Language Teaching Technology
Flash
Animation as Alternative Media in Teaching Speaking
By:
Yayuk Fitriani
2201410004
LANGUAGES AND ARTS FACULTY
SEMARANG STATE UNIVERSITY
2013
1)
Introduction
Man, as the
human life and a social being needs language to communicate and corporate in
their society. He needs to express and share his idea, feeling, wish and
thought both orally and written. Language assists people to integrate into a
cultural and human relationship. Without language it will hard to imagine how
he can communicate and create any relationship with another. Speaking is one of the way to communicate between
one people and other people.
English is
the most important means to link between countries which is widely used not
only in politics, economy, social, but also in education aspects. Harmer
(1988:1-2) also points out some reasons why people learn English:
a.
People
learn English because of the target language community. As they find themselves
living either temporally or permanently in the target language community, they
will have to speak the target language to survive in that community.
b.
English
for specific purposes. The term English for specific purposes or special
purposes has been applied for wanting to learn the language.
c.
School
curriculum. As English is compulsory subjects and part of the school
curriculum, students have to study it both of spoken and written.
d.
Culture.
It is one of the interesting reasons why some students are attracted in
studying English. They want to know the background of the people who speak it
and the place(s) in which it is spoken.
Speaking is the productive oral skill
consists of producing systematic verbal utterances to convey meaning (Balley,
2005: 2). It is “an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves
producing and receiving and processing information” (Florez in Balley, 2005: 2).
Hence, learning speaking is expected to make the students are able to apply it
in their communication.
As the foreign language, English is implied
in difficult subject by Indonesian students, because they have been speaking
their native language which is quite different from English since their child.
Therefore, teacher has known what a student needs to do with the new language,
which is being able to understand and apply the target language (TL) in social
context. To support teaching process teacher needs some aids which is called
media to help both students and teacher. Using media such as visual aids are
important to help teachers and students learn more effectively. Pictures,
photo, games, songs and films are the most popular visual aids being used.
2)
Objectives
The objectives of
this essay is giving information about the use of flash animation in teaching
speaking.
Because of speaking
is very important, we should make the students are interested in learning
process. We should make an alternative media to improve student’s interest. One
of them is using flash
animation that
is one of visual aids as alternative media in learning and teaching
process.
In this case to improve students’ speaking skill.
Flash
animation is a kind of a slight change in a sequence of images, when presented
within a time frame, gives an illusion of connected movement. Teaching with
flash animation has been made to enable the teachers to explore and be
acquainted with the technological and audiovisual communication specific
resources of animation techniques and use them in the classroom. Besides that,
students will be more interest and motivate them to be active and creative to
produce new sentences in monologue and dialogue texts.
3)
Review of Related Literature
In this part, I want to
present general concept of media and general concept of speaking.
a.
General
concept of media
There are some classifications of media according to Geralch and Elly as
quoted by Rumampuk (1988: 23), they are:
(1)
Permanent
pictures
Still pictures may be
photographs or any objects or events.
(2)
Audio
materials
Audio materials could be used
individually and played directly to audiences or over radio or central sound
system.
(3)
Motion
pictures
Motion picture is used
commonly with computers referring to images designed to move sequentially
within a time frame (the fourth dimension). It can refer to the sequence of
images drawn by an artist or a computer.
(4)
Television
By using television, students
will know about everything directly both of visual and audio.
(5)
Real
materials
Real materials can help
students to identify the object of study.
The examples of real material are people, models, and simulation.
(6)
Programmed
and computer-assisted instruction
Programs are sequences of information that are designed to elicit
predetermined responses. The most common examples of these are programmed
textbooks or instructional programs prepared for computers. The presentation of
information is made through any one medium or combination or media.
Another classification, classified by Sadiman
(1986: 28-79), instructional media for teaching and learning process especially
in Indonesia can be classified into five categories as follows:
(1) Games and stimulation, example:
words, puzzle, role playing.
(2) Visual media, it can be seen and the
function is distributing the message from the sources to the receiver.
(3) Audio media, it is connecting to one
of five senses.
(4) Audio visual media, it is useful
because of their sound and pictures. For examples: televisions and radios.
(5) Still projector medium, it is the
same as visual media. For examples: slide, filmstrip, overhead projector, film,
and loop film.
In this case, I want give information about audio visual media that are flash
animations as instructional media. Because of they are
appropriate for the teen learners since they sometimes can be used in
large-group situations to test the abilities of learns to reproduce or
interpret what they have learned or to apply familiar principles to novel
problem stated by Harcleroad (1977: 243).
Murcia (2001:462) assists
another classification of media available to classroom today. It is the use of
the traditional classification of “nontechnical” and “technical” media. Flash
animation is one of “technical” media. It carries a large degree of
“entertainment aspect” in that they can play the all of the learners’
imagination into the classroom.
The
Functions of Media
There are so many functions
of media to increase the student’s motivation in the learning and teaching
process. Based on Murcia’s statement (2001: 461), media help teacher to
motivate students by bringing a slice of real life into the classroom and by presenting
language in its more complete communicative context.
Murcia (2001: 461) also
states the rational for using media in the language classroom, they are:
(1)
Media
serve as an important motivator in the language teaching process.
(2)
Media
create a contextualized situation within which language items are presented and
practiced.
(3)
Media
materials can lend authenticity to the classroom situation, reinforcing for
students the direct relation between the language classroom and the outside
world.
(4)
Media
provide us with a way of addressing the needs of both visual and auditory
learners.
(5)
By
bringing media into the classroom, teachers can expose their students to
multiple input sources. Thus, while decreasing the risk of the students’
becoming dependent on their teachers’ dialect or idiolect, they can also enrich
their language experiences.
(6)
Media
can help students call up existing schemata and therefore maximize their use of
prior background knowledge in the language learning process.
(7)
Media
provide teacher with a means of presenting material in a time-efficient and
compact manner, and stimulating students’ senses, thereby helping them to
process information more readily.
On
the other hand, Derek Rowntrie quoted by Rumampuk, (1988: 12) states the
rational function of using media in the language classroom, such as:
(1)
Engage
the students’ motivation.
(2)
Recall
earlier learning.
(3)
Provide
new learning stimuli.
(4)
Activate
the student’s responses.
(5)
Give
speedy feedback.
(6)
Encourage
appropriate practice
Media provides not only a density of information but also richness the
cultural input in the classroom. They can help students’ process the
information and free the teacher from excessive explanation. It can provide
contextualization and make solid point classroom activities of some functions
of media, as follows engage the student’s motivation, and recall earlier
learning.
The
Advantages of Using Flash Animation as the Media
As stated in the previous
discussion, that teacher’s creativities including in using media will affect
the students’ result in learning process. Flash animation is one of the
alternative media that is appropriate to be used in teaching a second language.
Flash animation also becomes the part of prepared talk. Based on Harmer (2001: 274)
prepared talks represent a defined and useful speaking genre, and if it is
properly organized, it can be extremely interesting for both speaker and
listener.
Flash animation is different from animation
film that very common as the media in learning and teaching process, it is
showing all the plot of story, and sometimes boring. Flash animation provides
the innovation, it is simpler than animation film but more complex than still
pictures. It is also understandable because the idea or the theme is very simple
but it is packed in interesting image. The main advantage of flash animation is
that students can see the gesture, expression, mood, and also the back sounds.
This media shows a flash with a general idea or
themes, therefore students can get an idea of the story talking about and they
can guess the whole of the story and pretend themselves as the main actor,
hence they can share to their teacher and friends about the past event that
have been happen. According to Harmer (2001: 282) the power of creation: can
provoke genuinely creative and communicative uses of the language, with
students finding themselves “doing new things in English”.
b.
General
concept of speaking
Speaking is viewed as a primary skill since people are starting the
ideas in their native language through spoken language. After people are being
able to speak in their native language, they begin to develop the reading and
writing skill. According to Bailey and Savage as quoted by Murcia (2001: 103)
speaking in second or foreign language has often been viewed as the most
demanding of the four skills. The
definition of speaking is explained in many ways:
(1)
Speaking
is an interactive process of constructing meaning that involves producing and
receiving and processing information (Florez as cited by Bailey, 2005: 2).
(2)
Speaking
is such fundamental human behaviors that do not stop to analyze it unless there
is something noticeable about it (Bailey, 2005:2).
(3)
Speaking
is a skill which is derives attention very bit as much as literary skill in both
first and second language (Bygate, 1987: vii).
(4)
Speaking
is the ability presupposes not only of language features, but also the ability
to process information and language ‘on the spot’. (Harmer, 2001: 269).
(5)
Speaking
is the utterance of intelligible speech that delivers to the public directly
and speaking is expressive or telling something (eloquent) to public (Farlex,
2009)
(6)
Speaking
is the ability to talk to someone about something to speak, use our voice to
produce words in a particular language; to express our ideas or opinions,
feelings, thoughts, and beliefs of a person or group of people (Longman
Dictionary of Contemporary English, Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 2009).
Based on the terms of
speaking above I conclude that speaking is one of the skills that used to
deliver our ideas, opinions, thoughts also showing the author’s feelings to the
public in a particular language.
4)
Analysis
Based on the discussion above when we want to
teach students’ speaking skill using flash animation there were some actions which had to be done in
order to get a better result of students’ speaking skill. The actions which
would be done were:
Focusing on the fluency and
pronunciation aspects
We used some animation based on the learning
material that we want to teach. It can be adjusted based on the standard
competence and basic competence. Then they should act as the animation that
given, the students not
only could make a good idea but also produce a good utterances;
Making a group discussion
Dividing students into some group is one of the
strategy to make them interaction with one and each other. It can help them in creating a better condition in the
learning activities so that the students could cooperate with other students
and felt comfortable in developing their idea based on the flash animations
given.
Giving feedback
At the end of the activities teacher shoul give
the students feedback about material that they are learn. When the studuents
present something based on the animation, the teacher should give more feedback to
the students so they would be more enthusiastic and motivated in doing learning
and teaching process.
5)
Summary and recommendation
When we want to teach students’ speaking skill
using flash animation there
were some actions which had to be done in order to get a better result of
students’ speaking skill. The actions which would be done were:
(1)
Focusing
on the fluency and pronunciation aspects so that the students not only could
make a good idea but also produce a good utterances;
(2)
Making
a group discussion and creating a better condition in the learning activities
so that the students could cooperate with other students and felt comfortable
in developing their idea based on the flash animations given.
(3)
Give more feedback to the students so they would be more enthusiastic and
motivated in doing learning and teaching process.
Moreover, we should ajust the material that we
want to give for the students based on the silabus and lesson plan. It can help
the teacher and also the students to make an enjoy teaching and learning. This
is very practical to use in the teaching learning. As easy as using power point
presentation in microsoft office, but the flash animation is very more
interaction and interactive.
6)
Bibliography
Balley, Kathleen M. 2005. Practical English Language Teaching:
Speaking. Singapore: McGraw_Hill ELT.
Harmer, Jeremy. 1998. How to Teach English.
Essex: Longman.com
Harmer, Jeremy. 2001. The Practice of English
Language Teaching. Essex: Longman.com
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