The Importance of Speaking Well in the English Language.

English is known as the most spoken language in the world. It is used widely by
people all over the world. It is highly essential to know the language for communication.
Wherever you go or travel, the capability of speaking well in English will benefit you
because many people can understand the language. In order to complete our course work,
based on the topic above, we have interviewed Pn. Latipah Ahmad, a teacher from
Sek.Keb.Bukit Beringin. She has been teaching English for 31 years. 17 years in the
secondary school and 14 years in the primary school. So she has a lot of experiences teaching
English to pupils. Below are her opinions and our findings about English.

English is a good language to master as it is used widely in every aspect in our life.
Either in economic, social or politic sector, English is being used for so long. There are 4
basic skills in the English Language and one of them is the speaking skill. Speaking well is
important because it is the skill that everybody should master to benefit themselves.

If it is possible, everybody should try to master speaking in English but in this issue
we must be realistic because not everyone can speak well in English. Generally people who
stay in urban areas have greater exposure to English. They have more opportunities to hear it
being used and to use it themselves, for example, in shopping centres, restaurants, offices and
so on. They are likely to have a more positive attitude towards English. Some may come from
homes where English is spoken at all time. or most of the time. But people who stay in rural
areas, are on the other hand, usually they have limited exposure to English. The television
and radio may the only source of English they have. People are born with different types of
ability. For ‘kampung’ people like the rubber tappers or fishermen, they do not use English
and they don’t think English is important. For these people, mastering speaking skill does not
carry any weight for them. But always bear in mind that not only speaking is important. We
also have to master the other three skills , reading, listening and writing.

There are common reasons of why people do not master the speaking skill. The main
reason is because they do not practise. Normally, they feel very shy to talk because they are
afraid to be laughed at by others. They do not take it as a challenge to improve themselves.
They think that it sounds stupid if they speak in English, so they tend to be listeners than
speakers. They keep their mouth shut. At the same time nobody motivate them to talk and
This situation will not help them in mastering the speaking skill.
 The other problem is lack of vocabulary. People cannot speak without words.
Having limited vocabulary stop them from communicating to others. They do not know what
words to be used. They have the difficulty of remembering the meanings of the vocabulary.
Whenever they try to describe something they often find themselves wondering what word
to be used to describe what they picture in their head. It is very frustrating that they can't
figure out words to let the listeners know what is meant to be heard and felt. It isn't that they
lack of vocabulary skills all together, but they also frustrated themselves with this problem
If the students want to improve their vocabulary the best thing to do is to read a lot, as they
probably do, and make sure it is books with really decent grammar and simple words, Thin
books might be their best option for the beginning . Then, tell them while they read, be sure
not to skip over a single word they don't know. When they see it, reach for the dictionary,
and then memorise it's meaning.

The weaknesses in grammar is also one of the reason of why people do not want to
talk. They do not know how to use subject verb agreement correctly, confusing on tenses,
conjunctions, prepositions and so on. Thinking too much on grammatical errors will
eventually kill their intention to speak and share their thought with others in English.

Many people have lack of confident to talk in English. They always nervous and
uncomfortable to use the language as they used to speak in their mother tongue language for
so long. Moreover English is said to be used among high class people. It is very difficult to
educate people to change their way of thinking.

Many people also do not know how to construct sentences. Even for simple sentences.
They do not know how to express their feelings or ideas because they cannot speak it out.
They do not have the skill to arrange words to create correct sentences. All this things
frustrated them to speak in English. Many people said that they can understand English
when somebody talk to them but they do not know how to answer them back.

A lot of people also have a wrong perception about English. This is why most of them
do not have much improvement in English especially in the speaking skill. It is really
frustrated when our government insist that Science and Mathematics must be taught in
English, many people rejected the idea. They stand to be on the opposite side. For years this
matter is being discussed and questioned by many people without showing any sign to stop.
The problem occurs because they do not understand the matter very well. And at the same
time they do not try to understand. So things become worst year by year in spite of billion
ringgit has been spent on it to ensure it is successfully work. Laptops, LCDs, computers,
screens are sent to schools and even courses are given to teachers but still cannot end up the
complaints.

Many people think that we can overcome this problem by educating people. The best
way to start is from school. Teachers play an important role to fulfill this hope. They should
approach students in correct manner and ways to educate them and to instill in their mind and
consideration about the importance of English in the world of globalization to the students.
Teachers should cater their students with all skills needed to help them mastering the
speaking skills without ignoring the other three skills, listening, reading and writing. Many
students have a wrong perception about English. They said that English is a difficult subject,
so this is one of the challenges that teachers should overcome to make things better.

There are some ways that teachers can help students to speak well in English. The
first reason is we have to motivate them to practise. As human being , whatever we do in this
world , we need to practise to be skillful. Not everyone is born and gifted with special talent.
So to master the speaking skill , we have to practise. So it is the teachers’ responsibility to
remind their students to speak in English whenever possible at anytime and anywhere. It is
very sad because after 11 years of learning English, 6 years in the primary school and 5 years
in the secondary school, most students still cannot speak well in English. Who do you think
should be blamed for this situation? Should we blame the school? Should we blame the
teachers or should we blame the students? Things won’t change if we only blame each other
without doing something to overcome this problem One of the answers for the situation is
because they do not practise the language in their daily life.

As teachers we must choose the teachings aids that suit our students’ level or use
colourful materials which can attract them to take part in the lesson. So the materials must
be relevant to their age, interest, experience and knowledge. Try to make used of the
teaching aids efficiently in order to capture their interest to the lesson. Teachers must be also
creative and try to create as many situations as they can in the class which require the
students’ participation and to use the language effectively. This is the way we can help them.
Make sure our teaching is meaningful to help the students to understand the lesson well. This
can be done if teachers have a well-planned lesson and work it properly.

It is also important to communicate with our students in English because many of

them have nobody to talk to in English at home. May be their parents or family members are
weak in English or even worse than them. They have very limited time and situation to
enable them to speak and to practise. The only opportunity that they have to use the language
is at school. So as teachers we must have good relationship with the students to attract them
to come to us and have small talks with them. Let them share their feelings, ideas or thoughts
with us. Make sure we use simple English when communicating and talk to them slowly
because if we talk too fast, they won’t understand us especially for the beginners.

Having a good relationship especially with the primary students is also important
because they are very sensitive. Once they hate us they will hate the subject. Teachers should
not be too strict especially to level one students. English lesson should be taught in joyful and
enjoyable ways because the subject is tough for them. So they need to love the subject to
enable them to understand it well. But it is different with the secondary students, because if
they hate us they will still learn the subject because they know the subject is important. But
the disadvantage is we won’t get beautiful present from them on The Teacher’s Day.

Teachers must also organize English programmes in school such as English Week,
English Day, Story Telling Competition, Blue Eyes Programme, jigsaw puzzles and so on
for the students. These kind of activities are very important in order to help them practicing
their speaking skill besides the other three skills. Moreover the activities can also build up
their confidence to talk to the public. At the same time they learn to construct simple
sentences and how to use the words accurately. Teachers must encourage the students to take
part in the activities which are planned for them. It is better if we do not let the same students
taking part in the activities. Otherwise our aim to help students is not achievable because it
only benefits the small number of students. Keep reminding them that the activities are a part
of good effort and a very good practice for them to enhance their speaking skill.

It is important to include 4 skills needed in our teaching. Whatever language we learn,

we need to use the 4 skills to help us understand more about the language. They are listening,
speaking, reading and writing. So teachers must include the 4 skills in their teaching to help
them mastering the language better. To speak English students must have enough vocabulary
which they can get it through reading or listening. Tell the students to read English materials
everyday to increase their vocabulary. They can read whatever they like as long as it is in
English. By reading students can discover different kinds of sentences. They are simple
sentence, compound sentence or complex sentence. Writing work is also important as a
practice on constructing sentences so all skills are related to each other.
 Teachers must also conduct the correct methods of teaching in the class. Remember as
being told earlier, many students have set in their mind that English is difficult, so the way
teachers can help them is organizing the lesson from easy to difficult or from concrete to
abstract to change their mind. Don’t ever teach English through single word because English
should be learned through phrases or sentences to help them understand the usage of the
word. Teachers must understand the ways their students learn so they should teach them
according the requirement of the students. Basically teachers would choose activities which
are appropriate to the students’ style of learning. Last but not least teachers should try the
best they can to help the students.

As speaking is closely linked to their future need, the teaching of speaking skills
should be taking seriously by teachers. It is appropriate with the aim to help to develop
students speaking skill to enable them to seek and give information, express their thought,
feelings and ideas and engage in social interaction using appropriate expression.