The results of this study revealed that the students of ANU face many problems related to speaking skill, such as confusion and embarrassment; students did not learn speaking lessons correctly at school, and face difficulty in pronouncing some words. The results also showed that the most frequent problems were the limited amount of vocabulary among students, while the least frequent problems were the difficulty in understanding questions. This study also presented some of appropriate solutions to overcome the weakness in speaking skill, such as practicing speaking English inside and outside the classroom effectively, using the modern social media to communicate in English and to express the students feelings and needs.
Many students master the fine points of English grammar but find themselves at a loss when it comes to actually having a conversation with native speakers. In reality, the only way to develop fluency in speaking is by huge amounts of listening, and then practicing. The following are a few tips for improving English speaking skills. Don’t forget that listening is the foundation for speaking! When you also want to practice speaking, here are some suggestions for how to improve English speaking skills. Effective communication, of course, doesn’t mean perfect communication, nor error free communication. It just means communicating in a way that leaves both speaking partners feeling comfortable about the experience.
Find An English-Speaking Conversation Partner
First of all, it’s important to find native speakers to practice with. Students who are living around many English speakers may be able to find informal opportunities to chat with neighbors and local business people. If that isn’t an option, consider hiring a private tutor. A lot of students find and meet with tutors online via tools like Skype or Google Hangouts.
Make Sure To Listen As Well As Speak
Try to balance your listening and speaking. It’s a good idea to prepare questions in advance so that the conversation will flow back and forth. If your conversation partner asks you a question and you answer at length, you can always turn the question back to your partner by asking, “What do you think?” or “What about you?”
Record Your Conversation Practice
Recording is a great way to get the maximum benefit from a conversation with a native speaker. When you listen again, you can evaluate your own pronunciation and notice areas where you need to improve. You can also review the content of the conversation, take notes on new vocabulary or misunderstandings, and prepare questions for the next meeting.
Surround Yourself With The English Language
Immerse yourself in English as much as possible. Watch movies or TV in English, with subtitles if you need them, and watch the same programs over and over. Most people find that they understand more each time. Listening helps you become familiar with the rhythms and intonations of English. Once the sounds are familiar, try imitating them.
Practice With Music and Movies
Music is one of the best tools for learning intonation pronunciation. Listening and singing songs might also help you remember vocabulary and phrases, and it will help you learn to pronounce English rhythm in a more natural way. By unconsciously imitating the singer, you’ll learn to pronounce phrases the way native speakers do. One good song for ESL or EFL students is “Tom’s Diner” by Suzanne Vega because it uses simple language to describe everyday scenes and actions. Movies are a much better choice for learning English. You’ll learn vocabulary, idioms, slang, pronunciation, and listening by watching movies. Be sure to use my movie technique when you do this!
Read Aloud
Reading out loud is a great way to practice speaking when there are no conversation partners available. Reading aloud gives you a chance to focus on pronunciation and pacing without worrying about coming up with words. Make sure to practice with material that you can understand. Some students find videos online that have transcripts. By reading aloud from a transcript, you can check your pronunciation by listening to how the speaker says something.
Think in English
If you think in your native language and then try to speak English, you’ll always have to translate between languages. Translating isn’t an easy thing to do! Even people fluent in two or more languages have trouble switching between languages. The solution is to think in English. Try to use English when you’re thinking about your day, or when you’re trying to decide what food to order. Even try to use an English-to-English dictionary to look up words. That way you never have to use your native language and translate words. You’ll notice that when you think in English, it’s easier for you to speak in English.
Talk To Yourself
Whenever you’re at home (or alone somewhere else) you can improve English speaking with your favorite person: yourself. If you’re already thinking in English, try speaking your thoughts out loud. Read out loud, too. Practice is practice, and even if you don’t have anyone to correct your mistakes, just the act of speaking out loud will help you become more comfortable speaking English. By talking to yourself, you can become more fluent in translating your thoughts into spoken words.
Use a Mirror
Whenever you can, take a few minutes out of your day to stand in front of the mirror and speak. Choose a topic, set a timer for two or three minutes and just talk. The point of this exercise is to watch your mouth, face and body language as you speak. It also makes you feel like you’re talking to someone, so you can pretend you’re having a discussion with a study buddy.Talk for the full two or three minutes. Don’t stop! If you get stuck on a word you don’t know, try expressing your idea in a different way. You can always look up how to say that word after the two to three minutes end. This will definitely help you find out what kinds of words or sentences you have trouble with.
Focus on English Fluency, Not Grammar
When you speak in English, how often do you stop? The more you stop, the less confident you sound and the less comfortable you become. Try the mirror exercise above, but challenge yourself to speak without stopping or stammering (taking pauses between your words) the entire time. This might mean that your sentences won’t be grammatically perfect, and that’s okay! If you focus on speaking fluently instead of correctly, you’ll still be understood and you’ll sound better. You can fill in the correct grammar and word rules as you learn them better.
Try English Tongue Twisters
Tongue twisters are series of words that are difficult to say quickly. One example is: “The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.” Try saying this a few times! It’s not easy. Word games like this will help you find the right placement for your mouth and tongue, and can even help your pronunciation. You can find a list of great tongue twisters here.
The advantages of this journal give a lot of tips and tricks for improving English speaking skills. But the disadvantage of this journal is author didn't give some explanation about "ANU". They just put the abbreviation instead of continuation.
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