ATTRIBUTIONS ON STUDENTS’ SPEAKING FLUENCY

PROBLEMS IN EFL SPEAKING CLASSROOM

Mutiara Putri Pratiwi

ABSTRACT

This study explores students’ attributions for their English-speaking fluency

problems in their English as a Foreign Language (EFL) speaking classroom. The
participants of the study were 34 freshmen at the Speaking for Social Purposes
classes at the English Language Education Program, Satya Wacana Christian
University (ELEP, UKSW), academic year 2017/2018. An open-ended questionnaire
and semi-structured interview were used as the instruments of the data collection. On
the questionnaire, three questions were presented in which the participants were
asked to write their responses concerning their speaking fluency problems.
Meanwhile a semi-structured interview was conducted with three participants to
clarify their written responses on the questionnaire. The data analysis appeared to
prove that anxiety, lack of vocabulary, and problems in grammatical aspects were
primary factors influencing the students’ difficulties to speak English fluently.
Eventually, this study hopes to provide insights for teachers and students in avoiding
the speaking problems and improving English-speaking fluency among EFL learners.

Keywords: attribution, fluency

INTRODUCTION

English language learners learn four skills, namely listening, speaking,

reading, and writing. Among those skills, speaking is the most difficult skill to master

by students in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts (Urrutia & Vega, 2006).

One of the possible difficulties is related to speaking fluency. For example, Bailoor,
10
John, and Laxman (2015) reported that Indian learners presented many filled pauses

such “uh” and “um”. In Kuwait, a similar result was also found in Al-Nouh, Abdul-

Kareem, and Taqi (2015) study. Kuwaiti college students indicated unfilled pauses or

silence because they tend to forget what they want to say in English. From other

studies, learners in China and Turkey also showed significant English-speaking

fluency problems such as stuttering because of their anxiety (Na, 2007; Elaldi, 2016).

Similarly, Roberts (2002) reported that learners in French showed a slower speech in

speaking English.

Many students at English Language Education Program, Universitas Kristen

Satya Wacana (ELEP, UKSW) also experienced similar fluency problems.

Understanding materials and doing tests could be easy for them, but they found it

difficult to communicate in English. Not all students were confident enough to voice their

ideas in English because they were worried about making mistakes. Having problems in

speaking fluency is one of the several critical obstacles which gives negative

influence for students’ performance in the oral or practical use of languages (Yang,

2014). For those reasons, all courses at ELEP, UKSW require speaking fluency to

accomplish the goals of the course. Also, they need to keep their speaking

improvement on records and attempt to overcome their speaking fluency problems

because ELEP students will potentially be English teachers. This means, they need to

have a strong competence in speaking English.

In this research, I was interested in exploring the attributions of the EFL

students’ who have problems in speaking fluency, particularly in Speaking for Social
11
Purposes course at ELEP, UKSW. This research seeks to address the following

question: What are EFL students’ attributions to their English-speaking fluency

problems in Speaking for Social Purposes classes?

The study is expected to offer some important insights into teachers’ and

students’ strategies to retrieve speaking fluency in EFL contexts, specifically

Indonesia. The study could also serve as a reference for teachers to support students

in avoiding the speaking problems and improving the condition of English-speaking

fluency from the students’ experiences.

LITERATURE REVIEW

This section provides a review of the literature which is relevant to the

research objectives. This includes the definitions of attribution and fluency,

advantages of knowing learners’ attributions, and a review of the attribution studies

for speaking fluency problems.

Definitions of Attribution

Briefly, ‘attribution’ is a term referring to the causes for why students

experienced success and failure in the learning process. However, there are various

definitions of the term itself that needs to consider. Weiner (1985) explained that the

attributions tend to answer “why” questions which are obtained from individuals after

12
their experiences happened, such as “Why didn’t I have enough motivations?”, “Why

did I do that?”, “Why didn’t I study hard?”, or “Why couldn’t I pass the exam?”

Attributions also refer to people’s causal explanations of their successes and

failures in their language learning (Mali, 2015; Banks & Woolfson, 2008; Gobel &

Mori, 2007). Meanwhile, Shcunk and Zimmerman (2006) defined the term as a

theory which clarifies the causes of students’ competence and incompetence in their

academic performances. In this research, attribution refers to ELEP students’

explanations towards their prior experiences of their reasons behind their speaking

fluency problems on their performance in Speaking for Social Purposes classes.

Definition of Fluency

Speaking fluency is one of the most important factors which reflects the

successful learning. As seen in Fillmore (1979, p.93) study, fluency is characterized

in four different ways. First, he defined fluency as “the ability to talk at length with

few pauses”. Second, a fluent speaker is able to express his/her ideas with

understandable, reasonable and “semantically dense” sentences. Third, a person can

be considered as a fluent speaker if s/he is capable of stating the ideas appropriately

within the contexts. Lastly, Fillmore argued that fluent speakers are creative with the

language use. Meanwhile, according to Hedge (2000), speaking fluency refers to an

understandable response in a communication, appropriate use of connecting words in

a speech, well-pronounced words, and sentences which are accompanied by proper

intonation.
13
 Additionally, Lennon (2000) defined fluency as the ability to speak in a

certain language related to the speed and the smoothness in delivering the messages.

In the same way, fluency is also seen as speakers’ production of language which

performs “smooth and rapid production of utterances, without undue hesitations and

pauses, that results from constant use and repetitive practice” (Gatbonton &

Segalowitz, 2005, p.326). Considering some definitions mentioned above, fluency in

this study can be seen as EFL students’ oral production which significantly avoids the

occurrence of any speech hindrance such as hesitations that trigger pauses.

Advantages of Knowing Learners’ Attributions

Highlighting the advantages of exploring students’ attributions, Schunk and

Zimmerman (2006) considered the explanations and reasons of success and failure in

the learning process as important conditions because they can motivate students and

influence their potential to be successful learners. Besides, knowing the students’

attributions in their learning process can create a positive impact on their future

behavior towards their study and may affect the expectancy of their achievements

(Banks & Woolfson, 2008; Lei & Qin, 2009). With a similar view, Lei (2009)

believed that causal explanations which learners attribute towards their successful or

unsuccessful experiences in learning will result in changes in expectations and

emotions, which can affect the learners’ motivation to gain academic achievement as

the result. Further, Demetriou (2011) stated that attributions for students’ success or

failure may help them to develop their role as learners. Also, those causal
14
explanations can help disappointed students with low self-esteem to discover their

strength of learning in order to fight against their weaknesses.

Previous Attribution Studies for Speaking Fluency Problems

The ability to be fluent in oral communication may be influenced by other

language skills that learners’ master. However, some students still cannot speak

English fluently while they are able to read, write, and do the exams well in English.

There seems to be an evidence to indicate that students have problems in speaking

English fluently. Those speaking fluency problems may occur due to different

attributions in several studies. For example, in Japan, Gobel and Mori (2007)

attempted to investigate learners’ attributions for success and failure in EFL oral and

reading tasks. In this qualitative study, open-ended questionnaires were used for the

data collection. The participants of the study included 233 Japanese university

students in the reading and speaking classes. The findings of the study showed that

the students in the classes attributed internal factors for their failure which were lack

of ability and lack of effort.

Meanwhile, another study on Chinese tertiary-level EFL students conducted

by Lei and Qin (2009) attempted to explore the attributions towards the learners’

English language achievement. To collect the data, they administrated an open-ended

questionnaire on 949 undergraduates at Huazhong University of Science and

Technology. The result of analysis revealed that 594 students were considered as

unsuccessful learners and the rests showed the opposite result. Due to the higher

15
number of students who attributed EFL failure, the study found that lack of

confidence and lack of practical use were reasons why the students experienced

difficulties to be fluent in speaking English.

In Malaysia, a related study was undertaken by Thang, Gobel, Nor, and

Suppiah (2011). They conducted a study that involved six public universities in the

country which use English as a Second Language (ESL). The researchers attempted

to analyze the relationship between the students’ performance attributions and

different university settings within the context. The results reported reasons for the

students’ success and failure. Then from five cited attributions, lack of effort, ability,

and interest become the main attributions for experiencing difficulties during their

English learning especially in doing speaking and writing activities.

Similarly, Basic (2011) investigated Swedish students’ reasons on why some

of them cannot speak English fluently. Significantly, the study revealed that students

who experienced anxiety when performed their oral skill inhibited them to speak

fluently in English. On the other hand, lack of support from English language

teachers was also an attribution of the students’ problems in their oral performance.

In that case, Basic and the teachers believed that it was important to create an

encouraging environment and activities to motivate the students to communicate

fluently.

Another related study was conducted by Jimenez (2015). In this case, the

researcher surveyed 14 Spanish students to prove their oral fluency difficulties in

English. The findings in the study revealed that the highest level of negative impact
16
in English speaking fluency came from the interference of students’ mother tongue.

While low-esteem and anxiety in EFL learning motivation and learning environment

with a low level of support can be the next obstacles to be fluent speakers.

In India, Bailoor et al. (2015) sought to assess the common speech

disfluencies in ten adults in the age range 18-20 years. The data were collected from

spontaneous speech tests such as conversation, story narration, and monologue. The

results indicated that adults presented a large number of disfluencies, such as pauses,

repetitions, interjections, and revision. Besides, Indian percentage of speaking

disfluency in doing monologue has increased. For this reason, doing a certain

individual oral task such as a spontaneous speech without having sufficient

preparation is the main factor affecting learners’ problems in speaking English

fluently.

Another study by Shteiwi and Hamuda (2016) concerned with the forty

English major students’ factors behind their difficulties to have successful oral

communication in English. The researchers conducted the study at the Education

Faculty, Misrata University, Libya. Administering questionnaire was used as a

method to collect the data. As a result, the data which was analyzed qualitatively

indicated that lack of English exposure and practice inside and outside the classroom,

lack of vocabulary mastery, lack of grammatical and pronunciation components, and

self-confidence problems were the main reasons why they performed a certain degree

of difficulty in speaking English fluently.

17
 Attributions on success and failure towards ESL and EFL learning is a topic

that has been thoroughly studied by many researchers. So far, however, there had

been few studies about students’ attributions towards their difficulty or failure in EFL

learning, in this case, speaking fluency problems experienced by Indonesian EFL

students in a university context. Therefore, it is significant enough to investigate the

attributions on students’ speaking fluency problems as “lack of speaking fluency and

practice, sometimes, is not sufficient to maintain a communicative task in EFL class”

(Yang, 2014, p.2).

THE STUDY

This research was conducted to explore students’ attributions for English-

speaking fluency problems on their EFL learning process at ELEP, UKSW. To

achieve this objective, the researcher approached the study qualitatively. By

employing the qualitative modes of inquiry, I attempted to illuminate the

understanding point and evidence of experiences in groups of a certain context

(Mack, Woodsong, MacQueen, Guest, & Namey, 2011). The findings of the data

were expressed from the participants’ statements in form of narrative (Norum, 2008).

Then the data was obtained by seeking the answer about “why people behave the way

they do?”, “how opinions and attitudes are formed?” (Hancock, Ockleford, &

Windridge, 2009).

18
 This study was in line with the characteristics mentioned above. First, the

researcher explored evidence of groups’ experiences within a context. Therefore, it

was expected that data from the study was not collected from inaccurate opinions.

The researcher attempted to gain the responses from the participants’ real statements

from their experiences. Second, from the data I collected, I developed it into a

narrative text. Lastly, data was obtained by seeking the answer to why and how

questions related to EFL students’ attributions to their English-speaking fluency

problems in Speaking for Social Purposes classes.

Context of the Study

Data was collected in semester 2 of academic year 2017/2018 in which

participants joined the course of Speaking for Social Purposes at ELEP of UKSW.

This course was designed as a part of the compulsory course that aims to enhance the

students’ skill in speaking English (Sinanu, 2017). In this course, students were

expected to be able to improve their speaking skill using various language functions

and vocabulary in social contexts. Furthermore, this course was their first course of

speaking. There is a possibility that before taking this course, students have different

speaking proficiency and learning background. Therefore, as they enrolled the course

and did the spoken activities, their excitement and challenges towards the speaking

fluency appear to be different. In particular, for those who have fluency problems, the

challenges and difficulties appear during their first time in learning and improving

their speaking skill.

19
Research Participants

The study involved 34 EFL students from Speaking for Social Purposes

classes at ELEP, UKSW who experienced speaking fluency problems in the course.

The students who participated in this study were in their first year on the field. The

researcher employed purposive sampling as it is a method for identification and

selection information-rich situations (Patton, 2002). This kind of sampling involves

selecting individuals based on their knowledge and experience of the population that

are of interest which enables to answer the research question (Mackey & Gass, 2005).

In this case, the sampling requires extreme judgments on students’ low fluency

performance in their English speaking. For this reason, this proposed study used

“extreme cases” sampling to select a sample of the subjects in this study. Extreme

case sampling is a data collection process in which samples are selected based on the

special or unusual performance of interest (Ary, Cheser & Sorensen, 2010).

Commonly, the cases highlighted above or below accomplishments such as failures

or successes (Lærd Dissertation, 2012). To conduct this study, students of ELEP,

UKSW who had difficulties and problems in speaking English fluently were selected

as the participants. Due to this, the researcher asked the teachers in the class of the

Speaking for Social Purposes course about the students’ performance and grades

which appeared during the teaching and learning process in the classrooms.

20
Instruments of Data Collection

To collect the data, the study implemented open-ended questionnaires and

semi-structured interviews. Mackey and Gass (2005) explain open-ended

questionnaires as an instrument of the data collection which allows research

participants to express their ideas based on their willingness to share in form of

written statements. The aim of the open-ended questionnaire is to identify the

attributions for students who experience speaking fluency problems during the class

of Speaking for Social Purposes. By administering this kind of questionnaire, it is

possible to obtain new issues from the responses because each participant may

answer the questions in their own manner (Dawson, 2009).

Meanwhile, semi-structured interview is a data collection method which the

interviewer has a list of questions order to be asked and probes that are provided to

clarify more information (Mackey & Gass, 2005). The aim of the semi-structured

interview is to give participants an opportunity to elaborate their statements and their

way of thinking towards difficulties and problems they encountered to speak English

fluently. According to Dawson (2009), flexibility in the semi-structured interview

helps to gain more information. With this data collection method, the researcher

could go into details because asking probing questions as the interview goes was

allowed. In short, by using semi-structured interview, the researcher could come up

with new questions for new findings. Questions for the instruments were adapted

from Adibba (2004); Mali (2015); Tuan and Mai (2015); Mali (2016) with several

21
modifications as it has a similar case to the present research context. The questions

are as follows:

What problems do you encounter in learning speaking skill?

1. Tell me your reasons why you found it difficult to speak English fluently in
front of your friends when having the Potluck Cocktail Party!
2. Tell me your reasons why you found it difficult to ask questions to your
friends in English!
3. Tell me your reasons why you found it difficult to answer questions proposed
by your friends in English!

Data Collection Procedures

Before administering the two research instruments, the researcher piloted the

data instruments to demonstrate the statements on the questionnaire and interview

questions. The pilot study was conducted with 15 participants. This aimed to find the

weaknesses and ensure the validity of the instruments. After making some revisions,

the questionnaire was distributed to 34 participants without including the piloting

participants. Questionnaire sheets were administered to the participants of the study

in the class time. At first, the researcher distributed the questionnaires in Speaking for

Social Purposes classes by asking the teachers’ permission. Then the researcher

informed the participants about the purpose of the study, gave the instruction to

answer the questions in the instrument, and explained the statements on the

questionnaire. The purpose of doing this step was that to clarify the participants’

confusion about the statements written on the questionnaire. Statements of the

questionnaire were delivered in English, but they were allowed to answer the

22
questions either in English or Bahasa Indonesia to help the participants to go into

details in explaining the ideas and prevent misconception of the statements.

The interview section was conducted with three participants after

administering the questionnaire. It was done in an individual face-to-face meeting

with the participants. During the interview, the researcher recorded the data by using

a voice recorder and took notes about the important points of the participants’

responses. There were several questions which led to students’ attribution on their

speaking fluency problems. The questions that were asked are the same for each

research participant. There were follow up questions to clarify the participants’

written statements on the questionnaire. The interview was conducted in Bahasa

Indonesia.

Data Analysis Procedures

After obtaining the data needed, the researcher transcribed the interview data.

Similar responses were collected into groups. In this phase, thematic analysis was

used to analyze the data collected from the open-ended questionnaires and interviews.

Holliday (2002) suggests using thematic analysis to organize the data. In this

approach, data needs to be analyzed by interpreting broadly and rearranging under

themes according to the interest. The unique characteristic of thematic analysis is the

flexibility on the theoretical frameworks (Guest, MacQueen, & Namey, 2012). It is

23
applicable for the study as it suits questions related to people’s experience and the

understanding. All in all, the analyzed findings were drawn into a conclusion.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This section presents the findings on the students’ attributions to their EFL

speaking fluency problems in Speaking for Social Purposes classes. The researcher

aimed to display the attributions by classifying the results into three main indicators

which were adapted and developed from Mali (2015). The indicators are the students’

problems [1] in interacting with friends using English during Potluck Cocktail Party;

[2] in asking questions to their friends using English; and [3] in answering questions

proposed by their friends using English. In this section, the researcher discussed three

primary attributions categories for each indicator, including the students’ excerpts of

the results obtained from questionnaire and interview data. Below were the details of

the findings and discussion.

The Students’ Attributions for Their Problems to Interact with Friends Using

English During Potluck Cocktail Party

It was necessary to assure that the research participants were aware of the

research problem before they determined their attributions concerning their speaking

fluency problems. Therefore, to make sure that they have actually experienced

24
speaking in English in Speaking for Social Purposes course, the researcher briefly

asked the participants about their experience when having the Potluck Cocktail Party.

The current study revealed ten attributions for the students’ English speaking

fluency problems that they experienced during their speaking assessment at the

Potluck Cocktail Party. Table 1 described the result.

Table 1 The Students’ Attributions for Their Problems to Interact with Friends Using

English During Potluck Cocktail Party

Attributions Number Percentage

Anxiety 19 25.3%
Lack of self-confidence 11 14.8%
Peer influence 10 13.3%
Lack of vocabulary 10 13.3%
Cannot initiate interaction 6 8%
Unsupportive environment 6 8%
Lack of background knowledge 5 6.7%
Grammatical aspects 4 5.3%
Lack of practical use 3 4%
Unfamiliar with the language 1 1.4%
Total Number 75 100%

Horwitz (2001) mentioned that anxiety is a feeling that is commonly

described by nervousness, dread, and worry. She believes that anxiety can interfere

with language learning, including speaking. Interestingly, anxiety (25.3%) was the

most frequent problem that the students encountered during the assessment. As they

experienced fear of being evaluated by teachers, negative comments from others,

25
making mistakes, new social context, and worried to manage their first assessment, a

participant reported that:

Excerpt 1
“I always have sudden panic attack when I speak in public, for example in front of
the class. I often see that I am a failure in speaking English. Maybe, it is because I
experienced something bad in the past. It was when my friends mocked me because I
could not pronounce the words properly or say something out of the topic. So, I feel
like I am afraid of getting the same experience. I did not want to get negative
responses from my surroundings.” (S23/questionnaire/translated by the researcher)

Lack of self-confidence (14.7%) became the next attribution that was

frequently mentioned by the participants. Significantly, the theme covered some

statements, such as “I do not have native-like pronunciation and I feel awkward in

front of my friends when I speak in English. (S13/questionnaire/translated by the

researcher)” Moreover, “I think my friends speak much better than me because I

cannot speak that well. (S9/questionnaire/translated by the researcher)” Dealing with

these problems to interacting with friends in the Potluck Cocktail Party, some

participants conveyed:

Excerpt 2
“When I speak English, I often could not pronounce the words well. That makes me
not confident to communicate with my friends. They are great in speaking English.”
(S34/questionnaire/translated by the researcher)

In Table 1, the students also attribute their problem in interacting with their

friends because of the hindrance from others. The researcher classified this attribution

as peer influence (13.3%). Additionally, the research participants conveyed that they

had problems in speaking English when their partner did not speak clearly, speaks too

26
fast, and seems reluctant to communicate. Concerning those, in the questionnaire,

some students stated that:

Excerpt 3
“It was hard for me to make a conversation ongoing if the person I talked with did
not understand the topic. For example, I talked with someone, but he did not answer
the question that I gave. He just stayed quiet. It made me confused as well.”
(S17/questionnaire/translated by the researcher)

The present findings seem to be in line with the views that a student who had

one bad experience from speaking often becomes a reminder (Basic, 2011). In that

case, that student who was mocked will have speaking anxiety that may make him or

her does not dare to speak English again. More importantly, such failure may be the

factor that decreased the students’ motivation. It is also in harmony that lack of self-

confidence is a factor that leads the EFL learning failure, significantly the fluency in

speaking English (Lei & Qin, 2009).

The Students’ Attributions for Their Problems to Ask Questions Using English

Initially, the researcher would like to inform that the asking questions in this

case was not limited to the Potluck Cocktail Party as stated in the previous part.

Rather, it was related to the students’ speaking activities in their classroom. As the

results of the data analysis, the researcher found nine different themes that showed

the reasons why they found it difficult to ask questions in English. Table 2 showed

the complete results of the attributions.

27
Table 2 The Students’ Attributions for Their Problems to Ask Questions Using

English

Attributions Number Percentage

Lack of vocabulary 10 19.6%
Cannot present questions 9 17.7%
Anxiety 8 15.7%
Grammatical aspects 7 13.7%
Lack of background knowledge 6 11.8%
Peer influence 4 7.8%
Lack of practical use 3 5.9%
L1 interference 2 3.9%
Unfamiliar with the language 2 3.9%
Total Number 51 100%

It is apparent from this table that lack of vocabulary (19.6%) was the major

attribution for their problems to ask questions in English. Additionally, the research

participants declared that they tend to find difficulties in speaking when they know a

little vocabulary, cannot find suitable words easily, and forgot or even do not know

the English terms that they want to say. These problems seemingly appear as a

student wrote in the questionnaire:

Excerpt 4
“I don’t have much vocabulary mastery, so sometimes I am confused about how to
convey what I want to say. I do not know the English term of the words that I want to
ask.” (S13/questionnaire/translated by the researcher)

The next attribution influencing their problems in communicating with their

friends using English is because sometimes they cannot present questions (17.7%).

They reported that they ran of topics after asking several questions, had no topic to

discuss, and could not initiate the conversation with a question. Those problems

obstructed their language production and speaking skill improvement. Concerning

28
those, the results in the questionnaire corresponded to what a participant conveyed in

the interview:

Excerpt 5
“When I met new friends, I did not know how to start the conversation. I did not
know what I should ask. Sometimes, it was hard for me to understand the topic that
they were talking about. I took too much time thinking about a question to ask. In the
end, I did not ask any further questions and our conversation was far from smooth.”
(S10/interview/translated by the researcher)

Furthermore, they found difficulties in asking questions using English because

they experienced anxiety (15.7%). Within this attribution, the students declared that

they were nervous, worried, and afraid of making mistakes, particularly fear of

making grammatical mistakes and unclear questions. In the interview, a participant

clarified similar statement to this attribution:

Excerpt 6
“I met new people. I talked with different friends. Facing, greeting, and having
conversations with unfamiliar friends was a challenge. I was very worried that I made
grammatical mistakes when I talked to them. I felt that I arranged the sentenced
poorly.” (S9/interview/translated by the researcher)

The present finding seems to be consistent with Shteiwi and Hamuda’s (2016)

findings which showed that the students’ problems in speaking English occur because

of their limitations in mastering the vocabulary. The finding also supports the ideas of

Basic (2011), who found that that attitudes that reflect language learners’ anxiety

such as fear of making mistakes is a hindrance for the students to have a successful

practical use of the language.

29
The Students’ Attributions for Their Problems to Answer Questions Using

English

Regarding the communication among the EFL students in the classroom,

Table 3 shows students’ main attributions to their English speaking fluency problems,

particularly when answering questions proposed by their friends. From the table, the

most obvious challenge that the participants had was the students experienced

difficulty in grammatical aspect (17.6%). Some students often find problems in

arranging the words and get confused by tenses. Talking about this issue, an

interviewee said:

Excerpt 7
“I get difficulties not only in word choice, but also in English grammar. I find it hard
in arranging words and sometimes get confused about the grammatical categories. I
am not aware of using some tenses.” (S9/interview/translated by the researcher)

Table 3 The Students’ Attributions for Their Problems to Answer Questions Using

English

Attributions Number Percentage

Grammatical aspects 9 17.6%
Lack of background knowledge 8 15.7%
Lack of vocabulary 8 15.7%
Unfamiliar with the language 7 13.7%
Anxiety 7 13.7%
Peer influence 6 11.8%
Lack of self-confidence 3 5.9%
Unsupportive environment 2 3.9%
L1 interference 1 2%
TOTAL 51 100%

30
 Understanding the context of a discussion has an important point in answering

questions. Within this indicator, the participants declared that one of their problems in

answering questions proposed by their friends was due to their lack of background

knowledge (15.7%). Statements included in this attribution were “I do not understand

the topic of the question. (S7/questionnaire/translated by the researcher)” Besides,

“The topic is unfamiliar to me. (S17/questionnaire/translated by the researcher)”

Additionally, “I’d never heard of the roles they played; I do not know who they are in

real life. (S1/questionnaire/translated by the researcher)” These statements seemingly

appear as a participant stated:

Excerpt 8
“When I pretended to be someone else in a certain speaking activity, honestly I did
not exactly know about the character I was supposed to be. My character was a
politician, but I did not know anything about politics. Then I usually ended the
conversation if my friends brought up politics.” (S3/questionnaire/translated by the
researcher)

Additionally, the participants admitted that they were lack of vocabulary

(15.7%). It became a reason why they had low performance in speaking English when

they answered questions. Some EFL students only know a little vocabulary. They

cannot find the suitable words in spoken language production to express their opinion

about particular topics. This problem hinders the participants in speaking English

actively, as one of them mentioned:

Excerpt 9
“The problem that I encounter in speaking English is due to my lack of vocabulary. I
know a little vocabulary, I find it hard to express anything in English, and it makes
me think that I’d better not speak.” (S18/questionnaire/translated by the researcher)

31
 In accordance with the present results, a previous study by Shteiwi and

Hamuda (2016) found that with the learners’ limited knowledge of vocabulary, the

learners would prefer to keep silent because they were unable to express their ideas in

English. The findings of Shteiwi and Hamuda also seem to be in line with the current

study with the views that lack of knowledge about tenses and words arrangement in

grammar can also be the EFL students’ problems which prevent them from

communicating in the target language.

Furthermore, the findings showed other less frequent attributions. They were

the unsupportive environment (3.9%) and L1 interference (2%) for the students’

problems in answering their friends’ questions using English. This finding is

consistent with the ideas of Jimenez (2015) who explained that the negative

environment may not be supportive for students to speak English fluently. Jimenez

also stated that L1 interference such as students’ language switching and mixing are

the causes for the students’ speaking difficulties in an EFL context.

CONCLUSION

The present study aims to explore the EFL students’ attributions who have

problems in speaking fluency, particularly in the class of Speaking for Social

Purposes at ELEP, UKSW. The researcher summarized major findings which match

those observed in earlier studies. First, Indonesian tertiary-level EFL learners

attribute anxiety as their factor on speaking fluency problem. This was in agreement
32
with Basic’s (2011) argumentation that anxiety can hinder the students’ ability to

speak as they will not be able to focus on the speaking process. Besides, their lack of

vocabulary and having difficulties in grammatical aspects seemed to be other frequent

factors that influenced their problems in oral communication. This finding

corroborated the ideas of Shteiwi and Hamuda (2016), who stated that lack of

grammatical components and difficulty in retrieving suitable vocabulary during oral

communication were problems causing the students’ inhibition to speak in English

fluently.

Regarding the findings of the current study, it is possible for teachers to

encourage the students to have the confidence and not to worry about making

mistakes in the message that they are trying to communicate in front of their friends.

In addition, language teachers should encourage the students to prepare themselves

before coming to the classroom. The researcher also suggests that the students need

not be too worried whenever they make mistakes in language learning. Besides, to

improve their vocabulary knowledge, they should develop proper learning strategies

that focus on vocabulary. It can be done, for instance, by doing cooperative learning

activities such as playing challenging vocabulary games with their peers that may be

effective and fun for their vocabulary mastery. English learners can also improve

their grammar skills through writing and reading practices. Moreover, for the

teachers, it is important to provide support and more opportunities to the students for

practicing the target language in both inside and outside classrooms.

33
 This study, however, was limited in the area of data collection process. Only

34 students in Speaking for Social Purposes course participated in the study. They

may not represent all tertiary-level EFL learners. The context of the study was also

solely limited to a course which was Speaking for Social Purposes as the main setting

to collect the data. Thus, further studies should be conducted with a more diverse and

broader context. It would be interesting if further study can compare the students’

attributions that appear on the context of present study and other speaking courses

such as Academic Speaking as the settings of the study in order to investigate the

EFL students’ attributions to their speaking fluency problems.

34
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My deepest respect and gratitude go to Yustinus Calvin Gai Mali, M. Hum.

for his invaluable guidance, support, suggestions, patience, and all of the time he gave

to me during the completion of this study. Also, I owe many thanks to Dra. Martha

Nandari, M.A., my examiner who gave me many advices and suggestions to improve

this study substantially. My thanks also go to all my teachers and staff in the Faculty

of Language and Arts, especially Ms. Yustina Priska, M.Hum. I have been extremely

lucky to have a teacher who provided experiences, encouragement, and advices

throughout my time as a student.

To Ibu SAS Sulistyorini, Bapak Heni Pudjowasana, and Mas Sandy Anwar,

words cannot express how grateful I am for having you as my family. Your prayers,

considerations, and strength are the greatest fuel to finish this thesis.

Completing this study would have been more difficult if there is not support

and friendship from Nadzifa, Salma, Hari, Rindang, and the members of TESP

family, I really am grateful to have you all around. As well, thank you to all of my

wonderful friends and relatives that I could not mention one by one.

Above all, I would like to give my biggest gratitude to Allah SWT for all the

blessings.

35
 REFERENCES

Addiba, F. (2004). Study of attributions on low achievers and high achievers about
the perceived causes of their success and failure (Doctoral dissertation).
University of Arid Agriculture, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

Al-Nouh, N. A., Abdul-Kareem, M. M., & Taqi, H. A. (2015). EFL college students’
perceptions of the difficulties in oral presentation as a form of assessment.
International Journal of Higher Education, 4(1), 136-150.

Ary, D., Cheser, L., & Sorensen, C. (2010). Introduction to research in education
(8th ed.). Wadsworth: Cengage Learning.

Bailoor, P., John, J., & Laxman, J. (2015). Disfluencies in English speaking young
adults: A supplementary study in Indian setup. International Journal of
Research Studies in Biosciences (IJRSB), 3(10), 110-114.

Banks, M., & Woolfson, L. (2008). Why do students think they fail? The relationship
between attributions and academic self-perceptions. British Journal of Special
Education, 35(1), 49-56.

Basic, L. (2011). Speaking anxiety: An obstacle to second language learning?

(Bachelor’s thesis). University of Gavle, Sweden.

Dawson, C. (2009). Introduction to research methods: A practical guide for anyone

undertaking a research project (4th ed.). Begbroke, Oxford UK: How to
Content.

Demetriou, C. (2011). The attribution theory of learning and advising students on

academic probation. NACADA Journal, 31(2), 16-21.

Elaldi, S. (2016). Foreign language anxiety of students studying English language and
literature: A sample from Turkey. Educational Research and Reviews, 11(6),
219-228.

Fillmore, C. J. (1979). On fluency. In D. Kempler, and W. S. Y. Wang (Eds.),

Individual differences in language ability and language behavior (pp. 85-
102). New York: Academic Press.

Gatbonton, E., & Segalowitz, N. (2005). Rethinking communicative language

teaching: A focus on access to fluency. Canadian Modern Language Review,
61(3), 325-353.

36
Gobel, P., & Mori, S. (2007). Success and failure in the EFL classroom: Exploring
students’ attributional beliefs in language learning. In L. Roberts, A. Gürel, S.
Tatar, & L. Martı (Eds.), EUROSLA Yearbook 7 (pp. 149-169). Amsterdam:
John Benjamins Publishing Company.

Guest, G., MacQueen, K. M., & Namey, E. (2012). Applied thematic analysis.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Hancock, B., Ockleford, E., & Windridge, K. (2009). An introduction to qualitative

research. Sheffield, UK: National Institute for Health Research.

Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and learning in the language classroom. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.

Holliday, A. (2007). Doing and writing qualitative research (2nd ed.). Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage.

Horwitz, E. K. (2001). Language anxiety and achievement. Annual Review of Applied

Linguistics, 21, 112-126.

Jimenez, G. V. (2015). Three communication difficulties. Reviista de Lenguas

Modernas, 23, 221-233.

Lærd Dissertation. (2012). Purposive sampling. Retrieved July 17, 2017, from
http://dissertation.laerd.com/purposive-sampling.php

Lei, C. (2009). On the causal attribution of academic achievement in college students.

Asian Social Science, 5(8), 87-96.

Lei, L., & Qin, X. (2009). An empirical study of success and failure attributions of
EFL learners at the tertiary level in China. The Asian EFL Journal Quarterly,
11(3), 29-51.

Lennon, P. (2000). The lexical element in spoken second language fluency. In H.

Riggenbach (eds.), Perspectives on fluency. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of
Michigan Press, 25-42.

Mack, N., Woodsong, C., MacQueen, K. M., Guest, G., & Namey, E. (2011).
Qualitative research methods: A data collector’s field guide. North Carolina,
USA: Family Health International.

Mackey, A., & Gass, S.M. (2005). Second language research: Methodology and
design. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

37
Mali, Y. C. G. (2015). Students’ attributions on their English speaking enhancement.
Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 4(2), 32-43.

Mali, Y. C. G. (2016). Effort attributions in Indonesian EFL classrooms. Jurnal Ilmu

Pendidikan, 22(1), 80-93.

Na, Z. (2007). A study of high school students’ English learning anxiety. The Asian
EFL Journal, 9(2), 22-34.

Norum, K. E. (2008). Reality and multiple reality. In L. M. Given (Ed.), The Sage
encyclopedia of qualitative research methods (pp. 736-739). Thousand Oaks,
CA: Sage.

Patton, M. Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods (3rd ed.).

Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Roberts, P. M. (2002). Disfluency patterns in four bilingual adults who stutter. The
Canadian Journal of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology (CJSLPA),
26(1), 5-19.

Schunk, D. H., & Zimmerman, B. J. (2006). Competence and control beliefs:

Distinguishing the means and ends. In P. A. Alexander & P. H. Winnie (Eds.),
Handbook of educational psychology (2nd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erl-
baum Associates.

Shteiwi, A. A., & Hamuda, M. A. (2016). Oral communication problems

encountering English major students: Causes & remedies. International
Journal of Social Science and Humanities Research, 4(2), 19-26.

Sinanu, F. L. (2017). Speaking for Social Purposes [Syllabus]. Salatiga, Indonesia:

English Language Education Program, Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana.

Thang, S.W., Gobel, P., Nor, N.F.M., & Suppiah, V.L. (2011). Students’ attributions
for success and failure in the learning of English as a second language: A
comparison of undergraduates from six public universities in Malaysia.
Pertanika J. Soc. Sci. & Hum, 19(2), 459-474.

Tuan, N. H. & Mai, T. N. (2015). Factors affecting students’ speaking performance at

Le Thanh Hien high school. Asian Journal of Educational Research, 3 (2), 8-
23.

Urrutia, W., & Vega, E. (2006). Encouraging teenagers to improve speaking skills
through games in a Colombian public school. PROFILE Issues in Teachers'
Professional Development, 12(2), 11-31.
38
Yang, Y. (2014). The development of speaking fluency: The 4/3/2 technique for the
EFL learners in China. International Journal of Research Studies in Language
Learning, 3(4), 55-70.

Weiner, B. (1985). An attributional theory of achievement motivation and emotion.

Psychological Review, 92(4), 548-573.

39
 APPENDIX A

Participants’ Identity

Gender : Male / Female (please circle one)

Student Number : .............................

Dear participants,

My name is Mutiara Putri Pratiwi. I am a student in the English Language

Education Program of Universitas Kristen Satya Wacana. Now, I am conducting a

research about “Attributions on Students’ Speaking Fluency Problems in EFL

Speaking Classroom”. This research is a part of my thesis for the degree of Sarjana

Pendidikan (S.Pd.). I would like to invite you to take part in my research study by

answering the questions in this questionnaire. The questions seek to explore your

experience concerning your fluency problems during the class of Speaking for Social

Purposes. I would be very grateful if you are kindly willing to answer this

questionnaire honestly based on how you really feel in a language you are

comfortable in (English/Indonesian). This questionnaire will not affect your grade

and there is no right or wrong answer. If you have any concerns about this research, I

will gladly discuss it with you. Thank you for your assistance and participation in this

research.

40
Please answer the following questions below!

What are your problems do you encounter in learning speaking skill?

a. Tell me your reasons why you found it difficult to speak English fluently in front
of your friends when having the Potluck Cocktail Party!
_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

b. Tell me your reasons why you found it difficult to ask questions to your friends
in English!
_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

41
c. Tell me your reasons why you found it difficult to answer questions proposed by
your friends in English!
_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

I really appreciate if you are willing to participate in a follow-up individual interview

(conducted in Indonesian) and can be reached at the following permanent address &

phone number if question arise:

Name :
Phone number :
E-mail :

42
 APPENDIX B
Interview Transcription
STUDENT 9 (S9)
Date : Thursday, March 8, 2018
Time : 9.30 - 9.40 a.m.

M : Sebelum ke pertanyaan inti, saya mau tanya beberapa pertanyaan dulu. Yang
pertama, kapan pengalaman pertamamu berbicara menggunakan Bahasa
Inggris?
S9 : Waktu SMA mulai belajar speaking, kak.
M : Bagaimana perasaanmu ketika kamu mengikuti kelas Speaking for Social
Purposes?
S9 : Senang karena bisa menambah pengetahuan dan mengembangkan
kemampuan speaking. Awalnya masuk kelas, pertama kali mikirnya kelasnya
bakal banyak pakai bahasa inggris jadi saya takut kalau salah ngomong lah
atau ada yang lebih pinter lah kak, ya kalau ada yang lebih pinter gitu kan aku
minder kak.
M : Lalu, menurut kamu, ada gak perbedaan yang kamu dapatkan setelah kamu
mengikuti kelas Speaking for Social Purposes? Coba sebutkan kalau ada!
S9 : Kalau SMA dulu kan emang gak dikhususkan untuk ada kelas speaking jadi
aku ngomongnya juga berantakan gitu lho kak. Setelah ada kelas ini, semua
orang dituntut untuk bisa speaking in English, apalagi dosen selalu
menjelaskan materi pakai Bahasa Inggris, jadi lebih termotivasi gitu.
M : Apakah perbedan itu membuat kemampuan dan performance speakingmu
bertambah ke arah yang lebih baik seperti menambah kemampuan speaking in
English atau malah membuat kamu tambah bingung dan mengalami
kesulitan?
S9 : Ya, bingung gitu. Sama sekali belum pernah dapat di sekolah, tiba-tiba detail
banget materinya di kelas speaking ini. Ya kaget bingung gitu.
M : Penilaian pertama di kelas Speaking for Social Purposes itu waktu Potluck
Cocktail Party, ya? Boleh ceritakan gimana rasanya waktu ngobrol sama
teman-teman selama kegiatan itu berlangsung?
S9 : Di kegiatan itu, kami dipasangkan dengan teman dari kelas Speaking for
Social Purposes yang lain. Aku dapat partner ngobrol sama yang jadi artis.
Nah aku rolenya jadi seorang politican, jadi aku ngomongin politik, pokoknya
tentang pekerjaanku. Sedangkan dia ngomongin pekerjaan dia sehari-hari jadi
artis itu gimana. Beda temen, beda pembicaaraan topiknya jadi sering
bingung, bikin mikir terus caranya gimana biar tetep bisa nyambung, nervous
juga.
M : Oke jadi itu kesulitan yang kamu alami ya? Beda teman, beda topik bikin
bingung gitu?

43
S9 : Iya, kak.
M : Terus emang kenapa sih kalau temennya beda? Kenapa kamu bingung?
S9 : Ya karena gak kenal, aku gak biasa ngobrol sama dia. Gak kebayang mau
ngomongin apa, basa-basinya juga bingung gimana. Terus, kalau dia selesai
ngomong aku bingung gimana responnya biar tetep bisa kelihatan asik
padahal belum pernah ngobrol. Takut juga mereka lebih pinter dari aku dan
ternyata bener, mereka keliatan lebih pinter speaking.
M : Apa sih yang membuat kamu berpikir kalau mereka lebih pinter speaking in
English daripada kamu?
S9 : Dari cara mereka ngomong, apa yang mereka katakan, dan grammarnya
mereka itu lebih tertata gitu, kak.
M : Memangnya kamu merasa performancemu sendiri gimana?
S9 : Emm gimana ya, kak. Aku merasa kalau orang menilai aku ya paling aku
gak fluent karena aku bingung sama grammar dan pemilihan kosa-kata yang
benar gitu.
M : Oh, kalau tentang grammar, kamu bingung memilih dan menggunakan
tensesnya?
S9 : Iya, gitu. Mikir yang harus dipakai tu yang mana, pakainya gimana.
M : Bingung juga gitu ya? Kamu takut kalau salah gak?
S9 : Takut lah, kak.
M : Okay, kita lanjut ke pertanyaan berikutnya. Kadang kan kamu harus
memulai percakapan dengan memberikan pertanyaan pada temanmu,
permasalahan seperti apa yang kamu alami saat akan bertanya menggunakan
Bahasa Inggris? Di kuesioner, kamu tulis kamu takut grammar. Lalu, kamu
bilang ingin menambah vocabulary. Tadi kamu juga sempat bilang kalau
kamu bingung memilih kosa-kata yang benar. Bisa kasih contoh saat kamu
kebingungan dengan pemilihan atau penggunakan kosa-kata itu gimana?
S9 : Aku merasa lack of vocabulary, kak. Ya aku sering gak tau Bahasa
Inggrisnya apa. Terus, kalau temenku ngomong bilang sesuatu dalam Bahasa
Inggris aku bingung itu dia ngomong apa, aku belum pernah dengar, Bahasa
Indonesianya apa, gitu. Takut banget kalau grammarnya salah. Aku juga
sering kesulitan menyusun kata-katanya, kak.
M : Oh I see, kamu bingung karena belum pernah tau beberapa kata. Lalu,
kadang kebalikannya, temanmu bisa aja lebih dulu bertanya, supaya
percakapan tetap berlanjut, kamu harus menjawab pertanyaannya. Apa
kesulitan yang kamu alami ketika menjawab pertanyaan temanmu? Kamu
tulis grammar lagi. Ada kesulitan lain gak?
S9 : Ya seperti yang aku bilang tadi, aku kesusahan menyusun kata-kata di
kalimat gitu, kak. Gak tau mau pakai tenses yang mana. Gak percaya diri juga,
soalnya kalau teman-temanku, mereka ngomongnya lebih tertata. Aku juga
masih kesulitan kalau memilih kosa-kata yang tepat.
M : Lalu, dari semua permasalahan yang kamu sebutkan saat berbicara
menggunakan Bahasa Inggris tadi, tentang vocabulary misalnya, ketika kamu
44
 gak familiar dengan kata yang digunakan temanmu, bagaimana kamu
menyikapi kesulitan-kesulitanmu?
S9 : Akhirnya aku akan tanya maksudnya apa, artinya dalam Bahasa
Indonesianya itu apa. Temanku akan jawab juga pakai Bahasa Indonesia.
M : Jadi, waktu ngobrol campur pakai Bahasa Indonesia gitu ya? Kalau
kesulitanmu di grammar, kamu diem aja atau tetap ngomong tapi diam-diam
cemas?
S9 : Gak diam sih kak. Aku akan tetep coba ngomong, aku coba susun kata-
katanya dulu, terus aku omongin tapi terus kepikiran benar atau salahnya.
M : Oh, gitu ya. Oke. Kamu sudah menjawab pertanyaan-pertanyaan saya
dengan jelas di sesi interview ini. Terima kasih sudah membantu saya lagi.
Selamat pagi! Have a nice day!

45