The speaking skill is one of the most important aspects while acquiring a foreign language. Hedge (2000) defines speaking as “a skill by which people are judged while first impressions are being formed.” It means that speaking is a fundamental skill which requires more attention in both first and second language because through it people's thoughts and personalities can be perceived.
The easiest way to realize if a foreign language learner is acquiring it correctly is through the oral performance. Many researches and theories are focused on the speaking skill, and most of them concluded the same, that most foreign language learners, especially those who begin to acquire the language after puberty, present difficulties on the oral performance, …show more content…
2.5.1 Characteristics of Speaking In order to speak a foreign or second language correctly, learners need to develop some characteristics or competencies, which are extremely important to domain this skill.
2.5.1.1 Fluency Speaking a language fluently is not only speaking it fast, speed is the main factor; nevertheless, there are other aspects that determine if a speaker is fluent. Research on speaking fluency found that pausing is a crucial factor, as a matter of fact proficient speakers have the ability to stop time to time to allow the formulation of an utterance to catch up with its conceptualization. Another factor is the use of production strategies, the most common are pause fillers such as uh and em, or vagueness expressions like, sort of, and I mean. In conclusion the main characteristics of fluency are the following: pauses may be long, but not frequent, pauses are usually filled, pauses occur at meaningful transition points, and there are long runs of syllables and words between pauses. Thornbury …show more content…
Skehan 1996 define accuracy as referring “to how well the target language is produced in relation to the rule system of the target language.” It means that if your speech while using the foreign language is not accurate; even if you are fluent your speaking skill is deficient. Most foreign language learners focus on being fluent and forget about accuracy, which is a crucial aspect while acquiring a language.
2.5.1.3 Grammar According to Mauranen and Ranta (2009), one of the facts that often made second/foreign language learners speaking deficient, is that spoken production is compared with written language norms, however, written and spoken language are different in the way they operate. Spoken language has grammatical patterns different from written language. They also stated that English foreign language learners present difficulties mainly on learning verb constructions and it is reflected on their oral
The easiest way to realize if a foreign language learner is acquiring it correctly is through the oral performance. Many researches and theories are focused on the speaking skill, and most of them concluded the same, that most foreign language learners, especially those who begin to acquire the language after puberty, present difficulties on the oral performance, …show more content…
2.5.1 Characteristics of Speaking In order to speak a foreign or second language correctly, learners need to develop some characteristics or competencies, which are extremely important to domain this skill.
2.5.1.1 Fluency Speaking a language fluently is not only speaking it fast, speed is the main factor; nevertheless, there are other aspects that determine if a speaker is fluent. Research on speaking fluency found that pausing is a crucial factor, as a matter of fact proficient speakers have the ability to stop time to time to allow the formulation of an utterance to catch up with its conceptualization. Another factor is the use of production strategies, the most common are pause fillers such as uh and em, or vagueness expressions like, sort of, and I mean. In conclusion the main characteristics of fluency are the following: pauses may be long, but not frequent, pauses are usually filled, pauses occur at meaningful transition points, and there are long runs of syllables and words between pauses. Thornbury …show more content…
Skehan 1996 define accuracy as referring “to how well the target language is produced in relation to the rule system of the target language.” It means that if your speech while using the foreign language is not accurate; even if you are fluent your speaking skill is deficient. Most foreign language learners focus on being fluent and forget about accuracy, which is a crucial aspect while acquiring a language.
2.5.1.3 Grammar According to Mauranen and Ranta (2009), one of the facts that often made second/foreign language learners speaking deficient, is that spoken production is compared with written language norms, however, written and spoken language are different in the way they operate. Spoken language has grammatical patterns different from written language. They also stated that English foreign language learners present difficulties mainly on learning verb constructions and it is reflected on their oral