“Analysis of 12th Grade Students’ Speaking Fluency of

SMAN 11 Padang”

A Thesis Proposal

Lecturer : Dian Safitri

Name : Arifillah Rahmadani.

NIM : 20018049

Universitas Negeri Padang

Kota Padang

Sumatera Barat
Table of Contents

Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... i

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION...................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background of The Problem ............................................................................ 1
1.2 Identification of The Problem .......................................................................... 4
1.3 Limitation of The Problem ............................................................................... 5
1.4 Formulation of The Problem............................................................................ 5
1.5 Purpose of The Research .................................................................................. 5
1.6 Significance of The Research ........................................................................... 5
1.7 Definition of The Key Term ............................................................................. 6
CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE ................................................................. 7
2.1 Review of Related Study ................................................................................... 7
2.1.1 Nature of Speaking.................................................................................... 7
2.1.2 Speaking Fluency ...................................................................................... 8
2.2 Review of Previous Relevant Study ................................................................. 9
CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHOD ....................................................................... 12
3.1 Research Design .............................................................................................. 12
3.2 Population and Sample ................................................................................... 12
3.3 Instrumentation............................................................................................... 13
3.4 Validity and Reliability ................................................................................... 13
3.4.1 Validity ..................................................................................................... 13
3.4.2 Reliability ................................................................................................. 13
3.5 Techniques of Data Collection ....................................................................... 14
3.5.1 Observation.............................................................................................. 14
3.5.2 Interview .................................................................................................. 15
3.5.3 Speaking Fluency Scale .......................................................................... 15
3.5.4 Procedure ................................................................................................. 17
3.6 Technique of Data Analysis ............................................................................ 17
Reference ......................................................................................................................... 19

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 CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of The Problem

English is the international language. As an international language,

countries in international forums use English to communicate. Even though English

has the status of an international language, it does not mean that every country uses

English as their first language. Some countries use English as a second language or

even a foreign language. For example, Indonesia is one of the countries that uses

English as a foreign language. English in Indonesia is a compulsory subject that

must be studied. People think that speaking is an important part of learning English

because people expect to speak English well.

According to Hebrian (2015), speaking is one of the four language skills

that is very important in human life. This is understandable, because during this

time of globalization, people must master English both as a place to communicate

and for academic purposes. For example, as a place to communicate, English is

used to exchanging information around the world as the global communication.

This can be seen from most people using English when talking to foreigners.

Hebrian (2015) also explained that people usually share ideas through speaking. It

also helps people to go about their daily lives since speaking can be a catalyst to

express their opinions, thoughts and emotions.

In learning speaking, it cannot be separated from accuracy and fluency.

According to Nunan (2003) "Accuracy is the extent to which students' speech

matches what people actually say when they use the target language." Thus,

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accuracy is a controlling activity to invite and encourage students to focus on

language acquisition. Nunan (2003) also states “Fluency is the degree to which

speakers use language quickly and confidently, with little hesitation or unnatural

pauses, wrong beginnings, word searches, etc.” This shows that those who speak in

a certain speed range without making long pauses show that they are students who

are able to speak fluently. In an effort to develop students' speaking skills, the role

of native speaker teachers is very necessary. Lasagabaster and Siera (2002) argue

that native speakers know to have more experience with speaking English, they are

able to use the language more confidently, and provide students with more

information about their culture. With this in mind, schools and universities in non-

English speaking countries, such as Indonesia, might consider recruiting native

speakers to become teachers or lecturers in teaching English.

In the 2013 curriculum, there are two types of English subjects at the high

school level, including compulsory English and specialization English. At SMAN

11 Padang, all processes of learning English are carried out by local teachers. This

subject is carried out for six consecutive semesters. One of the focuses here is

teaching materials related to oral interaction texts. With these teaching materials,

students are expected to be able to communicate in English orally.

Based on high school experience, the researcher as the leader once held

public speaking practice as part of a program from the SEC SMAN 11 Padang

(Students English Club SMAN 11 Padang). Based on high school experience, the

author once held public speaking practice as part of a program from the SEC

SMAN 11 Padang (Students English Club). It was seen that many students found

some difficulties to speak English

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fluently. First, it is often seen that students have doubts about what they are saying.

When students talk to their friends or in front of the class, they often mumble to say

hmm or aaa. It happens quite often and makes the spoken text not conveyed

properly. Second, students often look anxious and uncomfortable. This may be

because they are afraid of making mistakes. They become too focused on the script

and make it difficult for them to speak freely. Third, students have difficulty in

conveying ideas spontaneously due to lack of vocabulary. Lack of vocabulary

makes students stop for too long and don't know what they are going to say. Rarely

reading books related to English and lack of practice are the main causes of these

difficulties. Sometimes, when they find it difficult to express their ideas and do not

know what vocabulary to convey, they choose the alternative of using code mixing

and code switching. Thus, in this case the lack of vocabulary affects students to

speak fluently because they are difficult to express ideas spontaneously.

Furthermore, the research conducted by Annisa (2020) at 11th grade of MA

KMM Kauman Padang Panjang found that most student achieved level 3 or good

fluency level. However, the data also showed two students were at level 2 or

Intermediate. Because of that, it is believed that the students at grade XI of MA

KMM Kauman Padang Panjang still needs to be aware and to concern more on how

to improve the fluency level of those in level 2 or Intermediate. Those findings

contrast with Nunan (2003) who say that speaking fluency is the skill to speak the

language without making unnecessary pauses or hesitation and searching for words.

Moreover, Annisa (2020) also explain that the pause rate was the main holders and

problems so that the students difficult to achieve a higher level. If students speak

with too many hesitations and pauses, their speaking fluency may be obstructed.

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Then, if the speaker speaks less fluently, the information that the speaker says will

not be delivered well to the listener which can cause misunderstanding or

misinterpretation. On the other hand, this might happen because the subjects of the

research were grade XI student or fourth semester students.

Therefore, the researcher goes to analyze students speaking fluency in 12th

grade class of SMAN 11 Padang. The researcher chose 12th grade students because

they had studied English longer than 11th grade, which was six semesters. That way

indirectly, grade 12 students have done more speaking tests in their learning

process. Based on the fact above the researcher expect to conducted the research to

know how are the level of students’ speaking fluency and what are factors students’

disfluency in speaking. The researcher entitles the research “An Analysis of 12 th

grade Students’ Speaking Fluency: a descriptive research at SMAN 11 Padang”.

1.2 Identification of The Problem

According to the problem occurs in the previous section, the researcher

proposes some problems that can be identified:

1) Students often said hmm and aaaa when they speak.

2) Students often look anxious and uncomfortable in speaking

because they tend afraid of making mistakes.

3) Students had difficulties in expressing idea spontaneously because

they have lack of vocabulary.

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 1.3 Limitation of The Problem

Based on the problems above, the researcher limits the research on how

students’ speaking fluency of 12th grade students’ at SMAN 11 Padang and what

are factors students’ disfluency in speaking.

1.4 Formulation of The Problem

Based on the research background above, this research problem can be

formulated as follows:

1) How are the level students’ speaking fluency at 12th grade of

SMAN 11 Padang?

2) What are the factors students’ disfluency in speaking at 12th grade

of SMAN 11 Padang?

1.5 Purpose of The Research

1) To know how are the level students’ speaking fluency at 12th grade

of SMAN 11 Padang.

2) To know what are the factors students’ disfluency in speaking at

12th grade of SMAN 11 Padang.

1.6 Significance of The Research

1) For teacher

a. The teacher can improve the learning strategy so the students

can speak fluently.

b. The teacher able to know what should the teacher do to solve

the difficulties and the problem on speaking fluency.

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 2) For students

a. The student able to know the difficulties on speaking ability

especially on speaking fluency.

b. To develop the speaking ability of the student especially on

speaking fluency and can help them in learning English.

3) For researcher, to get information about students’ level of speaking

fluency.

1.7 Definition of The Key Term

1) Speaking fluency

Speaking fluency is students ability in expressing idea in oral

communication without long-pauses, hesitation, the length of

utterance, and false start.

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 CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1 Review of Related Study

2.1.1 Nature of Speaking

Speaking is a part of everyday life that everyone has to develop in a

certain language. In line with this, Grauberg (1997) states that for many students,

the main goal of learning a foreign language is to be able to speak. This is

understandable, because in this era of globalization people must master English

which is useful for communication and academic purposes. For example in

communicate purpose, English is used for exchange information around the world

as the global communication. And for academic purposes, people can explore a lot

of knowledge from various countries that generally use English. Because that,

speaking skill should be taught and practiced in the language classroom to enable

the students to speak or communicate in the target language.

Speaking allows people to convey their ideas, thoughts, and feelings

so that the ideas that are available in the speaker's mind may be understood by

others. Hebrian (2015) also explains that people usually share ideas through

speaking. It also helps people to go about their daily lives since speaking can be a

catalyst to express their opinions, thoughts and emotions. Speaking also connects a

person with others when it comes to giving information.

As Nunan (2003) explain that speaking is an oral talent consisting of

structured sentences in order to convey information. Oral acts that create sound to

express ideas and construct meaning are referred to as speaking. As a result,

students will be able to obtain information and comprehend its meaning, as well as

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share the information with others. Speaking is one of the aspect language skill that

are productive, it means a skill that people have to express their ideas, thoughts, and

feelings so that ideas that available in the mind of the speaker can be understood by

others. Speaking also is connected someone with others in sharing information.

Speaking is the productive oral skill that consists of producing systematic

verbal utterances to convey meaning (Nunan, 2003 : 48). Speaking is oral

activities developing sound to express idea and construct the meaning.

Because of that, students be able to get information and be able to understand the

meaning and students be able to share the information to others.

2.1.2 Speaking Fluency

In the development of speaking skill, there are two aspects of oral

language will be developed namely accuracy and fluency. Speakers have to speak

fluently, to avoid misunderstanding and miscommunication. Nunan (2003) explains

that fluency is the ability of speakers to use language quickly and confidently, with

little hesitation or unnatural pauses, wrong beginnings, word searches, etc. Then it

is supported by the explanation from Koponen (1995) that fluency consists of how

it goes, the speed of speech, no excessive pauses, no disturbing signs of doubt,

length of speech, and connectedness.

Base from explanation above, reseacher concludes that there are four

main factors that affect fluency in speaking namely speech rate, pause rate, disfluent

syllables, and mean length of utterances. First, speech rate is simply the speed at

which you speak. It's calculated in the number of words spoken in a minute (wpm).

Speech rate can be declared slow if less than 110 wpm and conversational if it

between 120 wpm and 150 wpm. Second, pause rate is The total number of pauses

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and filled pauses such as uhm, err, emm. This is usually done to take a breath and

prepare to say the next sentence when speaking. Third, disfluent syllable is

calculated by subtracting the number of trimmed syllables of the number of

syllables in the sample. Trimmed syllables include fillers, mistakes, and word

repetitions. And last, mean length of utterances between pauses measures the

average number of syllables produced in runs of speech between pauses and other

disfluencies to give an idea how much is said without interruption.

2.2 Review of Previous Relevant Study

Writers found some of studies that investigating students’ speaking

fluency. First, Annisa & Hilma (2021) did the obseravation toward grade XI of

MA KMM Kauman Padang Panjang. They found a number of problems with

fluency in speaking. From the observations made, it can be seen that there are

several things related to the fluency of students in speaking. Students often hesitate,

sometimes mumble, quite often stop, and students don't seem to have a good

vocabulary. As a result, it is difficult for students to speak fluently, and finally they

have difficulty conveying what they want to convey.

Second, Mairi (2017) also has conducted this study on English

department students of Universitas Negeri Padang, using speaking test and

questionnaire for data collecting. In terms of data collection, researcher collect it

through a tests as a benchmark in determining the fluency level of students majoring

in English at Padang State University. In the tests carried out, he involved as many

as 25 people who were students from the English department.

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 Based on the results of speaking test data, there are 16 people or in

other words most of the students reached level 3 or a good level of fluency. But

besides that, there are some students at a higher level (advanced or level 4) and also

some students at a lower level (Intermediate or level 2). There are three students

who have reached the advanced level, and the remaining six are still at the

intermediate level.

After filling out the questionnaire, Mairi (2017) found that that most

of the students agree to consider that task difficulty, task doesn’t focus on meaning,

and time pressure are the biggest factors of their fluency in speaking. Therefore, the

authors conclude that in the research conducted, the factors of lack of planning and

preparation, and repetition of tasks are not considered as factors of non-fluency.

After collect all the data and analyze it, researchers will be able to

obtain conclusions from the research they do. Based on the findings of the analysis

on the level of fluency and disfluency factors, Mairi (2017) conclude that the level

of English department students of Universitas Negeri Padang speaking fluency is at

level 3 which means "good", but it also shows that they should be better.

After being observed and analyzed, the research conducted and the

main topics discussed by this essay there are differences in terms of participants.

The system and teaching materials given at the college level will certainly be

different from high school, especially 12th grade students. The researcher is curious

whether this study will give different results because the researcher believes that

grade 12 students certainly have more experience in speaking English than grade

11 students but less than college students. This concludes that this study is worth

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doing and testing on 12th grade students. With all of that, students speaking fluency

can be observe in different levels. The results of that study will probably give same

or maybe different results, better or maybe even worse results.

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 CHAPTER III

RESEARCH METHOD

3.1 Research Design

Creswell (2014) states that, “qualitative research is an approach for

exploring and understanding the meaning of individuals or groups ascribe to a

social or human problem.” The research design used in this research was qualitative

research. Qualitative research was chosen because the study was aimed to explore

and understand the problem of students’ speaking fluency at XII grade of SMAN

11 Padang. In addition, Ary (2010: p.424) states that the data in qualitative

research are in form of words or pictures instead of statistics and numbers. Thus,

researcher used descriptive qualitative because the researcher wanted to describe

the level at XII grade of SMAN 11 Padang students speaking fluency and the

problem they faced in speaking regarding to their fluency.

3.2 Population and Sample

The subject of this research is the students from SMAN 11 Padang grade

XII. There are six classes: XII IPA 1, XII IPA 2, XII IPA 3, XII IPS 1, XII IPS 2,

XII IPS 3. Each class consists of 23-25 students. Beside the high number of classes

and students, the limited time of research became consideration for the researcher

to choose only one class as the research participants or in this case, the researcher

used convenience sampling technique. Convenient sampling according to Ary

(2010: p.431) is “choosing a sample based on availability, time, location or ease of

access.” Therefore, the researcher chose five student for each class of grade XII in

SMAN 11 Padang. Thus, there are a total of 30 students as the subject research

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when researcher assigned them to speak about historical place in the class and will

also be done on lunchbreak with the consent of students.

3.3 Instrumentation

The research instruments can be defined as tools to help the researcher

obtaining the data. Ary (2010: p. 431) mentions that “there are the most three

common instruments used in collecting data namely observation, interview and

document or artifact analysis”. In this research, the researcher used two instruments

that were observation using speaking fluency scale and followed by interview.

3.4 Validity and Reliability

3.4.1 Validity

According to Ary, et al (2002: 242) validity is the most important

consideration in developing and evaluating measuring instruments. The researcher

used validity to know whether the research instrument was valid or not. The

measure whether the test has a good validity, the researcher analyzed the test from

content validity, construct validity and face validity.

3.4.2 Reliability

Reliability refers to consistency of score obtained by the same persons when

they are re-examined with the same test on the different occasion or with different

sets of equivalent items. Validation in this research as the result was taken from

SPSS 23.00 as follow:

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 Reliability Statistics

Cronbach's Alpha N of Items

.802 2

The results of calculations using SPSS 23.00 on the reliability testwas 0.802.

According to Triton (cited in Ningsih: 2015) the value of Cronbach’s alpha can be

interpreted as follow:

Cronbach’s Alpha Interpretation

0,00-0,20 Less Reliable

0,21-0,40 Rather Reliable
0,41- 0,60 Quite Reliable
0,61 -0,80 Reliable
0,81 – 1.00 Very Reliable

When the reliability score compared with the category of value, reliability

calculation result is in the range of values from 0.61 to 0.80in accordance with the

categories of reliability of the results of those values are reliable.

3.5 Techniques of Data Collection

3.5.1 Observation

Observation is one of the methods used in this study. As this study used

observation to obtain the data, the role of the researcher also must be clear.

According to Ary (2010: p.432) there are two kinds of roles in observation namely;

participant and nonparticipant. In participant role, the researcher actively involves

in the activity of the subject research being observed. On the other hand, the

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researcher does not really involve in the activity and being only as the observer is

known as non-participant observer. In this research, nonparticipant observation was

used by the researcher where the researcher observed 30 students from XII grade.

The observation was intended to know the students speaking fluency level and the

problem faced by the students regarding their speaking fluency.

3.5.2 Interview

The second instrument is interview. The purpose of using interview is to

verify the data obtained from the observation. Ary (2010) proposes three kinds of

interview, they are; unstructured interview, semi or partially interview and

structured interview. In this study, the researcher used semi-structured interview in

order to obtain the data. The interview was aimed to know the students’ problems

in speaking fluency. The data obtained from the interview was used to validate the

data obtained from the observation regarding the problems of students speaking

fluency. Thus, the respondents of the interview were 30 students from XII grade.

Audio recorder was used in order to collect the data from the interview.

3.5.3 Speaking Fluency Scale

The last instrument used by the researcher was speaking fluency scale.

Speaking fluency scale was used to determine the level of students speaking

fluency. The speaking fluency scale used in this study is adapted from Luoma

(2004).

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 Table 3.1 Speaking Fluency Scale

SCALE DESCRIPTION
1 Speaker’s utterances are short, often a single word.
Basic User of There are long pauses when he or she is trying to search
English for words or forms. Repetitions and restarts are
common. Sometimes the speaker is unable to make a
response, and messages are sometimes abandoned
because of language limitations.
2 The speaker is able to produce simple utterances.
Pre-Intermediate Pausing stilloccurs when looking for grammatical and
User of English words choice. Switching the form during speaking
often. Making repetitionand self-correction often. The
speaker speaks with some hesitations which often
disrupts speech.
3 Appropriate word choice becomes more important, and
Intermediate pausing will occur in making these choices. Speech is
User of English relatively smooth. Sometimes the speaker is repeating
the words and self-correcting. The speaker is able to
complete his or her thought as the utterances tend to be
more expanded.
4 Few single-word utterances are given, and speaker
Fluent expands his/her utterances, e.g. providing back-ups to
opinions. Quiet smooth and fluid speech. Few
hesitations and slightly searching for words but
manages to continue and complete thought.
5 Speaker demonstrates more confidence and is
Very Fluent unlikely to express hesitation. The speaker rarely
pauses for reasons ofgrammar or word choice. The
speaker responds very quickly.

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 3.5.4 Procedure

This section explains about the procedures in collecting the data required to

answer the statement of problems. The data collected by the researcher through the

following processes:

1) Observing the students speaking fluency and the problem regarding

on their fluency during classroom activity

In this observation activity, the researcher observed 30

students whom were assigned to speak about historical place. Thus,

the researcher conducted the observation only once. In addition, the

researcher used the speaking fluency scale to determine the fluency

level and to know the problems regarding fluency of 30 students

during the observation.

2) The researcher conducted interview to verify the data obtained

previously

The researcher interviewed number of students until

saturation point was achieved. During interview, audio recording

was used in order to help the researcher in analyzing the interview.

3.6 Technique of Data Analysis

In this section, the researcher analyzed the data obtained through

observation and interview. There were a few steps used by the researcher in

analyzing the data as follows:

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1) Gathering all data about this research through observation and

interview and doing transcription from the recording.

2) Reviewing the data obtained and reducing unnecessary data

obtained from observation and interview. The researcher only took

important data relate to the students speaking fluency and problem

they face regarding their fluency.

3) Displaying the data based on the research questions.

4) Confirming the findings to the theories.

5) Drawing conclusion.

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Koponen, M. (1995). Let your language and thoughts flow! Is there a case for
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Stockdale, D. Ashley. (2009). Comparing Perception of Oral Fluency to Objective

Measures in the EFL Classroom (Unpublished Thesis). Birmingham: University of
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Nation, I. S. P. And J. Newton. (2009). Teaching ESL/EFL Listening and Speaking.

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Mairi, S. (2017). An Analysis of Speaking Fluency Level of the English Department

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