting a colleague from overseas at work. If the student struggles, they feel that
they have made no progress in English despite studying for many years.
In the classroom, however, it can be difficult to get students to actively
participate in the speaking practice activities which are designed to prepare them for
such situations. So, as educators we are faced with a paradox: students measure their
own progress through their comfort level/ability to speak but can be reluctant to do
the very thing that will help them improve – speaking practice.
Typical blockers for participation in speaking practice in class are factors like
fear of judgement from peers and/or the teacher, lack of confidence,
embarrassment, and inability to formulate ideas in English on the spot. What can we
do to help students overcome this anxiety?
Research tells us that students learn better in contexts where they feel
confident, motivated, supported and able to experiment with language (Dornyei,
2005). So, in order to give students, the best chance of success in developing their
speaking, we need to create safe speaking environments. We can do this by
combining five key elements:
54 | The Characteristics of Successful Speaking Activity

1. Time

How often do we find that speaking practice has to be squeezed in at the end of the
lesson, or in between other parts of the syllabus which have taken priority, such as grammar,
vocabulary, reading skills? The result can be that speaking practice is rushed with little time for
students to formulate and express their ideas or receive feedback. Is it possible to dedicate
more time to speaking in the syllabus and in the classroom?

2. Immersive speaking activities

Cognitively-engaging, collaborative tasks involving problem-solving, decision-making
and/or the creation of a piece of work, in which every student contributes to the final result,
can improve learner engagement and confidence. In a language learning context, speaking
activities with these traits can relieve some of the anxiety around speaking practice because
producing the language is not an end in itself but, rather, the ‘tool’ used to achieve the
collaborative goal.
3. Engaging, relevant topics
We all know that it is difficult to formulate ideas about a topic you know or care little
about. Engagement with speaking activities is more likely when materials connect to the
learner’s experiences and background knowledge (Meltzer & Hamann, 2004). However, it can be
difficult to find topics that suit our classes, especially when students have such wide-ranging
interests. Can we flip this around and involve the students more in selecting topics for
discussion?
4. Positive peer interaction
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Classes are rarely homogenous in terms of level and personality types, which is what
makes them fun to teach, right? For students, peer pressure can be a cause for anxiety. For
example, students may feel embarrassed to speak in front of stronger students. Conversely
stronger students may not see the value in practicing speaking with weaker students. Can we
turn peer pressure into peer support and create an atmosphere in which learners encourage
each other, where they feel comfortable trying out new language, experimenting with new
forms and making mistakes? What can we do to foster a learning environment where classmates
respect and value each other’s contribution, and create a cohesive learner group?
5. Supportive feedback
If students are reluctant to speak because they are afraid of looking or sounding silly, of
making mistakes and of being judged, can we make feedback less about error correction and
more about support and encouragement? Can we take the fear out of feedback by creating
environments in which experimenting with language is encouraged and ‘errors’ are
opportunities to learn?

Conclusion
In teaching speaking the students are asked to be more active in speaking
activities. Also in the curriculum, speaking becomes an important competence that
should be mastered by the students. Finally, speaking skill is very important to be
taught by in the school, especially. “There are three main reasons for getting
students to speak in the classroom.”
Firstly, speaking activities provide rehearsal opportunities, chances to practice
real life, speaking in the safety of the classroom. Secondly, speaking tasks in which
the students try to use any or all of the languages they know provide feedback for
both teacher and students. Then thirdly, the more students have opportunities to
activate the various elements of language they have stored in their brains. As a
result, the students will be able to use words and phrases fluently without very
much conscious thought.
Teaching speaking depends on there being a classroom culture of speaking,
and that classrooms need to become very crowded classroom because of speaking.
In other words, students will be much more confident speakers and their speaking
ability will improve if the teaching process in the classroom is attractive. The teachers
their selves who need to arrange the speaking activities to be applied in the
56 | The Characteristics of Successful Speaking Activity

classroom. So, the quality of teaching speaking will be very influenced by the
speaking activities applied by the teacher in the classroom.
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