Study on Speaking Problems and Psychological Factors Encountered by Students in Developing Their Speaking Skill at SMA Kristen Dobo, Aru District

: Developing speaking skill as one of productive skill is crucial for EFL students, and it can’ be denied that most students still constraints with developing that skill that covering their general speaking problems and psychological factors. Survey study under quantitative research was applied to conduct the study. The setting of the study was SMA Kristen Aru and 70 students were involved as the sample and 6 selected students were also participated to be interviewed to support the data. Descriptive quantitative and qualitative ways were done to analyze the findings. The research findings revealed that the common problems faced by the students in speaking skill were 1) lack of vocabulary, incomprehension in mastery grammar, lack of practice, the environment didn’t support them to speak and always speak in mother tongue. Whereas, the most psychological factors affected the students’ speaking problems were low motivation, felt afraid in making mistakes, felt tense and nervous, unconfident in speaking presentation, and felt confuse with their thoughts. From these findings, some proposed new insights such as varied teaching strategies in speaking skill, give more chance to practice their English inside and outside the classroom, always motivate them and encouraged them to practice their English and provide any challenges tasks for helping students minimize their common problems and psychological factors in speaking skill.


INTRODUCTION
As productive skill, speaking plays an important role in building communication, and it is considered as the basic skill that should be mastered by EFL students. Through speaking, students can share ideas, feeling, thoughts, and opinion, to give information and message to others. Sharing the ideas, opinion, thoughts, message, and knowledge would not happen in just a method, but it must happen in two ways. There must be a speaker and listener to get an interactive communication.
The ability of communicate in English is necessary to face the globalization era in which it is placed as the International language. For that reason many students are demanded to master this language as one of the main subject taught at schools, and speaking can be seen as one of the skills that still have many problems constrained by foreign languages. It can't be denied that English teachers at schools always do many efforts to cover the problems, but sometimes their efforts did not run well.
The problems of speaking skill can be derived from teachers and students sides. From teachers, it deals with teaching methodology, teaching materials, teaching and learning sources and classroom management. From the students' side, it meets with their cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains. In regards to affective domain, the problems always cover students' motivation, self-confidence, not brave, shy to make mistakes and etc. These problems can be categorized as psychological factors affected students' speaking ability.
The result of previous studies report that nowadays, one of the big problems that affect students' speaking ability not only about the general problems such as lack of vocabularies and grammar points but also it is related to psychological factors. According to Braine G (2005) Psychology is the number one key to success for most EFL students in their English speaking performance. Most of the EFL students who learned English for many years, most of them have difficulties to use the language because of lack of vocabulary. Moreover, it is not only the lack of grammar or vocabulary, but it is also from students' psychology. Most of tho students have lack motivation, they never develop confidence in themselves, afraid of making mistakes and also ashamed to speak up in front of people. Later, Genc & Aydin (2011) examined some major factors affecting students speaking ability. The factors come from students psychologies such as students' motivation, age, and dicipline and also fearful of making mistake when tried to speak English in the classroom or with other friends.
In line with some research findings above, the researchers also conducted preliminary study by interviewing some students dealing with their problems in speaking English. The results showed that there are several problems that students faced in speaking. First, it is related to students' condition who are lack of vocabulary that made them hard to say word during class discussion. Second, some of those students are not confident to speak English because fear of making mistake, some are afraid because of their pronunciation is not as good as native speaker. Third, they speak more with their maternal language or their mother tongue.
From the results above then the researchers were interested to explore more about students' speaking problems and their psychological factors encountered by students in speaking at SMA Kristen Aru district and 4 research questions were addressed to be answered in this study namely; 1) What are the students 'common problems and psychological factors in Speaking English of the students at SMA Kristen Dobo?, 2) Which problem and psychological factors that the students have most encountered in Speaking English of the students at SMA Kristen Dobo?, 3) In what ways that the students try to minimize their problems and psychological factors in speaking English of the students at SMA Kristen Dobo?, and 4) What are the news insights proposed by the students of SMK Kristen Dobo for their English teachers?

RESEARCH METHOD
This research conducted the survey design under quantitative approach. According to Gay, Mills and Airasian (2006) "survey research involves collecting data to test hypotheses or to answer question about people's opinions on some topic or issue". In conducting this research, the researcher will use several steps of survey method, such as: state the problem, construct or locate the questionnaire, pilot test questionnaire, administer the questionnaire (select participants, distribute the questionnaire, and conduct follow-up activities), tabulate the questionnaire responses, analyze the results, and write the report. In collecting the data, 70 students and 6 selected students were involved as the sample of this study and they were asked to fill the questionnaire and did interview phase. Descriptive quantitative and qualitative ways were implied to present the findings and analyze the data.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
The questionnaire was the main instrument in this study and it consisted of two main part; the first part dealing with students' problems in speaking skill, and the second part related to psychological factors affected students 'speaking skill. The first part consisted of 8 statements whereas the second part contained 12 statements. The findings can be presented in the following paragraphs.

The students' problems in speaking Skill
In having the data about students' problems in speaking, skill, there are 8 statements delivered for all the sample, and the result of the questionnaire can be seen in the following table. The likert scale covering always, usually, occasionally, rarely and never ( A,U,O,R, and N) The table above reported that most students have problems in speaking skill such as lack of vocabularies, can't understand other people talk in English, problems in pronounce difficult words, less comprehension grammar rule, used to talk in their mother tongue, have no chance to practice their speaking skill, the topics are uninterested, and the environment didn't support them to talk in English. From the table, it also described that the fifth common problems faced by the students in speaking skill. The first problem faced by students was mostly because of lack of vocabularies (45 students) then followed by less comprehension grammar rule (44 students) and the environment didn't support them to speak in English (44), and the fourth reason because of have no chance to practice English inside the classroom activities, and the fifth was used to talk in mother tongue.
In supporting the data from the questionnaire, the researchers also interview some selected students based on their achievement in English. The selected students consisted of 9 students which were taken from the first, second, and third class and they represented the students' achievement in English in the low, middle and high score. But only 6 students actively involved in the interviewed section. The interview consisted of 5 questions and it could expand based on the answers of the students.
The first question dealt with their perception about speak in English, all the students have varied answers based on their learning experiences in English as it was shown below.

Mungkin motivasi untuk belajar bahasa Inggris lebih giat lagi, sehingga kita bisa melatih cara berbicara kita. Namun semuanya itu hanya didapat kalau kita memiliki kosakata, dan tidak malu untuk latihan setiap saat. (AL/Class XI)
When the students were asked about any strategies that they have ever used in developing their speaking skill, almost they have the similar strategies as it was shown below. Referring the question about the solution to minimize or cover their problems in speaking skill, all students presented different ideas as it was shown in the following paragraphs.

The Students' Psychological Factors in Speaking Skill
In obtaining the data about psychological factors faced by the students in speaking skill, the questionnaire consisted of 12 items were distributed for 89 students but only 70 questionnaires were returned to be analyzed. The data of psychological factors of the students at SMA Kristen Dobo were presented below. From the above table, it can be reported that for each item of psychological factor, the percentage were varied. The first item showed that 40 students agreed that they always felt afraid when they speak English both in class presentation or in group discussion used English, 20 students agreed usually afraid, 3 students occasionally felt afraid, and 7 students rarely to felt the similar feeling. In terms of feeling ashamed or shy when they speak in front in the class, 30 students agreed that they always had the feeling, 28 students usually felt shy when they presented topics in front of the class, 8 students occasionally felt ashamed, and 6 students rarely have the same feeling. Item 3 described felt tense and nervous when speaking, 35 students agreed that they always had that feeling, 20 students agreed that they usually have that feeling, 10 students felt occasionally and only 5 students rarely to have the felling. In relating to item 4, 40 students agreed that their thoughts become confused and jumbled when they speak particularly when they had interrupted with the teachers in class presentation, 20 students usually have the similar feeling, 5 students presented occasionally and 5 students also rarely have that similar feeling. Referring to item 5, 32 students agreed that their heart beats were very fast when they speak, 18 students agreed that usually felt the similar way, 5 students said that they occasionally had that feeling, 8 students rarely felt that feeling and 8 students never felt about it. Item 6 stated about felling unsure about conversation skill because of poor ability, 38 students agreed that they always thought about it, 12 students usually thought the similar way, 10 students thought occasionally, 4 students rarely thought about that and 6 students never thought it.
In terms of item 7 about felling unconfident, 40 students agreed that they always have that feeling, 20 students usually have it, 5 students occasionally, and 5 students never that feeling. Item 8 described the uncomfortable feeling when their friends laugh at them, 28 students agreed that they always that felling, 22 students usually have the similar feeling, 8 students occasionally that feeling, 6 students rarely and 6 students never felt about that. Referring to item 9 dealt with demotivation, 32 students always face with that factor, 18 students usually dealt it, 8 students occasionally felt that, 6 students rarely and 6 students never felt about it. Regarding item 10 about felt anxiety to speak without good preparation, 35 students always agreed with that statement, 25 students usually agree with that point, 4 students occasionally agreed, 4 students rarely and 2 students never felt that. Item 11 described about preference to speak slowly because of pronunciation was not good, 40 students always agree with that item, 18 students usually agree, 5 students occasionally agreed, 5 students rarely thought it and 2 students never thought it. The last statement dealt with pressure to perform well, 35 students always agree with that point, 15 students usually agreed, 10 students occasionally, 5 students rarely and 5 students never thought it.
To support the data above, the interview was conducted for the other 9 students at SMA Kristen Dobo, but unfortunately only 5 students were actively involved in the interview section. The interview consisted of 5 questions which related to their responds to the above questionnaire and the results of interview were presented in the following paragraphs.
The first question dealt with the third most psychological factors that faced by students in speaking skill, and all the respondents almost have the similar comments as it was described below.

Saya rasa yang paling banyak dialami karena kurang percaya diri yang disebabkan oleh banyak faktor seperti kurang kosakata, tidak paham tata bahasa atau juga karena tekanan dari luar. ( SF/class XII)
The second question asked about their own solution to minimize their psychological factors when they speak in front of the class, the responds were varied as it was presented below.

Perlu memotivasi diri sendiri untuk mau berani berbicara dalam bahasa Inggris, dan jangan takut kalau berbicara walaupun masih terbatas kosakta ataupun juga masih salah dengan tata bahasanya (RT/class X)
The third question about their expectation for their English teacher in guiding them developing their speaking skill, the students gave similar comments as it was presented below;

Guru dan sahabat saya, mereka akan selalu menuntun saya, jika saya mengalami kesulitan dalam mengemukakan pendapat dalam bahasa Inggris, mereka selalu siap membantu saya. (SF/class XII)
The main aim of teaching language is to help students to be able to use English effectively and accurately in communication (Davies & Pearse, 2000). Socheath, M. (2010), defines speaking as '' a productive skill that requires students/ learners to produce words or language or to express ideas orally". This idea assumed that through speaking, students can build a communication that involved others through speech or saying''. It is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing; receiving and processing information which based on the context that happens in students learning process, their collective experiences, a n d the physical environment which are representing t h e p ur pose of speaking.
As one the productive skill, speaking is considered as one of the most important skills that students need for communicating in any other foreign language. English has been used universally for all types of communication, for this reason English speaking skill should be taught and developed along with the other skills so that communication achievement can be enhanced with native speakers and non-native speakers of English (Boonkit, K.2010).
Nevertheless, some studies suggest that there are several speaking problems that students may encounter when speaking English in class or outside. These are: excessive use of mother tongue during lessons; lack of interaction among learners inside and outside the classroom; inhibition; lack of topical knowledge; shyness; fear of being humiliated, and lack of vocabulary (Urrutia, & Vega ,2010, Ferrari & Palladino,2007, Boonkit,2010. First, unlike other skills, speaking requires some degree of real-time exposure to audience. Students are often inhibited about trying to say something in foreign language in the classroom: worried about mistakes or simply shy of the attention that their speech attract. A study conducted by Nascente (2001), considers anxiety as an affective variable and one of the main factors that may mostly affect language learning process. Secondly, even students are not inhibited, they complain that they cannot think of anything to say: they have no motive to express themselves beyond the guilty feeling that they should be speaking. Rivers (1968), states that students may have nothing to express about, may be due to the topic chosen by the teacher, which is not suitable for them or they may have no idea about it. However, it is difficult for some students to respond when they are asked to talk about a topic in English which they are hesitated to explain it or still doubt about using diction and appropriate grammar (Baker & Westrup, 2003).
In line with this issue, the findings of a study conducted by Lukitasari (2003), reveal that students should master the three elements of speaking namely vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation in order to have good speaking performance. Furthermore, due to the importance of vocabulary as the building block of every language, it is considered to be very necessary for EFL students. As it is pointed out by Nation, (2001 : 129) and cited in Derakhshan, Khalili & Beheshti (2016) that the limitation of vocabulary mastered by students can influence them to be productive user of vocabulary.
In line with the theories above, the findings of study revealed that the common problems faced by students in speaking skill were varied starting from lack of vocabulary until their environments that didn't support them to practice their speaking skill. From the finding of distributed questionnaire, it was reported that most students have problems in speaking skill such as lack of vocabularies, can't understand other people talk in English, problems in pronounce difficult words, less comprehension grammar rule, used to talk in their mother tongue, have no chance to practice their speaking skill, the topics are uninterested, and the environment didn't support them to talk in English. From the table, it also described that the fifth common problems faced by the students in speaking skill. The first problem faced by students was mostly because of lack of vocabularies (45 students) then followed by less comprehension grammar rule (44 students) and the environment didn't support them to speak in English (44), and the fourth reason because of have no chance to practice English inside the classroom activities, and the fifth was used to talk in mother tongue.
Regarding the psychological factors, the finding showed that there were five psychological factors that most encountered by students at SMA Kristen Dobo. The fifth psychological factors were demotivated to speak, felt afraid to make mistakes, felt tense and nervous, felt confuse with their thoughts, and not confidence. Nunan (1999) stated that motivation is a significant factor that it may affect students" reluctance to speak in English, and also it is a key consideration in determining the preparedness of learners to speak. In response to the issue of motivation, Babu (2010) cited in Mazouzi & Kaouli. (2013), thinks that lack of motivation in learning leads to students" hesitation to speak English in the classroom or in front of other people. Aggouni (2015), argues that motivation is a major determining factor for achieving successful learning in general. Moreover he confirms that motivation is a psychological process that varies from one student to another. However, a student may acquire the language faster than his peers in the same class if he/she is motivated enough. In this study, the researcher thinks that students feel they cannot speak English well.
In addition, lack of confidence usually occurs when students note that their speech was not understandable by others. Moreover, it occurs due to the low ability in speaking English (He & Chen, 2010). The next other important factors pressure to perform well and anxiety: regarding the anxiety, studies confirm that students won't be able to speak English if they feel tension, apprehension and nervousness, so anxiety stands out as one of the main blocking factors for effective language learning (Nascente, 2001). It can be attributed that to students' low ability in speaking language. In support of those views, a study conducted by Marwan (2007), reveals that anxiety caused by some factors such as lack of confidence, lack of preparation and fear of failing the class. Park & Lee (2005), figure out that language learning and performance abilities are impeded if students are stressed and anxious. The same finding is shared with Tanveer (2007), he states that "the higher the anxiety, the lower the performance".

CONCLUSION
Based on the findings and the discussion of this, study, it can be concluded that: 1) the common problems faced by the students in speaking skill were 1) lack of vocabulary, incomprehension in mastery grammar, lack of practice, the environment didn't support them to speak and always speak in mother tongue. 2) The most psychological factors affected the students' speaking problems were low motivation, felt afraid in making mistakes, felt tense and nervous, unconfident in speaking presentation, and felt confuse with their thoughts. 3) The most common problem was lack of vocabulary whether low motivation is the most of psychological factor encountered by students in speaking skill. 4) The new insights proposed by students for English teachers were varied teaching strategies in speaking skill, give more chance to practice their English inside and outside the classroom, always motivate them and encouraged them to practice their English and provide any challenges tasks for helping students minimize their common problems and psychological factors in speaking skill. From the conclusion above, then some suggestions were provided to have better improvement in teaching speaking skill and to minimize students' common problems and psychological factors as follows; 1) The students need to be guided not only by the teachers but also by their parents with positive motivation that can be done through meaningful ways both inside and outside the classroom activities. 2) The teachers need to know well their students' language preferences to help students to determine their learning styles particularly in developing their speaking skill.3) The teachers should varied teaching strategies which are supported by using interactive teaching media and contextual English material with aimed at encouraging students to be actively involved to practice their speaking skill, 4) The school need to support the English teaching process by providing related facilities such English library, OHP projector, laptop, tape, and facilities internet so both teacher and students can teach and learn with creative ways.