Linguistic Factors that Become Students Obstacles to Speak in English Class

Juhana Universitas Terbuka Abstract: The aim of this study is to investigate the linguistic factors that become students obstacles to speak in English class. Furthermore, the causes of the factors and the possible solutions to overcome the obstacles are also covered in this study. This study employed a qualitative research design, implementing characteristics of a case study and the data were obtained through the use of classroom observations, questionnaires and interviews. The finding revealed that most students believed that linguistic factors such as lack of vocabulary, lack of understanding of grammatical pattern, and incorrect pronunciation, become their obstacles to speak in English class. Those factors were caused by several things such as students not reading enough English texts, not looking up the dictionary, or teachers way of teaching. Regarding the possible solutions to overcome the factors the students believed that giving them more exercises and activities related to vocabulary development, and teachers awareness in teaching should be worth considering. Keywords: linguistics factors, obstacles, speaking INTRODUCTION It has been known that language is a means of communication to convey our ideas, opinions, and feelings. This indicates that language has an important role in many parts of human life which is particularly realized in communication activities. Thus for most people, knowing the language well is indicated by their ability to speak the language because speech is the most basic means of human communication (Lazaraton, in Celce-Murcia, 2001). In the context of language teaching, English as a foreign language for Indonesian students has become a compulsory subject in the school curriculum. Every level of education starting from kindergarten school up to university includes English as one of the obligatory subjects in their curriculum. In this context, students are supposed to be able to apply English to interact and to use it to get more knowledge as much as possible since the world of knowledge is commonly written and spoken in English. This indicates that mastering English is a must for students to actively engage in international relationships and to gain more knowledge about the world. Nunan (2000) argues that speaking skill is the single most important aspect of learning a second or foreign language. He further notes that the success of learning the language is measured in terms of the ability to carry out a conversation in the target language. This is also in accordance with what Bailley and Savage, (1994) in Larazaton (2001) say. According to them, speaking in a second or foreign language has often been viewed as the most demanding of the four skills. In other words being able to speak fluently is urgent in students language learning. RagamJurnalPengembanganHumanioraVol.12No.2,Agustus2012

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Based on the researchers personal experience it is likely that students find it difficult to express their ideas through speaking. Linguistic factors such as lack of vocabulary, lack of understanding of grammatical pattern, and incorrect pronunciation can become the source of students obstacles and reluctance to speak in English class (Smith, 2011; Huyen and Nga, 2003; Savage et al, 2010; Foppoli, 2009). Those obstacles make them use their native language in expressing their ideas rather than English very often. The aim of this study is to enlighten the research questions: what linguistics factors that become students obstacle to speak in English class and the causes of the factors as well as the possible solutions to overcome the factors. LITERATURE REVIEW Speaking Skill Speaking is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing, receiving, processing and utilizing both verbal and nonverbal components (Burn and Joyce (1997 cited in Natalia, 2008). In addition, Nunan (1999) and Cameron (2001) explain that as a productive aural/oral skill, speaking deals with the meaning negotiation and the active use of language to express meanings so that other people can make sense of them. This definition shows that speaking emphasizes the use of language interactively in order to make meaning on what is said. All these show that speaking concerns meaning creation which involves both verbal and non-verbal symbols through an interaction process. In the teaching of English as a foreign language context, the definitions of speaking above indicate the importance of teaching this skill interactively. This is also argued by Erikson (2009) who believes that teaching speaking as a language skill should be in form of practices, such as pronouncing words correctly, producing correct sentences and creating logical sentences. In teaching speaking, Harris (1969) as cited in Imanin (2010) mentions five important components to be emphasized in speaking, i.e. pronunciation (including the segmental features, vowels, and consonant, the stress and intonation pattern), grammar, vocabulary, fluency (the case and speed of the flow of speed), and comprehension (for oral communication certainly requires a subject to respond to speech as well as to initiate it). Further, Bukart (1998) elaborates that the teaching of speaking should involve aspects like mechanics (e.g., pronunciation grammar and vocabulary) and functions (transaction and interaction). The above components of teaching speaking are found important to be explicitly taught by teachers. As will be elaborated in later in the next part, students still found pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar difficult to master. This, to some extent, hinders them from being able to speak fluently and communicatively in English. Linguistics Factors That Become Students Obstacle to Speak In English Class That linguistics factors such as inadequate vocabulary, lack of understanding of grammatical pattern, and incorrect pronunciation become students obstacle to speak in English class have been proved by several studies concerning this issue. A study carried out by Erikson (2009) about students obstacles in practicing speaking English, shows that the main obstacle faced by students in practicing speaking English is their limitation in vocabulary and grammar. Students, as he reports, were not able to express their ideas easily due to the limitation in the two aspects (vocabulary and grammar). While Brown (1999) believes that due to their limited knowledge of vocabularies, for example, many students are reluctant to speak English suggesting the importance of enriching their vocabularies in their speaking class. The factors, as those theorists believe, affect

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students in taking part in speaking activities during the class. The followings are the elaboration of each of the factors. LACK OF VOCABULARY Vocabulary has been increasingly recognized as necessary to language use. Lack of vocabulary knowledge could lead to students difficulties in language reception and production and becomes an obstacle for them to express their ideas in English, Smith (2011). Vocabulary, as Smith further argues, is the basic for speaking or conversational skill. In this case, the more words students know, the more they can say and understand things presented, both oral and written, in English. The importance of vocabularies for students has also been argued by some theorists like Huyen and Nga, (2003). They say that in order to communicate well in a foreign language like English, students should acquire an adequate number of words and should also know how to use them accurately. This means that teaching vocabulary to the students should also be accompanied by an explanation of each use of the vocabularies given. This kind of opinion is also proposed by Chen (2003, in He and Chen, 2010) arguing that the knowledge of vocabulary is founded to be a causal aspect in oral communication. All these show that mastering more and more vocabularies is important for students in order to speak more frequently in the English class. Causes of Lack of Vocabulary Based on his research to the Vietnamese students, Huyen (2003) says that there are two factors causing students lack of vocabulary. First, students consider that the teacher's explanation is simply for meaning or definition, pronunciation, spelling and grammatical functions. The students in this context consider that those things mentioned are nothing to do in vocabulary learning. Related to this matter, an online book published by Texas Education Agency (2002) reveals the obstacles faced by students to develop their vocabulary ability as follows: The size of the task. The number of words that students need to learn is exceedingly large. The differences between spoken English and written or literate English. The vocabulary of written English, particularly the literate English that students encounter in textbooks and other school materials, differs greatly from that of spoken, especially conversational, English. Students both English language learners and those for whom English is the first language may have limited exposure to literate English outside of school. The limitations of sources of information about words. The sources of information about words that are readily available to students dictionaries, word parts, and context pose their own problems. Each can be difficult to use, uninformative, or even misleading. The complexity of word knowledge. Knowing a word involves much more than knowing its dictionary definition, and simply memorizing a dictionary definition does not guarantee the ability to use a word in reading or writing. Adding to the complexity is the fact that different kinds of words place different demands on learners.

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The obstacles to master vocabularies caused by factors above call for teachers intensive guidance in building students knowledge of English vocabularies. In other words, it is wise that teachers learn to find out good ways to help the students increase their stock of English vocabularies. Through this, students could find it easier to speak in English class due to their better knowledge of the vocabularies. Possible Solutions to Overcome Lack of Vocabulary There are several suggestions proposed by some experts in order to overcome lack of vocabulary. Chen (2003) cited in He and Chen (2010), for example, suggests that students should try to memorize English vocabulary as many as possible, including their pronunciation, meaning and usage. She further points out that there are varieties of ways to build vocabulary such as reading English books, magazines, newspapers, playing word games, using dictionary, and so on. Choose the best way which interest and fit them most to remember English words. Regarding this, Smith (2011) suggests for the use of flash cards. In doing this, students are asked to write a vocabulary word on the front of the card and its English definition on the back. As students learn more information about each word (e.g. plural forms of nouns, principle parts of verbs), they can add these to the cards. By doing this, he believes that students can learn more vocabularies faster. Additionally, an article released by Language Center of Hongkong University of Science and Technology (2004) provides some suggestions for learning vocabulary for speaking or writing as follows. Ask the students to find lots of examples of how the words they want to use are used in context (use dictionaries). Learning common combinations of words or phrases will be very helpful. Ask the students to read or listen to a lot of material on one topic (or a small number of topics). This helps them quickly become familiar with vocabulary on that topic. Put the word they are learning into a sentence about them or what interests them at the moment, e.g. Categorise: I'm categorising the words into different topics. Practise speaking or writing as much as possible. The proposed ways of adding students English vocabularies are worth trying. As will be explained later of this study, students obstacle to speak in English class is also caused by their lack of vocabularies. This shows that vocabularies should be the teachers agenda in their teaching. LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF GRAMMATICAL PATTERN It is argued so far that learning grammar cannot be separated from learning a foreign language. In fact, learning foreign language becomes difficult since the target language has different system from the native language (Haryanto, 2007). Further Haryanto adds that when someone learns a foreign language, he often faces interference where he/she applies his/her mother tongue or first language structure to structure of the foreign language which is different from his/her native language. In line with this, Nunan (2003) says that it has been assumed that the learners first language would have a strong influence on the order in which grammatical items were required. Due to the different grammar between the mother tongue and foreign language, it is very often that students find this as an obstacle in their learning to speak English. As it is

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known, efficient communication cannot take place without correct grammar (Savage et al, 2010). This idea is similar to Foppolis statement (2009). He says that grammar provides students with the structure they need in order to organize and put their messages and ideas across. In this sense, they will not be able to convey their ideas to their full extension without a good command of the underlying grammar patterns and structures of the language. Therefore, teaching grammar explicitly is also helpful for students to speak English better. Causes of Lack of Understanding of Grammatical Pattern In terms of the cause of lack of understanding of grammatical pattern, Lynch, (2005) cited in Erikson (2009) states that the teaching of grammar is static and less communicative. This situation, as he adds, causes boring and cumbersome situations of learning for students. This way of teaching, in many cases, discourages students to study grammar. In addition, Murrow (2004) argues that students inability to use grammar correctly is also caused by the so far teaching of grammar conducted. He states that teachers, very often, teach grammar in isolation. As a result, students do not have opportunity to apply the grammar knowledge in actual discourse or conversation. This condition suggests that teachers way of teaching grammar becomes necessary to be noticed since it will influence students achievement in grammar competence (Harmer, 2001). Possible Solutions to Overcome Lack of Understanding of Grammatical Pattern Regarding this matter, Ozbek (1995 in Murrow, 2004) suggests that grammar be taught in context. This means that teachers teach grammar in a real context of situation (see Harmer, 2001). In this kind of teaching, grammar is not given in isolation. It is commonly given in a situation where by students can directly learn how a certain rule be applied in a real context (Brown, 2001). In teaching grammar, Shuib (2009) says, teachers should also explain that grammatical is a fundament for students to speak in English. They need to emphasize that grammar relates to meaning creation which vital in their oral communication. Another way teachers can do to assist students to learn grammar is giving more exposure through good texts in English. This is argued by Savage et al (2010) who believe that good examples of texts in English provide students a good example of how grammar is applied in a text. This way, students are given good models of the grammar in use to be applied in their future communication. This also assists the students in becoming aware of a structure and once they have internalized the structure through repeated exposure, they can use this knowledge to monitor their own language use (Fotos, 2001 in Savage, 2010). INCORRECT PRONUNCIATION It is stated that correct and clear pronunciations are important in language learning because good pronunciation makes the communication easier to understand (Dan, 2006 cited in Varasarin, 2007). Being unable to pronounce well can cause the students to be poorly perceived and understood by others. This indicates that paying attention to this linguistic aspect is also important because students low ability in pronunciation can also become obstacle for the students to speak (Liu , 2007). RagamJurnalPengembanganHumanioraVol.12No.2,Agustus2012

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In many cases, especially in EFL class, most students do not have self-confidence to speak because they do not know how to pronounce a certain word well. They are also afraid of being an object of their peers evaluation. This condition becomes an obstacle for them to speak in English class (Gilbert, 2009). Further Gilbert states that it is common for students to feel uneasy when they hear themselves speak with the rhythm of a second language. They find that they sound foreign to themselves, and this is troubling for them. Although the uneasiness is usually unconscious, it can be a major barrier to improved clearness in the second language. All these show that allowing students to practice pronouncing words more in the class is also worth considering. Causes of Incorrect Pronunciation The incorrect pronunciation is often caused by the lack of sound similarity between English and the students native language. In this situation, students wish that they could speak English fluently but most of them think that English is too challenging for them to master (Varasarin, 2007 and Solihin, 2009). Regarding this, some experts view incorrect pronunciation has been caused by instruction goal and the teacher himself and the teaching and learning in this area which is still inappropriate (Varasarin, 2007). In her further note, Varasarin says that pronunciation is an area that some teachers avoid or are reluctant to teach because the teachers find it difficult to teach due to their low ability in pronunciation area. This means that a good command in English pronunciation should also be the focus of the teachers professional development so that they can become a good model for their students (see Harmer, 2007) The fact that pronunciation has not been the teachers concern has been proven by studies conducted by Brown (1992), Claire (1993), Fraser (2000) and Yates (2001); in Varasarin (2007), among other. In this case, they find that many teachers tend to avoid dealing with pronunciation because they lack of confidence, skills and knowledge. All these show that focus on improving both teachers and students pronunciation is urgent to be conducted. Possible Solutions to Overcome Incorrect Pronunciation With regard to the solution to overcome incorrect pronunciation, Phinit-Akson et al as cited in Varasarin (2007) suggest that it is important for students to know how words are pronounced correctly. In this sense, they need to hear a lot of English before they can develop a feel for the sounds of English. This activity, as she suggests, can be done for example, by listening or watching English songs or movies. Doing these activities, students will find some advantages such as gaining a good model of pronunciation from the native speakers and comprehending the culture of the native speaker of English (Songsiri, 2007). For the above ways of teaching pronunciation to take place, using teaching aids and materials such as tape recordings of native speakers, pictures of mouth and articulations is worth doing. The use of those aids and materials should be along with the provision positive reinforcement to motivate students to learn well. This way can also make students feel more confident and motivated in learning the language and help them overcome the pronunciation problems (Cater, 2009). In his further explanation, Cater also gives suggestion to improve proper pronunciation that is by imitating utterances (sentences, phrases, etc), supplemented by practice in specific problem areas.

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METHODOLOGY This study employs qualitative approach and uses observation, questionnaire, and interview as the instruments for obtaining data. The observation was done to get direct and actual information about students activity in speaking. The questionnaire and the interview were used to obtain certain facts about the respondents regarding the linguistics factors that become their obstacle to speak in English class and the causes of the factors as well as the possible solutions to overcome the obstacles. The respondents of this study are 31 second grade students at a senior high school in Tangerang Selatan, Banten. RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS Data from Classroom Observations Classroom observation was conducted to see students participation in speaking activity done by the teachers. The observation was conducted to find out students reluctance and difficulty in speaking. Data from observation in general indicate that most students were reluctant to speak. This can be seen from the fact that only some students who were willing to speak in class. In this case, when they were asked by the teachers they then spoke but voluntarily only one or two students who were willing to speak. Most of them did not show initiative to ask question or to respond to the teachers questions. This can be considered that they had obstacles to speak or to express their ideas in English. This has led to the teachers dominance in the class. Regarding this, students reluctance or obstacle to speak English can be caused by linguistics factors which include lack of vocabularies, lack of understanding of grammatical competence and incorrect pronunciation (Smith 2011; Huyen and Nga 2003; Savage et al, 2010; Foppoli, 2009; Liu 2007). Those factors, as those theorists argue, hinder students from actively speaking in English class. Discussion of Data from Questionnaires and Interview Data gained from the questionnaires about students obstacles to speak in English class shows that lack of vocabulary ranked first (55%), while lack of understanding of grammatical pattern came second (29%) and incorrect pronunciation the last (16%). This result confirms what Burn and Joyces ideas (cited in Nunan, 1999) saying that linguistic factors and psychological factors may cause reluctance on the part of students to take part in classroom tasks involving speaking. The table below shows the findings of the linguistic factors that become students obstacle to speak in English class. The Distribution of the linguistic factors that become students obstacle to speak in English class No The Linguistic factors Respondents number Total % 1 Lack of Vocabulary 4, 3, 5, 9, 8, 11, 13, 14, 15, 18, 17 55 19, 20, 22, 26, 29, 28, 31, 2 Lack of Understanding 1, 2, 7, 10, 16, 23, 24, 27, 30 9 29 of Grammatical Pattern 3 Incorrect Pronunciation 6, 12, 17, 21, 26 5 16

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This result may suggest that teachers concern so far should focus on building students vocabulary to help the students to speak. However, as argued by Harmer (2001) teaching grammar and pronunciation is important for students to speak well in English indicated by, among others, correct grammar and pronunciation. CAUSES OF THE LINGUISTICS FACTORS As to linguistics factors students responded differently to the questions regarding the causes of the factors to speak in English class. The discussion of the data about the obstacles faced by the students to speak in English in terms of linguistic factors is as follows: Lack of Vocabulary With respect to lack of vocabulary, 55% students mentioned that this linguistic factor became their obstacle to speak. This problem did not enable them to express and to convey their ideas by speaking and to understand what other said. This confirms the report by Smith (2001) saying that vocabulary is the basic for speaking or conversational skill because the more words someone knows, the more he/she can say and understand. That is why those students were not able to speak because of this problem. The students mentioned various causes of their lack of vocabulary. Several of them wrote their lack of vocabulary because they did not read and look up dictionary a lot, as R#9, R#13, and R#29 noted:
R#9: Because I dont read a lot. R#13: I guess I dont really like reading the dictionary that much. R#29: Because I spend less time reading the dictionary and practice.

While another student wrote that he/she became lazy if he/she couldnt find difficult words in dictionary. R#4 said: Because I dont read a lot, sometime I become lazy when I get
difficulty to find difficult word and couldnt be found in the dictionary.

Those comments above are relevant to the argument that one of the causes of students lack of vocabulary is the limited sources of information about words. Knowledge of vocabulary was the most important frequent cause of misunderstanding or nonunderstanding. Thus students lack of vocabulary knowledge hinders their ability to comprehend or express themselves clearly in English. Students might only look up their dictionary to find the meaning of difficult words. When they couldnt find the words in it they became hesitant to find further about the words (Texas Education Agency (2002); Chen, 2003 as cited in He and Chen (2010). This condition needs the teachers attention to encourage students to read or to look up a dictionary and ask them to memorize some words. It is necessary to do because to enable students to communicate well in a foreign language, they should acquire an adequate number of words and should know how to use them accurately (Huyen, 2003). Lack of Understanding of Grammatical Pattern To turn to lack of understanding of grammatical pattern, 29% students found this factor as their obstacle to speak in English class. Some of them mentioned that the cause

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of their lack of understanding was mainly caused by the teacher or the teachers way of teaching, as represented by R#1, R#23, and R#27s comments:
R#1: Not to mention that the teacher only teaches based on books or something, without noticing whether the sentences have been understood or not by the students. R#23: The lack of understanding and further explanation regarding grammar. R#27: The teachers explanation is unclear, not to mention the minimum of memorizing materials, and the minimum of examples given.

Students are not able to understand grammar well due to an error that may happen in teaching learning process; it is probably caused by the teachers lack of grammar competences in English teaching. It is obvious then why the students felt that lack of understanding grammatical pattern becomes their obstacle as Harmer (2001) notes. This indicates the necessity of grammar in speaking and the necessity of the teacher to teach grammar explicitly and guarantee that all students understand grammar (Savage et al, 2010). Incorrect Pronunciation With regard to incorrect pronunciation, 16% students felt that this kind of obstacle made them afraid to speak and found it difficult to pronounce English words. R#6, R#17, and R#26 noted:
R#6: Well How should I put this? ... I know what the word means maam, but Im afraid to saying it wrong. R#17: Because I dont really know English words, therefore its hard for me to pronounce them in English. R#26: I am often wrong and miss place in pronouncing the words.

Regarding pronunciation Liu (2007) and Gilbert (2009) mention the importance of pronunciation. Liu for example, says that that some students felt very self-conscious about their pronunciation when speaking English; some found it frustrating to jump into a discussion. Meanwhile Gilbert says that it is common for students to feel uneasy when they hear themselves speak with the rhythm of a second language. They find that they sound foreign to themselves, and this is troubling for them. Although the uneasiness is usually unconscious, it can be a major barrier to improved clearness in the second language. Thus, it can be understood then those students incorrect pronunciation becomes the difficulty for them to speak in English class. POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS TO LINGUISTIC FACTORS Possible solutions to the linguistics factors that become their obstacle to speak in English class given by students are presented in the following discussion.

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Lack of Vocabulary With respect to the possible solutions of lack of vocabulary students shared their ideas about the solutions and suggestions of this problem. The data shows that many students propose that reading English books or dictionary a lot becomes the solution to overcome their lack of vocabulary as represented by R#9, R#20, R#25, and R#26s comments:
R#9: R#20: R#25: R#26: Do more reading and studying vocabularies. Read more English books and dictionary By reading vocabulary books or dictionary more . Read more English books.

The solutions are relevant to the suggestion that one of the solutions for learning vocabulary is by reading or listening to a lot material on one topic. This activity will help students quickly become familiar with vocabulary on that topic. It means that the teachers can teach vocabulary through reading activity in which it will give the students more opportunities to develop their vocabularies by inferring the meaning of new words from the context (Language Center The Hongkong University of Science and Technology, 2004) Regarding this, there is an interesting finding in which numerous students wrote that the solution to overcome the lack of vocabulary can be solved by listening to the English songs. They said that by listening to the English songs they would be encouraged to look for the meaning of words in the song lyrics and then memorize the words. This solution was among others stated by R#5, R#11, R#15, R#18, and R#22:
R#5: R#11: R#15: R#18: R#22: Sometimes by listening to the music. If I find words that I dont understand, I look it up to widen vocabulary such as by listening to the music. memorizing a lot of English words, such as from English songs and looking it up for what the words meant. I like learning from the song lyrics and searching them in google to find out what the words meant. Learning and memorizing from English songs.

These comments seem to support the notion that the use of English songs in the classroom is a very powerful technique to improve vocabulary. Songs are also wonderful source material for the English classroom and can be used to improve communicative competence. This activity is to motivate students to relax as much as possible and then encourage them to express ideas as much as they could (Songsiri, 2007; Walker, 2006 and Wrenshall, 2002 as cited in Songsiri, 2007). This finding is necessary to note for the teachers that listening to the English song becomes an interesting activity in the students point of view. This is a kind of an input for the teachers to be noticed that once in a while they can apply this activity in their classroom. It can be an effective way for the students to increase their vocabulary since this activity is enjoyable that the students will be motivated to learn English. Teachers can create activity of listening English songs related to vocabulary exercises. For instance, cloze or gap exercises in which there are some words deleted

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from the lyrics, or take some words from the lyrics and ask students to make a sentence or sentences by using the words, etc. Another matter mentioned by several students regarding the possible solution of their lack vocabulary is their expectation to the teachers. They wrote that they expected the teachers give them such a task or assignment to memorize several vocabularies. According to them this way will make them encouraged to memorize some words and will increase their vocabulary. This solution was among others proposed by R#3, R#8, R#28 and R#31 as their excerpts can be seen below:
R#3: Yeah teacher can give us a memorizing task, maam. For example, the students are to memorized 10 English words every day, and being graded for it. R#8: Yes, for example, give the students 10 or 20 words to memorize each day, this way they can develop their vocabularies. R#28: Teacher should give the students some 5 to 15 new vocabularies, in every starting class, and have a quiz about it at the coming week. That way the students will automatically memorize the words. R#31: Teacher should give more words to memorize.

Regarding the solutions above, it is also important to be noticed by the teachers that the students expect the teachers to give them tasks to memorize some vocabularies in order to develop their vocabulary. Those comments are consistent with the suggestion by Chen (2003) cited in He and Chen (2010) stating that trying to memorize English vocabulary as many as possible may probably worth for the students. She further points out that there are variety of ways to build vocabulary such as reading English books, magazines, newspapers, playing word games, using dictionary, and so on. Choose the best way that interests and fits them the most to remember English words. Lack of Understanding of Grammatical Pattern In terms of the solution to overcome lack of understanding of grammatical pattern, students appeared to be aware of the teachers way of teaching. They hope that the teachers give them more explanation about grammar. This expectation was among others mentioned by R#2, R#7, R#16, and R#23 as their comments below:
R#2: R#7: Teacher should really teach in teaching . Teacher should find a better and easier way to teach so that the students can learn well. R#16: Teacher should teach the grammar more to the students. R#23: Give the students examples and exercises over and over again, and give students comprehensively explanation.

From the comments above we can see that the students need to be taught grammar implicitly so that they will have understanding about grammar. This solution seems justify the argument that it is the teachers job to clarify grammar information for students. The

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teachers need to explain grammar as clear as possible so that the students will understand the material of grammar being taught (Azar, 2007 as cited in Shuib, 2009). Regarding this, Murrow (2004) also suggests that grammar should be taught in context free. In other words, students ability in grammar is influenced by the way the teacher teaches grammar and the teachers grammatical awareness. Exposure, as some of the students suggested, needs to be done by the teachers as well. It coincides with the suggestion that grammar instruction assists English learners in becoming aware of a structure and then continuing to notice it in subsequent encounters. Once students have internalized the structure through repeated exposure, they can use this knowledge to monitor their own language use (Fotos, 2001 cited in Savage et al, 2010). In addition, it might be sensible for the teachers to apply what Brown (2001) suggests how to teach grammar in his communicative approach in order to make the teaching of grammar is more effective for the students understanding of grammar. His suggestions among others are grammar should be taught in communicative context, contribute positively to communicative goals, not overwhelm students with linguistic terminology and as lively and intrinsically motivating as possible. Incorrect Pronunciation With regard to overcome incorrect pronunciation, some students said watching English movies and listening English songs could be the solutions of incorrect pronunciation as represented by R#12 and R#26s comments:
R#12: Watch and listen more English movies and songs. R#26: Watch more English movies.

Those comments seem reasonable since by watching and listening to English movies and songs they will get used to listening how words are pronounced correctly. The solutions also support the argument that there are a lot of advantages of using an English movie to teach students in the class. It does not only provide authentic material to comprehend western culture but also shows how to pronounce vocabulary and it can motivate students to express ideas in English. Moreover, learners need to hear a lot of English before they can develop a feel for the sounds of English. Hearing a lot of English can be done by watching and listening to English movies and songs (Songsiri, 2007; Phinit-Akson et all as cited in Varasarin, 2007). In addition, R#21 gave the solution of incorrect pronunciation by practicing and more speaking in English. R#21 said keep practicing talk much in English. This is in line with Cater (2009) arguing that to improve proper pronunciation can be done by imitating of utterances (sentences, phrases, etc), supplemented by practice in specific problem areas. Such practice is called drilling which is fundamental, because most pronunciation problems involve training the organs of speech (and the ears) to do things that they are not used to doing. In addition to the solutions, other solutions proposed by Varasarin (2007) and Haque and Maniruzzaman (1994) as cited in Cater (2009) might be worth for the teachers to do. Both of them stress on the use of teaching aids as they believe that the learners become more confident and motivated in learning the language because of the teaching aids and

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materials such as tape recordings of native speakers, pictures of mouth and articulations used in the class. Further they argue that all the components have to take account of the factors that will help the learner overcome the pronunciation problems and improve his/her oral and auditory ability. CONCLUSION This study investigates linguistic factors that become students obstacle to speak in English class. In addition, this study is also focused on finding out some causes and solutions of the obstacles. Overall it can be concluded that, most student believed that the lack of vocabulary was the main factor causing an obstacle for them to speak in English class. To turn to the possible solutions to overcome their obstacle to speak in English class students believed that giving them more exercises or activities that can develop their vocabulary is worth considering. This shows that teacher should be more aware of their students obstacles and reluctance to speak in English class. To help students gain more knowledge of other linguistics aspects such as grammar and correct pronunciation. It is also important that teachers teach those aspects explicitly in order that students have good comprehension toward the aspects. This way is expectedly contributed to the development of the students speaking in English. BIBLIOGRAPHY Alwasilah, A. C. (2009). Pokoknya Kualitatif. Jakarta: Dunia Pustaka Jaya. Brown, H.D. (2001). Teaching by Principles. An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall. Brown, R. Sanborn and Nation, P. (1999). Teaching Speaking: Suggestion for the Classroom. Retrieved on March19, 2010 http://www.victoria.ac.nz/lals/staff/Publications /paul-nation/1997-Brown Speaking.pdf Bukart. Rob. (1998). The Essential of Language Teaching, Retrieved on November 23, 2009, http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/speaking/spindex.htm Cameron, Lynne. (2001). Teaching Language to Young Learners. London: Cambridge University Press. Cater, John. (2009). Phonetic and Phonological Problems Encountered by the Bengali Speaking Efl Learner: How Can They be Overcome? Retrieved on February 9, 2011 at http://englishspeakingclub.org/?tag=english-as-a-foreign-language, Celce-Murcia, M. and Olshtain, E. (2000). Discourse and Context in Language Teaching. A Guide for Language Teachers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Erikson, T. (2009), Students Obstacles in Practicing Speaking English: (A Case Study at Batam Polytechnic. Bandung: UPI Library (unpublished paper). Emilia, Emi. (2005). A Critical Genre-Based Approach To Teaching Academic Writing In A Tertiary Efl Context In Indonesia. Australia: Department of Language, Literacy and Arts Education Faculty of Education The University of Melbourne. Emilia, Emi. (2008). Menulis Tesis dan Disertasi. Bandung: Penerbit Alfabeta. Foppoli, Julio. (2009). Is Grammar Really Important for a Second Language Learner? Retrieved on February 19, 2011 at http://www.eslbase.com/articles/grammar.

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Gilbert, Judy. B. (2009). Teaching Pronunciation Using the Prosody Pyramid. Retrieved on February 17, 2011 at http://www.cambridge.org/other_files/downloads/esl/ booklets/Gilbert-Teaching-Pronunciation.pdf Harmer, Jeremy. (2001). The Practice of English Language Teaching. England: Pearson Education Limited. Harmer, Jeremy. (2007). How to Teach English. China: Pearson Education Limited. Haryanto, Tony. (2007). Grammatical Error Analysis in Students Recount Texts.The Case of the Twelfth Year Students of SMA N 1 Slawi, Tegal in the Academic Year of 2006 /2007).English Department Faculty of Languages and Arts. Semarang State University. Retrieved on September 27, 2010 at http://digilib.unnes.ac.id/gsdl/collect /skripsi/index/assoc/HASH0151/37dd5eee.dir /doc.pdf He, Summer X and Chen, Amanda J.Y. (2010). How to Improve Spoken English. Retrieved on February 19 2010, at http://sites.google.com/site/languagejournal /Home/how-to-improve-spoken-English Huyen, Nguyen Thi Thanh. (2003). Learning Vocabulary through Games; The Effectiveness of Learning Vocabulary Through Games. EFL Asian Journal. pp. 710. Retrieved on September 27, 10 at http://asian-efl journal.com/dec_03_sub.Vn. php. Imanin, Anugrah. (2010). The Use Of Group Discussion In Speaking Instruction. Bandung: UPI Library (unpublished paper). Language Center, The Hongkong Universty of Science and Technology. (2004). Learning Vocabulary For Speaking And Writing. Retrieved on February 19, 2011 at http: //lc.ust.hk/~sac/advice/english/vocabulary/V8.htm Lazaraton, A. (2001). Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language, Third Edition, USA: Inc Thomson Learning. Liu, Meihua. (2007). Anxiety In Oral English Classrooms: A Case Study In China. Indonesian Journal of English Language Teaching Volume 3/Number 1 May 2007. pp. 119-121 Murrow, Patricia. (2004). Analysis of Grammatical Errors in Students Writing-Indicators for Curricula Enhancement. Retrieved on September 27, 2010 at http://www. matsue-ct.ac.jp/tosho/kiyou40/pdf/k-report02.pdf. Natalia. (2008). The EFL Students Strategies In Learning English Speaking Skills Bandung: UPI Library (unpublished paper). Nunan, D. (1999). Second Language Teaching & Learning. USA. Heinle&Heinle Publisher. Nunan, D. (2000). Language Teaching Methodology. Essex: Pearson Education Ltd. Nunan, D. (2003). Practical English Language Teaching. New York: McGraw Hill Savage, K. Lynn., Bitterlin, G., and Price, D. (2010). Grammar Matters Teaching Grammar in Adult ESL Programs. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved on February 19, 2011 at http://www.cambridge.org/other_files/downloads/esl/booklets/ Savage-Grammar-Matters.pdf Shuib, Munir. (2009). Grammatical Awareness Among Primary School English Language Teachers. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies 35, Volume 9 (1) 2009. pp.35-44 Smith, J. (2011). Learning Foreign Language. Retrieved on February 9, 2011 at http://www.teacherweb.com/VA/NottowayMiddleSchool/ForeignLanguage/apt4.asp)

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Solihin. (2009). The Difficulty of Learning Speaking Faced by The Second Semester Students of English Department at University of Muhammadiyah Malang. Undergraduate Thesis. University of Muhammadiyah Malang. Songsiri, Montha. (2007). An Action Research Study of Promoting Students Confidence in Speaking English. School of Education Faculty of Arts, Education and Human Development. Victoria University. Texas Education Agency. (2002). Promoting Vocabulary Development. Components of Effective Vocabulary Instruction. Online Revised Edition. Texas. Retrieved on September 27, 10 at http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us./reading/practice/redbk5.pdf Varasarin, Patchara. (2007). An Action Research Study of Pronunciation Training, Language Learning Strategies and Speaking Confidence. School of Education Faculty of Arts, Education and Human Development Victoria University. Retrieved on September 27, 2010 at eprints.vu.edu.au/1437/1/Varasarin.pdf

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