AN INTRODUCTION TO SECOND
LANGUAGE ACQUISITION
(THE ANALYSIS OF TEACHER TALK)
Indah Ansani Putri
0813042033
ENGLISH EDUCATION STUDY PROGRAM
LANGUAGE AND ART EDUCATION DEPARTMENT
SCHOOL OF EDUCATION AND PEDAGOGY
UNIVERSITY OF LAMPUNG
2011
TEACHER TALK
BACKGROUND
For foreign language learners ， classroom is the main place where they are frequently exposed to the target language. The kind of language used by the teacher for instruction in the classroom is known as teacher talk (TT). For this term, Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics defines it as “that variety of language sometimes used by teachers when they are in the process of teaching. In trying to communicate with learners, teachers often simplify their speech, giving it many of the characteristics of foreigner talk and other simplified styles of speech addressed to language learners” (Richards, 1992: 471).
From the definitions, firstly we can see that teacher talk in English classrooms is regarded as one special variety of the English language, so it has its own specific features which other varieties do not share. Because of the restriction of the physical setting, special participants as well as the goal of teaching, teacher talk has its own special style. Secondly, we can see that teacher talk is a special communicative activity. Its goal is to communicate with students and develops students’ foreign language proficiency. Teacher talk is used in class when teachers are conducting instructions, cultivating their intellectual ability and managing classroom activities (Feng Qican, 1999: 23). Teachers adopt the target language to promote their communication with learners. In this way, learners practice the language by responding to what their teacher says. Besides, teachers use the language to encourage the communication between learners and themselves. Therefore we can say teacher talk is a kind of communication-based or interaction-based talk.
LITERATURE REVIEW
“Classroom process research, as Gaies (1983) calls the study of communication in the classroom, has taken different forms: interaction analysis; teacher talk; discourse analysis” (Ellis, 1985:143). All dimensions of classroom process, from giving instruction to questioning or disciplining students, providing the feedback, involve teacher talk. Study on teacher talk has become one of the most important parts of classroom research.
As Nunan (1991) points out: “Teacher talk is of crucial importance, not only for the organization of the classroom but also for the processes of acquisition. It is important for the organization and management of the classroom because it is through language that teachers either succeed or fail in implementing their teaching plans. In terms of acquisition, teacher talk is important because it is probably the major source of comprehensible target language input the learner is likely to receive.
Furthermore, Wong-Fillmore (1985) suggests that there are some characteristics of teacher talk that might work as input. The characteristics are:
1. The talk has clear separation of languages (no alteration or mixing)
2. The talk emphasizes on comprehension, it focuses on communication by:
- use of demonstration, enactment to convey meaning
- new information presented in context of known information
- heavy message redundancy
3. The language used is entirely grammatical, appropriate to the activity by:
- using simple structure, avoiding complex structures
- repeating the use of some sentence pattern or routines
- using repetitiveness, using paraphrase for variation
4. The talk use tailoring of elicitation questions to allow for different levels of participation from students.
5. The talk has richness of language use, going beyond books, playfulness.
DATA COLLECTING TECHNIQUE
The researcher took this observation at Syarief Hidayatulloh Muslim Kinder Garden, Kotagajah on Saturday, April 23rd, 2011. There are 30 students and 4 teachers which followed this activity. And here the recording and script of the observation.
T : Hari ini ada mbaknya Nadya, namanya mbak Indah mau apa… minta tolong sama anal-anak mau ngerekam ya, nanti gambarnya masuk Hp, ya? Yang gagah ga boleh apa? Ngobrol sendi..ri, ready?
S : Ready.
T : Oke. Coba. Bu guru ucapkan Assalamu’alaikum Warrohmatullahi Wabarokatu?
S : Walaikumsalam Warohmatullahi Wabarokatu.
T : Pinter. Good morning children?
S : Good morning children.
T & S : How are you today?
S : I’m fine. Thank you and you?
T & S : I’m fine. Thank you.
T : iya, pinter. Ini hari apa?
S1 : Sabtu.
S2 : Jumat
S3 : Sabtu
T : Iya, sabtu. Besok hari apa?
S : Minngu.
T : Coba sekarang..coba hafal nama-nama hari?
S : Hafal.
T : Nama-nama hari.
T & S : Senin Monday, Selasa Thurday, Rabu Wednesday, Kamis Tuesday, Jumat Friday, Sabtu Saturday, Minggu Sunday.
T : Iya, berarti hari ini hari sabtu apa bahasa inggrisnya?
S1 : Sunday
T : Hmmmm
S2 : Sabtu
T : Iya, apa coba?
T & S : Senin Monday, Selasa Thurday, Rabu Wednesday, Kamis Tuesday, Jumat Friday,
T : Sabtu
S : Saturday
T : Minggu
S : Sunday
T : Iya, hari ini hari?
S : Sabtu
T : Sabtu apa tadi?
S : Saturday
T : Saturday. Tanggal 23 bulannya bulan Ap…
S : Pril
T : April tahunnya 2011. He’eh…sekarang kita berdoa coba 2 kalimat syahadat.
T & S : Bismillahirrohman nirrohim Ashhaduallailahailaullah Waashaduanna Muhammadarosulullah artinya aku besaksi bahwa tidak ada Tuhan selain Allah dan aku besaksi bahwa Nabi Muhammad adalah utusan Allah. Bersiap.
T : sekarang coba liat ke sini! Kita belajar abjad pake bahasa inggris. Pake bahasa apa?
S : bahasa inggris
T : bahasa inggris. Coba, ibu agak lupa-lupa dikit ga papa ya? Yuk..
T & S : ei, bi, ci, di, I, ef, ji, ha, I, je, ka, le, em, en, o, pe, kyu, er, es, ti, yu, vi, doubleyou, ex, way and zet..
T : ulangi lagi yuk, kuarang gagah. Satu, dua, tiga.
T & S : ei, bi, ci, di, I, ef, ji, ha, I, je, ka, le, em, en, o, pe, kyu, er, es, ti, yu, vi, doubleyou, ex, way and zet..
T : udah apal belum?
S : apal.
T : coba kalo ibu tunjuk ini, bahasa inggrisnya pa huruf A?
S : ai
T : ei
S : ai.
T : ei
S :ai
T : ei
S : ei
T : coba kalo ini…?
S : i
T : apa?
S : vi
T : vi. Kalo ini W apa bahasa inggrisnya? Doub….
T2 : double…
S : doubleyu
T2 : he’eh pinter
T : pinter. Siapa tadi yang jawab?
S : aku
T : coba ulangi lagi yang gagah. Siapa mulutnya yang ga dibuka nanti dapet apa in?
S : jendol
T : jendol. Satu, dua, tiga.
T & S : ei, bi, ci, di, I, ef, ji, ha, I, ji, ka, el, em, en, o, pe, qi, er, es, ti, yu,
T : yu
S : yu
T : coba yu..
S : yu
T : vi
S : vi
T : doubleyu
S : doubleyu
T : ex
S : ex
T : way
S : way
T : zet
S : zet
T : pinter. Sekarang bu guru mau nunjuk angka. Anak-anak bisa gay a bahasa inggrisnya ? coba ulangi lagi dari pertama dari…
S : wan
T : dari angka 1. satu, dua, tiga.
T & S : wan, tu, tri, for, faif, six, seven, eit, nain, ten, ileven, tuelef, tertin, fortin, faiftin, sixtin, seventin, eitin, naintin, tuenti.
T : kalo ibu tunjuk 1 bahasa inggrisnya apa?
S : wan
T : iya satu, wan. Terus kalo enem bahasa inggrisnya pa?
S : six
T : six. Coba anak laki-laki mulutnya dibuka yuk. Huruf 7 bahasa inggrisnya pa?
S : seven
T : seven. Kalo angka 10?
S : ten
T : oiya, mas jaki pinter. Kalo angka 4 apa bahasa inggrisnya?
S : for
T : for. Kalo angka 20 bahasa inggrisnya apa?
S1 : ten
S (together) : tuenti
Ts : tuen…
S : tuenti
T : tuenti
ANALYSIS OF TEACHER TALK
Based on the video-recording, teachers in Syarief Hidayatulloh School within teach the materials have to use demonstration and using pictures. Besides, when teacher give an instruction they used simple and clear language, and also they always repeat some new pattern that had been already studied. For example in script,
T : ei
S : ai.
T : ei
S : ai
T : ei
S : ei
Actually, It is as same as with what Wong-Fillmore (1985) suggest that there are some characteristics of teacher talk that might work as input. As follow:
1. The talk emphasizes on comprehension, it focuses on communication by:
a. use of demonstration, enactment to convey meaning
b. new information presented in context of known information
c. heavy message redundancy
2. The language used is entirely grammatical, appropriate to the activity by:
a. using simple structure, avoiding complex structures
b. repeating the use of some sentence pattern or routines
c. using repetitiveness, using paraphrase for variation
3. The talk has richness of language use, going beyond books, playfulness.
Besides, teachers always use reinforcement when their students do something good. Take for example from the script;
T2 : he’eh pinter
T : pinter. Sekarang bu guru mau nunjuk angka. Anak-anak bisa gay a bahasa inggrisnya ? coba ulangi lagi dari pertama dari…
T : oiya, mas jaki pinter. Kalo angka 4 apa bahasa inggrisnya?
Well, those examples appropriate with the behaviorist approach by B.F. Skinner. Language is not a mental phenomenon: it behavior. Like other forms of human behavior, it is learnt by a process of habit-formation., in which the main components are:
1. The child imitates the sounds and patterns which they hear around them.
2. People recognize the child’s attempts as being similar to the adult models and reinforcement (reward) the sounds by approval or some other desirable reaction.
3. In order to obtain more of these rewards, the child repeats the sounds and patterns, so that these become habit.
4. In this way the child’s verbal behavior is conditioned (or ‘shaped’) until the habit coincide with the adult model.
But, there is an unapproprtiate ways to teach a children that I found when I did this observation. Sometimes we as an adult, especially for this observation is a teacher, teach a children by using uncomplete word. Take the examples from script:
T : Saturday. Tanggal 23 bulannya bulan Ap…
S : Pril
T : April tahunnya 2011. He’eh…sekarang kita berdoa coba, 2 kalimat syahadat.
And
T : vi. Kalo ini W apa bahasa inggrisnya? Doub….
T2 : double…
S : doubleyu
Actually, this ways is not good enough for children. Because it will create a bad habit for children. It means that the children will be just parroting what the teacher said. It will be better if the teacher teach them using complete words.
CONCLUSION
Based on the analyzing above, I can conclude that teacher in kinder garden level has to have patience enough, attractive, creative and use much reinforcement to support their students in understand the pattern. Because as we know, children always imitate what we as adult do. If we do bad thing, it can be, they follow our habit. And also if we do a good one, they will imitate it too, like they imitate their idol. Why? It is because children have big enough curiosity. Another is in teaching children, teacher should repeat the pattern. It is because human, especially children for this section, learn in a process of habit-formation. It is means that remembering and understanding process runs together as well as their habit in learning. In additional, actually reinforcement is very important for them. It is because by reinforcement, they can understand whether they have done something true or not. And reinforcement can lead them whether they have to do it continually or stop it. In short, teachers in kinder garden level use demonstration and using pictures, repeat, and reinforcement in teaching material to motivate and make easier their students’ within learning.
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